Then this morning, after almost forgetting the syringes of pumped milk, we made it for the 8:00 morning feeding. The exciting news for today is that he came off the oxygen and was doing pretty good with his own breathing! It makes it so much easier to see his face:
He's really loving sleeping on his tummy. Of course, when we take him home, he won't have all the monitors, so tummy sleeping is a definite no-no, but for now, he can enjoy it all he wants.
After the first feeding, Jim left to go finish up some errands, and I stuck around the Special Care Nursery. I was in and out, making calls to doctors, my work disability people, and taking care of other business in between checking in on Morten. I was able to hold him for the 8 am and noon feedings, and even had the chance to take his temperature and change his diaper.
Here he is enjoying a lunch of mama's milk through the feeding tube:
His IV drip is now down to 5 ml/hour, and he's up to 23 ml of formula/milk. They will continue to ween down the IV until they are ready to get rid of it. The next step will then be starting to learn to feed from a bottle or breast. The nurses and doctors say that will be a little tricky for a little while - it's hard for the preemie babies to remember to breathe while sucking and swallowing. But still, our best estimate for Morten coming home is around Christmas or New Years - it all depends on how quickly he figures everything out, and every baby is different, but the equivalent 36 - 37 weeks gestational age is typical.
Jim came back for the 4:00 feeding, and he got to try out some skin-to-skin. They also call this the "kangaroo hold". It's awesome - the best feeling in the world! And Morten settles right into it - his breathing and heartbeat become so calm and regulated.
These are such sweet pictures! Now I can tell how cute he is!
ReplyDelete