Today this little guy and I are hanging out ALL day, for the first time! When I walked in his room this morning this is what I saw. My always naked baby was sporting his first outfit and was swaddled with a blanket! Cue the happy tears (which doesn't take much these days!) I know he is doing well but for some reason seeing him dressed like a "normal" baby and wrapped in a blanket instead of laying naked in his diaper with all his wires exposed just made it all the more real, and I probably sounded like a crazy lady as I kept telling the nurse how excited I was to see him wearing clothes!! Tonight I will be washing and labeling all his preemie clothes to bring with me tomorrow, yay!! :)
Spending all day with him ensures that I am there when Dr. Clark makes her rounds. The nurses are great at giving us a full report of what she says if we miss her each day but it's nice to have the chance to talk to her and ask her questions. Drake was weighed today and is up to 3 lbs 6 oz, still 3 oz shy of his birth weight but he's headed in the right direction. He continues to do well on his feeding schedule and is up to 20 ml every 3 hours. It's still a small amount but considering he was only taking 4 ml a few days ago this is great progress! Prior to giving each feeding the nurse checks his aspirates (a fancy word to say she attaches a syringe to his feeding tube and pulls out what is left in his stomach to measure it.) They want to make sure he is digesting his food appropriately and this keeps them from over filling his stomach if he still has some left from his prior feeding. For the most part he has been able to move the food through his body well. This morning he had a 5 ml aspirate but the nurse turned him on his stomach for a short time hoping that would help him move it along and it did the trick. Drake got a good report from Dr. Clark with her mentioning they would keep a close eye on the aspirates and would slow down his feeding schedule if he needed more time to get used to the increased volume. Other than that he's doing everything they expect of a 32 week old!
We've filled our day together singing songs and chatting. It's a pretty one sided conversation at this point but he doesn't seem to mind. :) Tonight Andy is bringing Kellan over so he they can finally meet. We were initially told that only kids three and older were allowed in but apparently there is some leniency when it comes to siblings and the nurse said she didn't think it would be an issue. He asks about Drake often and I'm not sure he believes he really is a big brother yet since there is no baby at our house, so a visit should help! I am SO excited to have both of my boys in the same room, even if it is only for a short amount of time.
My singing and long talks have put Drake to sleep and as you can see he is clearly very interested in what I've had to say!
The picture below is from last night. He always looks so relaxed and comfortable when he is snoozing away.
Sitting with him today I've spent plenty of time looking at his monitor. Several times throughout the day it has looked like this, which is the best sight ever!
The top green line shows his steady heart beat at a rate of 152 and the yellow line below it shows his consistent deep breaths at a rate of 70 per minute. The smaller box to the bottom left is his neighbor who the nurse is also responsible for. This way she can keep an eye on both babies no matter whose room she's in.
It's been a great day spent together and we are thrilled at his progress!
That much time to have physical contact with him does wonders for both of you. Keep it up.
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