Happy Halloween from the Lil' Tiger

Happy Halloween

No Surgery Needed So far…

Baker had his checkup yesterday with the surgeon. The surgeon said that he still doesn't have an inguinal hernia, but hydrocele. There will be no need for surgery, and he'll follow up in three months. This should resolve within a year.

Hitting Milestones

As you can see by the pictures below, Baker has hit some milestones. He hasn't needed oxygen since we were given the order to take it off during the day. We still put it on at night (just to be safe), but most every day since his visit with the pulmonologist he's gone without supplemental oxygen. The other thing missing oh yeah his feeding tube!!! Well he started pulling out the tube at least twice a day since last week, so we made a deal with him. We won't put it back in and continue to bottle feed him if he does well with the bottle feeds. He's kept his end of the bargain so far. We talked to the GI and his speech therapist and they both told us as long as he's gaining weight then go for it. He was taking 1 to 2 bottles a day for a week or so prior so we did kind of gradually work him into this. The therapist did notice that he was getting a little fatigued near the end of the bottle, and showed us what to look for – but he's trooping along. Since he's started the bottle feeding his overall demeanor has been happier, and he's getting more formula then we were supposed to give him through the tube. So our fingers are crossed that he's gaining weight, so that we can do away with the feeding tube and pump.

It's such a relief for his mom and I to be able to bottle feed him. The enteral feeding was so impersonal. You fill the bag with warmed formula; make sure the tube is in position and press the button to start the feed. He doesn't look like he's eating, and sometimes seems not even to notice what's going on. We even would feed him while he was sleeping sometimes. With the bottle we can look in his eyes, watch him drink the milk and look satisfied when he's done eating. (I'm probably making that up, he is only really 3 weeks old officially).

He had a visit with his pediatrician yesterday to get more shots and for a checkup. His inguinal hernia has gotten worse, so he's going to visit a surgeon again on Thursday to see if they should operate to fix the hernia. We've read up on this surgery and have actually talked to a parent whose son had the same surgery and they said it was pretty routine and usually outpatient. Even though I hate to see him undergo any type of surgery at all, I would rather they do it and get it over with. It has progressively gotten worse since he left the hospital, why wait until it gets life threatening to deal with it? Even though we were told that the grunting, bearing down and cries were normal preemie things, his mom and I still think this has something to do with the hernia. Baker isn't your normal preemie, so stop generalizing… J

I miss not having a team of experienced nurses to bounce ideas off of, or get their opinion based on their experiences…

Baker News…

Baker finally had his first appointment with the pulmonologist. The doctor said he looks great and was surprised that his O2 saturation levels were so high. He told us to take him off of the Oxygen during the day, and only put it on when he is sleeping or if his stats slip to low. So we followed the Doctor's order yesterday and he didn't need any extra oxygen until this evening. He also told us that most babies get off the oxygen at 6 months. So he may soon be able to lose the extra support!!!

He weighs 8 pounds 2 ounces. Also to catch you up on his progress, we had to stop the bottle feeding because near the end of the feeds his stats would go down. The GI doctor told us to stop the feeds for now, to avoid a risk of Aspiration Pneumonia. He has had a couple apneas while he was sleeping so the doctor has ordered a sleep study.