3 days old - updated 9:30 p.m.

Friday 4/25/08 Morning weight - 6 lbs 0 oz.

First I want to say thank you to everyone for the congrats, thoughts & prayers :) Also a very special thank you to 2 wonderful women who helped me out more than they even know yesterday :) You know who you are! I am very blessed to have the online friends that I do.

2 a.m. - Gavin didn't want to wake up for this feeding :( I myself didn't go to bed til 1 a.m. so am exhausted, tried for about 1/2 an hour to wake him but he was just too comfy. I headed back to bed and the nurse went ahead and gave him a bottle which he took. Not sure how many cc's I'll have to ask her........hopefully it was 25-30 cc's like the dr. wants. He was fed that at almost 3 a.m. so we'll try to feed again at 6. Hoping he'll wake up and nurse for me. He'll have his labwork drawn later this morning, this time just for his bili levels and one other thing but I forget what. Those results are usually back in pretty quickly so I really hope his bili levels went down. The neonatologist should be in sometime this morning and I am going to push like hell to get that i.v. out and all monitors off. His breathing has been perfect so I don't see any need for all those monitors anyway. My poor lil guy smells like a big roll of tape! Here's a couple pics of him taken last night. Is he cute or what!? :)




6:00 am - Feeding went well :) He was wide awake and nursed for the full 20 minutes and gained 29 grams!!!

8:00 am - Just went to sit with Gavin and the nurse was in there taking his IV out!!!! :) They're getting ready to put him under the bili lights though. His level came back at 13 this morning so he'll be under the light and they'll recheck in the morning. As long as he continues to feed well today and his levels are down tomorrow then there's a good chance we can be coming home tomorrow!!!

9:00 am - Another good feeding!! He was a bit sleepy and only nursed for 10 minutes but he gained 15 grams :) He then drank a bottle of about 14 cc's. He's under the bili light now - it's a white single light rather than those blue ones, I asked about the difference and they said this one is stronger and works faster. Hey works for me!!

1:00 pm - Yet another GREAT feeding!! Did this one an hour late because we wanted to see if he'd wake on his own for a feeding. He did and nursed for the full 20 minutes and gained 27 grams then drank about 10 cc's from a bottle. His skin color already looked much much better just for the short time he's been under the bili light. The nurse told me however that at 11 a.m. he had a 'de-sat' is what I think she called it. Anyway basically he forgot to breathe and started turning a little blue and they had to rub on his back to get him to take a breath. They didn't seem to concerned about it but that scares the hell out of me!!! She said the neonatologists usually like the baby to stay 24 hours after one of those..........which I didn't expect he'd be released sooner than that anyway - just hoping and praying he doesn't do that again!! We definitely don't need any set backs. Now I'm gonna be a nervous wreck though and watching every breath he takes! Other than that though he is doing Great :)

4:30 pm - The best feeding yet!! He woke up as soon as I went back there and the minute he heard my voice his mouth was wide open searching lol. He latched right on and nursed strong for 20 minutes, took a little break to look around then nursed again for almost 10 minutes :) He no longer has to be weighed before and after each feeding AND since he's nursing so well he doesn't have to get a bottle afterwards either!!! Which Also means I don't have to keep pumping :) Whew I'm starting to fear that darn pump is gonna pull my nipples right off lol. His skin color is looking Great. The only hard part about today is I want to just sit there and hold him all day but I want him to be under the lights as much as possible so his levels will be great in the morning so I've been limiting my self to just holding him during feedings then cuddling with him for about 1/2 an hour afterwards. It's such a good feeling to see him so alert and feeding so well today :)

7:30 pm - Daddy was up for this feeding :) He did very good again nursing a full 20 minutes before going back to sleep. I'm a bit emotional right now though - I hope the neonatologist comes in soon so I can get a clue as to whats next. The day nurse said we'll probably go home tomorrow evening even after the 'de-sat' but the night nurse said she thinks we'll be here a couple more days. I know I shouldn't stress about it and should just wait to see what the Dr. says but this is hard!! I miss my husband - I miss my kids and I want my baby right here on me. I just saw 3 more people go home with their babies and it gets harder and harder with each one.

9:30 pm - Well I just went to ask the nurse if the neo was still coming in tonight and she told me he had already been here and somehow I missed him :( It must have been when I had to go to the other end of the hospital to pay for my nights stay. So I asked her what he said and she said she doesn't know anything other than she thinks he wants him to stay a couple more days because of the de-sat episode earlier and that there will be a neo coming in tomorrow that can tell me more. If he has to stay he'll have to remain on all the monitors but the nurse said she'll see what we can do about getting him in my room at least for feedings. I know him being back there is what's best for him right now but dammit it sucks! I go feed him in about an hour then I guess I'll try to get some sleep. I only slept 3 hours last night and about 4 the night before so I'm sure the lack of sleep will be taking it's toll on me soon.

11 pm - Another good feeding, only just over 10 minutes this time but he nursed strong the whole time.