A huge thank you to Billie Gary and Auntie Bridge and Uncle Daniel for watching the kids this morning. Soooo nice to be able to go in today.
The magic continued from last night. James left before I did, but I made it to the hospital before rounds. We had some time to take a number of cute pictures before we were called back. Timmy was alert and in a great mood! LOVE this smile!
Hate how many times he has had to have his heels pricked.
And more sweetness.
Very nice to have us both there as Dr. Greenfeld (one of the surgeons) was rounding in our room when the NICU doctors were discussing Timmy so I stayed with our little guy and James went out with Marieann. (Funny thing, she is the mother-in-law of the brother of one of my best friends from college. Today is the first time she has ever had Timmy.) Dr. Greenfeld looked Timmy over - the incision is still red, but just at the site. Belly looks good, not much distention, in his opinion. He gave Timmy the green light to start feeds and asked if I have breastmilk. Why, yes! Yes I do! So he also gave the green light to skip the Pregestimil. For now, at least. If Timmy has any problems, we may have to go back to that, but breastmilk is the next easiest thing to digest so Dr. Greenfeld doesn't think Timmy should have any problems with it. Alas, we do have to start back at ground zero so we started at 5ml at 11:00, increasing 1ml q. 12. Ah, the relief of being able to feed your child! He has been squirming every night at 11pm (and I'm assuming every 3 hours before and after) at his feeding time. Poor thing! Five milliliters seems like such a tease, but I know we'll get back to where we were in no time!
I also asked him, prefacing that I realize he isn't the one who performed the surgery and that Dr. Cosentino has the final say, what his opinion is on doing Timmy's laryngoscopy. Are we at a point where his belly looks good? Should he be able to have the surgery right now? Monday? Longer? He first responded that he was the one who initially said that Timmy needed to have something done about his belly, he just wasn't able to perform the surgery at that time. But he does think that Timmy should be ready for extubation at this point from a GI standpoint. When I heard that, I just wanted to run him down to Dr. Parry myself!
I was very impressed with Dr. Greenfeld. He doesn't waste time, but he doesn't rush either. He takes the time to talk, to explain, to teach, but not to chit-chat and delay helping others. So our conversation didn't last long and I was able to catch the last half of rounds.
Timmy had a repeat eye exam (again, routine for preemies) and zone 3 is still avascular so he will have a repeat in two weeks. The nurse practitioner, Krista was on again, said that's the way it goes, avascular, avascular, avascular and then suddenly vascular. I think this will be his fourth appointment, so....
The doctors are happy with Timmy's progress. Dr. Edde is still on for the week. It was strange not having Melissa there. I miss her already! Timmy was put on CCK and Ursodiol again for the TPN-induced bilirubin on Monday and he doesn't look quite as green. They had just broached the subject of feeding when Dr. Greenfeld walked in and ruined my chance of making his announcement before him. However, I'm sure the doctors found it more believable from him that Timmy could start feeds again and skip the Pregestimil. He also told the NICU staff that he thinks Dr. Parry should be in the clear to extubate so they are going to set that up for either Monday or Tuesday. (Can't put into words just how far away next week seems right now!)
We spent another hour or so with Timmy and I was able to introduce him to our friend, Debbie, who happened to be at UMC at the same time with another friend. Good timing! It was funny to hear her comment on how small Timmy is when he's grown so much! However, 5.5 pounds for a termie is pretty small, so gestation-wise, he's definitely still on the small side. (He's still 3 days away from his due date of 7/4.)
Just a great morning all around!
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