Feeding Update

The doctor wasn’t kidding when he told us getting preemies to drinking from a bottle is tricky business! It is definitely a one step forward, two steps back situation. When I feed him, I can tell Nick is getting better with coordinating his breathing and swallowing, and doesn’t seem as panicked as he did last week when eating. He is now being offered a bottle twice per 12 hour shift, and is becoming more and more alert when it is time for him to eat. He is definitely growing and looking more and more like a full term newborn these days, plump cheeks and all 💙

So, that is the awesome progress Nick has made this week, but it has came with drawbacks. He has started having more brady’s that require stimulation, and had four last night alone,, which is the most he’s had on one shift since he was a newborn. The nurses think it is caused by a combination of the exhaustion that comes from trying to drink from the bottle, a system that is still premature and not quite ready to regulate itself, and because he was circumcised on Wednesday. He started on regular preemie formula last week, but it was causing him to spit up and be constipated (which triggered more bradys), so he is back to being on alimentum formula for the time being. Also, the hydrocele in his right testicle has gotten larger, so they will continue to keep an eye on it and let it run its course unless he starts to show signs of a hernia.

Even though it is frustrating that learning to bottle feed is such a slow process, everything Nick is dealing with are standard, run of the mill preemie issues that any 30 weeker would experience. The doctors tell me every day how healthy he is, and now that we have gotten to know his medical team better and have settled into a routine, things have honestly become much easier. Annabelle turns 5 on Saturday, and originally I was hoping he would be home in time for her birthday, or at least Easter, but it looks like we will be stuck here until April. But, now that we are so close to April, the flu restrictions have been lifted for everyone 12 and over, so my sisters will be able to meet him this week😊 Thank you for reading and for your continued prayers!