You’ve spent your first month in Giraffe Omni bed located at Baptist Health Medical Center located at 9601 interstate 630 Exit 7 in Little Rock Arkansas. You occupy the very first room of the unit
You’ve utilized two vents during your first month of life. You’re currently on an oscillator. It has done wonders for your breathing. You have been as high as 60% of oxygen and most days you stay on room air or just above. You still have a size 2.5 OETT but your nurses are telling us that you will need a bigger tube soon. This week we have heard you making a few noises around your tube.
You’ve grown ¾ of an inch over the last month!! You began at 1lb 1oz and at your largest you weighed 1lb 11oz. This was during your swelling period. Thankfully over the last week you’ve ended the swelling period and now weigh in at a little over 1lb 8oz.
We originally thought you looked like a little Smurf but now you are looking more and more like a little man! I cannot get over the length of your fingers and toes! I’m excited that it appears that you will be tall like your daddy.
You’ve been tolerating your feedings much better since you’ve been changed to formula. Thankfully you were able to take the first drops of colostrum before my milk became unfit for your little body. They measure your tummy several times a day and it has been consistently measuring 18.5 cm. You now take 7.5ml of Alimentum every three hours. The doctors are slowly increasing this amount daily and will continue to increase the amount of feeds as long as you’re tolerating your feedings.
Your absolutely love fleece blankets! Gammie has nearly perfected the art of making your blankets in the car and at the hospital in record time! It has been our only way of ‘dressing’ you and it has been fun for us to coordinate your blankets!
You are quite the little charmer. I believe you have most every nurse who has taken care of you or helped care for you wrapped around their your little finger! They love you so very much. We are so blessed to have nurses and staff that love you and care for you as much as they do! You even have a couple of nurses who have to agree to share ‘joint’ custody of you at the hospital. They have to take turns caring for you (their baby) when they are working the same days.
Mommy has held it together most days. There has only been two days/times that you’ve scared Mommy enough to cry and at these times I believe I balled all day long! With any setback that you’ve experienced you have fought your way back. The doctors have marveled at your strength and will to strive and be alive!
Speaking of strength. . . .You make movements that you shouldn’t be able to! We have seen you nearly pick your head up completely off the bed and resituate it! When your upset you will arch your back and scoot yourself into a new position! I’m completely in LOVE with your little bootie shuffle that you do!! You HATE dirty/wet diapers and do a little dance with your bootie until you are changed. I’m not exactly sure what size your diapers are but they at least a size or TWO smaller than premie diapers.
I never dreamed you would nearly have a head full of hair by one month. You have fine blonde hair, eye brows, and eye lashes. Your hair has gotten very thick over the last week. If you look back at the pictures you can see it starting to stick up off the back of his head several centimeters!
Your eyes are blue at the moment. We realize that all babies’ eyes start out blue but I’m praying your eyes stay blue!! You have really begun to open your eyes wide! At the moment depending on how your positioned you can only open one eye at a time but I was graced with getting to see both eyes wide open and expressive once this month. You seem to love it when I walk in and speak to you. You open your eyes wide and just look and occasionally I see a little grin/smile.
You are very social! When you hear your Mommy or Daddy’s voices you begin moving around and demanding attention. Your requiring much less sedation in order to keep your oxygen saturation at the right level and this allows us to interact with you more! You are getting very good a squeezing your hand around our fingers. At times when we tell you goodnight it is as if you can tell we are leaving and you squeeze harder.
I cannot reiterate how proud we are to be your parents! We are so excited about the upcoming weeks. The nurses are saying that within the next few weeks and weaned from the oscillator we should perhaps be able to hold you! I cannot lie but when the nurse told me that yesterday I nearly cried! God has blessed us tremendously!!!
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