The adventures of Joshua Alexander Cobb: Its the snoozy baby

Josh had another good night last night, with very few episodes. He lost 5 grams, but that was expected considering he had a 4-diaper poop blowout the previous night after he was weighed. His average daily gain is in a good range, and so the doctors are not concerned. Josh did well with his breathing over night - having only a few episodes of apnea or desaturations. Then this afternoon he had several episodes of desaturation, most of which could be contributed to reflux. We elevated the head of Josh's bed and the nurse suctioned him, both of which seemed to help. Josh's oxygen was increased back to 50cc but will hopefully be weaned later this evening.

The plan for today was to try to get Josh to breastfeed three times. However that schedule is totally dependent on Josh. When Mom and Dad got to the hospital after church, Josh was snoozing. He was so deeply asleep, that even after a diaper change and some washing of gunkies off of his face, he fell right back to sleep. He woke up for about a minute to try to breast feed, but then fell right back to sleep. This could be a combination of the fact that he is still getting fed through the tube, which means he isn't really ever completely hungry, and he may have had an active evening and need extra rest today.

Mom and Dad then went to lunch and came back and Josh was still a pretty sleepy boy, and not really interested in breastfeeding. But once Dad changed his diaper and did his chest PT, Josh seemed much more awake. Just as Mom was about to start feeding Josh, the lactation consultant came by, which was perfect timing. Last week when she came by to check Josh's latch, he was already done eating. Josh ate like a champ and she was able to get a good look at his feeding technique. She said he had a great latch, swallowed well and was definitely getting milk while feeding. She was quite impressed with how well he is doing!! We are very thankful for answered prayers related to Josh's suck, swallow, breath reflex developing so early and him being able to breastfeed already. He also had a very successful early evening feeding prior to Mom and Dad heading home today.

Josh's personality continues to develop more everyday. Mom and Dad think they could sit and watch him all day long. Today we had a particularly good time watching his facial expressions, especially while he was sleeping. He makes some pretty cute faces, including a sneering face and a kissy mouth face. He also likes to imitate nursing while he is sleeping - which is also very cute.

As Josh continues to do well each day he is making tiny steps toward going home. Mom and Dad are very much looking forward to having Josh at home when he is ready. The things Josh has to do to make it home are: eat all of his feedings, steadily gain weight, hold his body temperature, and not have any apnea/bradycardia/desaturations for one week. He can come home on oxygen, although, we are hoping he won't need it. Please be praying for this specific things as we are beginning to look towards discharge hopefully sometime in the next 4-6 weeks.

Prayer Request:

Josh would have no apnea or desatrutions and his oxygen could be weaned back to 25cc (and 0 ccs eventually)
The medicine Josh is on for reflux would help him and he would not have any more severe reflux
Josh would be able to develop the stamina needed to take oral feedings every 3 hours
Josh would continue to do well with breastfeeding and be able to take full feeding each time he eats
Mom's milk supply would continue to increase to keep up with Josh's needs (nursing has helped some)
Mom and Dad would have patience while awaiting Josh's discharge from the NICU

Praise:

Josh had two every good breastfeeding sessions today
Josh's weight gain has been pretty steady for the last 2 weeks and he is getting stronger everyday
Josh is becoming more interactive with Mom and Dad and the nursing staff
Josh is making good progress towards going home