They gave Matthew another try on the nasal cannula, and this time, he did great! (As opposed to last time, which one of the nurses described as "he failed spectacularly.") The plan is to have him on it for three hours a day for now, with the rest of the time on his CPAP. He was fine for that amount of time, just having one apnea episode at the end. Then Mike held him this afternoon for about an hour and a half with the cannula on, and he was also fine (just one little apnea episode in the middle). As you can see from the picture, the cannula is a lot easier to deal with than the CPAP -- much smaller tubes!To our surprise, they also gave James a try on the cannula, but (not surprisingly) he wasn't ready for it yet. He's doing pretty well on the CPAP, but he still has occasional times where his heart rate goes low (bradycardia) and he needs a bit of extra oxygen. They've actually changed James to an older type of CPAP that has a mask that goes over his nose. The bubble CPAP (the newer one) has prongs that go in the baby's nose, and they were starting to cause damage to James's nose. (Poor James -- one more challenge the little guy didn't need!) The mask version seems a lot more comfortable for him. And it was easier to hold him with it, too, because it's less likely to slip out of place.
Matthew continues to gain weight. His feedings are up to 16 milliliters at a time, and they're continuing to increase them. And he's gotten the meconium out of his system -- he had his first yellow-colored baby poop today. (Woo-hoo! And also, gross!)
Matthew's hematocrit levels are a little low; this is basically anemia, which is common in preemies. He doesn't seem bothered by it, but they may give him a blood transfusion to get his levels up if they drop lower.
James actually lost a few grams yesterday, so they're changing his IV fluid mix to give him more calories. (Too bad he can't just have some extra dessert!) He got upgraded to preemie size diapers today, but not because of his size -- but because he was peeing through the smaller ones!
Matthew's hematocrit levels are a little low; this is basically anemia, which is common in preemies. He doesn't seem bothered by it, but they may give him a blood transfusion to get his levels up if they drop lower.
James actually lost a few grams yesterday, so they're changing his IV fluid mix to give him more calories. (Too bad he can't just have some extra dessert!) He got upgraded to preemie size diapers today, but not because of his size -- but because he was peeing through the smaller ones!
Mike is now calling James "elephant boy" due to his new "trunk". That's not a very nice daddy!
6 comments:
I didn't realize that Mike was so grey. (That is Mike's chest upon which Mattie is lying, correct? :)
Yes, that is Mike. I have an old man's chest hair. Unruly and grey. The last 8 years have been tough on me.
Mike
Just wait for the next eight! :)
Hey, way to go with the poop, Matthew! Say so long to the icky-sticky meconium that stains everything it comes into contact with. And James, not to be outdone, peeing up a storm such that his diapers runneth over.
We pray for you every day, that the boys will continue to grow and thrive. They have already passed so many important milestones, and every day brings them closer to HOME! :)
Down the line, they'll probably mix human milk fortifier with the boys' breastmilk. I used to joke about the stuff being Weight Gain 4000 from South Park. Imagine Cartman screaching, "Beefcake!!!" :D
Cindy -- yep, they're getting extra calories/fortifier added to the breastmilk! (It was kind of funny -- whoever first told me about that looked a little concerned, like I might be offended that my milk wasn't enough by itself. But I say bring on the calories!)
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