NICU Diaries: Week 12
Baby is 39 weeks corrected gestational age.
Read about last week: Week 11!
Day 78: Masked Up
Walker is at the tail end of a phlegmy cough since Thursday, so I stayed home with him and waited to visit baby tonight after a shower and masking. Walker and I went on a dog walk, had lunch together, and he showed me all his Lego creations.
The hospital told me that Henry got a bottle evaluation at the session before I would visit. The occupational therapist thinks it’s worth seeing where he’s at with that and one time shouldn’t confuse him with bottle and breast. During the evaluation he was fussy and had a hard time, but he did well with sucking on milk drops that they put on a pacifier. We will be working on skin to skin and just creating positive experiences.
They decreased his calories added from 28 cal to 24 cal, and also added a little bit of the full term formula powder to my milk. Other than being intermittently irritable, he was doing well.
He was so tired (probably from the evaluation earlier). I held him skin-to-skin the whole time I was able to at the hospital and yet it didn’t feel long enough. His vitals were the most relaxed I’ve ever seen him, with heart rate in the 130s and respiratory rate in the targeted 30-60 range ideal for feeding down the road.
He has his first hydrotherapy session tomorrow, so that his little bum can feel nice in the water and he can strengthen some of his muscles. I’m really looking forward to seeing him so happy during it.
Day 79: Hydrotherapy
Our neighbors picked up the boys for me today, so I was able to stay at the hospital longer. Henry will have hydrotherapy Tuesdays and Thursdays so that he gets relaxation and stretching at least twice a week. I chose to observe for today, and next time I’ll participate. The Occupational Therapists introduced him to the water slowly in a swaying motion that was calming for him, and exercised his legs in the water for as long as he would tolerate (about 10 minutes). As he does it more often he could build up to longer, but we just want to make sure we don’t push him because it needs to be a positive experience.
Nurse Britney opened all the windows and it really brightened the room! We have “the suite” or as some nurses call it “the penthouse” with the lovely view, “the best room in the house”. What an honor, it’s such a blessing that if we’re going to be here for a long time it will be in such a nice room.
Lactation helped me try breastfeeding, so it was by his lips and just waiting for him to decide he’s hungry enough to try, but he didn’t root. We tried some ways of waking him to see if he’d be more active, but he was tired from his spa day. After 30 minutes we put him skin to skin on me, and Rachel from lactation said he was calm and relaxed and happy and it will build trust, so this was good. It’s just taking time.
Day 80
Day 81
Day 82
Day 83
Day 84
Check out more weeks from our NICU journey here.
