Today covers Friday morning, October 12th, through Saturday morning, October 13th. This morning's feedings went pretty well although there were a couple that were not as long as we would like them to be. But, he had some really long ones that made up for it. He is so tired from having high bilirubin levels (it makes them lethargic) so we have to try really hard to wake him up so that he will eat. Once he latches on though, he goes to town. After his 1:30 p.m. feeding, Dr. Zak and the nurse practitioner came in and said Jude looked good but that his bilirubin levels weren't down far enough so they are going to keep him on phototherapy until atleast Sunday morning. So, we know we will be here until atleast Monday morning because they will want to monitor him for 24 hours after taking him off the lights. The nurse practitioner then told us that Jude was getting moved to the intermediate ICU (NIMCU) which is basically for neonates that are on there way out of the hospital and into their home. So, we came one step closer to going home.
We had to be out of our room upstairs by 12 today so we packed our bags and took them down to the car. When Jude was moved to NIMCU, I decided to ask our new nurse if there were any rooms available in the nesting area right next to the NIMCU. She came back and said that the lactation consultant said we could have a room even though they don't usually give them to parents until the day before their child leaves. The lactation consultant, Shelly, said we can stay here for as long as Jude is here as long as I am breastfeeding at almost every feeding. So, that is awesome. There is only a twin size bed though so Jeremy will not be staying with me. But, I am up every 3 hours anyways so I really won't be here much.
Jude was given a suppository Friday night to help him get rid of some more meconium and therefore more bilirubin so that his levels will go down. It seemed to work since he had a bunch of poopy diapers but it also made him a little fussy so it was hard for him to eat. But, he did eat quite a bit whenever he finally settled down. He has been eating for atleast 10 minutes every time which is great. Sunday morning they are going to draw his bilirubin levels to see if he can come off of phototherapy. I am praying that all these sticky meconium diapers will bring him to the point of getting off the lights. They have to be good for something. ;)
Today was one of the first times I realized how much this whole experience has taken out of me. Things have been going really well and we are so blessed that Jude was so big for his gestational age and that he has been making such big strides in the right direction but it has still been tough. I just want to be able to snuggle with him and not have to worry about pulling out his IV or pulling his leads off. I also can't wait for him to get out from under the lights and be able to actually interact with him. But, I'm trying not to let myself dwell on those things, I just try to focus on how great he is doing and what a blessing he is.
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