Owen weighs 5 lbs and 11 oz. They're going to do a swallow study tomorrow to make sure he's not aspirating. He went up again today to 30ml while feeding with the speech therapist. He seems to be doing really well with his sucking and swallowing. No spit ups. But they still want to be sure. 

The oxygen setup is gone. It was at his bedside on standby, but they've moved it away. They're talking about discontinuing his medications for breathing and lung development because he continues to do so well. They've stopped the breathing treatments to start. They'll monitor and make sure he's good without them. Then they'll move on to the diuretic or the caffeine. The last to go will be the steroid. 

Owen is doing well with bottle feeding. He started at 10 ml, and has gone up everyday. He's at 25 ml as of yesterday. The speech therapist will work with him today to make sure he's on the right track. 

He weighs 5.67 lbs. He's 17 inches long now.   

  

Owen did well again with bottle feeding yesterday. He went up from 10 to 15 ml. It was great watching him do it! He was so coordinated with his sucking and his stopping to breathe. The nurse said some babies get so worked up that they forget to do that. He had nice burps too.
Owen weighs 5 and a half pounds. He's moved in to the newborn size clothes. He's outgrown the preemie size! They did say the more he bottle feeds, he may lose some weight. He's not used to doing any work to eat. That's why they're very slow to start.
We did get to meet with the OT. She was great, and had all good things to say about Owen's development. She explained that his movements and reflexes were developing in the right grouping. He's made great progress in two weeks being off the ventilator. When she initiates his movements, he responds appropriately. His muscle tone is good; not too tense, not too floppy. And he's good at letting everyone know when he's uncomfortable or unhappy, he's not passive, and we love that. All good news! -She also said he had the cutest smile on the unit!
We'll add pictures tonight!

Million Dollar Baby!!! (So Far)

Owen is once again trying to take matters into his own hands, literally. He decided that he was done with his oxygen yesterday and pulled the nasal cannula out of his nose. He was doing so well that the nurses and doctors decided to leave it out and see how he does. Well now he's on day two without oxygen support and he's doing really well! And in even bigger news he successfully took 10 cc's of his milk from a bottle tonight. They said they may try the same amount tomorrow, but may do it at two different feedings if he handles it well. He's made a lot of big steps in just a couple days. I think he's trying to impress his Mom for Mother's Day. Pretty sweet gift if I say so myself.

Owen's first bottle. He did really well. The nurse said he knew just what he was doing. He got a little messy, but that's normal. He swallowed well. No spit ups. No desats. He burped nicely.

We're so excited!!

Owen had a pretty good day today. He's been spitting up more since his last feeding increase to 45 ml. They took it back down to 40ml to see if that's the problem. The other issue however for today, is that they ran out of breastmilk and he was getting formula only. We made a second trip up there this evening to get him his breastmilk. We do have a whole deep freezer full, for goodness sake. We also have a new plan so that doesn't happen again.

Owen received less in his feedings today. Plus he spit a lot of it up. But he still gained weight. He's almost 5 and a half pounds.

He moved down on his flow today too! He's at 2!! If he does well, that means we get to move off the high flow cannula, and we get to work toward bottle feeding and then breast feeding. 

Owen had a good day! They moved him back down again on his flow to 2.5. He kept pulling out the cannula and breathing fine without it. They would go in randomly to check on him and it would be on top of his nose. If he can breathe without it completely for indefinite amounts of time, they figured he could be moved down a bit. It may have to be turned up during assessments and such. He does not like being messed with.
His eye exam went well today. The ROP condition is still regressing. Not another test for 2 weeks. They've increased his feedings to 45 ml and adjusted all his medications based on his growth. He's at 5.16 lbs.
When we went to see him this evening, he looked so good! He was resting well and tolerated his assessment well. His color looked good. His skin looked and smelled very nice, and his little cheeks look a little chubby. We got to see several smiles and were even able to catch a few in pictures.