Joel - weekend of 34-1/2 weeks

Saturday:

Well, Joel looks LOTS better today. The doctor, case manager, and nurse all commented that "wow, his lips are rosy again". I am glad he made a quick turnaround, and I'm glad the staff are so on top of everything. They covered all the bases, quickly, and it made a huge difference.

They started him on feedings through the tube again, so he'll slowly move quantity up until the IV can go away. It's so cute...I could swear he knows when they're getting his food ready, because I think he legitimately smiles! Maybe he smells it or hears a particular noise. It's so cute! I know he's glad to have real food in his belly again. He needs to keep growing!

Also, I can't remember if I mentioned here or not...there was a big mystery going on for a while about Joel's bloodtype. Both his father and I are A+, and we were told he was B+. We scratched our heads at first, but the more we thought about it and looked into it, the more confused we became! It was most certainly not "the milkman"! I continued to ask any doctor or nurse that would listen how this could happen. It just doesn't make sense for 2 A parents to have a B baby. Finally, today, the head neonatologist came to me and said he'd solved the mystery of Joel's bloodtype. *drumroll please* Typo! They retested, and the head of the bloodbank assured our doctor that Joel is, in fact, Type A. Apparently (because it was my next question), the blood he had been transfused with was matched particularly to him. It was only in entering to the computer system that the typo occurred. Otherwise he would have had a bad reaction for sure! That just shows...you have to be your own (or your child's) advocate! It is better to ask too many questions and be comfortable that you understand what is going on! I'm glad the mystery is solved!

Tonight was bath night again. Because Joel has an IV in his arm again until his feedings are back up to his required fluid intake, it was a light bath. He still hated it. I also witnessed his breathing treatments. They give him 2 inhalers and then take a vibrating "stick" and hold it over various parts of his chest. I would liken it to the $25 massagers you can buy just about anywhere, but the vibrations must be fairly strong for such a small body. It helps loosen up anything in the lungs that doesn't belong. He didn't like it at first, but once I let him grip my finger, he was much better. What a champ! He is also back up to 12cc every 3 hours. It will go up 2cc every other feeding until he's back up to 20. He keeps growing, too, so that maximum could increase. The smile on his face tells me how great it is to have a full stomach again!

I'm used to getting my heart and lungs listened to.

I wasn't sure about the vibrating breathing treatment.

I had my thumb in my mouth.

My mom kept me company while my nurse, Angela, made my bed.

I still love my pacifier, too!

Thumb in mouth again...

...and the pacifier.

Sunday:

Today, Joel was moved again, back to the annex. It is so quiet in there. He rested a lot today, but was awake for almost all of his feedings. That's good news, since it's a step towards coming home. He'll have to be awake for all his feedings to take bottles. For now, he's almost back up to his full feeds. Once he's there for 24 hours, his IV will go away again. It moved to his left hand, since the one he had on the right arm stopped working.

He had a pretty good day, but was having a rough night when I got there. His chest was heaving when he breathed, so they ordered a chest x-ray. They're going to try positioning him on one side to help the other side of the lungs open up. Hopefully, that's all it is. Only time will tell...he'll be better or worse. The poor little guy! While all the observing and x-ray hubbub was going on, he was wondering where his dinner was. He finally got it as I was leaving after 10. I bet he felt a little better on a full stomach!

I was lifting my head and turning it all by myself today! Physical therapy will be happy.

It was hard work, though!