Cuddling with my little dude.
Medical stuff: Speaking of weight gain, his doctor was actually slightly concerned about the fast gain. They checked him for edema/water retention but found none, though they did give him one dose of a diuretic just in case he had some fluid in his lungs. He lost one ounce - today he was 3lb 10.2 oz, so it appears we have nothing to worry about. I did tell his nurses that I have been known to have some high-fat content milk - I told her that my friends and I joked that I made "cream" with Maia, and that for quite a few months after she was born, Maia was averaging weight gain of 3/4 lb a week, so it certainly would make sense to me why Kieran would gain faster. I told Patti, his nurse for the past few days, that when I would pump milk for Maia and leave it in the fridge, it would separate - the high-fat milk rising to the top, taking up half the bottle! Sure enough, when Patti took out some milk from the fridge today, she noticed the same thing, so they have proof now! :)
(Edited at 3:30 AM to add: Just called the NICU - Kieran gained 3 ounces/90 grams yesterday - the most he's ever gained - and is now 3lb, 13.6 ounces! Wow!)
The other thing we've been dealing with medically is that Kieran's anemia hasn't really improved - he's been holding tight at 10.2 for a while and they'd like to see it a bit higher. They mentioned perhaps doing a blood transfusion of just red blood cells to help him out, and in turn that will help out his oxygen saturation, which tends to dip low somewhat frequently right now, because there will be more red blood cells in his blood. Is this making any sense? I feel really brain-fried right now, ha! Anyways, he may or may not get the transfusion. They'll watch his saturations for another few days and check his hemoglobin again. He should grow out of the anemia as he builds up more of his own red blood cells eventually, but if he doesn't remedy it, the transfusion should help. I was told it's very common for babies born at his age to need one transfusion and be fine after that. A good thing is that he isn't really having any stop-breathing episodes - he had none on April 8th, 9th or 10th, and just one today!
Feeding: Pumping is going very well, and I've noticed an increase in the amount I'm pumping for the second time. I am starting to get a bit pump-weary. That's to be expected though, when you pump 8-9 times a day every day! Oh well, it's worth it for my little guy. Kieran is getting 30 ml 8 times a day, and I am pumping about 700+ ml a day, so I'm making 3 times what he's taking in now! Needless to say, my freezer needs some help, it's SO full! I'm currently trying to find someone to donate it to, but if I don't find someone locally I plan on donating it to a milk bank - there is no way he'll ever drink all of it! Anyone have a deep freezer I can rent some space in!? ;)
As for nursing, we've nursed each day since he started last Wednesday! I try to be in the NICU for 2 feedings, and Thursday he nursed one side during one feeding. Friday he did the same, and Saturday he nursed both sides during one feeding and one side during the next! Josh got to witness the little guy in action and is very proud as well :) Today he nursed during one feeding and it was 5 minutes long - the longest he has ever nursed! Until now I have been pumping before he nurses so as not to overwhelm him & his tummy (as he still gets pumped milk through his feeding tube) but today his nurse told me that I could nurse him without pumping beforehand to see how he does! She told me that if he nurses 10 minutes, they would probably give him 10ml of milk post-nursing session, so if he nurses 5 minutes they'll probably give him 15 or 20ml or something like that. SO exciting!!!
Josh gave Kieran a bath for the first time this weekend - a sponge bath since he has a temporary IV.
It's so quiet right now at home - Josh and I are alone right now! Maia went on a 7 day trip with her Grandma Gale to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to visit Gale's mom Beverly. So far she's doing well - Josh and I are missing her pretty badly, though! I miss her running around everywhere keeping us on our toes, and I actually miss her constant chatting, ha! I have a full & busy week ahead though - finishing up a class for college (I missed a few classes since I had Kieran so early!), helping my dad out at the office a bit, and visiting Kieran more often to be there for more nursing sessions. I'm tired just thinking about it all, but I'll take it one day at a time and it will be fine :)
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