Week 15 - 16: April 28th - May 11th

Day 100: Monday, April 28th
Today marks Landon's 100th day in the NICU.  What a long, long time to be in the NICU.  But on the other hand, I am so thankful that he is with us and getting the care he needs and growing bigger and stronger.  The staff got him a cake and card, and everyone wished us a happy 100th day birthday.  Landon weighed 5lb 10oz tonight.

 

He was so excited, he slept through the whole celebration!

Day 102: Wednesday, April 30th
I gave Landon a bottle for the first time last night at 7:30pm.  He ate 31mL out of the 48mL that he is up to now.  Since then, he ate 49mL by bottle at 1:30 am, 37mL at 4:30am, and 48mL at 7:30am.  Then he nursed a full feeding!  What a big boy!  If he keeps this up, he'll be coming home before we know it.  IN the last 24 hours he was only gavaged two full feedings.  I am so excited to see his progress!

Day 104: Friday, May 2nd
Today was my due date.  It has been a hard day for me.  My mind has been flooded with reminders of what has happened and the dream that is lost.  I've been thinking a lot about how he should have been growing safely inside me until at least today.  I've been thinking about how big my belly would have been, how it would have been to see my baby poke a foot or elbow into the side of my belly so Mike and I could see and feel it.  I've been thinking a lot about how I never got to experience my third trimester, a normal delivery, or immediate bonding with my baby.

On the other hand, I am so thankful for Landon and the miracles that we have been blessed with.  I am so thankful he is receiving the care he needs.  We have been extremely blessed by many things that have helped us through this trial: Mike working hard so I don't have to work and I can be at the hospital for most of the day, me being able to withdraw from Weber State classes for a full refund in the first week of class, living with my parents so someone could do Mike's laundry, feed him and take care of the animals, having insurance at and delivering at one of the state's best NICU's, and being able to not get sick for 104 days and counting so we can keep going up to the hospital to see our little guy.

Landon ate pretty well today.  He nursed at 10:30am, ate 22mL at 1:30pm, nursed at 4:30pm, and ate 52mL at 7:30pm -- that's 4mL more than he needs! I know it's probably repetitious for me to keep listing how much he eats and when, but this is what you get excited about when you have a baby in the NICU!  These are the steps towards coming home and this shows his progress, eating is hard work for a little guy!

Bath time!

He sleeps through most of his baths, funny guy!

Day 107: Monday, May 5th
Landon weighed 5lb 15oz tonight, was 46cm long (18 inches), and his head was 35cm around.  Since 7:30pm last night, he has only been gavaged two feedings, and the bottles he has taken he has eaten full feedings! --which is now 50mL-- He is also back on regular wall oxygen at 1/8 LPM of flow, and they are trying his bed flat rather than inclined to see how it affects his reflux.

Day 110: Thursday, May 8th
Well, I was hoping I would have a baby home by my birthday, but I guess Landon never got the message.  Tuesday he ate all full feedings from 4:30 am to 10:30 pm.  But at 7:30 pm he spat up a bunch of milk as soon as I laid him down and held his breath to protect his airway.  Well, because he held his breath, his heart rate dipped to the 70's and would not come back up because he just kept holding his breath.  His face was turning purple and his eyes were watering even though I had turned him over and was hitting his back to get everything out.  I yelled for Calleen, the RT, that he wasn't breathing, so she and the RN came running and suctioned him to get all of the milk out.  He continued to hold his breath, however, and his oxygen saturation dropped to the 40's!  I was scared to death!  They had to put the CPAP mask on him to force him to take a breath and as soon as he did he started crying and his vitals came back up.  I held him up on my chest, he let out a big burp, and immediately fell asleep like nothing had happened!

So, after that episode he was exhausted and decided to sleep through a few feedings during the night and had to be gavaged.  We are kind of starting all over at working up to full oral feedings again.  One step forwards, two steps backwards...

He almost looks chunky here!

Shawn, the Nurse Practitioner, said we could try him on an ad-lib feeding schedule.  So he will be fed when he wakes up and acts hungry -- like a normal newborn -- rather than only be fed at care times.  He will have a 12-hour minimum to reach and if he doesn't reach it, they will gavage the rest.

Landon @ 40 weeks

Landon @ 25 weeks

Day 113: Sunday, May 11th

Today is my first Mother's Day as a new mom.  It was certainly not how I had always pictured my first Mother's Day.  I just want so badly to be with my baby all the time.  But I was thankful to be able to spend time with my little family at the hospital.  Landon has been waking up hungry and crying with his new ad lib feeding schedule.  It is definitely a developmental step in the right direction.  Now he is at least waking up and attempting to eat every meal, but we are waiting on him to be able to eat the entire amount at every feeding.

Imagine my surprise when I saw my little guy in the swing from the webcam at home!

First Mother's Day with my little guy

He weighed 2825 grams tonight, so 6lb 3oz.  He also has a hernia on the left side of his scrotum.  They are just watching it for now, but there is a 70% chance he will need surgery to resolve it.