Sunday/Monday

So Sunday morning I come into the hopsital like usual except that I'm dressed to go to church. So my hair is down and I have make up on. The doc comes in looks at me and says,"do you know when mom's coming in so I can give her an update on the baby"..........

So I tried to nurse him and instead of sucking on what he was supposed to, he decided his thumb would be a better option. So that was kinda frustrating. When Omie n I went to church, Grampa stayed at the hospital to hold the fort down. He got about three hours of cuddle time with the lil guy. Not bad!

It was great to be at church, but we had to leave a little early to get back for bath time and another feeding attempt. This was his second bath of his entire life! He loved it!!! And now he's not stinky anymore.

Omie don't blind me with the flash please!!

 

He goes in swaddled so he can gradually get used to the water

this is all very boring to him

getting behind the ears, you have no idea how stinky they are!!

Grampy and Gramma came to visit and each had some cuddle time. He was so tired out from his bath that when it was time to try out his 6p bottle he wouldn't even wake up. He did end up taking a  little over half a bottle at midnight last night. He's weighing 4 lbs 14.8 oz... so close to 5lbs!!

This morning when I came in, I was told that his red blood cell count was pretty low. His Hct was 23 and we want at least 30. So probably explains why he's not doing very well and getting tired soo quickly with the oral feedings also why he is desating as much as he is. Its nothing abnormal, we were told when he had his first transfusion that he would probably need another one before he left. His labs show that he is growing new red blood cells, he's just growing faster than he can make them, so he needs a little boost. The cool thing is that he can use the same donor blood he had last time. When you get blood you are at risk for a transfusion reaction, which is basically the body rejecting the donor blood, its pretty serious. Seeing as he already has had this blood before, we know that he tolerates it just fine. The nurse still comes in and assesses on him very frequently. So for the next 3 hours its 26cc's of blood and the same deal tomorrow. Hopefully it will give him what he needs to get us over this last hurdle and out the door. Thanks for all the prayers, his IV went in on the first try, he barely even cried. The nurses were soo surprised it went in so easily, she said she was prepared to have to get the doctor in to do it. If you remember from a few weeks back the boo boo on his head is from an IV because they couldn't find any usable veins anywhere except there. God is good!

This last picture is of Jon, the day he came home from the hospital...Remind you of anyone we know?

Bottle Time!

 Eli had a good day. Spent time with Grampa n Omie. Tried a bottle for the first time, he did really well. I'm tired so we're not going into a lot of detail.  He weighs 4lbs 12 oz.

I look like I'm deep in thought, naa just watching the monitors. 

Friday

Sometimes I feel like we have been in the NICU foreverrrr. Today I was saying to Jon, it feels like we are never going to get out of here. Then we see this video that's been going around facebook today of the baby who was in the NICU for 107 days...YIKES!!! We are so blessed with how well he is doing. Things could have been a.lot.worse.  Have you seen the video? (all the stuff in the hospital is a lot like what we experienced when he was a lil lil guy)  I have to say that woman looked great throughout the video. I gotta step up my game, I mean I roll into the NICU in sweat pants most days, hair up in a ponytail, no make up with no sleep..so pretty scary.
Anywaysss baby is doing good. Less desats today but still some. Did a little better with the breastfeed, got a few cc's from me. Will try a bottle tomorrow but still continue breastfeeding attempts as well. The doctor told us today that as far as his hernia repair is concerned, the day he is discharged, he will be discharged to CCMC or Yale depending on where we go and he will have the surgery that day or the next. He should be in hospital just a few days after the repair AND THEN we can finally be home. This evening he was wide awake for over an hour, which was a record for him. Grandpa n Omie are here. We had a delish dinner with them this evening.

Love the blue binky, his grey eyes, and the yellow in his hat

daddy giving him his dinner

Trying to get him suck his binky during feedings help him get the idea that he needs to suck for his belly feel full

Knock It Off Eli!!

Seem's like we have been saying this a lot over the last few days. This is a phrase we use when he starts to desat. Alarms go off, which is a terrifying, stressful, and annoying sound that I haven't gotten used to even after 41 days in the NICU. Anytime his oxygen saturation dips below 89% the alarms go off, even if it's just for a second. Lately they have been going off a lot more because we are asking more from him. The breast feeding attempts are just wearing him out. By the end of the day he is exhausted, and most of the time he's not even doing much of anything with the breastfeeding. But the more tired he gets, the harder it is for him to breathe. Its nothing to be super concerned, most of the time he is at 100% but he dips down and then pops right back up. It's something he has to grow out of and something we have to start pushing him with to build up his strength and stamina. Next week we are going to try bottle feeding as well. Regardless of how much progress we make with breastfeeding, he is going to need to bottle feed when he leaves here to get meds and he wont have the stamina for exclusive breastfeeding. So we'll do both when he comes home.
 So our days are just lots of cuddling and working on the feedings. 4lbs 9.9oz. Here's some pics!