Restart

They restarted James's feeds today, at a very small amount (1.5 ml per hour continuous). Although they decided to do this on the morning rounds, for some reason there was a delay in getting the orders (the official instructions from the doctors authorizing the nurses to give feedings, meds, etc.), so he didn't actually start getting the formula until 5 PM. It's only been about four hours, but so far, so good.

They also gave him a dose of Lasix (a diuretic) last night, because he's still retaining lots of fluid. (His weight is now over 7 lbs!) It sounds like the Lasix helped a bit. The doctor thinks that the fluid retention is due in part to not having the right protein balance; if he starts tolerating feedings, that should also help get his fluids back in balance.

We didn't make it in to the hospital today. (Just typing that makes me feel terrible!) We had planned to go this evening, but when we talked to his night nurse, she said he was sleeping, and she encouraged us not to move him around if we came in -- because if he does throw up, they want to be able to know that it's a problem with him tolerating the feeds, not because he got jiggled around or held in a position he didn't like. That makes sense to us. We want to give him the best chance possible to do well with his feedings. So, it probably wouldn't do him much good for us to be around right now, although it's extremely hard to go a day without seeing him. I'm still reserving the right to make a midnight run over there, though! :)

It's kind of a Catch-22. We want him to know that his parents are there for him, taking care of him and loving him, but we don't want him to miss us when we're not there. (I suspect that at this age that might be somewhat possible; I don't think babies necessarily have the best sense of time, and they do sleep a lot!) And we feel bad because Matthew is getting almost-constant attention, and it's not fair to little James! Of course, as my mom pointed out, neither one of them knows that.

In any case, we're sure to be there in the morning because we have to take Matthew for a weight check at the pediatrician. Hopefully he'll still be gaining weight despite his habit of falling asleep midway through his meals; I now have a renewed appreciation for the phrase "sleeping like a baby." I've heard many complaints from friends about babies not sleeping, but it turns out it's equally difficult (at least right now) to wake up a baby who doesn't want to stay up!

Mattie managed to get his thumb into his mouth a couple of times today, and he seemed to be interested in watching his hands, too, which was fun. I don't see the thumb replacing the pacifier any time soon, though.