Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine’s Day! The nurse put on Andrew’s Valentine outfit today, compliments of our good friend Nikki; however, it didn’t last through the day. I was holding him for his feeding via the gavage tube and when the nurse was getting it started, part of it came off and milk went everywhere…all over Andrew and me. So after he ate I had to change him immediately so he wouldn’t get the chills. I attempted a quick picture through the isolette, but there was a glare and then he blocked his face before my camera died. So that started the day and he was exhausted after that. Plus the nurse tried to bottle feed him that morning and he was just too tired. Today’s nurse provided me with some literature on both Understanding Apnea and Feeding and Nutrition. Apnea is a pause in breathing that can last longer than 15-20 seconds, cause the baby’s heart rate to slow down, or causes the baby’s color to change or blood-oxygen level to drop. This is observed by the monitor that they have Andrew on and if any levels drop, the monitor will go off. If it is severe the tone in the monitor will change. So we haven’t had a lot of apnea or bradycardia events; however, when learning to eat this has become more common. Of course it makes me very nervous but they have assured me that babies do outgrow this. It’s also important to let him have undisturbed sleep, hold him correctly (positioning his chin), watching his temperature, etc. So we still have a lot of work to do and most of it involves time and growth. The nurse today was a veteran…very helpful and realistic. She said the doctors wanted to put him in a crib, but she stressed that he was still young. As much as I want him to come home, I do not want to rush anything and have to come back to the NICU. She also said that he didn’t tolerate the vitamin that they started him on yesterday and that he needed to have it in smaller amounts. So she told the doctor and had it decreased. We are so thankful for all of the nurses. They spend 24/7 with the babies and they are their advocates.

I don't like the flash.

My valentine outfit...before the nurse drenched us in milk.