Gabe's Update 3/13/07

Today was an awesome day!

I awoke to Kevin, rushing into the room, "Honey!! She (the nurse) said we could breastfeed!" I was groggy and looked up at him, "she did? when?", "at the 10am feeding!" - it was 9:30am!! I bet you never saw a lil old fat lady, holding her tummy together and moving so fast! LOL! We raced off and called the Hospital to let Nurse Jesse know we would probably be just a lil late but we were coming! She said she'd hold the feeding for us! We couldn't get there fast enough (for me anyway, who needs stop lights?)

Well, we got there, 10 minutes after 10am. Rushing as best we could as I'm hobbling along... We got up to NICU and they were doing a preemie study on him (I had agreed to participate in this research study for preemies, they collect DNA and record video of his daily routine, diaper change, clothing change, all the normal things you do to see how they respond to different stimuli, etc) So, we had to wait until they were done recording a video of him and doing the cheek swabs they needed. I was disappointed at first because when we got there she said they had to do an NG feeding on tape, so I was full and leaking, didn't pump in a while, waiting to see if we could feed. The Nurse Practitioner then said, no, we could go ahead and feed, she didn't need it on video because she got great data already! - more on that later - So we were a GO!

The nurse brought over the screen and I got ready ASAP! We put Gabryel to breast at 10:34am and he latched on immediately and had a great latch, sucking away, we could hear him sucking and really getting it!! Daddy got it on video. He nursed for 8 minutes before Jesse said we should give him a break and give him the rest of his feed by NG so as not to tire him out the first try. I could not have been happier, I just sat there hoding him after, crying like some blubbering idiot as I held him tightly to me. It was the most wonderful feeling!!! - So, She gave me another pump kit to keep there and I pumped the rest of the time to empty out. I left her an almost full 70 cc bottle for the next couple feeds when I was done. Daddy sat and "breastfed" him the rest of the milk with the NG tube while I went and pumped.

Later, the Nurse Practitioner doing the study came and told me what she had data on. She said Gabe was very much more developmentally able to deal with his surroundings than most of the preemies in the study as far as his temperament. He is very mellow and self sooths, he will curl up and snuggle his hands up to his chin or on his neck by his ears and will block out whats going on around him. He does not, however, like to be fiddled with, with cold touch - if the Nurses' hands are cold, he will bat his arms and kick his lil legs, he doesn't like cold touch. So, he's normal, I wouldn't like ice cold hands touching me either after I'm snuggly and warm! lol.

Later in the day we called for an update. Gabe apparently, at some point, pulled his nasal cannula out from under his nose and was content he finally got it - we've watched him try and get it off him before, he didn't really like it. So, she went to do her daily routine things, change the diaper, etc. when she noticed he was not having any issues, so she turned it off and decided to give him a chance without it. He has been off of it since and the discontinued it for good. (well, at this point, don't want to get ahead of myself thinking it may not be needed again, as we all know that situations may change.)

Well, here it is, 4am, 3/15/07 and he has not needed it since this afternoon. He has no tubes, IV's or O2. He has the NG tube for feeds and the electrodes to monitor him.
We've come a long way, baby!

Now, we have to get him to do 3 more things....

1. Maintain his own temp. So he can move out of the isolette and maintain his body temp.


2. Learn how to suck swallow and breathe thru all feeds. (or most)


3. Gain weight.

We certainly have come far in a pretty short amount of time, I want so desperately to hear the words "He can go home" But I am also waiting patiently for him, on his own timing so I know that when we all leave there, I take with me, a healthy baby boy!