Well my boy is back on track. We had a great day of breastfeeding- I think we're both learning this together. We were letting him have ala carte meals today- waiting on his cues of when to eat and how much he wanted to take. With me, he liked doing short meals around 15 mins every hour and a half to two hours. I don't plan on being at his disposal quite like that for the long-term, but I'll stick it out while we see what all his belly can do. The night nurse said he took his dinner bottle feed very well and it was a full feed. He was plenty hungry by 8 pm so his belly seems to be getting the hang of this eating thing.
Oh and for those who are keeping a tally- yes we had more poop today. :) And no major spit ups that an ordinary baby wouldn't do. Hooray!
Had girlfriends visit today- Stacey and Laurie came to town and we went to breakfast during the break. It's always great to have people from the "outside" drive all the way over to make your day. I keep thinking as I get comments about the blog, people calling to ask questions about the blog, and friends coming over, texting, FBing and emailing me- I couldn't have done this without all the support we've had. Even a simple line makes my day. Knowing people out there care about and are thinking of our family has made all of the difference. I see some people that don't appear to have that kind of support system and I wonder how do they make it through the day? Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being there in your own special way- all of it has meant so much to us.
The afternoon went well because my RileyBear has come for the weekend!!! He was in such a great mood- totally re-energized from his down day yesterday. Nana and Poppa must have done a great job!! We caught up, played some Monopoly (again!), and went out to eat. He got all snuggly with me in the spare bed in our RMH room while we watched TV until it was time for me to go up and do the night feeding with Liam. Steve stayed back and got Riley to sleep.
I passed the pediatrician in the hallway and she said Liam is looking so "rosy" he might be ready to go home Sunday or Monday. She keeps moving up the day which gets me excited and nervous. I almost don't want to say it out loud like it won't come true if I do. She said he should gain weight over the weekend. When we weighed him tonight though, Liam's lost a few more ounces since going off fluids. I kinda expected that the first few days off the IV- he'd better turn it around tomorrow though! He had an awesome feed tonight so I hope that helps!
Steve swapped with me and went to give Liam his nightly bath and get some bonding time in. It was Steve's first time doing the bath, I was so proud of him! He said he spoke to the pediatrician while he was up there and she might not be that fussed about the weight loss if Liam seems to be feeling well enough. We'd have to get in with his pediatrician in Daphne right away to make sure he's transitioning ok once we get home. She also told him something that blew my mind. I know that if Liam has a stomach ache as he grows up we should take it more seriously than the average kid. But she told Steve make sure whatever doctor he goes to knows immediately that Liam was a gastro baby because if, for example, his appendix is rupturing but he's complaining of pain on his left side, the doctor might blow it off as something else. There's really now way to know where all of his guts ended up when it got fed back in. They are most likely not in the usual set up the rest of us have. Wow. Mind Blown. Durrr but something I would have totally overlooked.
The Discharge Class we took yesterday had an amazing piece of advice for us NICU parents. Keep a copy of our baby's discharge papers in his diaper bag (and in a safe place at home once he's grown up). That way we always have a copy no matter where we are. The papers they give us will be a full history of everything he's been through in NICU. I'm thinking I'm gonna load ours up on Google Docs so I can access it anywhere in the world that has an Internet connection.
We're getting close! Steve has brought over the car seat to put together. I need to start making my list of questions while we can still pick the brains of the doctors and nurses before we go. Looking forward to a great weekend!! :)
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