Day 89

Parker had a good day. I think this cloudy weather made him sleepy cuz he pretty much slept the afternoon away. He had a hard time with his bottles last night. His nurse said he only would take about half. He took a full bottle for me and a half bottle for John. Kind of frustrating at times. Now I can see why everyone says it gets harder at the end. We're so close to going home, but once again it all depends on Parker. He does what he wants to do. I always tell him if he eats all his food he can come home and not be poked so much. I'm sure we'll get there. Just takes time.

Day 88

Parker did really well again with his 2 bottles during the day. His feeds are up to 55cc every 3 hours. Gotta keep fattening this boy up! He was a bit fussy in the late afternoon. Sometimes I think the milk fortifier makes him gassy, so we switched it. Hopefully that will help. There was lots of snuggling to help him calm down. Thankfully he chilled out. Hate to see him grumpy.

Day 87

Parker had an awesome day today. He had a good bath this morning and slept great all day! I gave him his bottle at noon, and even though he was sleepy, he took the whole thing!! That's the first time he's taken a full bottle with me. I was so proud of him. And he took pretty close to the whole bottle with John this evening. He's getting this eating thing down. His weight is proving that. He's up to 6lbs and is 18 1/2 inches long. He's growing out of his preemie outfits I got him for the hospital. Its amazing to see how much he's grown!!

Day 86

Day 86

Parker is continuing to work on his bottle. He put up a big stink (literally) with me at noon, so he did not want to take his bottle. Fought me, so I have in and down the tube it went. He did well with daddy at 6 and took all but 3cc. We've learned over the last 3 months that Parker runs the show! He's still a sweet boy!

Day 85

Parker had a great day! Bumped up his bottle feedings to every other feed. Do he took 2 bottles while I was there and took all but a few cc's. He did a great job! We tried taking the oxygen off to see how he would do, but he was unable to keep his sats up. So still on 0.1L, which is the least amount that can be given. He sats 100% on that. We are so proud of all the progress he has been making! And he's up to 5lbs 13oz.

Day 84

Our little man is doing well. We have bumped up his bottle feeding to 3 times a day. He seems to do well with everyone but me. I can get him to take 35cc out of a 55cc bottle. He's getting there. Weight is increasing daily. He'll be home before we know it!!

Day 83

It's always a good day when the doctor comes in and says I have nothing new for ya. Everything is the same. John gave Parker the bottle today and he took the whole thing! Guess daddy has a new job. Parker was so smiley today. Just before he falls asleep he's always grinning an smiling. Such a sweet boy. We just love watching all his facial expressions. So much fun watching this boy grow.

Day 82

Parker had a very good day. Nice and restful most of the day. He's still learning how to take a bottle. Desat a bit while he was feeding, so he's back on the oxygen at 0.1L again. Not too bad, it'll help him so that he won't have to work as hard. His weight is increasing daily. He's up to 5lbs 9oz! It's all that mothers milk, and the fortifier. He's up to 51cc every 3 hours. This baby boy is gonna have thunder thighs in no time!

Day 81

A status quo day. The only change is that we increased his feeds to 48cc every 3 hours. He does pretty well throughout the day, except for the milk fortifier makes him gassy, so he gets a little fussy now and then. He's still working on the bottle. He gets tired out towards the end. We're not going to push him because he has been doing so well.

Day 80

Parker had a good day today. He did very well with his bottle this morning. He's getting the hang of the whole suck, swallow, breathe. He continues to maintain his oxygen levels without any oxygen. Things are staying in the right direction. We're in no rush to push him out of here, but it will be nice to be home!

Day 79

Our Parker continues to do well. Tolerating his feeds well through his NG tube. He's still trying to get the hang of the bottle. Slowly practicing. He continues to do well without his oxygen. Everyone is so surprised at how well he's doing. He has made so many accomplishments in the last few weeks! He sure has come a long, long way!!

Day 78

What a great day! No more oxygen for Parker. We took it off this afternoon and he's been doing very well off of it! It's so nice to be able to see my sons face! All he has now is the NG tube. We are slowly working him back to the bottle. We're not going to overwork him. Slow and steady wins the race! Parker is up to 5lbs and 3oz. Can't believe how much he has grown!

Day 77

Parker was a bit tuckered out today. He didn't want anything to do with feeding today. He just couldn't get the whole suck, swallow, breathe thing down. So he got a tube in his nose to his belly for his feeds. We keep on pushing him though and try to get him to take what he can through the bottle. His feedings were increased to 45cc every 3 hours with 24 cal fortified. He is in what they call the feeder grower stage. That means he's close to home!

Day 76

A great day for Parker! His feeds were increased to 30cc every 3 hours and 22cal fortified. He did great chugging it all on his first one! His next 2 feeds took a little more time, but he is doing so so well!! He's headed on the track towards home! His breathing has been doing great! He gets into a milk coma after he eats and occasionally desats, but only to 88 (90-98 is a normal O2 sat for him). He amazes us daily!

Day 75

Parker had a great day today! Went up on his feeds to 15cc every 3 hours. He even tried breast feeding for the first time. He wasn't quite sure about it and got really frustrated. Its a lot of work, especially when your used to the bottle being so much easier. So we just did 5 minutes of it. Figure we'll work him in nice and easy. After that he was so sleepy, I had to keep on waking him up to finish his bottle. He had another head ultrasound yesterday, and the bleeds are doing well and continuing to reabsorb. Still doing great on his 1L of oxygen. Such a champ!!

Day 74

Parker had a fabulous day! Still on 1L nasal cannula and doing fantastic with it. Discontinued his drainage tube that was going from his mouth to his belly. Started him on some pedialyte 5cc took that through the bottle and did great! He gets that two more times tonight, then they'll switch to mother's milk. He's such a good snuggler. As I was holding him today I felt a great amount of love for my little man. He is truly a blessing in our lives, and I am so grateful that he is here with us! What a miracle baby!

Day 73

Parker did very well today. Turned his nasal cannula flow down to 1L. Had some snuggle time with mom and day. Just a good day! Probably will start his feeds tomorrow. Nice and slow of course. Get his belly used to some milk again. Its so much fun watching Parker grow. He was very wide and awake a few times today. He definitely has daddy's brown eyes, and his long beautiful lashes. Why do boys always get pretty lashes? At first I thought Parker looked more like daddy, but I've gotten a few of the nurses and doctors saying he looks more like me. He's a mix of the both of us ;)

Day 72

Day 72

A wonderful day for Parker. He was extubated today and placed on 2L nasal cannula and doing great. His surgeon said he's looking great and should be pooping by the 5th day after surgery...well Parker showed him. He pooped twice today!! Been gassy and farty all day! It's one of the few times I will be excited that my son is farting and pooping. So glad to know that everything is working. He was really fussy this afternoon so I swaddled him and held him for a while. I've missed not being able to hold my boy the last 2 days. He got some well deserves snuggle time. We are so proud of our son. He constantly amazes us!

Day 71

Parker had a pretty good day. Still in the vent. He was breathing above the vent and awake this morning, then we gave him some morphine in the late afternoon and he was out!! So bumped up his rate on the vent. No worries, poor kid had a big surgery, he needs some rest. His weight is up to 5lbs today! Lots of fluid weight of course, so he got some Lasix to help pull the fluid off. I wanted to snuggle with him today, but knew he needed his rest. So I just sat by him and held his little hand. He looked so precious today. Love that little man.

Day 70

Parker did great today! Surgery went well. They removed a very small portion of his bowel and put him back together. Appendix removed too. There are possibilities for post op complications, but we know Parker will stay strong. He is still on the vent and is being weaned off quickly. Thankfully he is tolerating the weaning well. He will remain NPO (no milk for him) for several days. Once the bowels start functioning we can start him up on feeds. Although this is a set back, it's a step towards home. He did great throughout the day. Has pain meds on standby when he needs them. Once again, we have such a strong kid!