A lot has happened since I last updated this blog. Wyatt has lived in the NICU since the 15th and is expected to stay there till October 27th, his actual due date. We have had a lot of ups and downs in the last week and a half. Lots of joy and tears, breakdowns and celebrations, fear and ultimately trust again in the Lord's sovereignty even in this tumultuous time in our lives.
We are living in Springfield at the Ronald McDonald House. It is such a blessing! The house is amazing and the staff take wonderful care of us. They are totally spoiling the kids and we are loving being together as a family. Mitch has to go back to work tomorrow so it will be just me and the kids in Springfield and my mom is going to be there too until we get to take Wyatt home.
So here is the update. Wyatt was off of respiratory treatments, breathing on his own, maintaining his body heat, and was started on a feeding tube and was up to 18 milliliters per feeding on the 17th. Mitch also gave him his first bath that day. He had to be put under the bili lights because his bilirubin level went from a 8 to a 14.5 in less than 12 hours. He opened both of his eyes for the first time on the 18th. Until then it he would just open his left eye. It was fun to see him open his eyes and be more awake that day. He continued to do well with digesting food and took a pacifier for the first time on the 19th. Premature babies work from taking a pacifier to taking a bottle and then move to mom. So taking a pacifier for the first time was a great step.
One really cool thing happened on the 20th, a harpist actually came into the NICU to play for the babies. It was really neat to hear the music and cool that she comes to give the gift of music to the babies.
Another step forward on the 21st at 1 pm Wyatt took his first bottle and drank 10mls! We are on the way!!
I got to have my first skin to skin touch time with Wyatt on the 21st at 7pm. Mitch took the kids to a football game that night and they had a blast. They took Wyatt's pic line out so he was no longer on IV fluids after 10pm and he drank again from the bottle with Mitch.
Wyatt took another bottle the next day and I was telling the kids about it at breakfast. Kennedi asked "how many mls of milk do you want me to drink mama?" Too cute.
Wyatt is still under the lights on the 22nd and having a hard time keeping warm in an open crib with just a diaper on so they put him in an enclosed crib to help keep him warm. It helped a lot, hopefully he will be in an open crib once his bilirubin levels come down to a 7.
We had a step back today. Saturday the 24th. They had to start fortifying my milk with additional protein and minerals and Wyatt did not handle it very well. He didn't digest it at all overnight, so they had to put in an IV line again and reduced his feedings from 40mls to 19. It was really hard to see that IV back in and to see him go from doing well to not handling food. We had good talks with the doctor and nurse practitioner and felt better. Thankfully he was doing better the next day.
Kennedi and William get to visit Wyatt once a week for 30 minutes. They met him for the first time on Saturday the 17th. Kennedi had a lot of sweet things to say. "He's so cute" "I love him so much" William didn't have much to say. Wyatt is not very entertaining right now. Kennedi isn't very happy that she can't touch him, hold him or kiss him. She really wants to cuddle.
More to come...
No comments:
Post a Comment