Thanksgiving Feast

We weren't the only one's to have a full belly on Thanksgiving. The doctor started Cole on breast milk, given through a tube into the stomach. A 1/2 cc of milk every 6 hours. Two days later that was increased to every 4 hours. He's handling it well, so they are cutting back on some of the feeding through IV. His breathing is a little better as well. He's back to a standard ventilator, with the extra oxygen decreased. He's back up to 1 lb 9 oz, so almost back to his birth weight.

Birthday: 1 week old

Today Cole turns one week old. So far, everything is going well. One of his belly button IV's was removed today. You'll notice that a temporary IV was added to his hand this week. The doctor says that this weekend they would like to start trying to feed him actual breast milk. It will be a gradual process of one drop, wait two hours, one more drop, wait two hours... until his stomach can handle more.

Daily Routine

We've settled into a routine of going to see Cole after breakfast and again after dinner. We're envious of the other parents that have had their babies in there for much longer who are able to hold and feed them from a bottle. But it's also comforting to see the successes and know that we'll be at that point soon. We are limited to staring through the glass incubator like kids in a candy store. Sometimes we can reach in and put our hands on him. The nurses say that the human touch is very comforting to babies. No other real news to report. Everything is stable. He's off the blood pressure medication, and he's pooping and peeing on his own.

Diapers

When we went to visit this morning, Heather got to change his diapers. Afterwards you couldn't wipe the smile off her face. The nurses say he's gained back some weight from the initial drop off. He's 1lb 7oz.