WEEEEEE the return of the roller coaster

Josh had a rougher than usual night last night, with multiple episodes of apnea/bradicardia or desaturations.  He recovered from many of these on his own, which is good.  The episodes also seems to be clustered together and are usually related to his feedings.  The nurse practitioner said that Josh is still having a tolerable level of episodes, and that they will continue to watch him, but that if the number increases then he might have to go back on CPAP.  She also said that it is possible most of these episodes are related to reflux and if the primary team feels that is the case, then there are some alternatives we can try.

The doctors are going to run some more labs tomorrow to check to make sure that Josh does not have an infection, which may be the cause of the increases episodes.  The nurse practitioner does not think that Josh has an infection, because he was just recently on a round of antibiotics, is very active, has good color and he is not showing other signs of infection (weakness, poor skin color, etc).   So the labs are precautionary, which we don't mind doing if it helps them to make good decisions on Josh's care.

Josh is tolerating his feedings like a big boy, with very low to no residuals.  They have increased his fortifier to give him more calories per feeding and help him gain weight steadier.  His weight is up 10 grams today to 1430, which is still 3lbs 2oz.  Because Josh is dong so well, they removed his PICC line today!

One good bit of news that we got was that the nurse practitioner said that she did not think that there was any reason why not to try starting Josh on breastfeeding.  Since he is off of the CPAP, he could at least try to start.  The worst thing that could happen would be that he might choke and sputter a bit on a mouthful of breastmilk, since he may not have the coordination of sucking, swallowing, and breathing yet.  If this were to happen, he would just wait a bit longer before trying again. To give him a better chance, Mom will start with trying to "feed" him after she has pumped so he isn't overwhelmed with milk in the beginning. Josh has shown that he has a decently stong suck reflex, and so we may try this soon, once Mom is sure she isn't infectious. 

Mom continues to recover from her cold and is feeling better today.  Both Mom and Dad are tired today, probably because of some late night football on Friday (Go Gators!)  We are hoping to catch up on our sleep some time in 2030.  We are both looking forward to being able to touch and hold Josh again very soon (we have to feel comfortable doing so after being sick), we miss our little guy.

Prayer Request:

• Josh would have a decrease in the number of desaturations and apnea and would not have to go back on CPAP
• Josh would not have an infection (or get one) and that his labs tomorrow would look good
• Josh would continue to tolerate his feedings with fortifier and gain weight steadily
• Josh's reflux would decrease and he would out grow it quickly
• Mom would be able to begin working with Josh on breastfeeding soon and that it would go well
• Mom and Dad would both get to rest and Mom would continue to feel better

Praises:

• Josh is tolerating his feeding with fortifier
• Josh is steadily gaining weight everyday
• Josh is very active and had some good awake time today
• Josh and Mom will get to begin the adventure of breastfeeding soon

 

 (Josh resting comfortably when Mom and Dad got there)

 

 (Look at those chubby cheeks developing!)

 

(Josh and his full head of hair)

 

 (Josh got into this awkward looking pose by turning his head all by himself - even though we wanted to move him, he seemed comfortable)

 

 (Oh my!  Why was I flipped over?  I was having so much fun scooting around!)

 

 (Hey, that's Mommy and Daddy!  Where did my hat go?)

 

 (I am getting sleepy now)

 (Josh sporting his new feeding tube that goes down his nose... this will make breast feeding easier!)