NICU Diaries: Week 7
Baby is 34 weeks adjusted gestational age.
Read about last week: Week 6!
Day 43: Roasty Toasty
Dr is upping Baby’s potassium, sodium chloride, and chloride to counteract the loss of electrolytes from his maintenance diuretic.
Henry’s Nurse Hailey said he was “roasty and toasty” so she swaddled him loosely to let him vent a bit. He had been fussy all morning going from peaceful rest to a 212 heart rate in 20 seconds. When I got there, he was so tired which was unlike him, but I guess that’s what happens when all morning you’re awake and using all your energy. I got a taste of that towards the end of our 2 hour skin-to-skin session when I’m sure he was sweaty and too warm just wanting to be comfortable.
2050g.
Day 44: Open Crib
He is in a Big Boy Bed (open crib)! And apparently he ripped his feeding tube out and had to be retaped twice on Nurse Brenda’s shift, and once right before she came on. It’s the same nurse who gave me predictions the other day 😆 Today says he has a “determined air”, and she wants me to come back in 2 years to update her on how he grows up.
Baby is back to CPAP for breathing; they weaned him off the NIPPV.
The therapy team taught me how to give him a baby massage with oil and everything while doing skin-to-skin, and he LOVED it so much he slept deeply on me.
Nurse Eliza says that tonight he gained 26g and weighs 4lbs 9oz.
Day 45
He ripped his feeding tube out all the way again before I arrived. A nurse put it back in his mouth, 10 minutes later his nurse had to re-tape his face. He was super warm so we let him air out while doing cares. I was in the middle of getting a massage lesson when they found out the eye doctor is coming and Henry is having an eye exam, so they needed to get him ready by dilating his eyes with those eye drops that sting. They couldn’t reach his eyes because they’re really swollen while the CPAP mask is on, so had to take off all of the stuff on his face first. And they had to do two sets of those eye drops five minutes apart. I wasn’t going to hold him because we will just have to put him back as soon as the eye doctor comes. I didn’t realize how not fun. The eye exam is, involving metal clamps that keep his eye open and metal things they put in his eye- dr. Jen told me it’s kind of distressing for parents to watch. But she encouraged me to hold him because we don’t really know if the eye doctor is going to be here in five minutes or 2 1/2 hours and I might as well hold him because Henry is gonna be upset once the doctor gets here anyway.
They said baby is doing fantastic! He is still in zone two almost zone three for his eyes. His next eye exam is in a couple of weeks instead of next week so that’s good!
Day 46
Day 47
Day 48
Day 49
Check out more weeks from our NICU journey here.
