Today was a rough day.
Zoe is no longer under the sun lamps for jaundice, so we were hoping she would be a bit more awake during our visit today. She was pretty sleepy, and she is also having problems with oxygen desaturation due to her shallow breathing. This means that her alarms were going off every few minutes. She pulled out her feeding tube this morning, so the nurse was going to put in a new one after we left. It makes me so sad to think of her going through all of this stress during her first week of life! On exam today she also showed some low tone, so she will be examined by the neurologists again tomorrow to rule out any neurological abnormalities. The right side of her face still has a bit of a palsy (droop) which they have attributed to her position in utero (i.e., Silas' feet were pressed against the right side of her face). However, the palsy and the low tone is reason enough to have another neurological consult. Since she is not showing much improvement with her feeding, there is zero talk of discharge at this point in time. I cried again today as we left the hospital.
Silas had to go back to the pediatrician for another weight check this afternoon. Babies typically lose up to 10% of their birthweight in the first 7 days, and as of discharge day Silas had lost 9.8%. Following the period of weight loss, babies should then start gaining about one ounce per day. The weight check on Saturday showed he was maintaining at 6.46 lbs, and today he weighed in at 6.42 lbs. The pediatrician is very concerned that he showed zero weight gain after two days at home and the little peanut is only in the 8th percentile for weight. This means that we are on a very aggressive feeding plan for the next few days before another weight check on Thursday. We have a goal intake of 480cc of "enhanced" breast milk per day (we add 1 tsp of Enfacare formula to 90cc of expressed milk) which gives us a 24 calorie feeding instead of a standard 20 calorie feed. In order to get Silas to take this much milk, we are having to wake him up every two hours, strip him down to his diaper to make sure he's as alert as possible, and basically force feed him a 40-50cc bottle. It is going to be a rough couple of nights ahead! Hopefully once we stretch his stomach a little, he will wake up on his own for his feedings. Here are pictures from the first round of Operation Fatten the Baby.
Everything the babies are experiencing at this point can be attributed to their prematurity. Unfortunately, that explanation doesn't make it any easier for Mom and Dad...
Please keep us in your prayers.
Zoe is no longer under the sun lamps for jaundice, so we were hoping she would be a bit more awake during our visit today. She was pretty sleepy, and she is also having problems with oxygen desaturation due to her shallow breathing. This means that her alarms were going off every few minutes. She pulled out her feeding tube this morning, so the nurse was going to put in a new one after we left. It makes me so sad to think of her going through all of this stress during her first week of life! On exam today she also showed some low tone, so she will be examined by the neurologists again tomorrow to rule out any neurological abnormalities. The right side of her face still has a bit of a palsy (droop) which they have attributed to her position in utero (i.e., Silas' feet were pressed against the right side of her face). However, the palsy and the low tone is reason enough to have another neurological consult. Since she is not showing much improvement with her feeding, there is zero talk of discharge at this point in time. I cried again today as we left the hospital.
Silas had to go back to the pediatrician for another weight check this afternoon. Babies typically lose up to 10% of their birthweight in the first 7 days, and as of discharge day Silas had lost 9.8%. Following the period of weight loss, babies should then start gaining about one ounce per day. The weight check on Saturday showed he was maintaining at 6.46 lbs, and today he weighed in at 6.42 lbs. The pediatrician is very concerned that he showed zero weight gain after two days at home and the little peanut is only in the 8th percentile for weight. This means that we are on a very aggressive feeding plan for the next few days before another weight check on Thursday. We have a goal intake of 480cc of "enhanced" breast milk per day (we add 1 tsp of Enfacare formula to 90cc of expressed milk) which gives us a 24 calorie feeding instead of a standard 20 calorie feed. In order to get Silas to take this much milk, we are having to wake him up every two hours, strip him down to his diaper to make sure he's as alert as possible, and basically force feed him a 40-50cc bottle. It is going to be a rough couple of nights ahead! Hopefully once we stretch his stomach a little, he will wake up on his own for his feedings. Here are pictures from the first round of Operation Fatten the Baby.
Everything the babies are experiencing at this point can be attributed to their prematurity. Unfortunately, that explanation doesn't make it any easier for Mom and Dad...
Please keep us in your prayers.
Hang in there! I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. Such beautiful babies... soon you will all be together! Peace~ Stacia
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