Feeding Tube is NG!

Just like Daddy.

Cael's first full outfit!

High fives!

Kickin' back!

Playing with his toys and picture mobile.

Caelin has been doing well over the past few days. He tolerated the switch back to breast milk. With him tolerating full volume and with Mommy having to switch her diet, she has not been able to produce as much milk as Cael needs so the breast milk is being supplemented with Elecare every so often. To help with production and to help get Cael interested in oral feeding, the head Intensivist gave Mommy permission to put Cael to breast after she pumps! : ) Even if Mommy is able to produce enough milk, the doctors say he will still go home on Elecare to increase his caloric intake. Although Mommy and Daddy are happy there is a formula that Cael can tolerate, they are not very excited about bringing home this hypoallergenic formula- it is $204 for a 6 pack of 14 ounce cans of powder. At 3 ounces of Elecare a feeding, this pack would last for only approximately 24 days. YIKES!!

Since he tolerated full feeds on breast milk, they pulled the tube back to NG from ND. They started him on 10 mL/hr but within the first 15 minutes he seemed uncomfortable and started showing signs of possible reflux. Because of this, his nurse went to talk to the doctors. The doctors said they were going to push the tube back to ND. Mommy was shocked at how quickly the doctors were willing to give up on Cael and did not agree with their suggestion. He is almost 7 weeks old and has never had anything in his stomach so of course his body has to adjust. Luckily one of our favorite nurses was in Cael’s room checking in on us and she stood up for Cael. She was not afraid to voice her opinion and say that 15 minutes is not long enough for Cael to prove himself. Surprisingly the doctors respected her voice and decided to just lower the rate. We are so thankful for her- especially because after they left she told Mommy that if they pushed it back, it would have been a while before they tried again. So he was on 5 mL/hr for 22 hours. At 11:00 AM this morning he went up to 10 mL/hr. At 5:00 PM he went to 15mL/hr and at 11:00 PM he will be back to 20 mL/hr, which is his goal! He has done well thus far so hopefully he continues. The doctors have not said exactly what they plan to do next other than just monitor his progress and tolerance. We are okay with not having a plan drawn out because we are happy with where he finally is and Cael does not seem to like to stick to plans- clearly he has his own agenda and he has gotten a rep around the hospital for it! lol

Cael wore his first full outfit on Sunday! A onesie, pants, and socks. He looked adorable! Mommy and Daddy have so much fun dressing him up and we know it is going to be even more fun playing dress up when he is home! We also got a swing in his room- he has tried it out but does not love it the way he loves his bouncy chair. We will keep trying and maybe he will start to like it!

Thank you to all who have sent Caelin your positive energy to help him get to where he is today. We appreciate you and love you!