New Family Photo before Josh's bath :)
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Why did you wake me up?
Monday, August 13, 2012
Big Weekend
Big things happened this weekend which could speed up the timetable for Josh coming home.
On Friday he received his last dose of caffeine, one week earlier than we expected. He is now in the seven day period where the caffeine leaves his bloodstream. He is still having 1-2 brady's a day but the doctor's say most babies begin to outgrow these around 36 weeks gestation.
Yesterday he took his first full feeding from a bottle. Although he is not ready yet to take all feedings this way it is a big step. He also tends to wake up around his care times (every three hours) which is a good sign that he is getting hungry around the time when we want him to eat.
He was also moved to low-flow oxygen on Sunday after only one week on the high-flow. This is just straight oxygen with no extra pressure for his lungs. They started him at 40% oxygen yesterday morning and he was already down to 30% oxygen by mid-afternoon.
The next big things are another eye exam on Friday, and a brain scan next week to make sure everything is developing properly. We are also going to work with him on strengthening his neck and legs with different exercises.
On Friday he received his last dose of caffeine, one week earlier than we expected. He is now in the seven day period where the caffeine leaves his bloodstream. He is still having 1-2 brady's a day but the doctor's say most babies begin to outgrow these around 36 weeks gestation.
Yesterday he took his first full feeding from a bottle. Although he is not ready yet to take all feedings this way it is a big step. He also tends to wake up around his care times (every three hours) which is a good sign that he is getting hungry around the time when we want him to eat.
He was also moved to low-flow oxygen on Sunday after only one week on the high-flow. This is just straight oxygen with no extra pressure for his lungs. They started him at 40% oxygen yesterday morning and he was already down to 30% oxygen by mid-afternoon.
The next big things are another eye exam on Friday, and a brain scan next week to make sure everything is developing properly. We are also going to work with him on strengthening his neck and legs with different exercises.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Steps to coming home
We get asked all the time when Josh will be ready to come home and the answer is that we really don't know. Initially we were told that we could expect him to be in the hospital until around his due date (September 15) but it could be sooner or it could be later. These are the steps he needs to take to be ready to come home.
1. Maintain his body temperature- This was the first milestone reached when he hit the 4 lb mark.
2. Take full feedings for all meals from the bottle- In the last few days Josh has shown interest in the bottle and has taken anywhere from 15-20 mls from the bottle at about a third of his feedings. Right now a full feeding for him is 45 mls.
3. Go from the high flow nasal cannula to a low flow nasal cannula. Currently he is on a flow of 2 liters and this will need to decrease to 1/8 of a liter and then they will put him on low flow oxygen.
4. Be off his caffeine and have no incidents of bradycardia for five days. When he is about 36 weeks gestation (one week from now) they will try taking him off the caffeine and seeing how he does. The caffeine remains in his bloodstream for a week and then after that time the five day countdown will begin. If he drops his heart rate any time during this five day countdown they start over with a new five day countdown.
5. Smaller things- pass his eye exam, hearing test, car seat test, sleep without extra support around his head or feet, etc.
And now, a new picture :)
1. Maintain his body temperature- This was the first milestone reached when he hit the 4 lb mark.
2. Take full feedings for all meals from the bottle- In the last few days Josh has shown interest in the bottle and has taken anywhere from 15-20 mls from the bottle at about a third of his feedings. Right now a full feeding for him is 45 mls.
3. Go from the high flow nasal cannula to a low flow nasal cannula. Currently he is on a flow of 2 liters and this will need to decrease to 1/8 of a liter and then they will put him on low flow oxygen.
4. Be off his caffeine and have no incidents of bradycardia for five days. When he is about 36 weeks gestation (one week from now) they will try taking him off the caffeine and seeing how he does. The caffeine remains in his bloodstream for a week and then after that time the five day countdown will begin. If he drops his heart rate any time during this five day countdown they start over with a new five day countdown.
5. Smaller things- pass his eye exam, hearing test, car seat test, sleep without extra support around his head or feet, etc.
And now, a new picture :)
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Staying off the c-pap
Josh has been doing really well off the c-pap so far. Hopefully we have made it past the critical point and he will be able to remain on the high flow nasal cannula. Right now he is on a flow of 2 liters and they will eventually wean him down to 1/16 of a liter. Then he will go home on oxygen with a low flow (no extra pressure). They have also moved his feeding tube to his nose which means he will be ready to try bottle-feeding soon.
Josh has lost a little weight due to the Lasix which is good because he is less puffy. He will probably have to go home on a diuretic to help him with the common problem of edema.
Josh has lost a little weight due to the Lasix which is good because he is less puffy. He will probably have to go home on a diuretic to help him with the common problem of edema.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Trying it off the c-pap part three
Third time's the charm, or so we hope. For his two month birthday Josh is trying it on the high flow nasal cannula again. We hope that this will be the time when he is able to stay off of the c-pap for good. They will wait to change his feeding tube to his nose until they are sure he has adjusted well to the high flow.
This weekend he also had his second eye exam which came back with good news, he still have immature eyes but no signs of ROP (Retinopathy of prematurity). This is good news and he gets to go another two weeks without another eye exam. Josh also had his first set of immunizations on Saturday and got through them with no side effects.
Earlier this weekend we thought Josh might need another blood transfusion as his hematocrit levels (red blood cell count) was low, but after testing it again it came back in the low range but not dangerously low. The doctors did another test and found that he is producing his own red blood cells now so we hope he won't have any more major problems with anemia.
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| I'm two months old! |
This weekend he also had his second eye exam which came back with good news, he still have immature eyes but no signs of ROP (Retinopathy of prematurity). This is good news and he gets to go another two weeks without another eye exam. Josh also had his first set of immunizations on Saturday and got through them with no side effects.
Earlier this weekend we thought Josh might need another blood transfusion as his hematocrit levels (red blood cell count) was low, but after testing it again it came back in the low range but not dangerously low. The doctors did another test and found that he is producing his own red blood cells now so we hope he won't have any more major problems with anemia.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Baby of the week
Every week the NICU chooses a baby to highlight as "baby of the week". This week is Josh's turn and he gets his picture on the board at the front of the NICU. It says his age, weight, what he wants to be when he grows up (a concert pianist and pro golfer) and his favorite thing to do (pull on his tubes).
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