Miles goes for the boob

Another day in the NICU with its extreme highs and cautionary lows. Dave and I both visited with Miles this morning. After a couple days of losing weight (blame it on his super-sized poops), he finally put on 20grams and is closing in on his birth weight. The doctor is pleased with his progress and has even commented on how cute he is getting. Dave thinks she says this about all the babies but I like to think that Miles is a bit more extraordinary.

Yesterday, they changed him to a metered feeding so he receives his food over 25-30 minutes rather than 5-10 and causing him to spit up. And as an added benefit, it makes for a perfect time to kangaroo hold him as he is relaxed and goes to sleep after he eats. Today, with the doctor's permission, I introduced Miles to the breast, just for recreation. He is still too young to be able to breath and nurse at the same time but this at least gets him started. And my boy literally latched right on and went to town! One of the three requirements of him going home is the ability to breast feed and/or nurse from a bottle so this was a huge win, even if its somewhat early to get too excited.

And with the high comes the low. In his comfort (after the experimentation with the breast), he had what they call a "Brady" when his heart rate and oxygen levels drop suddenly. It is made all the more serious by the alarms sirening from his monitor and red "Brady" warning on the screen. Fortunately, he snapped himself out of it (another good sign) but it was time to put him back in the incubator. Apparently, it was just too much stimulation for one day. Overall, Miles had a total of three Bradys today, all which were very mild and he pulled himself out of it but still, this is new to him, even if its common for his age. Later in the pump room with other moms, I was reminded how lucky I am with Miles. So many others have had to deal with issues far more severe than his....it helps keep it in perspective.

One of the frustrating things at CPMC is the different advice from the revolving group of nurses. Yesterday, his evening nurse said that I really should only hold Miles once a day. That by taking him out of his isolette more than that causes undue stress and could be a reason he has not gained weight faster. According to her, all the nurses feel this way. Yet when I came back this evening, the first question the nurse asked was if I wanted to kangaroo him. When I asked her if it was too much, she dismissed the notion. Somthing else to follow up with the doctor...

What mom will pass up the option to hold her little one so I did while he got his 6 pm feeding. Fortunately, he was both comfortable and breathing well the entire time. The picture today is after he was put back into his isolette....a rare Miles moment when he is completely peaceful and not moving around.