I was released from the hospital yesterday. Being home is bitter sweet. I'm glad to be back with Mark, Nathan, and Micah. But I hate having to come home without a baby again.
Matthew is doing very well. He's under the bili light due to jaundice, and he'll likely stay under the light today. But he's eating like a champ! He is up to 2oz per feeding, so his PICC line should come out today. The hurdle that he has to clear before being released is that due to the respiratory distress he was in when he was born, he has to go five days without an apnea (when he briefly stops breathing). Yesterday was day one, so we're looking at Wednesday at best. I will have a lot of work to do to get him to nurse after he gets home, but expecting him to take all of his required calories by nursing before being discharged would mean that he would be in the hospital for a long time. We're not willing to make that sacrifice. So here we go again with the pumping. Hopefully he'll pick it up within a month.
Sweet baby face
Under the lights
Time with Daddy
Update on Micah: He has another ear infection. So, it's time for us to get down to Milwaukee to see an ENT about options. The antibiotics took care of his last ear infection, but he had another one just four days after finishing the last dose. So in our opinion, he's destined for repeated ear infections unless something is done about the root cause, which appears to be adenoids, tonsils, etc. This poor kid continues to go through coughing, throwing up, etc., because of congestion.
5 comments:
Can Micah get ear tubes? They helped Owen immensely....
All three of your boys are so darned cute!
Congrats again,
Kelly
Thanks, Kelly. Yes, tubes are likely in his future, and possibly removal of adenoids and tonsils. But when an ENT looked at him in October when he was under general for an endoscopy (GI stuff), the ENT checked for fluid and cleaned out the wax. If there had been fluid, he would have placed tubes then, but there wasn't fluid. Now I wish we had just had them done anyway.
Hi Jennie,
Your baby boy Matthew is absolutely precious. I have been following your blog for a while now (I guess found thru BabyCenter) and your 2 other boys are absolutely precious too. I really enjoy reading, and include them and your family in my prayers.
I don't have any down syndrome children but I do have an experience with respiratory distress. My son was born with a very severe case of it...they didn't know if he'd live or not for his first few days. He was in the NICU a total of 11 days, with ventilator and everything for about 7 of those days. I was pumping too, and when he began to recover, I started trying to nurse him at around day 9. He nursed like a champ and never had any issues at all with nursing. I would expect that if there aren't any other issues he will do the same, but each child is different. When we first tried at the hospital after all he'd been thru the nurse said "he's a natural--you are very lucky!" Blessed is more like it--the Lord really pulled him and us thru. Today at 19 mos, he is as healthy as a horse and has always been a big healthy boy. I'll be praying for you and Matthew.
Hi Jennie
I think I breached etiquette by saying I didn't have any down syndrome children...ugh. Social phopah! Sorry! The reason I mentioned that is that your blog was primarily created for Micah because of his diagnosis. I think I found it when my son was diagnosied with a 1:10 chance of having Down syndrome from the AFP screening test, and we declined the amnio, so I found as many resources as I could to come to terms for either possibility, and babycenter's people on the Down syndrome board really, really helped with that. So that is why I clarified. Sorry, again, for the blunder.
I also have a little sister with Downs syndrome that was adopted into our family as a baby, unfortunately as I was leaving the nest at home. Now she is a grown young lady!
Have you thought of using a supplemental feeder while nursing? That way he will get the breast milk and formula simutaneously and he won't have to work so hard. Just a thought!
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