First off, Kieran is 4 lbs, 1.8 oz as of today! On 4/3 he hit 3 lbs, so to gain a whole pound in 11 days is so wonderful! Also, Kieran was moved out of his isolette into an open crib/bassinet last night. What a big change that is! We can kiss him & touch him - so much easier than reaching in the portholes - and can see him close-up, pick him up more frequently. It's wonderful!
As you can see here, he's bundled up quite warmly. This is because he needs a little help maintaining his body temperature now that he's out of the isolette. Josh is reading him a story, one of their favorite things to do together :)
As for other health-related items, things have been stable with the anemia, but he seems rather pale to me and continues to have de-sats, or dips, in his oxygen saturation. They did double his iron, so we'll see if that helped any, but a blood transfusion is still a possibility and I personally think that may help him out a bit. So we'll see where that goes. Kieran also had an eye exam with an ophthalmologist from the University of Minnesota. She is checking him for retinopathy of prematurity. Basically, when a baby is born prematurely, the retina is only partly formed. The blood vessels have grown into the retina at the back of the eye but not into the rest of the retina. The closer a baby is born to full-term, the more normally developed the retina. It would found that Kieran's eyes looked good and appropriate for his gestational eyes, and we'll have a follow-up appointment in 3 weeks. She will also see him at age 1, 3 & 5, as Kieran is at risk for various eye problems like strabismus and misalignment, to name a few.
Feeding: Kieran is still nursing during 1-2 feedings a day (I see him about 3 feedings a day, typically.) Yesterday he nursed 7 minutes, the longest he had ever nursed! He also needs to learn how to take a bottle, especially since I can't be there for every feeding, so the nurses just started introducing him to one. He took 10 ml's last night and 11 ml's at a feeding attempt today. This is a great start.
Speaking of feeding, the nurse practioner told me when we can expect Kieran to come home: when he can take full feedings from bottles & breast AND he has 5 days of zero stop-breathing episodes, he can come home! So for the next few weeks we'll really be focusing on feedings and hopefully he will continue to outgrow the apnea/stop-breathing episodes. And of course, we'll have to start getting things ready at home for Kieran - he could be home in 2.5, 3 weeks!!!
Finally, this isn't Kieran related but it is Collins Family related - we have a sick cat: our 5 year old cat Keiko is very sick and we're trying to figure out what to do with him. We think he has hepatic lipidosis, a disease in which for whatever reason, the cat stops eating. His liver eventually shuts down and he becomes jaundiced & dehydrated - I think the link does a better job of explaining it, but you get the idea. He had this disease 2 years ago when Maia was born and he almost died from it because it took us awhile to catch it. Apparently Keiko gets sick when I give birth...? Anyways, he's lethargic, he's stopped eating & drinking and thus lost a ton of weight, and he's vomiting, too. :( We're going to be taking him in to the vet tomorrow to see how progressed the disease is and if there's anything they can do for him with our monetary limits, as his care last time was VERY costly and we just can't afford that every few years. Please keep our sweet boy kitty in your prayers.
Feeding: Kieran is still nursing during 1-2 feedings a day (I see him about 3 feedings a day, typically.) Yesterday he nursed 7 minutes, the longest he had ever nursed! He also needs to learn how to take a bottle, especially since I can't be there for every feeding, so the nurses just started introducing him to one. He took 10 ml's last night and 11 ml's at a feeding attempt today. This is a great start.
Resting after a nursing session.
Speaking of feeding, the nurse practioner told me when we can expect Kieran to come home: when he can take full feedings from bottles & breast AND he has 5 days of zero stop-breathing episodes, he can come home! So for the next few weeks we'll really be focusing on feedings and hopefully he will continue to outgrow the apnea/stop-breathing episodes. And of course, we'll have to start getting things ready at home for Kieran - he could be home in 2.5, 3 weeks!!!
Finally, this isn't Kieran related but it is Collins Family related - we have a sick cat: our 5 year old cat Keiko is very sick and we're trying to figure out what to do with him. We think he has hepatic lipidosis, a disease in which for whatever reason, the cat stops eating. His liver eventually shuts down and he becomes jaundiced & dehydrated - I think the link does a better job of explaining it, but you get the idea. He had this disease 2 years ago when Maia was born and he almost died from it because it took us awhile to catch it. Apparently Keiko gets sick when I give birth...? Anyways, he's lethargic, he's stopped eating & drinking and thus lost a ton of weight, and he's vomiting, too. :( We're going to be taking him in to the vet tomorrow to see how progressed the disease is and if there's anything they can do for him with our monetary limits, as his care last time was VERY costly and we just can't afford that every few years. Please keep our sweet boy kitty in your prayers.
kieran looks great. it's good to see him do so well :)
ReplyDeleteall the best for your furry kid, too. it's really too strange that he should develop the same disease after both your births!
The picture of Josh reading is so sweet!
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