Opened his eyes!

Was at NICU visiting Reyes yesterday and was pretty active and was crying when we were there.

He went back to his EBM feeds but at only 4 ml/hr. I guessed they are taking it easy for now and not load him with too much in case he vomit again. The attending nurse mentioned they might remove the glucose drip if he appear stable today. His weight as of today is 1130g.

When I reached into the incubator to touch him, he was trying very hard to open his eyes and I realised its the CPAP thats hindering his other eye from opening. haha, we adjusted the tubes and viola! My boy was looking at us with his big big eyes.

I thought I saw his dimples when he managed a smile. Cute!

Vomitted

Was at the hospital seeing Reyes last night, but I was surprised that he is no longer on EBM feed and there was only a glucose drip.

I thought he looked kind of pale (Hubby thinks I'm too sensitive). His weight increased a little to 1156g.

As we were wondering what's wrong with him, the doc came in to explain to us. Reyes vomitted twice yesterday and the tummy looks bloated so they stop his EBM feeding and put him purely on glucose water. There was tummy x-ray taken as well as blood samples taken to test for infection.

The test results were not back yet when we were there but I was kind of worried. Doc did comment that he is a little less active then usual. So if they diagnose it to be some kind of infection, he will be treated with antibiotics.

Was a bit down but hubby tried cheering me up and telling me Reyes will be ok as he is a very strong boy and that nothing will happened to him. Thanks dear, for your encouraging words.

Prayed with Regan before his bedtime for God to watch over Reyes and help him get through this ordeal. This morning, when Regan woke up, he came to my bedside and told me this, "Mummy, last night God helped Didi, God is Handy Manny helper!". He is such a darling! By the way, Handy Manny is a cartoon character on his disney playhouse channel.

Hubby will make a trip at lunchtime today to see Reyes and hopefully give me a positive update.

To "Full Feed" very soon

Went to see Reyes last night at the hospital, the CPAP is back on and he's got a new hat, The attending nurse said he just occasionally forget to breathe so they thought its safer to put it back on but on very very low supply of oxygen, encouraging him to breathe on his own.

He has increased his EBM intake to 6 ml/hr! It has increased so much over the course of 2 days. So now he needs abt 144 ml for 24 hrs. My EBM supply for now is about 50-60 ml per session, I'm achieving about 6-7 sessions a day so I gathered it should be enough for him for now. :)

He is also off the TPN (Total Parenteral Nutrition) as this was fed through the IV tubes to him and it will decreased accordingly when the EBM intake increases. When he is fully on EBM, the term for it is "Full Feed". He is still on glucose drop though and the attending nurse said they will probably remove it today or tomorrow. so happy, then he won't need the long line (IV tube) anymore.

He now weighs 1145g, increased about 30 over g over 2 days. Checked with the attending nurse if there are any new cranial ultrascan results but was told there isn't any done these 2 days.

Anyhow, we've decided on a chinese name for him, his name will be Reyes Lee Yu Zhe (李宇吉吉). Pretty cool eh!

Off most medications already!

Hubby brought EBM to the hospital earlier before attending a friend's wedding. Just called him to get an update.

Basically, Reyes is off all medication except the caffeine for Apnea. Apnea of prematurity is defined as the cessation of breathing by a premature infant for more than 15 secs and this is a result of his central nervous system immaturity.

Reyes has increased his milk intake to 2.5 ml/hr. He is still on the CPAP though, but will probably have it removed tomorrow and see how he respond to it.

Hubby also commented that he opened his eyes earlier and viola! He had double eye-lids! Like me!! So happy to hear that!

Yippee, I can see him tomorrow again!

EBM woes

I've been having hard lumps in my left breast because it hasn't been drained well due to the fact that I'm using a electric pump and dun have my baby around to latch on directly. I tried using hot compress and cold compress, it did help a little but still its a bit sore and hard and painful.

I'm now able to achieve about 45-60 ml per session and I tried to increase the frequency of my pumping session hopefully I can "drained" off the milk ducts properly. I've also repacked the milk into bottles of 30 ml so that it doesnt get wasted as he is now utilising 24 ml every 12 hrs.

Learnt from the attending nurse in NICU that I can only latch Reyes on when he hits about 1.7 kg, so I guessed it won't be anytime soon. But the next milestone I'm looking at is for his to hit 1.2 kg, get him off CPAP and the long line so that he can move on to Special Care Unit.

I'm gonna try cold cabbage leaves today to see if it can help alleviate the situation a little and possibly I'm gonna get more comfortable nursing bras online.

For mummies or mummies-to-be out there who are looking at breastfeeding your baby, my adivse is not to give up, it may be tough at first (practically nothing much for 1st 3 days) but everyone is sure to have a supply. Demand = supply, the more you express or get baby to suckle, the more supply will be generated. Please do not believe that you have "no milk", drink more liquid and soup and persist! Everyone can make it!

Further updates

Was at the hospital last night with Mum and Hubby to see Reyes. Noticed that the CPAP is back. -_-'
Upon getting an update from the attending Nurse, was happy to learn that he is now taking in 2 ml/h and I still have loads of supply of EBM for him. He is also off the phototherapy light as his bilirubin level is at a normal level already, however we were told they will monitor him for another 2-3 days to see if the light is needed again.
We were also told the PDA medication worked on him and that the PDA is able to close and thus causing him to breathe better. The CPAP is on 5% and giving him 21% oxygen just like normal air, its just to help him a little and not entirely pure oxygen.
I also noticed the 2 little patch on his chest, it's the sensory patches for ECG, that is to monitor his pulse.
His weight is now at 1075g, dropped a little but not too bad.
This little fellow kicks a lot and he was even able to kick off his tiny pampers. ha!
Generally, seeing his good progress lifted my spirits!
I also noticed that he last toe is longer than his fourth, just like me!
Reyes, be mummy's good boy and grow strong fast!!

Good Progress!!

Hubby just sent my latest batch of EBM to the hospital and he called to give me an update on Reyes' condition.

He is off CPAP again and I hope this time is for long term. His bilirubin level (jaundice) has also dropped to 85 which is a good level but the Docs want to put him under phototherapy for another day or so to make sure.

His current weight is at 1110g, 10g more than yesterday. Any little progress is wonderful news to my ears and I'll be seeing him tomorrow!

Phototherapy

Went to see Reyes last evening, there's this blue light on top of his incubator and his eyes are covered. That is because of the high bilirubin levels in the blood due to an immature liver. The level of bilirubin in him is now 115 down from 119 but he has to reach 75 for his current weight. He has made some progress on his weight gain, he is now back to 1100g.

Remembered I mentioned the CPAP was off him, now its back on, I guessed he needed some assisted ventilation. But I do see some abrasion and dried blood on his nostrils and that made my nose twitched a little holding back the tears.

I was told that the 2 umbilical Artery and Venous Catherer was removed from Reyes at about 4:30 pm and they are monitoring to see if he is coping ok and if there will be any bleeding. He is digesting my EBM well and thats a very good piece of news.

Again, I reached into the incubator to touch him and talk to him and he was murmuring something. Are you talking to mummy, Reyes? Be strong for mummy ok?

EBM emergency

Attending nurse in NICU called at about 10 am asking how's my milk supply and that Reyes is running out of supply. I was told that he is taking 1 ml hourly and I need to keep my supplies coming.

Luckily I managed to gather about 67 ml of EBM since last evening. In fact, Hubby was getting ready to send down the milk. I planned to visit Reyes tonight and am wondering how is he doing.

Going home

I'll be discharging today but the thought of not being able to bring Reyes along dampens my mood. How I wish he is like the other babies in the nursery, waiting to go home cos they are all fit and healthy.

Tried establishing my milk supply and miserably the best I managed was a 2-3 ml per session. But I'm not gonna give up, this is probably the best gift I can give to Reyes and what he needs most at the moment.

Bro-in-law and wife came visiting at about 10, I showed her Reyes' pics and she shedded a few tears. I actually had to comfort her telling her everything is ok and he is progressing well, when I'm not entirely sure myself. I tried hard to fought back my tears too.

Some social workers came by and I gathered from the conversation that after NICU, Reyes will be transferred to Special Care Unit and the visiting hours will be more flexible then. He can probably only be discharged when he is 35 weeks weighing at least 2 kg.

Hubby arrived at about 11 am and I sinfully had carrot cake. haha, talking about confinement food. I dread the thought of it.
Went back to NICU to see Reyes again after all the discharge procedure has been completed.

He was off the CPAC and he has a crown full of black black hair. I was a little happy to see his progress. The attending nurse mentioned that they are starting him on the EBM (Expressed Breast Milk) and the supply I've given them is not quite enough. Bearing that in mind, Hubby and I went home straight after that for me to express enough milk to bring to Reyes in the evening.

I put my hands through the incubator doors and touched him, he was moving his little left hand around and he grabbed my finger!! The grip wasn't very tight but I'm glad for that moment of interaction we had there.