...12/28/15...

Hi. Lori here, thanks to Jessica for updating last night. I was sent to bed by my mother and Brian last night. Thankfully they let me eat dinner first. 

Today was another roller coaster day. It started off with rounds and turns out the team was concerned about his weight, as he hadn't officially gained since being transferred almost a week ago. They are attributing this to his terrible reflux, as this causes him to work really hard to maintain his feeds and he throws up a lot, causing him to not gain. The team is new this week and as such is new to Wyatt and us. When we talked through this concern today the new team decided it was time to try medication as an intervention. They put him on prevacid and are hoping this course of meds will help. They also determined that it was okay to continue nursing unless we think he isn't getting enough that way. When he isn't with me, he will get the rice cereal in with the breastmilk in addition to the fortifiers. The fortifiers beef up the caloric value of the breastmilk, so essentially just add some additional fat without changing the nutrition. We are hoping this combo will help our little man gain some weight. 

Wy Guy hanging out in the MamaRoo. Totally cool that the NICU provided this AND it helps with his reflux.

At his 11 am feed, the speech therapist joined us to see how he did with his latch and swallow. He wasn't digging the fact that someone was watching him and had a tough feed. He had a few dips, which are actually what we have been referring to as brady's. Turns out we were incorrect. A "dip" is when his heart rate drops but he brings it back up on his own in less than 12 seconds. A brady is when the dip in his hear rate drops for longer than 12 seconds and may or may not require stimulation. Stimulation ranges from tapping him on the back repeatedly, to a quick sternum tap. He did not have a brady during this feed, but did have one afterwards as milk was pouring out of his nose (reflux at its finest!). The team has commented repeatedly how good natured he is, even when we are bulbing him (the little blue snot sucker in his nose/mouth to suck out milk) or when he is refluxing. He doesn't complain much. May that continue on throughout his life!

After the torturous 11 am feed, I was a little nervous to nurse him. The lactation consultant joined us for this feed and our little guy did AWESOME! He fed for the full 20 minutes, which he hasn't done with the bottle feeds, as he gets tired and often falls asleep during the bottle feed. Not this time! He didn't have any dips during this feed, but did have a brady right after. This was because he threw up and poor guy couldn't get it out of his nose. His 5 pm feed was another nursing session and he did good again. Only one brady and that was likely because he just filled up too quickly and forgot to take a breath. Our little man appears to love to nurse, knock on wood!

You know, just hanging out after chugging some milk. 

I just got off the phone with his night nurse and our little guy is back up to 2070 grams, which is 4 pounds 9 ounces. I'm hoping he will continue to gain, gain, gain! His nurse said he was happily swinging in the MamaRoo. Don't worry, Nana (my mom) already bought him his own MamaRoo so when he comes home, he has a deluxe swing to hang out in, as he has to be upright for at least 30 minutes after he eats. 

Thanks for your continued thoughts and prayers. We continue to pray that he gains weight, tolerates feeds, and that those who are making decisions for his care do so thoughtfully. The more we can control the reflux, the less likely he is to have brady's or dips. 

Here's to a good report tomorrow!

Love,

Lori, Brian & Wyatt