One of the lactation nurses came in today to check on how I was doing and to talk about introducing him to the breast. Not to feed but more of a hello, nice to meet you, looking forward to working with you in the future, kind of thing. I had been told to look forward to this around 34 weeks but she thought it would be a good idea to just give it a try this week since he has been sucking away on nothing, his hands, and when he can get a nurse to take pity on him a pacifier. The problem preemies have is that they don't have the ability to suck, swallow, and breathe. Like most preemie's Kell desats a little when he gets too carried away with sucking so he needs to work on this skill. The introduction went better than I expected. He not only said hey, but he got up-close and personal right away. B & Kell got along famously and are looking forward to their next meeting possibly tomorrow. This working relationship is going to take a lot of time to build up to something productive but it's exciting to know that it has started.
He's been working so hard to prep for breast feeding over the past week or two (ugh mush brain in the way once again) by taking his feeding schedule from continuous, to a feeding over the course of two hours, to to a feeding over the course of an hour every three hours, down to 45 minutes. His little belly is still getting used to getting full and he's not really comfortable with that feeling yet. He usually cries a little once his tummy starts to fill up and a full belly pushes up on his little lungs making him work harder to breathe so he desats a little during feedings. It's all part of the preemie learning curve. Overall, his feedings are doing their job. Keller is now just 4 grams shy of 3 lbs. 10 oz. and I can't believe how quickly he is growing!
Pray for Kell as he continues on his feeding journey.
Lots of Love,
Shelly
He's been working so hard to prep for breast feeding over the past week or two (ugh mush brain in the way once again) by taking his feeding schedule from continuous, to a feeding over the course of two hours, to to a feeding over the course of an hour every three hours, down to 45 minutes. His little belly is still getting used to getting full and he's not really comfortable with that feeling yet. He usually cries a little once his tummy starts to fill up and a full belly pushes up on his little lungs making him work harder to breathe so he desats a little during feedings. It's all part of the preemie learning curve. Overall, his feedings are doing their job. Keller is now just 4 grams shy of 3 lbs. 10 oz. and I can't believe how quickly he is growing!
Pray for Kell as he continues on his feeding journey.
Lots of Love,
Shelly
Hilarious! You will have to embarrass him with this post when he is sixteen. Making his move on the first date, huh? Way to go kid! Keep up the good growing.
ReplyDelete