Update 06/16/10
It has been over a week now that John has been home with us and things are progressing wonderfully. For people who are unaware: John came home with us on Tuesday, June 8th under the condition that we have him on a monitor for his heart and breathing. The monitor has only triggered a handful of times and all have been false alarms. John is gaining about an oz a day and the last time we weighed him he was at 6lbs 5oz. He’s eating approximately 3-4oz a feeding so he’s been keeping his mother very busy.
Unfortunately baby John still has his nights and days mixed up a bit but he’s getting better. For the first few days we had him home he would wake up every hour to feed, but he would sleep all day. We have reversed this for the most part but he still gets really stubborn when he wakes up in the middle of the night!
Tummy time (putting John on his belly and letting him squirm) sessions have been proving very beneficial. John is getting pretty good at holding his head up and when he’s on his belly he can lift his body and scooch around quite a bit. It’s also a great method for tuckering him out at odd hours of the night when he’s wide awake!
Update 06-06-10
Tiffany and I just talked to the doctor and inquired about John’s departure home. He informed us that the monitor will be read tomorrow at 1:00PM and if the doctor on duty decides from the information logged that John is ready to come home, he will be home with us on Monday. Should the doctor decide to prescribe John caffeine or some other stimulate they will keep him for a few more days to monitor the effect of the drug. We will then be able to bring him home with a monitor.
Let’s cross our fingers and hope for tomorrow!
Update 06-05-10
Baby John has been doing great these past few days. He hasn’t been holding his breath much at all while eating and his heart-rate has been much more stable. On Friday John was put on a monitoring device that records his heart-rate and breathing. He will be on this monitor until 1:00PM on Monday to determine how well he has progressed, if he’s ready to come home, and more importantly if he will need to be prescribed caffeine. All signs point to him coming home on Monday and the nurses and doctors have been pretty confident in telling us this.
A few days ago John had developed a yeast infection on his tongue but he has been getting antibiotic cream every 8 hours and it’s clearing up very quickly. His jaundice has cleared up completely and he’s looking less and less like an alien each day!
Update 06-01-10
Baby John is out of his incubator and in to his crib! He’s still in the NICU in the hospital but we suspect he’ll be coming home with us very shortly. (tomorrow, oh please tomorrow!) He didn’t hold his breath while feeding at all today while we were feeding him and his general attitude is much more energetic. John is also eating a lot more volume as well (almost 60ML per feeding) and is letting us know when he’s hungry. We’ve benefited greatly having him stay at the hospital from the interaction we’ve had with his nurses and doctors but Tiffany and I are both ready to have him home with us.
Update 05-31-10
No more IV! — Baby John is progressing well and is showing great improvements with his breathing and feeding. Yesterday we started putting him to breast for the first time and he took to it quite well. The nurses haven’t had to use the feeding tube for several days and have decided to remove it along with his IV that was feeding him glucose due to his low blood sugar. This morning they turned off the lights for his jaundice so he doesn’t have to wear his mask anymore. Every day we’re seeing him smile more and more. His energy is much higher and he has definitely learned how to cry when he’s hungry.
His weight this morning was 5lbs 9.6oz. Tiff and I can’t wait to have him home with us. We’re pretty damn sick of the hospital and hearing the same thing from different nurses every 4 hours!
