Firsts on Friday

Joyce was Henry's nurse yesterday and today. Yesterday, Henry and I kangarooed for a while. Joyce received the OK from the doctor to let Henry nuzzle. We won't be doing full breastfeeding for a while, I suspect, because of Henry being on the continous feeds. And, he's still a little young (gestationally speaking) to be doing the sucking, swallowing, and breathing at the same time. Joyce talked to me about immunization shots for Henry, because he's now two months old. Jeff and I are going to do some research first, but I suspect that we'll go ahead with them. Henry doesn't have a whole lot of muscles in which to stick the shots, so I think that we'll have the 5 shots spread out over a week's time. Kathy came on duty around 3PM. She helped me put Henry back into his isolette. He was a little fussy when we put him back. When I left, my mom was comforting him. Because he continued to be restless, Kathy had my mom hold him after I left!

Jeff and I went out with two of our friends to see Much Ado About Nothing at Reid Park. We arrived for our evening NICU visit shortly before 11PM. Kathy reported that she had given Henry his first bath, and he enjoyed the water and having his hair washed. He didn't enjoy his mouth being wiped. She weighed him at 1060 grams. That was down from the previous evening, but not surprising as it had been a Lasix day. Holly arrived shortly after we did. Jeff did kangaroo care with Henry for a while.

Today, I held Henry without doing skin-to-skin because the reclining chair had been taken by one of the nurses so that her patient could do kangaroo care. I was disappointed because the kangaroo care is optimal for Henry's health. It is unfortunate that there is only one recliner in the entire NICU. At least the other people using it were doing kangaroo care. So few parents do it, which is good for us to the extent that we get to use the chair a lot (at least lately because our pod is removed from view of others, making it less likely for other people to snag the chair). But it is clearly not so good for the babies who could really use skin-to-skin contact for their health. I asked Joyce to whom I should talk about the chair situation. I've heard from several nurses that they have been waiting for recliners for months, which is silly. Buying chairs suitable for the NICU isn't rocket science. I plan to talk to some of the administrators this coming week about it.

Henry very much likes to be held. My mom held him this afternoon as well. His saturation levels were excellent when my mom held him (usually staying around 96%-97%). After grandma left, I continued to hold Henry. I think that he's getting to the point where he doesn't like being left alone in his isolette.