Day 17

Landry had a pretty good day today.  He was a little fussy and had a little trouble with nursing but eventually got it.  He is up to 35cc's every three hours.  Poor Tyler has had a bit of a cold and hasn't been able to see him for the past three days.  I really hope he feels better tomorrow and can go in because I know he misses him terribly.  Cade has a cold too so I am doing everything I can think of to not catch it.

Day 16

Another good day down for Landry today.  He is now getting an ounce every three hours and I can still nurse him twice a day after I pump.  I still can't get over what a great breastfeeder he is.  He latches on in no time and gets right down to business.  I hope he continues to do this well, and the way things are going, it looks like he will!  It seems like as each day passes, it gets harder and harder to leave him.  It is so hard to trust your newborn into the hands of a total stranger.  I feel like I get to know certain nurses really well and trust them just to have a new nurse show up the next day who I have never seen before.  It is like starting all over every few days.  I feel so much more comfortable with some nurses; its too bad that I can't make a list of nurses that he can have.  At least I know that he won't have the one nurse that I REALLY didn't like ever again.  I will be so glad when he is home and in our care 100% of the time.  

All snuggled in his bassinet!

Day 15

Happy two week birthday to Landry today!!  It feels more like two months, or even two years - so much has happened in his little life.  Landry had another good day today.  I was able to nurse him twice and he did a great job again.  I am certain that I enjoy it as much as he does.

Cade has been so cute when we show him pictures of Landry - he smiles so big and kisses the screen.  I think they will be best buds.  =)

My little snuggle bug

Day 14

Lots of good things to report today!  His feedings were up'd again and he is tolerating them well - so well in fact that they allowed me to nurse him!  I had to pump first so he didn't get very much at all but he latched right on like he'd done it a million times.  We were concerned that he would have trouble with nursing since he has only been bottle fed but he went to town!  It was great and he felt soooooo good afterwards.  He just laid there and stared off into space...ah....food!!  So now I can nurse him twice a day which is going to be so nice.  I can't wait until he can actually eat until he is full!  He really just keeps on amazing us!!

Tyler and I gave him a bath which he really enjoyed too.  After he was done he laid under the warming light with his arms up above his head and conked out.

Cade was able to see his brother for the first time today too.  Cade isn't allowed in the NICU but we brought Landry to the nursery window where we could see him.  I thought Cade wouldn't even really notice Landry but I was sure wrong.  He kept smiling and pointing at him.  It will be so fun we they can meet without being separated by a window!

Grandma Jane!

I'm #1!

There's my little brother!

Hi Baby Landry!!!  I'm your brother!

First family picture

Day 13

Several good things to report today!  Landry is now off the feeding tube (the tube in his nose) and on straight bottle feeds.  He gets 15ccs (1/2 oz) every three hours and hopefully this will continue to increase steadily because it is still so tiny!  His "food" that goes in to his broviac IV in his leg is slowly being decreased as the bottle feedings increase.  He had a test done today where they put a dye into the fistula (the hole in his intestine that leads his colon) to see how the swelling was going down.  The dye also helps in clearing out that bottom half of his intestine that he hasn't had a chance to use yet.  It all went just great and the next surgery is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, July 28th.  This is exactly three weeks from his first surgery which was the earliest we were told he could have the procedure done.  We are glad he is making such quick, steady progress!!!  If all continues to go well, it looks like we will be able to have our little guy home with us sometime in August.  The nurse was keeping the feeding tube in his nose still in place in case he needed to have it reconnected but while we were there, Landry got a hold of the tape and it ended up needing to be removed.  We didn't get any pictures of him without it in but we will tomorrow.  It is so nice to see his beautiful face tube free.  We can't wait until he is completely wireless!!

Day 12

Today Landry was moved into a bassinet and put in a onesie.  He looked great!  When I went to visit him, another baby was brought in who was just born and not breathing.  They put him right next to Landry - it was pretty scary and I just wanted to get out of there but Landry's nurse moved us to the opposite corner where we were out of the way.  Yikes!!!

The neonatologist talked with me today.  She told me that the day before, the nurse had accidentally given him too much sugar in his food for one hour.  They tested his blood several times afterwards and surprisingly he showed a lower level of sugar than usual, not higher.  She said this was not what she expected since he had so much extra sugar.  Luckily she wasn't overly concerned and just guessed that his insulin had just kicked into overdrive...  I guess.   Sometimes all this medical stuff can be pretty confusing.  I'm definitely learning a lot of things I never thought I'd need to know!!!

Check me out, I'm wearing clothes!

Check out my new crib!

This guy keeps things entertaining at home -
he won't eat breakfast without his hat on!

Day 11

Landry had a good day today - I was able to hold him for a couple hours straight which was nice.  He slept the entire time.  He is still getting 4cc's an hour.  Hopefully tomorrow that will increase to 5 - we will see what the doctor says. It is always so hard to leave him at the end of our visit.  We can usually put him to sleep and then leave which makes it a little easier but today he was wide awake by the time we left.  I can't wait until he is home with us!