Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Well, Feliz Cinco de Mayo! It really was a happy day for us. The kids and I had a picnic lunch under the pine tree by the swing set. Listening to Trevlyn try to tell Auntie Bridge that we had taquitos for lunch was highly entertaining. Bridgette was over Monday and started telling Trevy "Princess Trevlyn" stories. Apparently mommy's version isn't nearly as good as we have had to keep calling Auntie Bridge since!
I also got to use my new stoneware loaf pans for the first time. They arrived about 2 days after my membranes ruptured. I must say they work right well! Combined with Miki's recipe, they were two of the most beautiful loaves I've ever made!
I took one of the loaves with me to the hospital last night because I knew Laurel was back. Hoping we would get to have her again. We did! I love that she's such an advocate of Kangaroo Care. It really is so much more special than just getting to hold baby. She told me when I got there that his belly really didn't look good to her - too big - but she hadn't seen him in a week and the other nurses assured her that it's been looking big. She seemed quite concerned and again repeated that I needed to talk to Timmy about pooping.
We got right to task. She had just finished his cares. His eye is looking much better and he miraculously put on another 10g! So he's now at 1290g. Still not quite 2 lbs. 14 oz., but still growing! He has lost most of his lanugo now and his arms and legs don't look nearly as wrinkly as they did when he was first born.
We snuggled from about 9pm until 11 and then he started getting pretty fussy. His desats dropped into the low 80th percentile. Not terrible, but not good for the long term. So she bumped his oxygen back up from room air (21%) to 25% and that did the trick. He also set off the apnea monitor a few times. I tried moving him from my chest to my arms, left arm, right arm, centered in my lap, gently rocked on my forearms... He honestly just looked so uncomfortable.
Laurel and I were able to chat a bit more - poor lady had an 8am meeting, 12-hour night shift, 9am MRI this morning and another 12-hour shift tonight. She lives in Sierra Vista so going home between appointments really wouldn't work. Hope she got good news this morning and has been able to nap since!
She told me again that his belly just looked so uncomfortable to her and she thinks that's why he was so irritated.
At midnight, the time had definitely come for me to pump again and get a little more sleep of my own. Also time for cares again. We always get all the tubing and wires bunched up so, while Laurel was straightening them out, I took diaper duty upon myself and, lo and behold, a poop! He was obviously still working on voiding, but there was enough that Laurel was able to note a definite softening in his abdomen. It was about that time that I learned he was back on feedings again. However, this time, instead of periodic feedings at regular intervals, he was now on a continuous feed line that would deliver 2ml of breastmilk by gavage to his little tummy over the course of an hour. When she checked, Laurel was able to draw out about 3 ml but the only thing in his tummy was partially digested milk, no more bile and very little air.
Interestingly, Timmy is still passing meconium, the first baby poops. The stuff really does look like black tar! In term babies, the meconium is entirely passed within the first 48 hours or so. Apparently that's another difference with preemies. Probably because, yet again, their excremental system shouldn't be having to work yet either.
Hoping he'll keep pooping. His bilirubin level was about 5.8, which was really high for him right after birth but, since he's grown, it's now within acceptable limits.
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