December 30, 2011

Travis has been totally off of the CPAP the last couple days! He has been on "low flow" and is breathing very well. He is still receiving extra oxygen and a little bit of flow, but they keep on weaning him from that. The last time they weighed him he was 2530grams (5.6lbs). Last night he took a bottle for the first time and drank 55mls from it. I've also been nursing him twice a day which is going well, and they weigh him before and after I feed him to see how much he drank. It is still early so he isn't drinking too much before he gets tired, so they just feed the remainder with the tube.
Since he has been doing very well, we are moving to Pod A! This is the area of the NICU where it is "home stretch". We are still anticipating to come home the end of January, beginning of February. It will still be a couple weeks before he will be off of the nasal cannuala for breathing, and that he will be feeding only by bottle and nursing. It will also be extended if he stops breathing and dips in his oxygen levels.
Part of being in Pod A is that it is more parent led care. This means that I will be spending more time there during the day. At the moment I am there for about 4 hours a day. He feeds every 3 hours so I try feed him twice during that time.
Here are a couple pictures from the last couple days: