Week One in the NICU

Friday, March 5th:

Tyler is doing well! He is apparently a hard stick for the IV, so they've had to move that around a lot (leg, to arm, etc). They were thinking about going with a central line thru the belly button, but have instead ramped up his feedings so that we can take the IV out. We like this better as with the central line they would have to Xray him to verify placement, and any re-placement. And personally, we're hoping that the breastmilk will help build his strength!

 

He's up to 15ml of breastmilk every 3 hours now and will go to 20ml within the next few feedings. I'm trying to keep up but we did authorize the use of donor milk if needed.

He's keeping his temp well in an open bed. He was in an isolette for a day or so and I didn't like that much, hard to get to him.

 

Tyler had jaundice so they had to put the bili lights on him and his temp shot way up due to what the doc called the "greenhouse effect", so they moved him back to the open bed like he had in the beginning. The jaundice is much better now, so he's off the lights completely, thank goodness.
They heard a slight heart murmur which is very common and are thinking it's benign and will resolve itself. Apparently another very normal thing in preemies - not to worry about.

So the big thing now is working on consistent breastfeeding/latching on. We've tried 4 times and 2 went really well and 2 were struggles. So hopefully that will kick in soon.

 

We've figured out that unlike pregnancy where things are week-to-week, life in the NICU is more day-to-day. Things even change during the day. We've been there the last 3 days when the docs are rounding so we get lots of good info. Plus, the docs seem to have a sense of when we get there and always come by to talk to us. It's awesome. Except for a couple of the nurses (who do a good job but aren't as informative sometimes) we've been really pleased with his care there. And even one of those nurses has warmed up to us...the other one is still kinda poopy but she's never been assigned to Tyler, just in the same room so she covers him when his nurse goes to lunch, etc. And they are great about giving us info over the phone - you can call anytime and they will update you.