Feeding, Tapering, Smiling, & Noise Making

This week has been mostly focused on bottle feeds, bolus feeds, and sedative tapers.

Right now, Ayden receives 80ml of formula every three hours. The goal has been to get Ayden used to a bolus feed of 80ml over thirty minutes. We started with 80ml over two hours and have decreased the time by twenty minutes every day. Because Ayden's tummy was full for most of the week, he hasn't been terribly interested in bottle feeds. Ayden responded more favorably to the idea today since his feeds have been over a shorter time period, and he has been more hungry by the time he has gotten to the next feed. Today he took his 10ml of bottle feed for the second time since he has been home!

Some great news: Ayden has a nurse come visit him at home at the end of each week. Yesterday she weighed Ayden, and he showed much better weight gain! It appears as though the formula increase was just the right amount! 

With regards to sedative tapers, one of the two sedatives has been completely removed, and the other is supposed to drop off tomorrow. He has handled the taper pretty well, so hopefully tomorrow will prove no different.

Bryan and I are pretty exhausted. Though Ayden sleeps eight to nine hours every night, we don't sleep that long or that well. Every noise Ayden makes awakens us. We are perhaps more jumpy than most parents. However, like most parents, we still deal with feeding an infant overnight. For us, it means going to get the formula from the refrigerator downstairs, filling the pump bag with formula, checking for tube placement (one can't just assume the tube is in his stomach), and setting the feeding pump; when his feed is complete, his tube needs to be flushed, and the bag with the remaining formula needs to be taken to the refrigerator. The only other thing that could wake us up overnight is the apnea monitor, which makes the most horrifying noise known to man. The machine has gone off maybe three times... for breathing, which naturally throws us into panic. Between the shriek of the monitor and the fear of Ayden not breathing, the experience is less than fun. I rush to Ayden's side to "look at the baby," and each alarm is proven to be false. Phew!

No matter how tired I may be or how discouraged I sometimes get, God brightens those moments with my sweet baby. Ayden smiles up at us to reassure us and give us joy. He makes the most beautiful noises now, and we converse with him quite often these days. He's trying so hard to tell us something, even if we have no idea what that something is. I just love him.

Mom, seriously, more pictures?

Okay, maybe one more picture!