Sorry for not posting yesterday - we got so many comments about not updating the blog - it's nice to know so many people are following it. Thank you - it really does mean so much to us to know how many people care about BBN and our family.
BBN continues to do well. Tomorrow they will take him off the nasal cannuala which means he'll be breathing 100% on his own. Hopefully he will do well. We'll keep everyone posted.
The other exciting news is that last night he made it up over his birthweight. He is now 4lbs 1 oz. Hopefully we will continue to see steady weight gain from here on out.
If he does well off the oxygen, his main issue will be feeding. Like most premies, eating from a bottle is very difficult for BBN. Right now they are offering him the bottle at every other feed and feeding through the tube at every other feed. He has been spitting up a lot of his tube feedings, since he can't pace himself on a tube the way he can with a bottle. They are now programming his tube feedings to extend for a full hour so that his stomach doesn't get too full (they tried over a half hour, but he was still spitting up a lot) Hopefully once he makes a full transition to the bottle we wont' have to worry about this. It is common for premies to have reflux issues and worse case scenario there is a medicine they can give him if it persists.
The exciting news is that he drank his 5pm bottle tonight in about 10-15 minutes which is the best he's ever done - so we know he can do it.
If he starts feeding well then there is a chance we can bring him home next week, but we'll just have to wait and see how he does.
Thanks again for all of your love and support. We look forward to reporting more good news and hope to have BBN home soon.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Day Fifteen Update
BBN is two weeks old today! In some ways it feels like he's been around much longer than that and in other ways it feels like he was just born yesterday. He continues to make slow but steady progress. The doctors are a little surprised that he did not pick up bottle feeding right away since babies usually can handle this by 36 weeks (what BBN will be gestestionally tomorrow) - but given his rocky start they say it makes sense that he is making slower progress than they would otherwise expect. Right now they are offering every other feed by bottle and giving ever other feed by the tube because they don't want to tire him out too much. We hope he will pick up bottle feeding sooner rather than later since that will be one of the main factors determining when he can come home.
BBN also has to start gaining weight a little more consistently so that he can tolerate being in an open air crib to be able to come home. He is hovering close to the 4lb mark, but just can't seem to get over it. He keeps losing and gaining and losing and gaining. That's one of the reasons they don't want to bottle feed him at every feeding - because then he will burn so many calories eating he won't gain weight.
If he starts eating better and gaining weight in the next day or two, the soonest he would be home would be Saturday or Sunday - they need to see some consistency over a 3-4 day period. However, it could also be longer if he doesn't pick up bottle feeding this week. So, we'll just have to wait and see what he does.
We did speak to the moyel today about a bris and found out he needs to be off of oxygen for seven full days and close to 5lbs before he will do it. So it seems that we will have to hold off for a bris and naming - sorry to disappoint everyone. Ilan's bris took place when he was 5 weeks old - hopefully we won't have to wait longer than that this time around!
BBN also has to start gaining weight a little more consistently so that he can tolerate being in an open air crib to be able to come home. He is hovering close to the 4lb mark, but just can't seem to get over it. He keeps losing and gaining and losing and gaining. That's one of the reasons they don't want to bottle feed him at every feeding - because then he will burn so many calories eating he won't gain weight.
If he starts eating better and gaining weight in the next day or two, the soonest he would be home would be Saturday or Sunday - they need to see some consistency over a 3-4 day period. However, it could also be longer if he doesn't pick up bottle feeding this week. So, we'll just have to wait and see what he does.
We did speak to the moyel today about a bris and found out he needs to be off of oxygen for seven full days and close to 5lbs before he will do it. So it seems that we will have to hold off for a bris and naming - sorry to disappoint everyone. Ilan's bris took place when he was 5 weeks old - hopefully we won't have to wait longer than that this time around!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Day Thirteen & Fourteen Update
BBN had a good weekend. He got moved to a less critical room in the NICU, which is a good sign. This morning he actually took a whole bottle by mouth - which was exciting - although other feeds today he hasn't taken anything at all and had to be given the whole feeding by tube. We remember this stage with Ilan - some feeds are great, others are not - and it just becomes a waiting game for when they finally get the suck,swallow, breath sequence down. Hopefully it will be sooner rather than later.
BBN is still getting some oxygen through the nasal cannuala, but it's very minimal and he probably won't need it for too much longer.
Another big step that we are looking forward to is BBN's move from his isolet into an open crib - which could also happen in another few days.
Of course we'll continue to keep everyone posted throughout the week and hope we have good news to report.
PS - Thanks to those of you who pointed out that Kerry called BBN, Ilan in the last post. She is doing that all of the time and will be much happier once we can announce BBN's name at his bris - no word yet on when that can be, but we'll keep everyone posted.
BBN is still getting some oxygen through the nasal cannuala, but it's very minimal and he probably won't need it for too much longer.
Another big step that we are looking forward to is BBN's move from his isolet into an open crib - which could also happen in another few days.
Of course we'll continue to keep everyone posted throughout the week and hope we have good news to report.
PS - Thanks to those of you who pointed out that Kerry called BBN, Ilan in the last post. She is doing that all of the time and will be much happier once we can announce BBN's name at his bris - no word yet on when that can be, but we'll keep everyone posted.
Friday, February 20, 2009
BBN had a really good day today. He drank almost a full bottle! It's amazing how fast they learn. Yesterday they tried and he didn't know what to do and today he drank 25 cc's! (The last 5 cc's they had to give through the tube because he was too tired) The best part was that Kerry got to give him the bottle and David can stop on the way home from work to see if he'll take it again at the next feeding. It's a lot of work for BBN, but we're excited to see that he can do it.
We remember with Ilan that we used to have to fight with him and squeeze his cheeks to get the bottle in his mouth - hopefully this time around we'll have fewer feeding issues.
BBN and Kerry also got to do kangaroo care for a full hour and all of his numbers (heart rate, respiratory and oxygen) remained at perfect levels! It is so exciting that every day we are at the NICU it seems that we can be more involved in BBN's care and we are starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel!
We posted some new pictures above - the first three are his first photos without the CPAP where you can actually see his face. The last one is a picture of Kerry holding BBN for the second time. (In typical Newman fashion our batteries died in the camera the first time we held him...oops!)
Looking forward to reporting more good news over the weekend.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Day Eleven Update Continued
Just a quick update before we call it a night - BBN is doing well. He was struggling a little without the CPAP so they put him on a nasal cannula which provides very minimal pressure to help keep his lungs open. After some adjustment time, he seems to be doing well on that and most likely will be able to come off of it in a couple of days.
The nurse tried to give him a bottle this morning, but he wasn't yet able to coordinate the suck-swallow-breath pattern neccessary so they will try again in a day or so.
The great news is that Kerry got to hold BBN for an hour today skin to skin as part of kangaroo care which is very beneficial for pre-term babies. BBN did really well - keeping all of his numbers - respiration rate, heart rate and oxygen saturation - right where they need to be.
Now that BBN no longer has the CPAP in we can see much more of his face and we got some better pictures today. Hopefully I will get the chance to upload them and post them to the blog tomorrow.
The nurse tried to give him a bottle this morning, but he wasn't yet able to coordinate the suck-swallow-breath pattern neccessary so they will try again in a day or so.
The great news is that Kerry got to hold BBN for an hour today skin to skin as part of kangaroo care which is very beneficial for pre-term babies. BBN did really well - keeping all of his numbers - respiration rate, heart rate and oxygen saturation - right where they need to be.
Now that BBN no longer has the CPAP in we can see much more of his face and we got some better pictures today. Hopefully I will get the chance to upload them and post them to the blog tomorrow.
Day Ten & Eleven Update
Sorry for not posting yesterday - we needed to catch up on some sleep so we figured we'd wait til this morning.
Great news to share - Baby Boy Newman is off the CPAP! They took him off about a half hour ago and so far so good. They will keep a very close eye on his breathing throughout the morning. There is a chance they may have to put him back on, but we are hoping for the best. If he stays off of it, that will be one more major step on his journey to recovery.
He is also up to 15mg of food per feeding and doing well on it, which means they can decrease the amount of nutrition he is getting through the iv. Depending on how well he does off the CPAP, the nurses may try giving him 5mg in a bottle later today to see if he can get the suck, swallow, breath pattern down.
Kerry did get to hold Baby Boy Newman again yesterday and this time he was able to tolerate it for about 15 minutes so we are making progress. Today the nurse wants to try "kangaroo care" which is where you hold the baby skin to skin on your chest so that your heartrate and breathing can help stabalize his. She thinks this may be good for him so we will give it a shot!
We'll try to post another update at the end of the day today to let you know if he managed to stay off the CPAP. Hopefully we'll have good news to report!
Great news to share - Baby Boy Newman is off the CPAP! They took him off about a half hour ago and so far so good. They will keep a very close eye on his breathing throughout the morning. There is a chance they may have to put him back on, but we are hoping for the best. If he stays off of it, that will be one more major step on his journey to recovery.
He is also up to 15mg of food per feeding and doing well on it, which means they can decrease the amount of nutrition he is getting through the iv. Depending on how well he does off the CPAP, the nurses may try giving him 5mg in a bottle later today to see if he can get the suck, swallow, breath pattern down.
Kerry did get to hold Baby Boy Newman again yesterday and this time he was able to tolerate it for about 15 minutes so we are making progress. Today the nurse wants to try "kangaroo care" which is where you hold the baby skin to skin on your chest so that your heartrate and breathing can help stabalize his. She thinks this may be good for him so we will give it a shot!
We'll try to post another update at the end of the day today to let you know if he managed to stay off the CPAP. Hopefully we'll have good news to report!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Day Nine Update
Kerry got to hold Baby Boy Newman today! It was very exciting, although she could only hold him for five minutes because his oxygen level started dropping. She is trying not to take this personally since apparently this is very normal for NICU babies. (We never experienced this with Ilan since we were able to hold him from day one). Since they are not used to being held, they have to get used to the sensation and it takes their bodies a little while to adjust. Apparently each day we can hold him a bit longer and he should adjust sooner rather than later.
In other good news, they have started to feed Baby Boy Newman again and so far he seems to be tolerating 5mg of milk every three hours. He digested his 8am and 11am feeds and hopefully will continue to do well throughout the day. If so, they will give him 10mg tomorrow and keep increasing the amounts slowly. Right now he is being fed through a feeding tube that goes into his mouth and down into his stomach. They won't start feeding by mouth until he is off the CPAP since it will be too difficult for him to eat and breath at the same time.
The CPAP is down to "room air" on the oxygen level which means that he is breathing the same air that we all do - with no extra oxygen. Now he is just getting pressure from the CPAP that helps keep his lungs open.
Kerry also got the pleasure of changing Baby Boy Newman's diaper today. Sounds very ordinary but when you haven't been able to have so much contact with your baby it's the little things like that, that make you start to feel like you are the child's parent.
We are getting there slowly but surely. We are excited that each day brings improvement and looking forward to seeing our little guy grow stronger every day.
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