The Preemie Two-Step

Yesterday was a better day for Jackson, but he's still not back to his usual self. When we got there in the morning, he was desating very frequently. Honestly, I felt like we were back to two or three weeks ago. I was very upset and very frustrated. The nurse canceled our bath (again!) and seemed very concerned. When we fed him at 11am he took half the bottle before the nurse took it away from Ryan because he was desating too frequently. We didn't think it was anything he couldn't handle (he came right back up!) and therefore, we became very frustrated. After we positioned him better on the boppy (best baby accessory ever) he started sating 99-100 and chilled out. He fell asleep and seemed comfortable in Ryan's lap. He slept most of the afternoon, doing his periodic desats, but seemed fine. When we spoke to the doctor around 2pm, she decided to give him a dose of lasix and said we'd just watch it. She said not to be surprised if Jackson had to go back on the cannula (oh no!) and that he could just be tired and still adjusting. The afternoon went much better than the morning and he took another 1/2 bottle at 5pm. He didn't seem as interested in the bottle and just seemed tired.
Throughout the night as we talked to the night nurse she talked to us about his feeding. She believes that he is just too tired, and therefore, she is going to suggest to the doctor to decrease his PO feedings to let him rest. She said that once he starts taking full bottles again (instead of 1/2 bottle at every feeding) they could increase him more but she believes it was just too much too fast. Ryan agrees with her completely, and I see her argument. I do think that he needs time to rest, but I terribly afraid that if they reduce his PO feeds then they will be slow and hesitant to increase them again just like when we tried to go fast with the respiratory weaning process and then we went to the opposite extreme where we weaned uber slowly. In addition, the doctor had written in her progress notes that she expected him to come home between the 15-19 and now reducing his PO feeds will push that back. Thanks Jackson for doing the preemie two-step, I totally realize that you're the boss and you'll come home as late as you want. :(

In other news, I got my nose pierced yesterday. It's something I've wanted to do since high school, and I just never got around to doing it. Ryan took me yesterday afternoon, and I love it! I'll take a picture today and post it tonight!

Current Stats:
Weight: 5 pounds 10.4 ounces
Respiratory: No support. Frequent desats. Self-recovers.
Feeds: 4 PO feedings. 1/2 bottle each time. Frequent desats during feeds. Probably reducing PO frequency today.

Goals:
1. Keep on gaining weight.
2. Reduce desat frequency.
3. Build feeding endurance.
4. If PO feedings reduced, work back up to 4.
5. Get some rest.

With love,
Anna