July 28, 2008 afternoon and evening

Stu and I went to see Brandon when Stu got home from work. Brandon's vent rate was down to 40. Stu kangarooed with Brandon for 1 1/2 hours. I went back to see Brandon tonight and kangarooed for almost 3 1/2 hours. Brandon did really well both times. I will post pictures from the last few days tomorrow. Brandon now officially weighs 2 pounds 4 ounces.

Dr. Alemany update

Dr. Alemany called a few minutes ago. I was at the hospital for an hour after lunch but I did not see him then so he called to update me on Brandon. He said that he lowered Brandon's rate on the ventilator. It was set at 50 yesterday (gives him 50 breaths a minute) and today it is at 45. He said Brandon was doing great on his feedings. He is up to 17 cc's today. I spoke to Sue last night when I was there and told her that I had brought some of the frozen breast milk with me. I mentioned that now that he is eating as much as he is I am going to have a hard time keeping up with him pumping since most of the time I only get 15 cc's which is a half ounce. She suggested starting to mix the breast milk with formula so that Brandon tolerates the formula easier when he is on 100% formula which will probably be a few more weeks and also so that the breast milk lasts a little longer. She tried it last night at his midnight feeding by mixing 1/3 formula with 2/3 breast milk and he tolerated it well. He also did well with the 3:00 am feeding so at the 6:00 am feeding she did half breast milk and half formula and he did well with that too. So he will stay at half of each until I am out of breast milk. I will continue to pump until I am out of the frozen. Dr. Alemany also said that over the next week they are going to start lowering Brandon's support on the ventilator and that by this weekend or next week they will probably try him off the ventilator and see how he does. He said Brandon looks so good that he is hopeful he will do well off.

July 27, 2008

Brandon had a really good day today. He only had a few desats and pulled himself up from them on his own and quickly each time. Mark was his nurse this afternoon and Sue was his nurse tonight. I got to kangaroo for 2 hours this afternoon and 3 hours tonight. He did great both times and was so content. Brandon had 16 cc's every 3 hours today.

Part of the kilo club

Brandon hit the 1000 gram mark last night so he is now part of the kilo club. Sue , who was his nurse last night, said he will have a certificate waiting for him today when we go to the hospital. Stu came back from Baltimore yesterday so he came with me to the hospital last night. His brother and sister in law also came with us to see Brandon for the first time. We had a nice visit with Brandon last night. His numbers stayed up the whole time for the most part. Stu got to kangaroo with Brandon for 1 1/2 hours. Towards the end of the 1 1/2 hours Brandon had a lot of mucus in his lungs so he had to be suctioned so he was desatting a little because of that. As soon as Sue suctioned him he was fine.

3 weeks old

Brandon is 3 weeks old today. I was there visiting this afternoon but it was very busy since there were 4 babies being admitted so I did not get to kangaroo. One of the babies that was about to be admitted is a 26 weeker so Brandon is not the youngest anymore. Brandon managed to extubate (pull his vent tube out) this morning before I got there so he had a new tube in. The new tube is a little thicker than his old tube which Dr. Rekedal seems to think will help with keeping his oxygen level up. He has a higher rate today on the vent and a lower pressure setting. Brandon is up to 15 cc's of milk today which is a half ounce every 3 hours. His iv is completely removed so he is only getting milk now. He weighs 990 grams. 992 grams is 2 pounds, 3 ounces so he is almost there. Stu came home today so he will go with me tonight to see Brandon.

29 weeks corrected

If I was still pregnant with Brandon I would have been 29 weeks pregnant today. When I mentioned that to Mark, Brandon's nurse today, he said it is called 29 weeks corrected. Dr. Alemany called when I was on the way to the hospital today to tell me that everything was fine with Brandon. He told me that he is up to 13 cc's and mentioned that they would be adding something to his milk at the 6:00 feeding. When I asked Mark what they were adding when I got to the hospital he said they are adding sodium. Dr. Alemany also said Brandon is done with the iv today. He also said they changed the settings on the ventilator slightly so that Brandon won't have as many desats. In another week or so he said he will start to make it so Brandon is breathing more on his own on the vent and then try him off to see how he does. He said he may be fine or he may need a few more weeks on. I was able to kangaroo with Brandon for 1 1/2 hours and then he had a desat like last night so he was put back in his isolette and then he was fine.

July 24, 2008 evening

I had a pretty good visit with Brandon tonight. My parents came with me to see Brandon and were there for about an hour with me. Kate was his nurse again which I was happy about. I got to kangaroo with Brandon for 45 minutes and then he started to desat. He was not going back up so Kate wanted to put him back in his isolette so that she could suction him. As soon as she put him back he went up to 100 without being suctioned. He was on his back when he was put back so maybe he just wanted to change position. He did really well for the 45 minutes that we did kangaroo before he had his desat. Kate measured Brandon to see how long he is since I was curious. He is now 15 inches long so he has grown 2 inches already since I had him. He was still 2 pounds, 2 ounces.