ROCKY Week 3

Saturday:
Today was a pretty busy day for us! In the morning we went up to South Jordan for a car show that my father-in-laws band was playing at. The boys had lots of fun! We had lunch, they got animal balloons and snow cones. They even saw a doc Hudson car from Cars and they loved it! After a couple of hours we were tired out from the heat! We went home and I got ready to go see Rocky.

I met a photographer at the hospital so we could have some pictures taken of our little guy. I feel like time is passing and I'm going to miss the whole NICU experience so I want to capture memories before they are gone! She was a very nice girl and did the photos for free. I'm excited to see them. I hung out with Rocky for a bit and we did another test weight with breastfeeding. He did AWESOME!! He ate 28 out of 45 oz of his feeding. He did such a great job. I was so proud of him. After some cuddles and pumping I went back home.

The doc called me earlier today and said that because Rocky's jaundice isn't going away they think it might be what is called breastmilk jaundice, which his liver can't digest some of the proteins. They want to check him again and then the course of action would be to give him formula for 24-hours to help his body be able to digest the proteins. I guess we will wait and see, but the doc did reassure us that his levels aren't dangerous right now. They are at an 11.4 and they are fine until they get to 18. Also, they tried him off the oxygen and he only lasted 15 minutes before needing to be put on again.

Sunday:
I went to see Rocky this morning. I was very hopeful that we would have another great breastfeeding experience, but it didn't go too well. He didn't get a good latch and he didn't get any milk. Oh well, it's okay! I enjoyed my time with him. He loves to be held, but really he probably only gets held by us right now so why wouldn't he love it. I feel like each visit someone tells me how great he is doing for my water breaking at 19 weeks. It's great to hear and I hope he just keeps improving.

The doc called me and let me know that he would check Rocky's bilirubin levels today so we could start formula if needed. Also, they are changing his oxygen a little to hopefully help him come off. After they checked his levels the doc called me and let me know it went up to a 13 so they will start formula. They will check again after 24-hours and see if it goes down. I really hope it does!

Monday:
So since he is on formula I decided to take the morning off. My sister is in town so we hung out with the boys outside and then at nap time I went to the hospital. I got there right in time for his feeding so I just got to cuddle with my sweet little boy. He pretty much stayed asleep the whole time. I talked with the nurse and she and she said they would check his bilirubin levels today at 4p.m. and then we will know if the formula worked. I called around 7p.m. so I would know if I needed to go back to the hospital or not. The nurse said that his levels went up to a 15! I was a bit disappointed and wanted to know the next step. The doc made orders to give formula until 7a.m. tomorrow so I just stayed home so I could sleep.

Tuesday:
I went to the hospital first thing in the morning and when I got there the nurse informed me that last night's nurse gave me the wrong info and his levels went down to a 9! Seriously, what is wrong with people. I was worrying and wondering all night long what was going to happen. I tried to feed the little guy but he didn't do too well. It's basically hit and miss because sometimes he's cueing and other times he's just not. I guess lately I've been at the feedings when he's just tired or not too interested. I will keep trying and hope that he gets it. The same thing happened when I went in the afternoon so it was a bit of a down day in the feedings department. Oh well, I can't give up and the worst that will happen is he just bottle feeds breastmilk. I did 12 months of pumping with Lincoln so if I have to do it again I will!

My mom came into town today. My sister, jaxon and Linc went to pick her up. When they got home Linc tells me, "look at my new lady"...He is a silly boy. I was pretty tired so after giving her the run down and visiting for a bit I went to pump one last time. I must have been extremely tired because I totally forgot to connect a collection bottle to the pump and didn't realize it until after about 5 minutes when my leg was completely soaked!! Good thing I have plenty of milk now.

Wednesday:
Today I was able to go to the hospital for much longer. I got there at 7a.m. and stayed til about noon. He didn't do too well with breastfeeding today and he basically slept through. I came back later that evening with my sister so she could take some pictures of him and then I fed him and he did a pretty good job! He took almost half of his milk so then they gave the rest through his tube. My sister held him while he ate and then after that we went home. I wanted her to take pics of his bath time, but they changed it to Monday's and Thursdays. I guess we will come back tomorrow.

Thursday:
I came back to the hospital today and was here for his 10a.m. and 1p.m. feedings. He did an AMAZING job today! I was sitting with the occupational therapist and when we did Rocky's test weight after he ate he took all of his milk on his own!! He is a rock star!! He was pretty tired for his next feeding so he ended up sleeping through and they fed him through the tube. I'm so proud of him because he is working so hard. I watch him as he sucks and swallows and then takes a break to breathe. I never even worried about things like that with my other two and now I realize how hard Rocky has to work to do things that term babies just automatically do.

Dave met us at the hospital tonight for bath time and pictures. Rocky ate well again tonight. He is still having to top off through his tube, but he is improving! My sister was able to take pictures of bath time. I can't wait to see them. Rocky loves his bath. He just lays there so relaxed and calm and then after he was so calm and ready for sleep. It was a pretty late night because we went for his 10p.m. feeding. We left right after bath and it was almost 1a.m. when we got home so I quickly pumped and went to sleep.

Friday:
I stayed for 3 feedings today, 10a.m., 1p.m., and 4p.m. He did alright for the first two and got a little each time. By the third he took a little and then he pulled his feeding tube out. He wouldn't let them put it back so he finished by bottle. He did pretty well. One of the feedings he only showed on the scale that he took two ml, but he was really fussy when he got through half his feeding so they stopped it and he calmed down. I'm pretty sure he got more than 2 grams of milk and the nurse was pretty sure too. He had a good day and is seriously getting much better at breastfeeding each day. I think they will start bottles pretty soon now that he is getting the hang of breastfeeding. They want him to be able to come home so the sooner he takes all of his feedings by mouth then the sooner we can bring him home! Of course he might have to come home on oxygen, but that's fine.