Day 69 of Life - UPDATE

Ma stuck around the hospital tonight to give the little one his 9:00 feed orally. The nurse told her that she should breastfeed, so they weighed him and breastfed him for 20 minutes. However, when they weighed him after the feed, he had lost 20 g!!! It turns out that the scale isn't working properly.

The nurse decided to pull his feed back through his NG tube, so that they could determine exactly how much milk he had eaten. It turns out that, after just as much work as he did this afternoon, he had only eaten 1.5 mL of breastmilk!!! So, the nurse gave him a full feed via pump.

However, this does mean that the information posted earlier about his 3:00 feed is likely inaccurate, as they used the same scale this afternoon. This is slightly disappointing, but the little one definitely has the method down! He has absolutely no problems with the mechanism of oral feeds (suck, swallow, breathe), which is often the hardest part for preterm infants to learn.

So, we'll see how tomorrow's feeds go!!!

Day 69 of Life - August 26th

Last night, Ma was talking to little Sha's nurse last night about bottle-feeding and Ma gave them the go-ahead to try it. So, at his 9:00 feed last night, Sha had his first oral feed by bottle. He did so well, that they decided to try an oral breastfeed this afternoon. In order to track how much he eats at breast, they weigh him before, with his clothes and monitors on, and then weigh him after. The nurse told Ma to try feeding him for 20 minutes and see how he did. Ma also received many helpful breastfeeding tips and feels prepared for this part of the journey.

So, after 15 minutes, the little one fell asleep and Ma couldn't get him to wake up. They finally decided to call it quits and put him on the scale to measure how much he ate. A full feed for him is 36 cc...but when they weighed him (which they did 3 times to verify), they discovered that in his 15 minutes at breast, the little piggy ate 42 cc of breastmilk!!! No wonder the little one didn't wake up...he was full to the brim.

The staff talked to Ma today and said that it would be really good if he had 2 bottlefeeds and 2 breastfeeds a day. However, this will only happen if Ma is at the hospital, as it's really hard for the staff to keep up with bottlefeeds (they are labour intensive). So, Ma has booked a room at the Ronald McDonald House and will start staying there on Monday. She has booked a room for the next 2 weeks... The little Turkey is certainly progressing well and Ma will be there every step of the way.

The Newest Pics

Day 68 of Life - August 25th

Sorry for the late post, but I decided to wait for Ma to get home from bath night, so I could report his new weight! Without further ado...I am happy to report that the Little Turkey now weighs 1915 g (4.222 lbs). Go, piggy, go!!!

Otherwise, not too much happened with the boy today. He went to breast again today and Ma got some more breastfeeding tips from her nurse. He seemed pretty happy, but kept falling asleep! His eyes appear less swollen today and Uncle Kabooblah came for a brief visit.

Ma has started bringing outfits from home because her and Pa discovered that the NICU outfits were too short on the little one! He was in an outfit with feet the other day and his long legs were all scrunched up!!! So, he's in one of his cute little outfits from home.

Pa went home at nursing handover, as he has to work in the morning and needed his beauty rest. Ma felt like chicken wings, so the two of us went and grabbed a bite to eat. She also had a beer to help her milk supply. (It supposedly helps!!! Or it could just be an excuse!!!) She then went back to the hospital for bath night.

HR finally got Ma's sick leave pay right...surprise! However, she still has to fight for her maternity leave, but she's more prepared for that battle now.

She has also asked me to let everyone know about a website, www.save.ca . If you visit this website you can select coupons from a wide variety of options, including baby supplies, food, laundry detergent, hair dye, etc. You can select coupons every 2 weeks and they are mailed to your house. There is always something for everyone!

Day 67 of Life - August 24th

Little Sha is much the same today as he was yesterday. He remains on LFO and is having some minor desaturations, but he's pretty much able to self-regulate now.

He went to breast again today and Ma reports that he managed approximately 20 sucks, with some napping in between!

The only difference with him seems to be his alertness. Yesterday, he slept pretty much the whole day. But, when Ma gave him his bath last night, he was wide awake. He sure loves his bath time! When she took him out of the water, he got sooo angry that he turned purple! A huge temper for such a little baby!!! Today, he seems to be a little more active. He's moving around a lot more and when Ma got to the hospital today, he gave her a little wave!

Since he was weighed the night before, he didn't get weighed last night before his bath. He isn't going to be weighed tonight...unless his nurse gets curious about his weight gain...so, he'll be back on schedule tomorrow for bath and weigh-in night!

Comparison - "Can you see the difference?"

Since pictures are going to be limited over the next few days, I thought it would be interesting to do a little comparison...

Little Sha...just after birth on June 18th.

"Little" Sha...during his bath on August 20th.

Day 66 of Life - August 23rd

On his first full day post-surgery, the little one continues to amaze everyone. By this morning, he was up to full feeds and exclusively on LFO. He has remained on LFO all day, without any desaturations and seems to be quite content.

The little superstar also went to breast for the first time today! They gave him a feed while he was at breast, so that he will associate a full tummy with breastfeeding, and Ma says that he did quite well. He kept falling asleep, but like many other babies, would wake up enough to try a few more sucks before falling back to sleep!!! Ma reports that he achieved approximately 20 sucks for this attempt. Good job, little man!!! The nurse told Ma that she should put him to breast once a day, to help him practice.

The staff did weigh him last night and he is up to 1895 g (4.178 lbs), which isn't bad considering he stopped receiving feeds in preparation for his surgery yesterday. Ma and Pa are currently grabbing a bite to eat before returning to the hospital for bath and weigh-in night!

His eyes are still really sensitive and he doesn't open them a whole lot. When he does, he closes them pretty quickly! So, for the next few days, pictures are going to be severely limited, as the flash really bothers his eyes. However, when he heard Ma's voice today, he opened his eyes briefly, as if to verify that his ears weren't playing tricks on him.

He also had a physiotherapy consultation today, which is standard procedure. The physiotherapist checks his physical development to make sure that he is on track. I'm happy to report that she expressed no concerns at this time. Although not an official test, she also says that he seems to be able to see and hear well. Both of these senses will be tested officially before he gets sent home...which won't be for awhile yet, but he's on the right track!

Day 65 of Life - August 22nd

The little turkey continues to rest and Ma and Pa have gone home for the night, for some much needed R&R. Sha's eyes are swollen and the staff says that they will likely remain that way for about 5 days or so. He is still doing well on the Aladdin, and is down to 37% oxygen, which is good. What he will be looking forward to the most are his feeds, and his nurse is going to give him half of a feed around 6:00 to see how he handles it. Knowing the boy, this will go over with no problems and he'll be ready for full feeds in no time!!! Here's hoping, anyway!

Tonight was scheduled to be bath and weigh-in night, but the nurses, in consultation with Ma and Pa, have decided to put that off until tomorrow, to give the little one more time to recover from his eventful day. So, I should have a new weight tomorrow...stay tuned.

Ma and Pa know that people are curious about the "next" baby that will be added to the Babooblah clan and Ma has asked me to let everyone know that another "natural" Babooblah baby will not be in the future. Measures are being taken to make sure this doesn't happen by accident!!! She has asked me to post the paragraphs below to explain why:

If patient developes severe preeclampsia before 28 weeks, recurrence rate in subsequent pregnancy is 60%. One third of those will be before 28 weeks again.

Preeclampsia and other hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are a leading global cause of maternal and infant illness and death. By conservative estimates, these disorders are responsible for 76,000 deaths each year.

Ma's blood pressure started to become a problem at 8 weeks and little Sha only made it just shy of 26 weeks before having to be delivered. Although he is doing incredibly well, considering all of the challenges he could face (knock on wood), there is no guarantee that the next baby will do as well. It simply isn't worth the risk, for either Ma or the baby.

As an aside...Welcome back, Dr. B...it's good to hear that one of our most faithful readers has made it back home safely!!!

Surgery Update

I am happy to report that little Sha is back from surgery and doing well. He is currently on the Aladdin and there are no concerns to report from his surgery. They were able to use a mask during the actual surgery, so they didn't have to reintubate him. He is currently resting, under the watchful eye of Ma and Pa.

Day 64 of Life - August 21st

So, it's confirmed...little Sha is scheduled for eye surgery tomorrow at 12:00 to treat his retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). They will have to reintubate him for this surgery and take him to the operating room. Basically, ROP is the growth of abnormal blood vessels in the eye and to treat this, the physician "zaps" the areas of the retina with a laser that do not have blood vessels. This slows down the growth of the abnormal blood vessels and hopefully, will stop the progression of the disease. However, with this treatment, there is some damage to the peripheral (side) vision, but without the treatment, blindness could result. So, the little one will likely have to wear glasses, but considering the alternative.... Ma has also given permission for the physician to use cryotherapy, in case the laser goes down (although this has never happened). With cryotherapy, the physcian touches a tool that causes freezing temperatures to the retina. I will update the blog tomorrow as soon as I have word about the surgery.

As for feeds, the "famished one" has almost made it through Ma's reserve of breastmilk. She figures that there is only about 2 days left in the freezer. After he goes through that, he will get the milk that Ma pumps daily, plus he'll be supplemented with formula. He is also receiving his feeds by pump now. Before, the nurses would manually push the feed through a syringe into his feeding tube. However, he continued to have small regurgitations so they have switched him to pump feeds, which give the feed more slowly (over 45 minutes). He seems to be handling this better.

Sha has been on LFO since approximatley 4:00 am today. He was on the Aladdin and choked, decreasing his heart rate and making breathing very difficult. So the staff had to "bag" him (manually breathing) for 2 minutes, until he got in control again. After that "episode", they decided to put him on LFO, which he has been on ever since...and seems to be doing well.

Other than that, nothing to report. Ma and I went shopping after I got off work and we picked him up a new crib attachment for in the NICU. He really enjoys his aquarium, but it doesn't play music anymore. So, Ma bought a Winnie the Pooh light that plays music, has moving lights, and also projects rotating objects onto the ceiling. Already, Sha is learning to share, becuase I'm sure the his neighbours will enjoy the light on the ceiling!!!

Splish Splash I was taking a bath...

Day 63 of Life - August 20th

Little Sha seems to be enjoying his new crib. He was able to maintain his temperature last night, so that isn't a concern anymore. He also got a new fish aquarium to hang in his crib...and he likes to spend time staring at the lights. Ma and Pa are going to buy him one for home, since he loves it so much.

He managed to do 3 hours of LFO today, 2 hours of which he was kangarooing on Ma. He also had a few small regurgitations of feeds today, but not anything too serious. He is now receiving 36 cc every 3 hours and he has managed to go through the hospital stash of his Ma's frozen breastmilk, so Ma had to make an emergency trip in this morning with some of her reserve. Luckily, she was able to make it in time for his 9:00 feed!!! We certainly wouldn't want that to be delayed!!!

Tonight was weigh-in and bath night. The growing turkey is now up to 1875 g (or 4.134 lbs)!!! Eat, sleep, eat, sleep, eat, sleep...he knows what he has to do and he's doing it well. He is also now dressed in an outfit from Kimh and family...which looks really cute on him. But, in all honesty, wouldn't he look cute in pretty much anything?!?!?!

NICU Blankets

Grandma McF and Aunt JoJo have asked me to let everyone know that if is anyone is interested in purchasing flanelette (30") for NICU blankets OR donating money to buy flanelette for same...$4.00 per blanket for good quality material and Aunt JoJo will launder, cut and surge them for the hospital.

If anyone is interested, please e-mail babyshabooblah@hotmail.com