Day 5 was a day of lots of improvements and big steps in the right direction for Anders. Early that morning they moved Anders out of the isolette and into a normal crib since he could keep his temperature consistent on his own. This also meant I got to start putting clothes on him which was kind of fun. That morning they also finally got Anders weaned off of CPAP which was super exciting! That meant they removed the nasal cannula which was really exciting. They also removed his OG tube and replaced it with an NG tube so that he didn't have something in his mouth and that would make it easier when he was finally allowed to eat on his own. He still wasn't allowed to try and feed on his own because his retractions were still significant and his respiration rate was still high so they were still worried about him aspirating.
Around lunch time they ended up removing his IV because the site looked like it was getting irritated and they didn't want to risk infection. It ended up actually working out really well because Anders was taking his feedings so well they were able to just increase the volume of his feedings more rapidly and not have to put a new IV in. It was so nice to be able to touch the top of his head without having the IV there. It was also nice to see him taking his new tube feedings so well, even with the volume increasing rapidly! That meant there was a good chance they would let me start breast feeding him the next day.
Anders got moved from the isolette to the crib!
Getting Anders all dressed and settled in the crib.
The nasal cannula finally came out! No more oxygen or CPAP needed!
All tucked in with the blanket that I made for him!
So nice to be able to hold him and have this cuddle time with one less cord to worry about!
Grandma finally got to hold her new grandson! I am so grateful that my mom was here for all of this!
No IV or nasal cannula. It was so nice to see him like this because he looked more like a healthy little baby! His poor little face and head are all red here from having to take all the tape off but at least it was gone and they didn't have to get put back on.
The NG tube in place now.
Such a sweet precious little boy!
It was so nice to see Anders like this and know that we were that much closer to going home with a totally healthy little baby boy!
Anders Day 6
On the morning of day 6 the neonatoligist decided that it was safe enough for me to start to try breastfeeding. This was the last major thing that had to happen before we could go home. Anders needed to be able to eat enough on his own with out needing supplemented feedings through his feeding tube. When I started feeding him they just wanted me to watch the monitors to make sure that his oxygen didn't drop too low. Miraculously, Anders was an amazing eater who figured out how to eat right away and even nursed long enough where they were able to remove his NG tube and I just demand fed him for the day. He just had to take a long break in the middle of his feeds to rest and breathe because breathing was still harder work for him than a normal newborn. Therefore, breathing and eating at the same time took a lot of energy out of him but he was able to do it and that meant as long as he kept eating well and didn't lose too much weight we would be able to go home the next day!
No NG tube now either! It was so nice to see him with no assistance needed. (He was still attached to all the monitors until we left the hospital)
It was so nice being able to feed him and hold him!
Resting so peacefully between feedings! His feedings really wore him out at first so he would sleep for 3-4 hours between them.
Day 7
This ended up being our last day at the hospital! Yay! They weighed Anders at midnight and he had lost 4 oz (putting him at 6 lbs 8 oz)which made me worry that we might have to spend one more day in the hospital because they wanted him to be gaining weight while demand feeding. However, when the neonatoligist came in the next morning she said there wasn't really any reason to keep him another day because he was eating as well as they could hope and his oxygen levels were staying within the normal ranges. On top of that he was retracting less and his respiration rate was not going too high any more. The neonatoligist just wanted me to go in to my own doctor the next day to weigh him and make sure he was not losing more weight. I was so excited that we would get to take Anders home finally!
Getting Anders all ready to go. We finally got to take all the monitors off!
To be continued...
No comments:
Post a Comment