4 Pounds & Ready to Come Home

Monday, March 12
3 lbs. 14.6 oz.

I met the Occupational Therapist (OT), Alison today. She assesses his development such as muscle tone, reflexes and sucking. Everything is looking good and his sucking is improving. Carson will visit with her two weeks after discharge and at 6 months adjusted age. Adjusted age means his expected due date so he will see Alison 6 months from his expected due date. He has lots of specialists looking out for him.

Tuesday, March 13
3 lbs. 14.8 oz.

The OT orders his feeding tube to be removed and to take all of his feedings by bottle. At first, he does well and takes 3 bottles....but, then he tuckered out and they reinserted his feeding tube for the fourth feeding. Carson wasn't quite ready. We are disappointed; however, we also want him to stay home when he comes home and not have to be readmitted.

Wednesday, March 14
4 lbs. .2 oz.

Hurray! Carson reaches 4 pounds. He passes his hearing test and takes some bottles. The nurses are offering the bottle to him when he is awake, alert and rooting.

Thursday, March 15
4 lbs. 1.2 oz.

Carson is now taking 36 cc per feeding. He takes 3 bottles back to back so he's gaining endurance.

Saturday, March 17
4 lbs. 3.6 oz.

Carson meets his big sister, Ella through a window. He was unimpressed and she was a little jealous. Vic stayed with her and I was with Carson. She waved to Baby Carson as she calls him and then said momma, momma.

Monday, March 19
4 lbs. 4.6 oz.

The lightbulb came on and Carson has been taking bottles only since midnight. He is a slow drinker sometimes taking 15+ minutes, but still under their 25 minute limit. He will get the Synagis shot on Tuesday and prepare for discharge sometime after Wednesday as long as he doesn't stop taking his bottles. He has to take his bottle for 48 hours before he's approved for discharge. The good news is that he took one of his feedings from our Dr Brown bottles so hopefully we won't have to invest in new bottles. Uggghhhh - bottle cleaning again!

The nurse requests his carseat so they can do the carseat challenge - he sits in the carseat for one hour monitored by the nurse to ensure he doesn't stop breathing. I also need to bring his first picture outfit so he can have his picture taken when the feeding tube is removed. It seems like it's really going to happen this week.

Tuesday, March 20
4 lbs. 6.4 oz.

Amazing - Carson has almost gained 2 pounds in one month! His formula is definitely high calorie and unfortunately or fortunately, it's not sold in stores. So, we are getting 2 cases to bring home. After he drinks all of that, he'll be switched to a preemie formula, Enfamil Enfacare. I met with the dietitian today to understand the special recipe for his diet; I add more powder than the standard instructions to increase the calories from 22 to 24 calories per ounce. She starts by stating that we shouldn't reduce the calories until after he reaches the 50th percentile. If you know Vic and me, you'll understand why I chuckled at this statement. Ella is lucky to be in the 5th percentile. She revised her expectation to the 10th percentile telling me that boys tend to catch up more quickly than girls - time will tell! Her expectation is that Carson will stay on this formula until he switches to milk. Yeah, too because Carson drinks an entire bottle for me at noon and he is looking to a discharge on Thursday or Friday!

We did have a little scare this morning because the night nurse charted a murmur two times throughout the evening. When the day nurse mentions this to me, I'm more than a little surprised. The good news is that the doctor and all of the other nurses have never heard a murmur. The doctor assured me that if the murmur was not benign, she would have heard it before now. It's most likely not a murmur, but a coincidence. If he took a breath at the same time his heart beat, she may think she heard a murmur. The doctor also said that IF he had a murmur (probably not), it would be a benign murmur that would probably heal on its own. A relief to hear!