Update 1 week old

Today baby Walker is 1 week old. You would never guess by looking at him. He's still as small and sleepy as a newborn. Due to the force feeds (gavage is what they call it) through the tube, he has been able to get the nutrition necessary to keep his weight up. He dropped to 4.15 at the lowest, and is up to 5.2 today. His bilirubin is fairly low, but doesn't drop. I think we've kept that down through the gavage and early intervention with phototherapy. It's around 9 or 10. G. Jesse's was up to 22. So you can see how much better this little guy has done due to his hospitalization.

His vitals continue to be strong, heartrate, oxygen, breathing, temperature are all stable. We are just waiting on him to wake up and eat! Dr. O'very was in this evening and he said that once he takes 100% of his feeds through a nipple (they call it "nippling"), if he's averaging a weight gain of 20 grams a day for a couple of days, then we go home. So at any given time we are at least a few days away from coming home, even if we have success in nippling all feeds. On the one hand it seems like overkill to me, but when I think about it, I really don't want the stress of him home without that.

I've seen a lot of babies come and go though. One of his next door neighbors came in really sick in quite an emergency. I think he left tonight. Even miss Evelyn next door will likely beat Walker home. Although, she is declining which is sad. She's full term, she should have gone home already! She got the feeding tube and was put back on lights and oxygen. Her parents are very friendly, and I kind of like having them around, so I don't mind if she stays!

Today, our 9:30 am feed was our best yet! He got 48 out of 50 ml, so nearly perfect. 12:30 was gavage and 3:30 we got 6 minutes of nursing with only 19 ml. I was kind of disappointed, but I do understand he just needs time. The nurses are still quite impressed with him, and the lactation consultant (Her name is Liz, and she is probably our favorite NICU nurse) skipped right over him. There is nothing wrong with him, he latches great, sucks great, he just can't keep it going. That is quite good for a 34 weeker, so I can't be mad at him!

I'm still enjoying my time with this little guy. He is so sweet and delicious. I love holding him and being with him.