Baker mulls his future

Save for a little bit of throw up, Miles had another good day. And considering, its his first such spit up, you might even call it an accomplishment. So we are proud. Thanks to his healthy appetite, Miles is now back over 3 lbs, having gained 1 oz yesterday. His goal is 4 lbs by December 17th when he meets Grandpa Blatt and Grandma Elaine. He lost his nose prongs today that helped with his breathing so he is down one wire. Hopefully, his IV giving him other foods will be removed in the next few days. Right now its held in place with tape and cardboard so it looks like he has a broken arm.

The doctor also upped his intake of breast milk to every 3 hour feeding ...basically he is now eating one pumping's worth of milk every 3 hours which means, I got some work to do. And thanks to my preemie education books, I am quickly learning how important breast feeding is for little Miles. Over 20 studies have shown that breast fed preemies scored higher on intellectual testing as children and adolescents compared to formula-fed kids and score an average of 8.3 points higher on IQ tests. Within the next few days, they will start adding proteins and other fats to help him gain weight even faster.

I spent a wonderful three hours with him this morning, holding him on two separate occasions and doing two of his feedings. Dave also spent some quality alone time with his this evening. He looks healthier every time we see him and it gets easier to hold him and take care of him. He is a very content and alert baby, cooing and looking around when I hold him before falling asleep. His color is much clearer now that he has recovered from the jaundice and he is losing the peach fuzz on his body. Fortunately, the blonde hair is still lustrous and abundant.

When I left this afternoon, the nurse offered the blanket he was swaddled in for Baker to begin to get used to his scent. We have been told to bring home blankets and a dirty diaper or two in the weeks before Miles arrives so Baker gets comfortable with this new being. Someone even told me that you could buy recordings of different types of baby cries to get your dog used to it beforehand. We'll see about that....so far, Baker has curled up with the blanket. Not sure how happy he is about it.