Gavin 2 days old. - Update d 11 pm

4/24/08 - morning weight: 6 lbs 0 oz.

2:00 a.m. I woke up very ticked off that they didn't wake me up for his 1 a.m. feeding and I went to the nursery to see what was going on. They said he hadn't digested much of the 10 pm feeding so they were going to wait to feed him til 4 a.m. (they use the tube to extract the fluid from his belly to see how much is still in there - he was fed 10 cc's at 10 pm and at 1 a.m still had 9 cc's in his belly).

4:00 a.m. - 2nd attempt at nursing went same as the first. He wouldn't wake up to try so again he got 10 cc's via tube. They also moved his I.V. from his arm to his foot because his hand swelled up pretty bad.

6:00 a.m. today's labwork back - no infection so antibiotics ordered to be stopped at 2 pm. Bili levels 11.3 :(

7:00 a.m. - I.V. moved from his foot to his head because his foot started to swell. Also OG tube moved from his mouth/throat to his nose because he kept trying to pull it out plus they wanted to make trying to nurse easier.

11 a.m. - another try at breastfeeding. Again he would not wake up - he's getting more and more yellow looking too :( I did finally get it in his mouth though and he gave a couple 'sucks' here n there. They're weighing him before and after and he did gain 0.3 of 1 ounce so he did get a little bit. He was then given 10 cc's via tube.

2 pm - Neonatologist ordered the iv fluids to be lowered and will continue to be lowered more the more he eats. Another try at nursing, this time he woke up just a little bit and latched on a couple times. Not a great latch but much better than last time. He did however lose 0.2 of an ounce this time due to him being a bit more active during this feeding. He did get some milk though via breast, about 5 cc's. Then they gave him another 5 cc's via tube.

It's 4 pm now and I'll get to go try to feed him again at 5 :) Here's hoping he gets a good latch and eats n eats :) Will update more later.

6:00 pm - HE ATE!!!!!!!!! I went in for his 5:00 feeding and he was wide awake finally. I held him and he was fascinated looking all around for about 5 minutes then I offered him the breast and he started going at it like he had done it for years!!! He nursed for 8 minutes straight then stopped to let out a couple burps then latched right back on for another 5 minutes stopping to burp another 4 times. At that time the neonatologist came back in so we weighed him again (first right b4 the feeding) and he gained 8 grams from that feeding which they say is about the same as drinking 8 cc's then he drank another 13 cc's from a bottle. The neo. said that he wants him to eat about 25-30 cc's per feeding - he can be at the breast for 20 minutes, no more as to not wear him out, and if he doesn't get that amount from the breast he can take the rest from a bottle. They turned the iv fluids down again, he was getting an 8mL (or mg i dont know) drip and they cut it down to 4. If he keeps up eating well and the amount the dr wants him to through the night the iv can come out in the morning and he can leave the special care nursery and start rooming in with me!!! =) He's still pretty yellow so I'm really hoping his levels are good in the morning. The neo said as long as they are under 13 he will be happy - anything above 13-14 he's going under the lights. I am just So so happy that he finally nursed :) I worry a bit about nipple confusion since they gave him a bottle too But I found out that they've been giving him a paci (against my wishes) and he's been liking that and he still nursed great so hey whatever it takes to get him in here with me :) He will always get breast before bottle and this last feeding he didn't seem to mind the transition from one nipple to the other one bit. Next feeding will be at 8:00 unless he shows he's hungry before that. Oh yeah and he pulled out his feeding tube just before I got in there for the feeding. Since he ate so well they are not going to put it back in :)

8:00 pm - well this feeding didn't go well :( ugh what a freaking roller coaster ride, he wouldn't wake up to nurse and lost 2 grams during the 20 minutes we tried. So then the nurse tried the bottle and of course he wouldn't wake up for that either so she basically forced it down him, 13 cc's worth. At least it was enough to avoid them putting the feeding tube back in. I'm hoping the 11:00 feeding goes better. I hate this schedule crap. NONE of my kids were ever on any kind of feeding schedule. I really believe that if they were to take all that crap off him and let him in here with me that we could get the feedings going. If I was stuck in a room under a heating lamp all day I'd do nothing but sleep too!! The up and down emotions are exhausting. Not only am I away from my 5 babies at home but I can't spend the time I want with Gavin either. Sure I can go in there any time I want but having to sit there in that chair and hold him with all the wires is rough. Well off to surf the web a bit, 1 hour 20 minutes left til next feeding time and hopefully it will be an "up" time.

11:00 pm - He was wide awake when I went in to start his feeding. And he nursed the full 20 minutes!!! He gained 16 grams too! Afterwards he drank another 12 cc's from the bottle so a total of 28 - WOO HOO!!!!!!!! Dr. wants 25-30 cc's per feeding. Here's hoping he does the same for the 2 a.m. feeding! I'm hoping that by tomorrow he'll be able to get the full feeding done during the 20 minutes of nursing and not need the bottle afterwards.