STEP DOWN HERE WE COME!
Jacob is 3 weeks old today. We are celebrating big by moving to the CCU. They said he is doing great and no longer needs to be in the intensive care unit so tomorrow is the big day! Once he is there I will be staying at the hospital with him and sleeping there. The CCU or Cardiac Care Unit is where you have your own room and you basically take care of the baby. The nurse checks vitals and is there if you need her but its mainly all you... No pressure!
They took Jacob off of Digoxin (a heart med to regulate pumping) and the heart rhythem issues stopped. His breathing is a little fast but not abnormal for a hypoplast and they are not worried. He is on barely any oxygen but they are not taking him off until they get the feeding more advanced.
Feeding:
Speech came today and tried a bottle. Jacob did not do well with that. Kids who were not fed prior to surgery tend to have a harder time. But he has only tried once so I am not counting him out yet. They told me to start dipping his binki in breast milk and giving it to him to get him used to the taste. He seemed to like that a lot. The longer a baby goes without a bottle the more they loose that instinct so its really hard for these kids to learn to swallow.
Please pray that he learns otherwise he would need a g-tube. The main goal is for him to gain weight so he is big enough for the next surgery so we need to make sure he gets the milk even if its through a tube in his belly (gtube). However it is another surgery so I don't want him to go through that if he does not need it. The doctors say we are not near that point yet so pray he catches on.
Physical Therapy:
Physical Therapy came by and he is right where he should be developmentally. He did great! They also showed me all kinds of exercises to do with him and ways of holding him which was great for me to be able to bond with him.
We had a great day!
As always thank you for all of the prayers!
Jacob we are so proud of you and your amazing progress.
Love,
Mommy, Daddy and Aidan
Love,
Mommy, Daddy and Aidan
AMAZING!!! You are so on your way to going home. Most of our heart babies have difficulty eating, but many do really well with a little time and A LOT of patience. I am praying he will pick it up and you don't need a g-tube. Hope went home on a NG tube and only needed it for a couple weeks.
ReplyDeleteYAY for handsome baby Jacob! I'm so excited he's already moving down to the step-down unit - go Jacob!!! Yep, heart kids are notorious for having feeding issues, but I'm praying Jacob is just taking his sweet time catching on but will figure it out pretty quickly here!!! Bodie sends lot of like-to-eat vibes Jacob's way. ;-)
ReplyDeleteDon't be discouraged by the OT about the bottle. The OT for my daughter said she was completely uncoordinated and that it would be an uphill battle to get her to take one. Like you said, they only worked with him once. Same thing with Aly~ She was on only a bottle 2 days after she came home. These babies move at their own pace. Praying that Jacob starts enjoying his bottle soon!! :) So glad to hear he's moving to the floor! One giant step closer to home!!! :) :)
ReplyDeleteThose pics just melt your heart... he is one of the most beautiful babies I have ever seen... I truely mean that!!! I just want to cuddle him up... but Jilly would be quite jealous of that!!!! He is doing amazing and you will do amazing with all the mommy things too!!! Heart hugs and keep up the good work Jacob!!! You are very special!!! Joy
ReplyDeleteWe are happy to hear everything is going in the right direction. My wife and I toured the unit yesterday and feel so fortunate that our baby will be in best care like Jacob. We will be praying for Jacob and your family and we look forward to reading future positive blogs.
ReplyDeleteOhhhhh....so exciting!!! Wish I was there to celebrate the move to CCU with you!!! That's WONDERFUL WONDERFUL news! I'm sad I'm a bit behind, but how great to long in and learn that you are STEPPED DOWN!! Hurrah!!!!!
ReplyDeleteAs for the bottle feeding - I'm praying for that - I know how you want that to work and I hope that he can do just as Gwen did - little by little get the "suck, swallow, breath" thing down. At first I really was feeling hopeless - Myers was the one who kept pushing me to keep trying. SO, keep it up with the bottle...he may surprise you when you least expect it!!!
I'm sad I didn't get to say goodbye...but know I'm thinking of you and your family every day and prayers are all going out for you from me and my friends!