Practice

Max continues to do great. We were able to hold and rock him quite a bit today. We also tried to get him to latch on and then with a bottle to no avail. Practice, practice, practice...

The nurse today speculated Max might get rid of his I.V. tomorrow. That would be fantastic since he's had it put in multiple times in each foot, hand, and even both sides of his scalp. Pain and nuisance for him, just pain for us.

We'll find out his weight tonight when we go back, as that's when they schedule it.

Pajamas

The days seem to be getting better than the day before. We walked in and found Max in
his incubator with little pj's on which meant he had no CPAP or oxygen in his nose, nor the superhero goggles or biliruben light shining down on him. He had also gone from 8 ml's of food last night to 12 ml's, and while we were there they pushed it up to 16 ml's. His digestion is finally getting the hang of things.

Not only did Annie get to change a nice, messy, black diaper, but she also got to try feeding him again. Not quite there yet, but there are signs of progress. We both were able to hold and rock him for quite a long time, thanks to Supermax deciding he didn't need some of Sparrow's high-tech assistance for the time being.

We all like taking steps forward...

Open the valves, testing the plumbing

Home for a couple hours for dinner. Max, Annie and I had a great day so far. Max started to digest his colostrum last night. Between his feeding at 12:30pm and his feeding at 3:45pm while we were there he managed to get 10 ml from his stomach into his intestines. A far cry from none over the last 3 days. His breathing is evening out and they've turned the pressure down on the CPAP. Indications are he might be off it in the next day or so.

We also had the chance to given him a bath. His eyes were open and looking around and he was calm as can be - until the nurse came back and ticked him off...

Good news! We came back to find Max without the CPAP. Not only that but he produced a pretty good sized stool while we were there. Now that he's starting to get the plumbing working, hopefully he'll start getting rid of the bilirubin, breathing even better, and start putting on some weight. One day at a time...

But today Max had a GREAT day...

A hard 5 ml

Max was pretty much stable today. Still has the CPAP hooked up and a feeding tube. We watched him get his 5 ml of colostrum this afternoon. Upon return after dinner, the nurse found it still in his stomach in time for his second feeding. She proceeded to remove the 5 ml and replace it with new. I guess it's just going to be a waiting game before his lungs and digestive process begin to function. We're told at 33-34 weeks is usually when things start to move.

Super Max

Came in this morning to see Max still has his CPAP on and we were informed the neonatalogist has postponed a feeding attempt until tomorrow. Not only that, but he now has a bright blue bilirubin light shining down on him to help with converting the bilirubin in his skin to a form that can be excreted when his digetive system finally kicks in. (jaundice)

So now we wears these foam goggles that make him look like a superhero. We call him Super Max.

CPAP

Today we came in and Max wasn't wearing the CPAP. Just a little oxygen running in through his nose. His little knit cap was off and we could finally see his whole face and head. He's got a good head of dark brown hair, and we spent part of the day determining who's hair-line he might have.

Since Max has no "suck" instinct yet, he's being fed colostrum via feeding tube. We tried breast feeding a bit, even though he's too young. Not much luck yet, but there were signs Max thought there might be something to this nipple thing...

Came in after dinner to find Max back on the CPAP. His digestion hasn't quite kicked in so his full stomach was hindering his breathing somehow. They emptied his stomach, put the CPAP back on, and now we'll have to wait until tomorrow to see about
feeding him again.

Maxwell Thomas

Maxwell Thomas Bloxom decided, without consulting his parents, it was his
time to emerge from his warm, dark, safe, and cozy little existence into the real cold, real dry, real loud, and real REAL world in which he was intended -- albeit 8 weeks early. 4 lbs. 11 oz. & 18" long.

My wife was amazing. Our kid was amazing. His first little ticked-off cry exactly 1.3 seconds into the open air completely floored me, and I think all of us in the room let out one giant collective sigh of relief. He's got some work to do getting used to breathing and digesting, but other than that, there are no defects we can see. His 5 minute APGAR was 9 of 10.

We will never be the same...