Weigh in Wednesday

Wednesday 4/30/14

What does a bag of sugar and Carter have in common?  Besides being very sweet they both weigh 5 pounds.  Carter has been doing very well with his feedings.  He was increased to 44 mL every three hours.  Today Katie got to feed him and Catherine provided us with a lot of great information on how to position him, watch for his cues and tricks of breaking his powerful suck when we have to give him a break to breath.  It was amazing to see Carter's focus on feeding today when he realized that he was going to get to have a bottle.  He was very alert during the entire process and at times his suck caused him to make a noise with his mouth that was so loud he would startle himself.  He is getting one bottle on day shift and one on night shift.  The remainder of the time his feeds are on a pump through his NG tube.  After his feeding today I got to hold him for awhile until we had to come home.  His oxygen saturation has been doing well even off the Lasix and caffeine.  Way to go little man!!

9 weeks old

4/29/14

Today Carter turned 9 weeks old.  He has had a good day.  He took 32 mL of milk today during his bottle feed.  Catherine, Carter's Speech Therapist created a guideline for Carter's cues and positioning during feeds that are a big help to us and I am sure the nurses.  They increased his total feed to 42 mL now.  He has been off the Lasix now for a couple days and today they took him off of the caffeine.  As long as he stays stable off of those two medications Carter will only need to focus on suck, swallow and breath during feedings.  Katie and I took turns holding him tonight which is made a lot easier since Carter only has EKG wires and an O2 saturation monitor to navigate around.  Tonight Katie and I tried to practice our blanket tucking for swaddling and based on Carter's reaction we need more help.  Plenty of time for that but for now enjoy your new picture.

4/28/14

Monday, 4/28/14

Carter has been doing well today.  He had Speech Therapy earlier today and had his bottle taking 19 mL before he started to breath to quick and had to stop.  We will be going over tomorrow to work with Speech Therapy and learn more about his feeds.  Carter had his eye exam today and he is stage 0 ROP which is an improvement from his last exam.  We are one step closer to a normal exam.  When the exam is done Retinopathy of Prematurity is recorded based on Zone, Stage and Plus Disease.  I attached a link that describes the different levels.  He had his electrolytes checked today also and his potassium was at 5.5 since he was getting supplemental potassium with the Lasix.  Since the Lasix has been stopped it will likely go back to normal pretty quickly.  And lastly Mary at my work has been very excited to know what Carter's length is so after careful measurement he is 17 inches long now.  He has grown 4 inches the past 9 weeks.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001618.htm

Shots Sunday

Sunday, 4/27/14

Carter is doing well today.  He had his bottle feeding at noon and did well.  He drank 15 mL of milk and then took the rest in his feeding tube.  During rounds they have decided to stop his Lasix and then in a couple of days stop his caffeine to see how he does.  Carter is getting some 2 month old shots today, Hepatitis B, pneumococcal and the Hib vaccine (Haemophilus influenzae type B).  The pneumococcal helps to prevent pneumonia and the Hib helps to prevent infections that are caused by that bacteria such as meningitis and epiglottitis.  Poor little man, luckily he will not remember them.  They do put a little numbing cream on his leg to help though.   He currently weighs 4 pounds 14 ounces so he is gaining nicely.  He is also still doing well with his occupational therapy and will have speech therapy tomorrow, which he is looking forward to.

March of Dimes Saturday

Saturday, 4/26/14

As thousands of babies across the country this morning awoke to alarms sounding, feedings starting, diapers being changed, temperatures being taken and parents praying for hope millions of people came together across 700 communities and 50 states to walk 3 miles and raise money to find ways to helps babies thrive and be healthy.  Katie and I took to the streets of Orlando at Lake Eola this morning with the NICU Baby Steps team from Florida Hospital Childrens made up of amazing staff and other families who have been a great support to us over these past 9 weeks.  It was a great experience and we can't wait until Carter can walk it with us next year (or be pulled/pushed).  

Carter is doing well today.  He had one little desaturation this morning but is doing well off of oxygen.  He drank 30 mL (1 ounce) of milk this morning which is awesome!!!  They did decrease his feeds that go into his feeding tube to go in over 60 minutes instead of the 90 minutes that it was going in over before.  He also got his Lasix today and still remains on caffeine.  Tomorrow he will get more of his vaccinations.  

No Carter pics today but here are a couple from our walk this morning.

2 Months Old

Friday, 4/25/14

Happy 2 months old Carter!!!!  He is doing great today.  He did well with his bottle feed today taking in 15 mL before he fell asleep.  It's tough work.  He will get another bottle on the night shift.  His breathing has been doing well without the oxygen.  He had an OT session today where they working on his neck positioning to keep him more supine with his head midline to help round his little head out.  Well enough of me writing enjoy these great pictures of our little champ!!  In the morning Katie and I will be walking in the March of Dimes walk at Lake Eola in Orlando.  We are looking forward to meeting other parents and enjoying the successes of the March of Dimes.

Whoa I'm on a lion!!

Where did my hands go?

Happy Birthday to me!

Bottles Up

Thursday, 4/24/14

Carter had another successful bottle day.  He drank 22 mL and did well.  Katie was even able to try the bottle feed today.  The Nurse Practitioner said that he has progressed quicker than they thought given how premature he is.  They will start giving him 2 bottles a day tomorrow.  He is a good burper too in case anyone was wondering.  The feeding takes about 30 minutes since he takes 5 sucks then rests to breath before he continues.  He is up to 40 mL per feed so whatever he doesn't take in the bottle they give the rest through his NG tube.  He has continued to do well without supplemental oxygen however he has had some desaturations the lowest being 84% but with some re-positioning he comes back up.  His weight today was 4 pounds 11 ounces.  What a big boy!!!!  I decided to one up my bottle picture promise and instead am sharing a video.