Week 8: March 10th - 16th

Day 52: Monday, March 10th
Another good day for our Little Man!  He's down to 4.5 liters per minute of flow on the vapotherm, but still in the high 60's and 70's for oxygen concentration.  His feedings were increased to 26 mL every four hours and are still being supplemented with Vitamin D and a multivitamin with iron.  He weighs 2lb 9oz, is 15 inches long, and his head is 27 cm in circumference.

He had his first tub bath today!  I videotaped him while Jen the respiratory therapist bathed him, and he did really well!  He seemed to like it a lot more than his sponge baths.  He was so comfortable that he stayed asleep for most of it.  He is also wearing the bigger Huggies preemie diapers now, rather than the super tiny Pampers preemie diapers.  His feeding tube was moved from his mouth to his nose now that his nose is big enough to fit both the NG tube and his nasal cannulas.  We can finally see his whole mouth and little double chin now!

His first "tubby"

 

Day 53: Tuesday, March 11th
Landon had an eye appointment today to check the development of the blood vessels in his retinas.  So far they can't see any signs of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) which is a disorder many premature babies develop as their eyes mature.  Landon's eyes are still very immature though, so they will check them again in another two weeks.

Snuggle time

One of Landon's repiratory therapists

What a cute outfit!



Some of Landon's cute nurses and respiratory therapists

Landon weighed 1217 grams -- 2lb 10oz -- today.  He is growing so fast!  I changed his diaper at 12:00 pm and 8:00 pm and held him skin-to-skin for an hour.  I loved it so much!  He nestled into my chest and fell asleep.  His oxygen saturation and heart rate did so well while I held him.  His oxygen concentration was down in the 50's today. 

Day 54: Wednesday, March 12th
Another good day!  Landon's oxygen flow was turned down to 4 liters per minute, and by the time we left his oxygen concentration was down to 60%.  His weight was down a little today, only a few grams though.  Dr. Christensen said he is gaining an average of 2/3 oz each day, which is great for his age. 


He seriously melts my heart...

I got to bathe him swaddled in the tub today.  He was awake and wide-eyed the whole time.  He looked like he loved it. I also held him when Mike and I went back at 8 pm.  He is such a cutie!


Bath time!

Day 55:  Thursday, March 13th
Landon's oxygen concentration is down to 53% today and his flow is still at 4 lpm.  He was awake and wide-eyed during four o'clock cares while I changed his diaper and took his temperature.  It is so nice to be at his bedside and not hear his alarms go off every 5-10 minutes like they used to!  During the two hours I was there, he only de-satted once.  He has still been spitting up a bit after feedings, but he is still getting 26 mL of milk every 4 hours fortified with 24 calories.  He is still on morphine and versed alternated every 4 hours, Vitamin D, and caffeine to help his heart rate.  His oxygen parameters are even more narrow now.  His alarms go off when his oxygen saturation is outside of 88-95% instead of 85-97% like they used to.  He went to town sucking on his binkie while he was waiting for his feeding to start.  He weighed 2lb 11oz tonight.

Some more of his cute RN's and RT's

Day 56: Friday, March 14th
Landon did not really enjoy his bath time today, probably because his cannula kept pulling on the right side of his face and coming out of his nose.  It's kind of hard to enjoy your bath when you can't breathe!  Mike and I both held him up against our chests in his snuggly tonight.  He ended up throwing up twice before we left and soiling all of his clean clothes.  Shelby says it could be the mixture of drugs upsetting his tummy or the way we were holding him could have increased the air in his stomach.  He is 33 weeks gestational age today, so hopefully he will be home in 7 more weeks!

All tucked into his snuggly

Day 57: Saturday, March 15th
Landon's oxgyen concentration has been in the 30's-50's today, and his flow is still at 4 lpm.  He weighed 1308 grams today -- 2lb 14 oz -- double his birth weight!  Mike and I both went up at 4:00 pm, and Mike helped me dress him before we held him.  When we left him, he was sucking on his thumb.

New monkey blanket Grandma Lowe made



Daddy and Landon

Sucking his thumb