38 & 12

Relaxing

Day: 86
Gestationally: 38 weeks
Chronological Age: 12 weeks
Weight: 6 lbs. 10 oz.

Favorite Song: Santa Monica by Everclear
It was the only song that I knew all the words to that popped into my head. He particularly likes the base line I do.

Favorite Game: Blow Hand with Daddy & Kissy Hand with Mommy
Basically same game...Kell puts his hand up by our mouths Micah blows a puff of air at his hand and I kiss his hand. He keeps his hand there until the game is over. If we stop before he has decided the game is over he puts his little hand on our mouths.

Favorite Place to Be: Breast
On it, under in, next to it...it's his happy place.

Favorite Food: Breast milk
Like I said it's his happy place. We're working on him getting a full feed there. So far his best intake is 32cc and his full feed is now 58cc (2 oz is 60)

Favorite Nightcap: Breast milk in a bottle
WHAT!?! Yes, our big boy is working on bottle feeding!!! In fact he ate a full feed from the bottle for the first time last Saturday night. They made a little sign for our door and everything. I was so excited when I saw the sign I did a little dance as I walked into the room. He went for the encore on Wednesday night and has since been close to a full feed but inconsistent. He has to be consistently taking a full feed by mouth before he can go home. They will not send him home with a tube so that's going to be the big challenge to get him to eat consistently. Another prayer request!
Micah was given a bottle feeding lesson on Wednesday. It was the first time either of us had witnessed a bottle feeding let alone administer it. (All of his bottle feedings usually happen when I'm not here.) Feeding Keller a bottle is nothing like feeding the other boys. You have to him positioned away from you, tilted on his side, with the bottle titled just right, a finger ready to support his chin, and be on alert for any changes in his skin color or noises. It's not a relaxing process. Micah and I were both sweating after he was finished.

Tuckered out after feeding

Eye Update: I was able to be here for his eye appointment and I was really glad I was....some where along the line we were given some miss-information last time...both eyes are Stage 2, Zone 2 his right eye is just slightly worse than his left but the eye doctor said it was so slight that it didn't really count as a difference. There wasn't any change from two weeks ago so that is good news. He'll be back to check Keller's eyes in two weeks. We're praying that this week's no eye change means that they will start healing themselves. So please pray, pray, pray!

Kell had a few days where he didn't have any desats and was down to 1/32 of a liter on his oxygen and was eating like a champ. It was very exciting! Yesterday he started getting dippy again and is having several desats an hour. They don't last long at all just long enough to get his bell to ring and then he pulls himself up. His oxygen level is bouncing from 1/16 to 1/32 depending on how many dips per hour. The nurses are great at keeping him at the lowest level of oxygen that he needs. They think it is his hernia that is making him extra gassy which is causing him discomfort which is causing him to desat. He has been squirming more and will give a little cry out. This is hard for me because he's not a crier so I know when he does cry he means it.

I've had an emotional week. Basically, I can cry at the drop of a hat and will sometimes do so. I know its fatigue but I still hate it. I don't like being a cry baby but I think 86 days in a NICU will do that to you. I was stressing myself out with long to-do lists, reading the "going home" sections in the preemie books that list all kinds of scenarios that most likely won't even apply to us and we'll handle it if they do, missing Sky, feeling sad for Kell that he even has to go through this, etc. The first line of my devotional yesterday was, "Stop trying to work things out before their times have come." Nothing like the Word to call me out and put me back in my place. So my goal is to pray each morning and ask God for my to-do list and then not worry about anything else. You can pray about that, too!

Kell is calling for me so that’s all for now!

Lots of Love,
Shelly

BTW thank you to all that have signed up for our extended meal schedule! We REALLY appreciate it!