One Step Back

Andrew and I were thankful for a little break this weekend while my parents had Libby. We were able to dig out of the piles of paperwork that have been piling up and try to reassemble our house and yard. Consequently, I am just now posting for the last three days of activity.

My favorite part of this weekend was when Libby came to visit Will. She was slightly unhappy when I was holding him until she was able to get in the chair next to me and touch his feet and hands.
Then she laid her head on his tummy... then she thought she could hold him. (Minor heart attack for Mommy)
She even showed off for the nurses by running around and turning in circles. She was very sweet and gentle to her little brother and I was pleasantly surprised by her actions.Will is continuing to gain weight. He's surpassed his birth weight by a pound and is getting close to 5 pounds! Tonight he was at 4 lbs, 12 oz. Another success for him this week was the transfer of milk (17 grams) during breastfeeding. The lactation consultant was very pleased with his ability to suck, swallow, breathe. Then he let out a big (for him) burp when I was patting his back! I was teary eyed, of course. I couldn't help being so proud of this little, teeny baby working so hard to do what is supposed to be natural.
He is still having problems with desaturation which means he's not taking deep enough breaths therefore having reduced amounts of oxygen in his blood. The Vapotherm was a way to help with that as is the caffeine. Since he was taken off the Vapotherm, they tried to reduce his caffeine last week with the goal of weening him completely at 34 weeks. Because of all his de-sats, they decided to increase his caffeine again from 9 ml to 20 ml. Although this is a step back, it's very normal for preemies (especially white boys) and it should help him with breastfeeding. He'll be able to breathe more effectively while eating.

The nurse practitioner said that there is now a possibility for him to go home on caffeine. It's something we would give him in his milk once a day. If he goes home on caffeine, he would also have a heart monitor. He would need to visit the Apnea Clinic at Children's weekly or bi-weekly to monitor his progress.

This is something we'll add to the prayer list. We would love for him to come home free of medication and monitors as well as come home with clean ultrasound of his brain. It looks like we may have our prayers answered for a 5 or 6 lb baby as well!

We've had a huge burden lifted from our shoulders as far as Will's hospital stay. Because my maternity insurance doesn't kick in until June 18th, we weren't sure how much of Will's stay would be covered. Andrew talked to our insurance company today and, other than our deductible, they will cover everything-- even the medication he may have to take at home (apparently caffeine is really expensive).

Thank you for your continued encouragement to our family. We've had neighbors (who we've only known for a few short months) drop by with meals, long-time friends show up on our doorstep with food, and family ever-willing to help us with whatever we need. Even people who live far away continue to show us their love. A friend in Kansas City emailed me this morning with this verse. "When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations DELIGHT my soul." Ps. 94:19. What a great reminder that God knows me well enough to know I will have anxious thoughts and He loves me so perfectly at those times. We feel so blessed.