Week 11: March 31st - April 6th

Day 72: Monday, March 31st
As of this morning, they are trying Landon off of vapotherm and on low-flow "bubbler" oxygen that is mixed with some moisture.  He is on .5 LPM of flow and 50% concentration.  His feedings are also up to 29 mL every three hours... that is 1 mL less than an ounce!  His length was 41 cm again (16 1/4 inches), his head circumference was 30.5 cm -- I also found out it was only 23 cm at birth, it's amazing how much he has grown.  His weight was 1613 grams -- still 3lb 8oz.

Fast asleep

I helped with his bath today and just  held him skin-to-skin because he was too sleepy to breast feed.  He was satting really well while I held him, about 96% the whole time.  He made cute little cooing and sucking noises while I was holding him.

Day 73: Tuesday, April 1st
Little Landon was weaned down to .3 LPM of flow on his oxygen today!  He was at about 64% concentration, but the doctor is more concerned about weaning the flow first in order to prevent drying out his nasal passageway.  He weighed 1680 grams, so 3lb 11oz!

He was sound asleep at 1:00 pm, even during his cares, so I just held him skin-to-skin while he slept.  He was wide awake at 4:00 pm, so I tried nursing him.  He stayed latched for 18 minutes and sucked for about 9 of them.  That is the longest he has ever lasted!  His feedings were increased to 30 mL today ( 1 whole ounce), so they were able to withhold about 20 mL of milk from his tube feeding to allow for what he ate while nursing.  For me, it was a moment of feeling very accomplished as a mother.  I have worked so hard to keep at pumping in order to experience little moments of success like this!

Day 76: Friday, April 4th
Landon just keeps getting bigger and bigger! He weighed 1770 grams tonight, so 3lb 14oz.  He is also 36 weeks gestational today.  During his bath he just looks around and coos and makes little noises that are so cute.  Then I was able to nurse him and he ate for about 8 minutes.  After nursing, I laid him on my chest and he just looked around with wide eyes for another 10 minutes before falling asleep.

Wide-eyed little boy

His oxygen needs are still fairly high on the bubbler oxygen.  His flow is about .6 LPM and his concentration is in the 50s and 60s.  We are starting to look for a pediatrician and get Landon's room ready for him to come home. I also got the ok to finally stop monitoring my blood pressure today!

Day 78: Sunday, April 6th
Landon moved into an open-air crib today! It's kind of scary to see him unprotected outside of the isolette, but it is also great to see him making such progress.

Landon's new open-air crib!