July 24, 2008 afternoon

Brandon is up to 11 cc's every 3 hours. He is still doing really well with his feedings. I spoke to Dr. Alemany and Dr. Hudom. They both seem happy with how well Brandon is doing. Brandon had a few desats when I was at the hospital this afternoon but nothing that anyone is concerned about. I mentioned to his nurse, Chris, that I would be happy once he outgrows the desats and she said that will happen eventually but he will continue to have them for several weeks since this is what preemies do. Brandon was surrounded by his stuffed animals today. It reminded me of the movie ET when ET is in the closet surrounded by stuffed animals.

July 23, 2008 evening

I just got back from the hospital. I was there for a little over 3 hours. My friend Sommer came with me since Stu is away until Saturday. Kate was back! I was very happy to see her. She is so good with Brandon. I got to kangaroo with Brandon for 1 1/2 hours. He was wide awake in the beginning when we were kangarooing. He had a good night tonight.

July 23, 2008 afternoon

I went to the hospital this afternoon for 1 1/2 hours. Brandon had a desat when I first got there since he had to be suctioned but he was good the rest of the time. Chris was his nurse today. It was busy today so I am waiting until tonight to kangaroo. Dr. Alemany came to talk to me and again said he was upset that Brandon needed the vent because he is doing so great. He is going to stop the iv either tomorrow or Thursday and continue with the milk. Brandon is up to 9 cc's today. He said again that in a week or two he will try him off the vent. He will make it so Brandon is doing a lot more breathing on his own on the vent in about a week.

On my way out of the hospital I saw one of the nurses that I had after I had Brandon when I was on the mother/ baby floor. She was asking how Brandon is doing. I also saw one of the kids that I had in my class this year and her mom and sister. It was really nice seeing her.

July 22, 2008 evening

Stu and I went to the hospital last night from 7:45-9:30. We originally thought Stu would get to kangaroo with Brandon but he was not able to since I did in the day. We didn't realize that he is only supposed to kangaroo once a day for now. Brandon was okay for most of our visit. The only desat he had was when he had to be suctioned.

July 22, 2008 afternoon

I went to the hospital at 12:00 today and stayed for almost 4 hours. I was able to kangaroo with Brandon for 1 1/2 hours and then he had a desat so they decided to put him back in his isolette since he had been out for awhile. After he was back in I decided to go pump. I came back and Brandon was doing fine and then all of a sudden he started to have another desat. Dr. Alemany came over and listened to his chest and thought that the tube was out. A respiratory therapist came over and a bunch of other people and I had to go wait in the Michael's Feat room. The Michael's Feat room is a room for parents to wait in when things are being done with the babies. There is a tv, computer, couches, and coffee machine. It turned out it was not the tube. It was just Brandon being Brandon. Mark had just suctioned him a little while before he had the desat and Brandon tends to desat after he is suctioned.

While I was kangarooing with Brandon Dr. Alemany came over to talk to me. He said he hates that Brandon needs to be on the ventilator because his lungs sound so great and he is looking so great. Also, he is on minimal settings. He said in another week or two they will try him off again. This way his lungs will have some time to develop so that hopefully the next time he comes off he will be okay.

A Good Visit

We had a good visit with Brandon last night. He was very alert for a lot of the visit. Our friend Chris came with us to meet Brandon. Brandon was very wiggly and seemed like he was trying to poop. I got to kangaroo with him for an hour. He did really well the whole time. I could have held him for hours but we had to go home because Stu had to be up early to work today and it was already almost 11:00 by the time we left.

I talked to Sue this morning and she said he had a good night. He finally managed to poop too so I am sure he is feeling so much better. It was the first poop that he has had.

July 21, 2008 afternoon

I was at the hospital for a little over 2 hours this afternoon. Brandon was okay most of the time. He only had one desat when I was there and it was after the nurse put his glasses back on (he needs to wear the glasses since he is under the bilirubin light again). Dr. Alemany came over to talk to me when I was there. He said that Brandon sounds great and looks great and that he had to try him off the vent a few days ago to at least give him a chance to try the CPAP. He said he will probably be back on for a week before they try him off again.

Brandon is back up to 5 cc's of milk every 3 hours today. He is tolerating it well still which is great. His nurse today, Lisa, told me that he weighed 970 grams this morning which is a little heavier than 2 pounds, 2 ounces. Dr. Alemany mentioned that in a few days they would start to cut back on the iv fluids that he is getting.