NICU Diaries: Week 14
Baby is 41 weeks corrected gestational age.
Read about last week: Week 13!
Day 92: Sweet Boy
I’m so glad to hold my baby again! ❤️❤️❤️ He made smiley faces, grumpy faces, and tired eyes at me which I couldn’t get enough of. I wore a mask just in case. I’m so proud of his hard work breastfeeding AND bottle feeding in one session. He’s eaten orally every feed so far, and building stamina. He was so grumpy while my sister and I went to lunch that he pulled his feeding tube out and had to get a new one placed.
My sister visited and held him while I pumped. She watched while I helped him get hydrotherapy and a bath. OT Larissa was so impressed with what a big boy he is! She made us laugh with her saying what Henry was probably thinking: “No Mom, I was so comfortable and don’t want to exercise” haha. Nurse Vee says she can’t imagine him being here much longer with all of his progress. Things are seeming hopeful!
Day 93: Swing Swing
Did I tell you that this kid moved up to Size 1 Diapers while I was out sick at home? Yeah, he’s huge! Still wants his diaper changed immediately, probably from all he went through with bum rashes and sores. His nurse told me he has a favorite book that she reads to him, “I Love You Like No Otter” and a Dr Seuss book about a polka dotted creature “Put Me in the Zoo”. He still loves this Mamaroo swing. I might have to look for one if he doesn’t take to the bouncer his grandparents got for him.
Nurse Vee said he has been getting really good rest today saving his strength. He slept through his noon Cares. He’s been losing weight the last couple of nights, so hopefully the rest will help him grow. We had a good breastfeeding session where he drank 12mL, then next Cares he bottle fed 26mL. I had the best time holding him and I think he missed me just as I missed him with how comfortable we were together.
Nurse Practitioner Anita and I discussed Henry’s bottles. Right now he’s on an “ultra preemie” flow in his bottle which is 3 steps below the level that everybody else starts out with. She says that we will give him until after the weekend to see if he progresses in feeding, and then we can talk about discharge. I wonder how I can better prepare for Baby Henry to be home.
Day 94: Rockstar
Our little boy ROCKED it and breastfed 35mL after hydrotherapy and a bath!! That’s amazing since he is usually wiped out. He breastfed 13mL earlier this morning, too.
Big Sis was my helper through it all. She comforted Baby with a binky through his diaper change, read Fairy Tales to him as he ate, held him while I pumped, kept him secure in the tub doing exercises in a 3-person assist with Occupational Therapy, soaped his hair for his bath, and gave him so much love. Nurse Coldir told me to get this girl a scrub already because she was a pro!
Trudy the Charge Nurse asked if one of the nurses who is also a professional photographer could take a photo of Henry sometime this week or next, and had me sign a release form. They are updating the portraits that line the walls of the NICU, and wanted to see if Henry could be part of it. I think he’s pretty cute and would love to see his picture when I visit! Lily said he’s going to be a model even earlier than she was.
Dr says we are just waiting for Baby Henry to “Feed & Grow”, and the amount of time needed depends on each baby so he just needs some more. Tonight they weighed him, and he gained 57g. He took 38mL from his bottle at his 6pm Cares, and then 33mL for his 9pm Cares so he has been doing very well with eating!
My glider / rocking chair arrived today! It’s currently in a box in the garage while we clean and prepare the house for Thanksgiving guests. Perhaps tomorrow we will be able to get it up the stairs and put together. For now I’m enjoying the mighty help from my sweet husband and kids, who scrubbed the walls / cabinets / stove / floors, and are chipping away at getting our home to some kind of order while we’ve been in “Survival Mode” for the last 3 months.
Day 95: Happy Thanksgiving
It’s like God knew that we were going to be late and cleared all the roads so that it felt like Sunday. Also, I got a front seat parking spot! L commented that I seemed to be in a very good mood haha.
L was thrilled to visit Baby Henry again with me. She shook so much from laughing while holding him that he’d pop an eye open and give her a “what’s going on?” look. We had mashed potatoes and gravy with stuffing from the cafeteria for my pumping and breastfeeding to tide me over until Thanksgiving dinner.
Baby breastfed 18mL in the morning and 20mL during lunch, he’s doing so much hard work! I think he prefers the left side because he didn’t want to eat from the right. He even was a tease and pursed his lips together tightly if I offered him a drink, then smiled.
It took a while to capture this photo, but he made smiles of all sizes at us all morning. I had to show Nurse Monique afterwards with how cute he is! When I was concerned if he actually gets rest while we hold him, she said that he sleeps better while snuggling than being in his bed especially when he’s a newborn age and getting older.
Day 96: Meeting Grant & Ashley
Baby was too tired to try eating at all when I arrived for his 9am feeding. He wouldn’t wake up even a little to eat from me, so we gavaged him while I finish pumping. Nurse Monique said he was uncharacteristically sleepy while she did his Cares right before, too. He bottled around 20mL every feeding last night, so maybe he just needed a break.
Our family visited from Oklahoma for the Thanksgiving break. He met Uncle Grant and Aunt Ashley, who hadn’t held a baby in a long time and were so sweet saying he smelled like New Baby. Jer did a great job bottle feeding him the most he’s done so far: 39mL! Soon after, Grandma Monica came and held Baby Henry who also met her husband Mark.
It’s Friday today, and the NICU announced that starting on Monday the visitor policy would change for RSV season. Instead of 4 people at the bedside there would only be 2. No visitors under the age of 5, including in the waiting rooms. All caregivers (Nurses and staff) would mask when getting in with the babies. They recommended we mask as well, but wouldn’t require it. The number of infections in the community must be high enough that they need to get stricter. Our kids won’t be able to see Baby Henry all at once in the hospital again.
Charge Nurse Trudy says that Henry should be home before Christmas if he keeps it up!
Day 97: Night Visit
We spent time with family in town for Thanksgiving, and had family time Christmas tree shopping during the day, so I visited Baby Henry in the evening.
This sweet beautiful boy only practiced breastfeeding today because he extracted zero during test weights. I pumped for 5mins before we started so not sure if that affected it, but he was sucking and getting frustrated so I suspected he didn’t get anything.
Poor baby had so much gas. I was helping him with bicycles, rubbing his back, rubbing his belly, doing frog legs, and patting him gently. We did Cares and nurse Annie had to weigh him naked, but I left before his feeding. I hope he takes a bottle well.
Day 98: Snow + Siblings
He breastfed 33mL!!! Jenn from lactation (my favorite Baby Whisperer) helped me with emotional support and encouraging Baby. Baby listens to her! She is confident about what he’s telling her. How did she know he was getting milk? Instead of looking for a swallow by the throat, she watched his face and saw his eyebrows go up like he was excited about getting milk. She’s amazing.
He did 46mL bottled at his 3am feeding!!? He does so well when Nurse Annie feeds him- all his 40+ bottles were her. They are going back to glycerin enemas as needed and putting him on prune juice to help with the gas and passing his stools since he’s so grunty making noises working hard on it to the point where it disturbs his feeding and sleeping.
Today was the first time it snowed! I could see the wet large flakes from his hospital room’s giant windows. I had church for the first time at the hospital in the chapel with other visitors and staff, and stayed for a talk and a musical number before lunch. The calzone wasn’t as good as their pizza.
The kids and Jer braved the weather to visit Baby Henry before we had dinner with family in town. Walker held him for the first time and was thrilled. Each sibling held him for 10 minutes. This is the last time they can all be in the same room together at the hospital for visits now that it’s RSV season.
Check out more weeks from our NICU journey here.
