Today was a big day, pysically and emotionally. I got kicked out of the hospital and after a few hours of trying to figure out where I was going to go, we decided to get a hotel close to the hospital so that I could still go and feed him.
It started out with bad news with his sats (oxygen levels) being low and had one wet diaper all night. The Drs are worried he is dehydrated and isn't getting enough from just breast feeding. So they decided to see how his morning feedings went and if he hadn't had any wet diapers they would place a feeding tube in him to help get the right amount in. He only weighed 7lbs 4oz, which is too much lost since birth.
By mid afternoon, things still were not getting any better so the nurse put a feeding tube in. With the tube they were able to draw back what was in his stomach to see how much he got. Kinda gross, made me gag a bit when I first saw it. The Drs figured he needs a minimum of 43 mils of milk each feedings. On a good note my milk started to come in more so I was able to produce a little extra each time I pumped, than the 43 mils needed for one feeding. They also decided to put him on a 3 hour feeding schedule instead of an "ad lib" schedule, where we feed when he wakes up and is ready.
On another good note his glucose had been good numbers for the last couple feedings so they stopped the glucose teste before each feedings!!! Yay!! Maybe his heels can begin to heal now. Poor thing has blue and purple heels from being poked and had blood squeezed out of them.
Drew had Stella all day so I spent all day at the hospital alone. I went back and forth from the hospital and hotel to rest and feed Jefferson. I was able to do skin to skin with him. This is such a special time and I highly recommend it to any parent. There is something magical that happens when you do skin to skin. Within seconds of putting him on my chest he just stared at me and stilled. His eyes got big as he was listening to my heart. Something familiar to him that he hadn't heard in a few days. It was so sweet and I loved every minute of it.
The nurse and I decided since he had a busy day to just let him sleep through the night and feed him through his feeding tube. I thought that the tube was another set back, but it actually was a blessing in disguise. Jefferson was able to get some sleep and I was too!! We went from 9pm to 6 am with all his feedings through a tube. He did really well and I was told he didn't wake hardly at all and slept through the majority of the night. Other than getting up to pump, I was able to get more than 3-4 hours of sleep. It took so long to get up get to the hospital, get set up, feed him, pump after, clean up and get back to the hotel I was only getting an hour and half of sleep before I had to get up and be back to the hospital. So it was heaven.
Here's a few more pictures of my sweet little boy!
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