And Another Hill on our Rollercoaster Ride

A funny thing happens when you let a baby have a bottle for two days; he doesn't want to nurse anymore. We tried but it was too much stress for him and by the time he got to his bottle he was too tired to perform there either. I am okay, it's more important for him to eat and get out of here than it is for me to make sure he is breastfeeding. We'll figure it out when he is home or when things get less rigid around here and there aren't scales, nurses, speech, and lactation people breathing down our necks. I continue to pump (which is a full-time job!) and he gets to drink yummy mama's milk. The crucial thing is positive feeds and getting him to the levels he needs. That brings me to our next hurdle; he is not progressing in volume really at all.

He eats wonderfully but only about 1/3 of what he needs in order to show the doctors that he will be able to sustain his own life if they take him off his TPN and lipids; let alone discharge him. He was also not pooping more than a teaspoon at a time and that is not enough. His tummy started to get really uncomfortable with all that he was putting in it. He did start pooping more yesterday, but it's clearly an effort for him and again, his tummy is not happy.

We are again in the surgery waiting room this morning while Dr. Aiken tries to figure out what might be troubling our little guys gut. At this point we have more questions than answers, and that goes for the surgery team as well, but this proceedure should provide us with some answers. I will pass them on when we have them. I am not sure how soon because the NPCU (newborn progressive care unit), which is where he was moved to, does not have any access to a computer. The surgery room does but of course when I get answers we won't be allowed in here anymore. Answers to come ...

When we started this journey we knew that it would not be over until he could demonstrate that he could get foodin his mouth and out his little bottom, so far we have sort of met that mark, but again, not to the levels where he can actually thrive on his own. So we wait in prayer, hope, faith, and gratitude and we hope that you will join us.