Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Reyes is home!

After having spent a total of 7 weeks in NICU and a week in Special Care, Reyes is finally home.

We picked him up from the hospital on Fri. Initially I was glad that I can finally put my pump aside since he is coming home but it didn't seem the case. He has a whole lot of stuff to add to his EBM for every feed, the vitamins, MCT oil, protein powder and iron drops. So, I still have to express my breastmilk for him to be bottle-fed with all these goodies for the next 2 mths not to mention the various follow up appointments with the cardiologist, eye doc as well as a cranial scan. He was discharged weighing 2.16kg.

He is now fed 3-hourly, starting from 8 am every morning round the clock. I practically didn't get much sleep. -_-' I was down with mastisis, inflammation on my right breast, it was so painful and I developed a 40 degrees Celsius fever in the middle of the night on Sat. Went to see doc and was given antibiotics as well as some panadol. Its now better already.

Brought Reyes to the PD on Mon and was glad to see him now weighing 2.35kg. Generally he is ok but needs to beef him up a little and the rest of the vaccination will have to wait till he is at least 3.0 kg. But we need to go back every week for review though.

Everyone says he looks like the brother.. hee :)



Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Latch-on Breast Feeding Begins!

I've been busy these past 2 days. I was at the hospital during the afternoon to try latching Reyes on for one of his feeds, his weight fell from 2010g to 1985g and is now 2022g and taking in 42 ml every 3 hrs. The nurse commented that the initial drop in weight is due to the introduction of bottle that takes up more of his energy. I also did some diaper change for him, practicing since I haven't done it in years. hee.

He suckles pretty well, but he falls asleep so frequently that it seemed like its more comfort suckling than suckling to satisfy his hunger. Since I dunno how much he is taking in, I'll have to feed on demand when he is home.

I was told that he should be able to disharge on Fri if nothing arises so I had to attend the CPR training today. I had to call my mum to join me last minute as I thought having 2 person learning it would be more beneficial than one.

Now, I'm compiling the list of to-buys and I'll be off on a shopping spree tomorrow to get the necessities for Reyes. a little anxious about him coming home but I bet I'll be much busier... :)



Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Bottle Feeding!!

Reyes is now in the "Growing Prem" room in SCN. We couldnt find him in his usual spot today.. haha.

Glad to see that he is now off the tube and is fully on bottle feeding, taking 36 ml every 3 hrs. His weight is now 2010g and he looked so much better without the tube, his chin is cute!

I carried him for a while and the attending nurse asked if I would like to bottle feed him, I said yes to that immediately. He suckle on the bottle for a while, and paused for a while and suckle on it for a while, in no time, the bottle of EBM was almost finished. I took the bottle out of his mouth and let him rest a little..

But viola, the next thing I know, he vomitted all over himself and me. -_-'
Then I checked with the nurse and was told that I should burp him occasionally through out the feeding session. oh.. I felt so bad.. Reyes, so sorry, mummy didn't know I have to do that cos I thought 36 ml was very little. I'll be more careful next time.

The attending nurse decides not to give him anymore EBM until the next scheduled time so I placed him back into the crib while I wipe myself dry. The nurse changed his swaddling cloth and he was pretty restless. He looks as though he is still hungry so the nurse asked if I want to try latching him on direct. I'm like all wided-eyes, "can I??", I was so excited and anxious about the thought.

I sat down and tried latching him on direct. So cute, each time he suckle, I can see his dimples. I think he did get some breast milk but not a lot as he keeps stopping after suckling for a while, but I stopped after a few mins as I didn't want to overwhelm him and was afraid he might throw up again.

I enquired when I can bring him back as he is already more than 2 kg and he is now more than 35 weeks. But apparently it seemed like it will only be possible after we, the parents have learnt some important skills dealing with premmies. We need to go through a CPR class and also some basic childcare skills sessions.

I'm having mixed feeling now. I'm happy and yet worried at the same time, I'm happy that Reyes is coming home but I'm also worried that I might not know how to take care of him properly. But like what hubby said, I should just take care of him like how I would a normal full term baby, perhaps if I think this way, I might feel less pressured.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Reyes in Special Care

I received a call this afternoon from KKH that Reyes has been transferred to Special Care Nursery (SCN). I was elated! Finally, another milestone reached.

I visited him with hub at SCN in the evening, first time to SCN, was a bit disoriented but finally managed to find Reyes. He was sleeping in a bassinet and I carried him for a while. The staffing ratio at SCN is not as high as that of NICU but I managed to get hold of a nurse for an update.

Reyes weighs 1900g today and he is on 30 ml of EBM every 3 hourly. They have stretched his milk intake to 3 hours as of today, I hope he is coping well with it.

I just realised that I'll not have a chance to step into NICU at KKH again. I really wanna thank all the nurses and doctors in NICU for taking such good care of Reyes during his stay. They have been such wonderful people, giving me updates and assuring me that my baby is fine. A big thank you to all of you!!

Took some pics of Reyes today, he was smiling a lot and we managed to capture that in that last "smiling" pic of his. haha, he was smiling and squinting his eyes at the same time. hee.



Thursday, May 7, 2009

When?

Reyes is now 1865g, he was supposed to be transferred to Special Care yesterday but there's no bed available there. Another full house case. -_-'

He is now on staggered feeding taking in 23 ml to 27 ml of EBM every 2 hours. This will give a total of 300 ml per day. My EBM supply on a daily basis is about 500 - 600 so I guessed my supply is still enough for him.

Reyes is growing well in NICU in fact, the only difference from what I can see now is the charges involved keeping him in NICU. Special care will be cheaper.

He was sleeping when I was there earlier, he smiles in his sleep. Haha. Cute! After he woke up, I carried him for a while and fed him today through the syringe and tube. Here are some pics!




Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Yeah!! Good news!!

Reyes is off the air hood and now on room air totally!! He looked so cute without the CPAP! But damn, my mobile batt went dead on me when I was about to take a pic of him. Will try to take some today. :P

His weight as of last evening is 1840g. The attending nurse did mention that if everything is fine, he should be moving on to Special Care very soon. I carried him for a while and he was straining to poo.. haha, stinko eh!

Yeah!! He would be home soon!! Yippee!

Ups and downs...

On Mon, when I visited Reyes, he was having another of those blood transfusion, the attending nurse told me that was necessary becos his haemoglobin (red blood cells) level is getting low.

It could be due to the fact now that he is on one hr CPAP and 3 hrs of air hood. His heartbeat was about 180+ probably due to him pumping his heart faster to supply more oxygen to the rest of the body and the fact that he has to breathe harder. I also learnt that he has got some abnormal vessels in his right eye at Stage 1 and he is due for another eye test next week. I was a bit disheartened when I left the hospital. His weight was at 1740g then.

I held him for a while and he was sleeping so soundly. I was secretly praying under my breathe that all will turn out well.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Cycling begins..

Visiting Reyes in the hospital nowadays is so cumblesome due to the swine flu, we had to have our temperature taken after we park our car at the B2 carpark, then after the lift to level 1, we have to sign in and get a pass, followed by signing in again at NICU and only one parent allowed to visit at a time.

Reyes weighs 1683g as of today. He is put on air cycling starting today, meaning an hour of air cap followed by 3 hours of CPAP and we were told he tolerated the cycling pretty well. Tomorrow it would be likely to be 2 hours of air cap followed by 2 hours CPAP. Air cap is just a plastic cover that covers half the cot, with oxygen supply. Very soon, he would be wean off CPAP and then it will be an hour of room air, followed by 3 hours of air cap.

Once he is on room air and when his weight reaches 1.8kg, he would be transferred to Special Care and very soon, once he hit 2 kg, he can be home! I can't wait for that to happen.

I know he can do it, he would be off CPAP in no time. God has always been watching over him and this time God would be with him as well. Reyes, mummy knows you can do it!