Another Day in the NICU

So Eli had another good day. We started the day with an hour of snuggle time. This was the first time I got to hold him since Sunday, so I was happy and so was he. Baby spent most of the day resting. He had a few desats but nothing to write home about. Overall he's been tolerating his feedings very well too. No poops so far though, so hopefully in the next few hours we get one. Because he's been having so many blood draws, his levels of red blood cells are really low and seeing as he's just a lil guy he can't replace the lost cells fast enough. So today we got our first transfusion. To put it into perspective, he has 3 ounces of blood in his entire body. 1 ounce= 30mL, each blood draw is 1-2 mLs, plus he gets his blood sugar checked. Over the last few days this has started to take it toll, and become really evident on the CBC, his hct is 27 for all you medical peeps out there. So he got 13cc's of blood today and will be getting the same amount tomorrow. He tolerated it well, he's already more pink.
So we finally got the results of the blood culture, it is a staph infection, it hasn't cleared yet and because of that they think it might be in his central line. So this evening his central line was removed and he will now be getting his TPN through a peripheral IV. So far the results are negative on the lumbar puncture but the cultures grow for three days.
Eli is moving around even more than he has been, love to see him feeling better. His cry is so funny though I think it sounds like an angry kitten, Omie thinks it sounds like a little mouse. I'll have to get a video on here so ya'll can here it. He weighs 2lbs 15oz, he was down to 2lbs 9oz so thats pretty darn good. He'll probably be three pounds by the end of the weekend. Anddd I have to go to the doctor tomorrow because I have this rash all over my neck and on my hands. We think its either hives or allergic reaction to these gowns they make us wear in here that you've seen in all the pics. But after a breakdown thinking I got the baby sick, I was told to go get it checked out to make sure it's nothing serious.

^This is how much 13cc's of blood is