Zach Update 11-24-2008

Current weight is a bit more than 2lbs 4 ounces (probably more like 2 lb 6oz.
He's more than 14 inches long now.

Talked to the NICU this afternoon and some promising information. Some of you may or may not know he'd been fighting some lung issues the last few days and they've taken xrays etc and his lungs are still looking good so they thought maybe there was an infection. So far the cultures have come back without anything growing. He's had a lot of need for suction last few days so they sent off cultures. Thankfully so far nothing is showing up but they said it still could but if it does it's probably a minor infection. They do have him on antibiotics because of a suspected infection. He had a bought of jaundice again last week and that can be caused by an infection. He's no longer under the lights but does have the IV back in his arm now.

They've lowered his oxygen again (this is a good thing less is better) and they're starting the transition to lower the need on the respirator. Perhaps in a few days he may be on CPAP instead of a respirator. Hopefully this time when they try it he can actually take it. Last time he was in really bad shape when they tried of course he was just a few days old last time. They said they never can tell when they're exactly ready other than less of a need for oxygen and lower levels on the respirator. 20% oxygen is usually when thye start trying the CPAP, we breathe about 21% so usually when they get that low they're ready to start using their lungs on their own.

They've got his feeds up to 18ccs x 8 x per day at this time. That's about 144 ccs (ml) per day. The nurse said they may up them a bit more tomorrow. They're trying to get him to gain a bit more weight but he's nearly to the normal (mid line) range for weight for his gestational age. They're currently adding more calories to the breast milk to help that process along. He's definately filling out nicely as you can see from the photos taken every few days.

I'll review a bit of the past few weeks since I just started the blog today.

Zachary Ian was born on 11/04/2008 around 2100hr.
He weighed 1lb 13 oz or 821 grams. He was 13.72 inches long.
He was measuring at 27 weeks gestational this is what they measure premies by. You always go by gestational age even after they get home so you have the proper developmental milestone age. Take the original due date which was Feb 1st and minus the weeks off between that and when he was born from his age so we know where developmentally he is at.

So by tomorrow he'll be 30 weeks gestational. Most babies would still be in the womb for another 8-10 weeks. So he's got a bit to go but he's looking cuter and cuter every day.

So far he's been under light therapy about 3 times for jaundice. He's been on antibotics 3-4 times which is pretty good considering some preemies are on them nearly all the time in the NICU. I finally got all the nurses/head nurse etc on board with the fresh breast milk. We take it daily so he can get my immune system. One of the first things to go when you freeze breast milk is the antibodies which a preemie needs desperately. Preemies don't get the mother's immune system in the womb so they rely on the breastmilk completely. I believe that's one reason he's not needed much for antibiotics which I'm thankful. I'm sure after a few weeks it'll be even better and he'll be sick even less.

I've still not been able to do kangaroo care (that's chest to chest holding for an hour). He's either been under the lights or had IV's or not been feeling well enough. However, we've been able to rub his back and he loves his back rubbed and to lay on his stomach. They say it helps preemies to have back massages so we've been focusing on that he does seem to breathe better and get relaxed while we're doing it. He even arches his back /tries to move on his side/stomach so we rub it if we stop. It's cute that even at this age they know what they like and will move so you can keep doing it lol.

The nurses say soon he'll be able to see black and white he already looks around a lot when you talk to him he's just a lot easier to touch etc while he's sleeping. He's got a great grip on his right hand it's very strong however his left is a bit weak. I definately didn't expect that difference. With my daughter both her hands were pretty strong of course she was born 2 weeks overdue.

Well that's all I can think of to update past and present.