Ethan’s feeding tube was removed today. He has done so well with his bottle feeding that the neonatologist decided it was time to remove the tube. That is a step towards coming home. She also ordered him to have a pneumogram test tonight. They will strap a monitor to his chest and record his respiratory activity for 12 hours. Tomorrow, she will analyze the information to determine if his breathing patterns are normal or not. This will help her decide if he needs to come home on a monitor and hopefully, we will get a date on when he can come home.

I added more pictures to the picasa album. Here’s a preview. Click on the picture to go to the album.

I added more pictures to the Picasa Web Album.

Our first family picture

We visited with Ethan again this evening. The nurses said that he had taken all his feedings by bottle today. The only time they had to tube feed him was this morning after our breastfeeding attempt. So that is some really good news!

Ethan is still doing well in the NICU. He’s making progress every day, but it is a slow process. He went under the phototherapy lamp for two days, but he is out now. Here are a few pictures of Ethan under the lamp. We thought he looked really cute with his baby sunglasses.

The nurses have increased the amount of milk he eats at each meal. He’s up to 45 ml per feeding, and he’s started gaining back the weight he lost after birth. They are starting to supplement the breast milk with some extra fats to increase his calorie intake. This will help him gain weight faster without switching him to formula. He is also getting much better with his reflux. He doesn’t spit up as much – most feedings he keeps everything down.

He is taking the bottle at some feedings, but his progress is slow. Sometimes he will take the whole bottle, and other times it really wears him out and they have to finish his feeding by the tube. They are still waking him up every 3 hours to eat, but only trying a bottle twice per day. It is important to take it slowly so that he doesn’t burn too many calories while he’s eating. Starting today we are trying to breastfeed once per day. He did really well this morning and seemed to understand what is going on, but the activity just wears him out. He fell asleep after about 10 minutes. But even if he doesn’t do much, it is good for us to try everyday, so that he will continue to learn what he needs to do.

I am feeling really good overall. At first things were very difficult because I was really tired and pumping took up a lot of my time. And it was very painful. Now I’ve got a routine, I’m getting more rest, and the pumping is very much easier and less painful.

Aaron is tired also and ready for Ethan to be at home. Andrew, Aaron, and Elise came over yesterday to help get the nursery ready. The room is nearly finished after all the work they did yesterday.

I also want to thank everybody who has helped us out in the last week. It would take pages and pages to list everyone individually, but we are very appreciative of all the help and gifts we have received. THANK YOU!

Here are a few photos of our hospital stay. Click on the slideshow to be taken to the photo album and view larger pictures:

And here’s an update on Ethan:

Feeding: We have started to introduce him to bottle feeding and breast feeding. Tuesday, he did a little breast feeding at one meal, but we finished the meal with his nose tube because he started to get tired. The next meal, Aaron fed him the whole time with the bottle. He really did well. After that, the nurses said that he was really tired and didn’t do as well with the bottle. We don’t want to push him too hard, so the doctor decided he should have one bottle feeding per 4 feedings. If he does well with that, we’ll add more.

Acid Reflux: His acid reflux is pretty bad, so they put him on Zantac to help. I am now able to provide enough milk for his feedings, so they are not feeding him formula unless he starts to lose weight. The breast milk will also help a lot with his acid.

Breathing and Lung development: He’s doing very well with his breathing. During bottle feedings, he tends to have apnea episodes where he forgets to breathe. Other than that, he’s breathing fine. He’s only had one or two episodes where his oxygen level desaturated enough to be given oxygen and that was only for a few minutes to bring the levels back up. His lungs are developed properly, so he hasn’t needed any assistance in breathing.

Jaundice: They put him under the UV lamp yesterday to help with his jaundice. His levels are high enough to need photo therapy, but they are not high enough to be a concern for worry. Most babies and all preemies have jaundice, so its totally normal for him to need some treatment. Its just something that is expected for his age because the liver isn’t fully functional yet. His healing bruise contributes to the jaundice, but it is getting better every day. Breast milk tends to make the jaundice worse, but not to the point where it should be replaced with formula. They still want him to have the breast milk because it is very important in helping him build immunities. He is pooping regularly, and that helps dispose of the bilirubin buildup which causes jaundice. He may be under the UV lamp for a few days, but he doesn’t seem to mind. He looks really warm and cozy, and his “sunglasses” are really cute.

When will he come home? We don’t know yet. It will probably be another week at the earliest. It is really sad to have him at the hospital. I feel like he’s lonely. But I have to remind myself of where he should be right now – he’s not expecting to see people yet. And we know he’s receiving excellent care from the nurses at the NICU.

Baby Jerk decided to make an early appearance this weekend. He was too excited about Victoria, Aunt Carol, Tim and Alex being in town, and he wanted to meet everyone while he had the chance. My water broke Saturday night during the middle of our baby shower pre-party. Ethan Patrick Head (no more baby jerk) was born Sunday, October 7, at 8:57am. Although he was 5 weeks premature, he weighed 5 lbs 5 ounces and was 18.25 inches at birth. I delivered him naturally, with no epidural, after 6 hours of labor and 17 mins of pushing. Aaron and I are very happy that he’s here!

Ethan came out very alert and very healthy, scoring a 9 on his Apgar tests. He went to the NICU for monitoring because he was so early, but he didn’t need oxygen or anything. After I moved to my recovery room, Ethan got to spend the day with us in the room. We were warned ahead of time that he would have trouble feeding because of his age. We made a few attempts to breast feed and bottle feed, but Ethan is not ready yet. The suck-swallow-breathe combination is the last skill that babies learn, and he came out before he had that skill figured out. Ethan was moved to the NICU Sunday night to be fed via a feeding tube.

The good news is that he’s doing really well. Aside from his feeding difficulty, he has no other problems. The bad news is that nobody knows how long he’ll be in the NICU. It could be a few days or a few weeks. He has to learn at his own pace how to eat.

I was discharged from the hospital this morning. It makes us sad to leave Ethan at the hospital, but we know he’s doing well and that he’ll be home very soon.

Here are a few pictures of Ethan:

Just a few hours after birth: sleeping in the NICU before his first bath

What a cute little face!

He hated his first bath: Holding onto Aaron’s finger for dear life

Soapy baby – he hated the bath so much, he finally opened his eyes