Day 45

Well - these posts are all beginning to sound the same but I guess that is a good thing!! Landry spent most of his day today with Grandma Jane as she leaves to go home tomorrow. He had a good day and is now up to 50ccs every three hours. This time around is so different from before in NICU. He hasn't thrown up at all, he eats his full bottle, and is hungry at the appropriate times. The first time around in the NICU he sometimes would only want 30ccs even when he could have much more and then would be hungry again an hour later. I am glad that everything is going so smoothly and I really hope it continues!! I should be able to start nursing him on Monday and he is scheduled to come home Wednesday....for good this time!!!!

Day 44

Landry was a happy boy again today. He even had a bath and didn't cry at all even though we had to hold his arm with the picc line up and out of the water the entire time. What a trooper. =) He is still tolerating his feeds and was up to 40ccs today. The doctor said once he is at full feeds I can start nursing him again. I hope he is still a great nurser! Landry has been smiling for weeks now but I can make him smile now instead of him just smiling when he drifts off to sleep or after he eats. His smile makes my whole day!

Day 43

Landry had a great day today. He was in a good mood, napped well, and ate well. He is now at 30cc's every three hours. Tomorrow, if all goes well, he will increase by 10 and then up every day there after until he reaches 60. After 60 he will be able to eat as much as he wants. It goes without saying that I really, really, really, hope this works. Looking back at how quickly he increased his feeds the first time (within 3 days he went from nothing to full feeds), I know we are going much slower. Even so, it still feels fast to me. Again - I have to just have faith! I need to ask tomorrow about breastfeeding. I don't know the best way to get him back to nursing but I am hoping that we can establish it before we leave the hospital so we know he will tolerate it. Fingers crossed that this all goes as planned!

Day 42

Landry was a wide awake boy today! He barely slept during the day for a long period of time. I am wondering how he sleeps at night - maybe he will be a pretty good sleeper by the time he comes home! The surgeon up'd his feedings to 25cc's every three hours. Tomorrow, if he goes up to 30 - that will be one ounce. The surgeon said that once he is there, she will up the feedings more quickly. I know we are going slower than last time but I am still feeling very nervous that the same thing will happen again. The surgeon is very confident that this will work though so I just have to trust her!! Maybe...just maybe....he will be able to come home sometime next week. I can't even believe that or wrap my head around that....I just don't want to get my hopes up I guess.

So an EOB showed up for Landry's NICU stay....it was about 179,000. Hoooooly Mooooly - thank god for insurance!! I complained all year about my high premium but now it seems so small!!! We still have more bills coming in as well as the bill for our Peds stay....man!

I was looking through old pictures of Cade today and came upon this one - he looks soooo much like Landry! I hope they continue to look alike! =)

Day 41

These days are so long sometimes that when I sit down to write at the end of the day, I don't even remember where to start! Sometimes I think I'm losing my mind! =) So...today....the surgeon came in to check on Landry and thought his tummy was slightly distended and a little harder than usual. He seemed fussy but was easy to soothe so she thought it was hunger making him upset. She ordered an x-ray but before it was taken, he had a big poop which seemed to help a lot. They did the x-ray anyway since it was already ordered and it showed that there was an area of the bowel that looked a little bigger. She decided to be extremely cautious and keep his feeding at 20cc's today just to be on the safe side. She is still very confident that this should work and we won't need another surgery. She feels like the first time around, Landry just fooled us and she should have realized that his progress was too good to be true. It makes me feel better to know that she is keeping such a close watch on him. She even came back this afternoon to see him and has been really proud of his progress so far.

Today I had my 6 week check up with my OBGYN and a dentist appt. Doesn't get much better than that!! So at my OBGYN my nurse was asking how things were going....I said we were hanging in there, which led to her asking me what I meant, which led to me crying telling her everything going on....awkward! So I decided at the dentist that I wouldn't mention anything about Landry being in the hospital. That turned into a whole different kind of awkward where I was asked how I was handling the sleepless nights with a newborn at home, etc, etc.... Glad those appointments are over!

So tomorrow is another day and hopefully Landry will continue his great progress and we can get him home once and for all!

Day 40

So....made it through another day. Landry is up to 20cc's every three hours. He seems to be tolerating it but it drives me crazy because we really don't know for sure that he isn't getting backed up again. I just have to have faith in the doctors that they know what they are doing.

Look who decided to stay with us a little longer! YEEEEAAAAHHHH MAMA!

Day 39

I was able to speak to the surgeon today so a lot of my questions were answered but my mind isn't necessarily put to ease. She says that she plans on increasing feedings by 5cc's every day. This is much slower which is good and if he progresses at this rate he will be up to full feeds in about 3 weeks or so. I am glad we are going so much slower but there still isn't a way to definitely know for sure that Landry isn't getting backed up. The surgeon said the reconnection is in such a spot that you can't really see it no matter what you try - various x-ray positions don't show it very well, a scope wouldn't show it - it is just in a tricky spot. So really the only way to tell is to watch Landry very closing and monitor is output. We are looking to see if his tummy gets hard and painful to the touch, or his disposition changes. We were fooled last time because when he would be cranky for a long stretch of time, we could say that it was just because he was hungry and not necessarily hurting. We are just going to have to watch him very, very, carefully. I know the surgeon is watching him closely too. She came in this morning just to see him on her day off. I am glad she has such a close watch on him.

I spent most of the day today at the hospital with him. It is really nice to be able to hang out with him for such long periods. I can really see a difference in his development lately. He isn't such a newborn anymore. He is cooing, reaching and grabbing toys, picking up his head...all great things. I am so happy that he is doing so well and growing so strong but it also makes me sad because it makes me step back and realize that holy crap we've been doing this a LOOOONG time. He is changing and growing before my eyes, all in the hospital. I can't wait to get him home and get him healthy this time. I don't mean to sound ungrateful in the least though. The number one important thing is that he is doing well, no matter where he is. We really are lucky that he is where he is at and his condition wasn't worse. There is a lot to be thankful for. Besides his increasingly better health, I am also so thankful for all the people who have helped make these past several weeks easier to deal with. My neighbors, co-workers, nurses, and most importantly my family have all been so great to us. I don't know how we could have gotten this far without all the help!