Developments on Development

I’m taking a break from working on the boy’s room for a few minutes, and I thought I’d catch up with all of Jeffrey’s loyal readers out there. Looking at the counter over there, it looks like there are a lot of you. So here’s a big hello to all the doctors and nurses checking in from the NICU. Hey to NexPress, Kodak and Tissue Typing! Hello to the misc.kids.* newsgroups (a lot of traffic from those Google groups. Thanks for stopping by!). Hello to Gates EMS and Hilton FD. And of course, were would we be without the loving support of all our friends and family? It’s been inspiring to see how many people check in on our little guy, and reading your responses is one of the highlights of our day!
Vital Stats: Today’s looking up again. After a bout this weekend with no feedings for 3½ days due to intestinal inflammation (probably residual from the staph infection), Jeffrey started back on breast milk this morning. He’s back up to full feedings already – 23cc (almost an ounce)! Nurse Practioner Jeannie was working with him yesterday to try and wean him completely off of any airway apparatus, and he went for almost 16 hours with no nasal cannula, but he’s back on just a wee puff of room air to help him a long. I’m learning to be patient, even though I’m really excited and can’t wait to get him home. He gained a lot of weight yesterday… 45 grams! So it was OK that he lost a little (10g) today to round out at 1290g at 5 PM. That’s 2.84 lbs for the metrically challenged. Head circumference is stable, and we’ll have some more info about the IVH tomorrow after his 1 week follow-up head ultrasound. The doctors are also going to discuss feeding again during morning rounds to see if we can interest him in nursing with Mom.
What we learned today: Jeffrey passed his NYS hearing test. That’s good; because I’m pretty sure he didn’t study at all. I think it was a pop-quiz, because I didn’t even know they tested babies’ hearing in the hospital. But they do. There’s even a brochure about it, taped to his isolette.
We spoke with Chris Tryon today. She’s the Child Development specialist in the NICU. She’s going to help us with Jeffrey while he’s in the NICU and teach us how to interact with our little preemie. Because of his size, weight and cognitive capacity, he gets stressed out pretty easily. She told us how important it is that he have uninterrupted deep sleep, but also to sing and talk to him when he’s awake. Take him out and hold him close against your skin. If he does get stressed while he’s out (she taught us what to look for), hold him closer and tightly, just as if he was in the womb. It’s really neat to see things just “click” on. For instance, last week the boy was barely interested in a pacifier. He just couldn’t get the hang of it and it fell out of his mouth almost every time. Now he can’t get enough of it! The next “click” will be eye-movement tracking. Right now he just looks at me (I think) and sometimes his eyes cross. That’s because he doesn’t have control over them well enough to stare or follow things. That will come in the next 2 weeks. She’s got a whole plan for him.
Speaking of plans, I better get back to finishing the nursery. Grandma and Grandpa Sheppard came out this weekend and did patching and painting (Thanks!), and it looks great. I’m stippling the ceiling tonight, and Alicia Nabozny will be out next week to paint a jungle mural on the wall.
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading.

(There Sue… I posted before midnight. This counts!)