G Feeds. Hoping for a Mic-Key

With my aunt on my 5th month birthday! 

My uncle Tristan put me to sleep!

Last snuggles before departure.

Quick- press the button & make a break for it!

Bath time!

Check out these muscles!

Eating my block cuz it's what a 5 month old should do!

Enjoying my teething ring for the first time! Helping my teething gums feel better!

Thursday Caelin started trialing G feeds! He started on his full rate (27mLs) at 10:10 AM and went until 2:30 PM without so much as a gag! It was surprising and a relief! Since he did well with four hours Thursday, he got to try six hours Friday from 12:00 PM until 6:00 PM. He then was back to J feeds from 6:00 PM until Midnight and at Midnight he switched to G feeds again. Both times he did EXCELLENT! Because he did well with 6 hours on G/6 hours J they bumped him to 8 hours G/4 hours J Saturday morning. Then this morning at 10:00 AM he started full continuous all G feeds! With all this time on G feeds he has only had 3 spit ups and they have all been very small, mucousy, and associated with burping/venting (like a normal baby). With all that said, he will most likely be getting a Mic-Key G tube to replace his current feeding tube early this coming week (Tuesday-ish).

His Milrinone has been weaned to 0.25 mcg/kg/min. The next step is turning it off! But the doctors do not want to turn it off until after he gets his new G tube placed- they would like to give his heart a little extra assistance during and immediately after the procedure. So hopefully after he gets his new feeding tube, it will only be a day or two until his Milrinone is off. After the Milrinone has been off for a couple days, the cardiologist will most likely order an echocardiogram to check the function of Caelin’s heart without the extra assistance of the drug.

Caelin still has to get his pacing wires and LA/RA/Common Atrial line (whatever they are calling it these days) out. Laurie, nurse practitioner, told us these two will come out together once he no longer needs central access. The sooner, the better if tolerated because it will reduce the chance of infection.

One thing we discovered right after the last blog entry was posted- Caelin is TEETHING! It is official… his VERY FIRST tooth is coming in on his front, bottom, left side gum and already broke the skin. We suspected he was teething but it was hard to really tell before this point. We cannot believe his first tooth is already on its way! Hopefully we can start him on some baby food this week, as his body seems like it is getting ready for it! The past couple days we have been trying to get him interested in teethers and he wanted nothing to do with them. Then tonight (Sunday) after we got done Skyping with family in Michigan, Caelin decided he wanted his teether. The teether was not frozen because it had been sitting out for a little while, so it was softer and squishy. Being so young and new to having things in his mouth, Cael seems to prefer this texture. Once he gets older I am sure he will love the teething rings to be frozen. J

On a sadder note, late Friday afternoon Uncle Tristan and Aunt Cassie flew back home to Michigan. Before they left, they got to take Caelin out of his room for his first ever venture in a stroller! Cael loved being pushed in the stroller through the CVICU unit! We even got to take him out to the elevators and he got to look outside- it was cloudy but still much brighter than what he is used to in his hospital room. We miss you so much Cass & Tristan- cannot wait for you to come back down again!

We continue to anxiously await the day we no longer have to live in the hospital. But the first priority is making sure Caelin’s heart is healing well and functioning normally on its own. Thank you so much for your continued support! We appreciate all that you are doing and have done for our powerful warrior and our family. God has blessed us!

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