Already Over 6 Weeks Old!

Good-bye Giraffe bed

Hello Crib!

Working on a smile!

We are going to miss Uncle Tristan and Grandma!

These past few days have been great! Caelin got up to full feeds of 20 mL/hr on Thursday and he has tolerated them well. Friday he was put on 20 mL/hr with 26 calorie Elecare which was his goal. Since he tolerated the volume and concentration he was switched back to breast milk this afternoon. Today marks one week that Mommy has eliminated all soy and milk products from her diet; it has been tough to do but it’s well worth it if it allows Cael to consume and break it down. As long as he continues to tolerate the feeds the next couple of days, the doctors plan to pull it back to NG! We are so proud of Cael for finally getting to where the doctors wanted him to get. It took three weeks but he is heading in the right direction! He still has not stopped retching and vomiting, but he is doing it a lot less and they have no trend. They are often unpredictable and without obvious cause. The cardiologist says that unfortunately he may just be one of those babies who does it every so often and should grow out of it.

Caelin’s breathing has also gotten better. He really only gets noisy when he is really mad or right after he retches and vomits. We think his voice is finally fully restored, too! He has been pretty vocal and when he is mad, he can get really loud! lol

Thursday Caelin got his first hearing test. Two ladies from audiology came in while he was sleeping and stuck wires behind his ears that measure nerve responses to sounds played in his ear. Both ears passed! They gave us a little magnet to track his hearing progress throughout his first year of life. He has already mastered all four 0-3 month milestones AND two of the 3-6 month milestones. The first of the 3-6 months is “Looks for sounds with eyes” and the second, “Responds to your voice even when you cannot be seen.” We like to attribute this to us reading, talking, and singing to him so often while he was in utero and constantly since he has been born.

Also on Thursday Caelin graduated from a Giraffe bed to a crib! The nurse was just going to give him a new, clean Giraffe bed but Mommy asked for a crib since he is growing and she said it was no problem. So he is loving his new crib! Half of it has his Z-Flo mattress where he sleeps and the other half has his Boppy pillow where he sits up and plays. We are able to hang his music/projector toy and put some of his stuffed animals in there with him. Mommy also created a little mobile of pictures above his head. He has been working on smiling, sucking his thumb, and reaching for things in front of his face. Just today when Mommy returned from dropping Grandma and Uncle Tristan off at the airport, Mommy walked in and started talking to Cael. When he looked over at her and finally made eye contact, his eyebrows raised, his eyes opened wide, and he was trying to push out a smile. This melted Mommy’s heart!

One more cute detail- he is able to wear clothes now! Mommy asked on Wednesday night if she could bring in some clothes for Cael (onesies, t-shirts, and loose bottoms) and they said, “Of course!” This made us so excited! He is restricted a little bit because of his IV, pulse oximeter, blood pressure cuff, and leads but we are just happy he can wear something! So Friday he wore his first real onesie (since his one month shirt had to be cut down the back and just draped over him)! He honestly does not seem to mind wearing clothes and he looks so gosh darn cute in them!

We continue to be so proud of our little guy and how far he has come. We are incredibly happy that he is finally starting to triumph with his feeding; he still has quite a bit more to accomplish with feeding before he can come home but he can finally tolerate the volume which was the first step! Mommy’s sense of hope and optimism has been reinforced with a fortune card from Zoltar at The Pier in St. Petersburg. On Friday Mommy, Grandma, and Uncle Tristan went down to The Pier and could not resist the Zoltar fortune-telling machine as seen in Big. Mommy’s fortune read, “The crystal gazer has wonderful things in store for you. A dear one will return from a long trip and your whole life will be different. You have a patient disposition and your patience is about to be rewarded. Despair not I say for your days of despair will soon be over. Your calm spirit, and your good sense will see you through all emergencies. You have many fiends, particularly in the armed forces. They are loyal to you, and are glad of an opportunity to be of ‘service’ to you.” All I can say is I hope there is truth to this fortune and thank you to all of you who read his blog and support him.