Another Ounce

Slowly but surely Chase continues to gain weight! I spent a long time at the hospital today, since I'm heading back to work tomorrow:( The docs reassured me that even though I won't be there to meet with the team for rounds every morning they'll fill me in when I get there after work. My plan is to get to the hospital right after shift change in the morning so I can get about 45 minutes in with the little one.

Today they did another chest x-ray to see if there was any difference after yesterday's dose of Lasix. There really wasn't that much change, so they wrote orders for one dose a day for the next five days. His O2 levels needed to be upped a little since yesterday, but as soon as I held him his breathing became a bit less labored and they were able to dial him down some.

Jas took a break from the renovation and the insane heat to join me for a visit and see me nurse Chase. He didn't do as well as the other day, since it seemed he was a little too comfy and nodded off a few times. Who can blame him-why work for lunch when a few minutes after he latches they start his feeding through the tube and his belly fills without any effort!

Happy Fourth of July!

In my red, white, and blue onesie for the holiday

Do I look bigger? Today I am 32 wks and I finally reached 3 lbs-Yippee!

Hot day in Baltimore. Chase was breathing a little harder than usual this afternoon and he was requiring about 5-8% more oxygen than he has the past few days. The doc ordered a chest x-ray and it was pretty hazy so they gave him another dose of lasix to help with the fluid issue. That pesky PDA still is causing some trouble! He has not had any bradys since this morning and he continues to do well on the cannula, so we'll see what tomorrow brings. Hope everyone has a great holiday:)

Sacrifice

The title of this post was picked by Jas. He doesn't have much time to update the blog and I asked permission on this one.

Today was a bit of a sad day for my husband:( He sold the s2000.

Most of you know Jason very well so this won't be a surprise, but he kind of loves his car. Not just his car, most cars. Well, not really many American cars, but any performance vehicle that has sufficient horsepower to just scare you a little when you drive with him. Over the past eleven years I've learned a tremendous amount about automobiles from him, and his passion has become mine in a way. For hours on end you can have a conversation with him about anything car related. He knows more than most car dealers, and refuses to let other people change the oil, brakes, clutch etc. whatever maintenance you can think of. Years ago he made me listen to different kinds of exhausts over and over again on YouTube until I found one that he could order that didn't sound like some teenager slapped on his car. He spent two years searching for my car and he was like a kid in a candy store when he finally found it.

He bought his convertible, not his first and not his last one, right before I found out I was pregnant. For the past few months he's been deliberating about when to put it up for sale. Don't get me wrong, it was a really fun car to drive. I know I didn't shift at RPMs high enough for him, but I know why he enjoyed driving it so much. This past week he put it up for sale. He just came home from work one day and said he had finally done it. Being that the weather has been beautiful he got a few bites immediately, and today the first person that test drove it gave us an offer too good to pass up.

Although he picked the title of this post, he had no idea what I was going to type. Even though he is getting rid of his baby, he's trading up for another one that is truly priceless. Jas gets excited when he talks about cars, but he lights up when he talks about Chase. He is so proud to be a father, and I couldn't ask for a more wonderful husband. So even though life sometime requires you to part with things you love, often you are making room to give your devotion and attention to other things.

Primed and Ready-Well Almost!

Thanks to a last minute visit from Dan the renovation is now in the home stretch, sort of. So the bathroom is on hold, but I picked up the paint today and hopefully after a little more touch up sanding tomorrow the main room can be painted! We'll still have to put the floor in, find molding that matches the rest of our 82 yr. old house, and carpet the stairs but to see how far the room has come is amazing. Pictures to come shortly:)

3lbs here we come!

Growing into my clothes. This is actually one of my bigger preemie outfits!

Bundled up after my bath

According to my conversion chart Chase needs to gain 31 grams to get to 3lbs! Today he was at 1330 grams, and even though he was at this weight once before it was when he was having belly issues and the CPAP was pumping him full of air. He's eating like a champ so I know we'll be there soon:)

No change from rounds- there was some disagreement regarding the loudness of the murmer, but ultimately it still kinda sounds like a washing machine! He had a few bradys before I got there this morning but they were all between 96 and 100 and self-resolved. Once he gains a little weight these wouldn't even count and need to be recorded! Since he's still too little any time his heart rate drops below 100 they document it. This chart is usually the first thing Jas and I look at when we go for our daily visits.

You can see from lots of the pics that Chase spends a lot of time on his belly. Generally babies don't sleep on their bellies, but it has been helping with his digestion and his breathing. When he moves to the crib, and isn't hooked to all the monitors like in the isolette he'll sleep on his back. Several people have asked, so I figured I'd put it in a post!

Leaps and Bounds

So...we may need to kick things into high gear to get ready for the little one to come home. Today was a day of milestones for Chase, and he potentially may be able to come home a lot sooner than we expected!

He had his first eye exam before I arrived this morning. The retina of a preemie is only partially formed, and an exam is completed to see if the blood vessels are developing appropriately. Most preemies born before 31 wks are tested for ROP, and may require follow-up exams. Chase's exam results showed vessels that one would expect to see in a preemie, but at this time nothing was abnormal so he won't need to be retested for a few weeks.

The biggest news of the day however, is that I was able to nurse Chase for the first time! During rounds we were having a conversation about the requirements to move him to a crib, and what body temperature range he would need to maintain etc. The neonatologist asked if we had tried to nipple him yet-besides trying a pacifier every once in a while that had been about it. Using a pacifier doesn't require coordinating sucking, swallowing, and breathing all at once so its obviously much easier. So we decided to give it a shot after I pumped for his next scheduled feeding.

The nurse prepped me that he may not be that interested or even be able to demonstrate much of the necessary skills since he is still less than 32 wks. She reminded me a few times before starting not to be discouraged, and then she helped get me all situated. I had absolutely no idea what I was supposed to be doing! After I got over the fact that the issue was probably going to be more my coordination than his, we used a syringe to squirt some milk in his mouth to get him going. He still had his feeding tube in(he will continue to have this until he is able to take full feedings from either me or the bottle) but it didn't seem to bother him. Although he was slow to start, he surprisingly had no issues latching or sucking. He would tire out after a few seconds, take a break, and then start again. The nurse was shocked that he did so well and she let me feed him for 15 minutes. I was so excited and I kept telling him how proud I was of him, I wish Jas had been there!

So the long and short of it is that he is making so much progress they said he might be able to come home earlier than anticipated. Maybe in another month or less! Crap we have a lot of work to do...

One more thing- Jas talked to the doc while I was actually at my own eye doctor's appt. today; and at this time he does not want to move toward ligation for the PDA! Driving to the hospital this morning I was mentally prepped that surgery was the direction in which we were moving. Guess he's surprising us all:) He only had 4 bradys all day yesterday, and 1 today as of this afternoon so it could be that his symptoms are resolving themselves as he ages. We know we still have a long road ahead of us, and there will most likely still be bumps(I'm teary as I type this because I'm so happy right now), but our little man is a fighter and he just didn't want to wait til the end of August to come home!

Countdown to a crib!

Daddy spent a long time trying to get a pic of me sticking out my tongue!

Chase might be moving to a crib soon! He has been able to maintain his body temperature and the isolette temp. is going to be weaned down even further. So, if he continues to do well he may be able to move to a crib in the next few weeks. No changes in news from rounds, in the next few days we'll hopefully have more info about possible treatment for the PDA. He had a great day while I was there today! He required lower O2 and only had one brady and it was while I was holding him. The team categorizes bradys under varying conditions, if it is during cares or when he is being held it is viewed differently than when he is simply sleeping.