Wednesday was a fairly uneventful day. The big news is that they took his bili light away. The bili lights are used to treat jaundice if you remember from my Saturday post. Every day they took a count of how much jaundice was still in his skin. When the number gets low enough they no longer use the bili lights. Well, the count Wednesday morning was low enough, therefore no more bili lights for Samuel!
That was good because that meant they were now able to snuggle him in better in his little incubator. That snuggling is god for him because it gives him something to push against. In my womb, he had all sorts of boundaries to kick (which he did kick quite regularly), under the bili lights he had almost nothing to kick and punch, which meant he was constantly squirming!
Now that he doesn't have the bili lights anymore and they wrap him in better he has been much more calm and relaxed overall. It's good to see that, I always wanted to do something to help him calm down, but didn't really know what I should do!
The other exciting thing was that he pooped for the first time! So before he just had wet diapers, now he is working on pooping out that gross meconium stuff that comes in a baby's first diaper (but for him it will take him a little longer to get it pushed out). That means the milk is doing well with him and he is doing well at pushing it through his system. So proud of my little man being able to poop!
I got to kangaroo with him again on Wednesday. Those are such special moments for me with my son. It becomes easier and easier to think of him as my son, my little child that I get to care for and love with all the joys and frustrations that go with that!
Now I can't remember if this happened on Wednesday or Tuesday, but since I had less to write about for Wednesday, I'm going to say it happened Wednesday, even though I think it might have happened Tuesday instead. I think I have mentioned that Sam is stubborn. If I hadn't yet, well, he is. He is stubborn and determined to get what he wants when he wants something it seems. Ever since birth, one thing he has wanted was none of these tubes and lines stuck to him anymore. Just let me free!
Well one evening, while under the bili lights, he really managed to free himself from a lot of his "bondage." Ben and I were sitting in the room and I saw him really squirming quite a bit, so I went to check on him. I get over there to find out he had undone the velcro on his bubble CPAP hat that holds the CPAP in place, he had pulled out his eye mask that he needed to protect his eyes from the bili lights AND he had pulled the tube that goes down to his stomach almost completely out! So I wash my hands quick and I get in there and I am doing my best to put things back where they needed to be (but I didn't trust myself shoving a tube back down his throat) so while I am trying to put things back I told Ben that we needed to get a nurse to get things back to place right!
I was very impressed with Sam's ability to get all that stuff off. He is a smart and strong little boy!
And that is the thought I will leave off at with this post. :-)
Showing posts with label jaundice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jaundice. Show all posts
06 February 2012
05 February 2012
Saturday, January 28 - We Really Have a Son!?!?!
Last Saturday the amazement at the fact that we really have a son had not worn off yet. Really the whole weekend is sort of a blur at this point, between the baby arriving so ridiculously early and all the visitors we had at the hospital, I don't know that I know for sure any more what all happened on Saturday, but I'll tell you what I do know and remember!
I got really great sleep that night, I remember waking up feeling quite energized--a feeling that I hadn't really had in so long (I would say about 4.5-5 months) that I was on top of the world when I woke up! I was just hoping that Samuel felt just about as on top of the world as I did...
That morning they took him off of the ventilator and put him on a CPAP. Yup, CPAP is what adults get put on to help them with sleep apnea. Which apnea is something that Sam has being born so young. Apnea basically is when you stop breathing for a little while. When a baby is in the womb all they can do is sort of take practice breaths of amniotic fluid, but they can't actually breathe. They do that when they are first born. Sam being born so young has not quite mastered breathing all the time. He seems to know he needs to breathe, but sometimes he'll stop breathing. We have monitors in the room that show him where his oxygen is. Normally he is able to bring it back up on his own with no problem.
Now the CPAP he is on is called a Bubble CPAP. It attaches to his nose with a special hat and either prongs or a mask. Since it is a bubble one, we get to hear bubbling noises in his room all the time. If it stops bubbling that means something isn't set right, which can happen simply from Sam opening his mouth. It can also happen that he moved or he pulled on the prongs or mask causing them not to seal properly. What the CPAP basically does for him is it keeps his air ways open so that he can breathe easier. This way it isn't as hard for him to get breaths. Eventually they will take it off of him when his lungs have matured enough and he is able to get the oxygen he needs without much help.
The other big thing that happened Saturday was he was put under bili lights for his jaundice. So that mean that a special light was set above his little incubator and they shined it on his body because that is where they could reach the most skin. Since the idea is that he is exposed to as much of the light as possible they weren't able to wrap him in very much. This meant Sam was free to show off all the kicks and punches he was doing to me the whole time in my womb! I knew he liked to move around a lot and seeing him out just proved it all the more!
During the day we received word that my brother, Daniel, was planning on coming out. He arrived pretty late and did not get to see Sam that first day. I was still staying at the hospital because their guidelines were 2 whole days after a vaginal birth, which meant I got to get discharged on Sunday.
With all the family and drop ins from other people it was a busy day! We were just thankful at the end of the day Samuel seemed to be doing well.
I got really great sleep that night, I remember waking up feeling quite energized--a feeling that I hadn't really had in so long (I would say about 4.5-5 months) that I was on top of the world when I woke up! I was just hoping that Samuel felt just about as on top of the world as I did...
That morning they took him off of the ventilator and put him on a CPAP. Yup, CPAP is what adults get put on to help them with sleep apnea. Which apnea is something that Sam has being born so young. Apnea basically is when you stop breathing for a little while. When a baby is in the womb all they can do is sort of take practice breaths of amniotic fluid, but they can't actually breathe. They do that when they are first born. Sam being born so young has not quite mastered breathing all the time. He seems to know he needs to breathe, but sometimes he'll stop breathing. We have monitors in the room that show him where his oxygen is. Normally he is able to bring it back up on his own with no problem.
Now the CPAP he is on is called a Bubble CPAP. It attaches to his nose with a special hat and either prongs or a mask. Since it is a bubble one, we get to hear bubbling noises in his room all the time. If it stops bubbling that means something isn't set right, which can happen simply from Sam opening his mouth. It can also happen that he moved or he pulled on the prongs or mask causing them not to seal properly. What the CPAP basically does for him is it keeps his air ways open so that he can breathe easier. This way it isn't as hard for him to get breaths. Eventually they will take it off of him when his lungs have matured enough and he is able to get the oxygen he needs without much help.
The other big thing that happened Saturday was he was put under bili lights for his jaundice. So that mean that a special light was set above his little incubator and they shined it on his body because that is where they could reach the most skin. Since the idea is that he is exposed to as much of the light as possible they weren't able to wrap him in very much. This meant Sam was free to show off all the kicks and punches he was doing to me the whole time in my womb! I knew he liked to move around a lot and seeing him out just proved it all the more!
During the day we received word that my brother, Daniel, was planning on coming out. He arrived pretty late and did not get to see Sam that first day. I was still staying at the hospital because their guidelines were 2 whole days after a vaginal birth, which meant I got to get discharged on Sunday.
With all the family and drop ins from other people it was a busy day! We were just thankful at the end of the day Samuel seemed to be doing well.
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