Day 31

Today was another day of rooming in with Landry.  It went just perfect.  =)  He was completely wireless - he got the broviac taken out that morning and wasn't on any monitors.  It was soooo great to be able to walk around the room with him....such a simple thing but it was so nice!  He nursed great, latching on right away every time and lasted about 10 minutes each time.  He lost weight again the night before so I am hoping that with his increased nursing time, he will gain.   The nurse hinted that he might, and its a huge MIGHT, be able to come home tomorrow if he shows a gain.  They are more concerned with the preemies being able to show weight gain but Landry doesn't really fall into an area of concern in this category since he was full term and never had weight issues.  He is a big boy, already 10 pounds!!  So, fingers crossed that he will come home Sunday or Monday.  It seems silly that he is still in the NICU now - he needs no care from the nurses other than basic care that we can provide, and have provided the past two days.

I'm so excited for Cade to get to meet Landry.  Landry's pictures are in his room and every time Cade is in there, he points to them until we give him the pictures so he can kiss them.  Hopefully that is a sign of things to come!!!  Although I'm sure there will be plenty of big brother torture as well!!

No wires!!!

Day 30

Today was a little glimpse of what it will be like to have Landry at home.  We roomed in together in a hospital room for the day.  It was a great day together because we could be alone without nurses and other NICU parents bumping into us all day.  It was also the first day that he was exclusively breastfed.  I wasn't sure how this would go - if he would be able to latch each time, if he would get enough, if he would get TOO much, etc, etc, but it all worked out just fine.  He is still eating very often - almost every hour - and only for about 5 - 7 minutes each time but I think he is just adjusting to eating as much as he wants and needs.  I even had a friend spoil me today with some delicious Mexican food and great company which made the day even better.  Thanks again Kim!  We are still looking at early next week for bringing our little guy home.  He lost 52 grams last night which isn't a huge amount but he has to show at least a 10 gram gain for two days in a row to come home - along with other criteria.  Can't wait!

We are getting all sorts of cute smiles
from Landry - this one was right before
he drifted off to sleep.

Day 29

Today was much more encouraging on the eating front.  Last night I told the nurse to call me to let me know how is 11:00pm feeding went and she didn't have good news to report.  He threw up the feeding which made for three in a row that he was unable to keep down.  She called the doctor who ordered an x-ray that came back clear.  The doctor decided that he was just getting too much - more than he wanted.  His tummy isn't used to being full so to be full all of a sudden wasn't working.  She decided it was best to let him eat when HE wanted to and not be on a schedule.  I planned on asking the nurse today if we could go this route anyway today so I was happy to see they thought it was best too.  Yesterday, when we were nursing him on a schedule, he would do great at first but then not want to eat anymore after a short while.  The nurse kept wanting to feed him more and keep trying even though he was getting upset.  This is when he threw up - when he was upset.  Today we were able to take him down to an empty room and be alone with him.  I nursed him when he wanted and let him stop when he wanted.  He would only nurse for about five minutes each time and then wanted to eat again after only 45 minutes but he was sooooo happy.  This was much different than the day before when he was only eating every three hours and eating a much greater volume.  We were very happy to have such a nice relaxing day with him.  We are probably looking at Monday for him coming home - Sunday if everything goes just perfect - but I'm planning on Monday.  The nurse told me today that it is time to spend entire days at the hospital so he can nurse as much as possible.  It is really hard to be away from Cade all day but at the same time it is so nice to spend all day with Landry.  It will be great when I don't have to split my time between the boys anymore.

Cade loves getting to spend time with
the Grandmas!!  What would we do without them?!

Day 28

I spent most of the day at the hospital today with Landry.  He can now get 72ccs every three hours and breastfeed until he is full.  It sounds great but he threw up after the two times I fed him.  He was showing signs of dehydration from not getting enough fluids so the nurse was going to call the doctor to talk about up'ing his fluids in the broviac.  This is a bit discouraging because we were hoping to get the broviac out soon.  I don't know if this will also push back the date that he comes home.  I know that it takes time for babies to become good at nursing but Landry is up against also learning what it is like to be full, have gas, burps, poops, etc.  I hope he gets the hang out of it soon and becomes a great breastfeeder.  I guess we just have to keep at it.  I really hope that tomorrow he doesn't throw up at all.  Poor little guy....  This roller coaster has been quite a ride and I'm getting more and more ready to get off.

Day 27

Another day down for Landry and another day closer to coming home.  He is moving up very quickly on his feedings they are increasing by 12cc's every 2 feedings so by the end of today he will be at 48ccs.  The doctor allowed me to start nursing him again too but only after I pump.  It looks like if things keep going well and we don't have any set backs, he might be coming home this weekend!

On the home front today, Cade peed in his big boy toilet!!  Who knew I'd be so excited over pee AND poop all in one week!  =)

Taking a little snooze together

Day 26

Landry had a great day today.  He was able to start eating!!  Of course, it is starting out very small (12cc's every 3 hours), but hopefully this will speed up very quickly.  He also got is pain ball and dressing removed last night so now all he is hooked up to is the broviac and his heart/respiration/pulse monitor.  He pooped every time he needed his diaper changed so things are definitely moving!!  Landry has had one of our very favorite nurses for the past four days and she is now off until Monday.  It was great that he was in such excellent care after his surgery.  We will miss these great nurses!

So strong!

Cade loves taking Scout for a drive in his car!

Day 25

Another day down and another day closer to bringing our little man home.  Landry hasn't needed anymore morphine since 5:00pm last night so hopefully he has turned the corner on needing it.  He pulled out the tube that goes down to suction out his stomach in the middle of the night so they had to put it down again which is never fun for him.  By morning it started suctioning out a lot of bile which isn't surprising but also a little disappointing because it means that they probably won't be able to start feedings tomorrow.  From what I understood, it basically means his intestines aren't really waking up just yet enough to move the bile through.  He has been gassy today though which means the process might be starting soon.  He even threw up twice today because the suction tube got so clogged, poor guy.

Tyler went in this afternoon and I stayed home to play in the sprinklers with Cade.  Tyler said the bile coming up from his stomach had pretty much stopped and he even had his first real poop!  I never knew I could get so excited over poop!  I haven't talked to the nurse about this yet but I am wondering if this means there might be a hope of starting feeds tomorrow.  Poop!  Yeah Landry!  =)