Chapter 8: Week Eight

Sunday

Guess who turned seven weeks old today?  Isaac!  He'll officially be 30 weeks gestationally tomorrow, and is doing well.  Today's activities included kangaroo care with Daddy, a double diaper change with Mommy, a tiny tantrum, pacifier practice, fun with facial expressions, a bubble blowing bonanza, and lots of sweet slumber.

 Kangaroo Care

He wasn't thrilled about his diaper change, but was full of smiles and funny faces after.  And oh, how I love to hear his voice!  We've waited so long to hear him.  Every cry and coo and gurgle is music to our ears.

A Tiny Tantrum During Diaper Change

 

Cheese!

And Now My Serious Face

Bubbles!

Monday-Wednesday

Monday through Wednesday were fun and amazing.  Mommy and Daddy took turns with kangaroo care each day, as well as helping with some of Isaac's daily care, such as diaper changes, body temps, bedding changes, laundry, and learning to suction his mouth and nose.  Isaac has been just as mischievous with his nasal cannula as with his other breathing apparatuses and already figured out how to stick his finger up his nose, hook it on the cannula, and pull it out.  To keep everything in place, his nurses have procured extra tape, securing it to his face.

 "No, Isaac, we do not pull on our nasal cannula. You need that to breathe. Isaac, no. Hey, what did I just say? Here, hold my finger instead. Yes, you can squeeze that. Good boy."

Giving Daddy a Hug

Bedding Change

"What do we do now?"

Baby Sleeping, Do Not Disturb

Thursday

Isaac is slowly starting to fill out and gain a bit of baby fat.  We just love watching him develop, from his chubby cheeks to his plump little toes.  However, today he also needed to gain a bit of hematocrit, so he had another transfusion to replace all the blood they've needed to draw for various labs (which is standard throughout his NICU stay).  The transfusion takes about three hours, so we couldn't hold him during our visit tonight, but we could still reach in to touch his head.  For the most part, we simply watched him sleep.  A peacefully sleeping baby equals two happy, doting parents.

Transfusions Turn Him Pink for a While

Friday

Today, Isaac started having cluster bradys (multiple drops in heart rate back to back), so his medical team ran some cultures to test for infection.  To be on the safe side, he's on antibiotics again and they put him back on the CPAP to give his body a chance to rest and let the machine do some more of the work for him.  It's a minor set back, but we're told this is all part of the micro-preemie package.  We hadn't actually expected him to last a full week on the cannula to begin with (we were told they usually only last a few hours the first time), so we were pretty impressed with his stamina.  He was sleeping when we arrived, so we kept the visit quiet, letting him rest.

Sleeping Baby Toes

Saturday

We had another little bump in the road today.  Even though Isaac's bloodwork shows no signs of infection thus far, his body is still exhausted.  After a few bouts of apneic behavior, he's back on the respirator, allowing his lungs to rest even more. 

Thankfully, he's still on his feeds and doing well with digestion, so hopefully that will help give his body the boost it needs, and he can start re-weaning his oxygen over the next few days.  We had gotten used to holding him every day, so it's hard to take a few days off, but if he needs the rest right now, then rest he will get.  We're just thankful that he's still making progress overall, and still not showing any signs of infection.  I keep dreaming about the day we can take him home and hold him every day, curl up to family movie night, and not have to travel to see him.  But for now, he's in his incubator, safe and sound and in great hands with his medical staff.