April 20, 2010

Benjamin is a proud member of the Kilo Club (he weighs at least 1000 grams)! We were presented with an “award” today with his hand and foot prints on it. It’s absolutely adorable!

He had a dye study done this afternoon to see if there were any strictures or obstructions in the top part of his intestine (before the ostomy). We’ll get the official results tomorrow, but they will most likely start his feeds very soon. He’s still at risk for NEC which make us so nervous, but the longer they hold off the breastmilk, the less likely his intestines will function normally. The next few weeks are going to be stressful and difficult for us and for him as he’ll most likely tolerate some feeds, but not others. He’ll start off with only a few drops and they’ll gradually increase the amount if all goes well. We still don’t know how much “good” intestine he has left below the ostomy, but that dye study won’t be done for awhile.

The desats haven't lessened, and they’ll probably continue for another few weeks if not longer. We hope that as he grows, and his lungs get bigger, he’ll be able to regulate and maintain his oxygen levels. We’ve noticed a few more apnea spells, but he seems to be able to bring his heart rate back up on his own and fairly quickly.

Since he’s been off the Fentanyl, we’ve noticed he’s become extremely sensitive to sound again. We need to whisper when we’re in front of his isolette or else he’ll become agitated. There’s a NICU nurse who is an absolute sweetheart, but has a boisterous voice. She was talking to us the other day and Benjamin started to squirm and his vitals were all over the place. Well, we peeked into his isolette and his little hand was covering his ear. We got a kick out of that! Thankfully, there aren’t many babies in there right now so Benjamin has a Bay all to himself and he’s had peaceful and quiet nights.