Look Ma, No Tubes!

Another good day today. He is up to 860 grams. He is breathing well and seemed to sleep a lot. His nurse this afternoon, Lisa G, thought he was sleeping so soundly that she put off changing his diaper for a while to let him snooze. His feeds are up to 10mls, and he's tolerating them so far. His bowels are moving, rather impressively at times. (I may never look at pesto the same way again). His color is good, and his belly is soft.

Kate and I did his cares at 11pm with the help of nurse Melissa. Kate is working up the courage to rotate him. His little neck is so fragile that it is a little frightening. It still requires the two of us. We're getting better, but it's not easy with so many wires to contend with and velcro diaper tabs that stick to everything.

Exciting news is that he got his first stuffed animal today. It is a Frosty the Bull beanie baby. It is only about 6 inches long but fits well in his isolet with him. We chose the bull for a couple reasons. First, he is a Taurus. Second, Kate has a bull from when she was a little girl. Its name is Basco and was the mascot for the old Tucson Toros minor league baseball team. He wears a bit of a scowl and a frown which reminded Kate's father of her when he tried to wake her up in the morning. Henry has a similar scowl that we see quite frequently as he is poked and prodded.

Today was also rather amusing in that he pulled out his feeding tube not once, not twice but three times. He also pulled out his pic line. The feeding tube is rather simple to reinsert. The pic line is a bit more of a concern as it goes through a vein either in his leg or arm and feeds right up next to his heart. Fortunately they were able to put a new pic line in his leg without a problem. The old one had been in his arm for a couple weeks and the tape holding it down had become loose due to sweat.

It might seem kind of silly but I feel proud of our clever little boy. I never imagined myself as one of those parents who go on about their baby and how they are so advanced for their age but I'm getting there. I'll be able to say things like, "My boy is so far ahead he got to skip his third trimester." He's getting a reputation for being rather stubborn and feisty. The nurses know that if he is doing ok, it is best not to mess with him. I can foresee years of Kate and I pointing fingers and saying "No, he gets that from you."

There are no major procedures on the horizon. For now the amount of milk he is getting will continue to increase for another couple days. I imagine they might try the nasal canulla again before the end of the week, but they haven't said anything yet. We'll know they are going to do it when all the nurses and doctors start to tell us how they aren't going to do it for a while. That is how it has worked the last two times.

Here's hoping for another good day tomorrow.