Off TPN!

WEIGHT: 2LBS, 7 OUNCES
LENGTH: 14.25 INCHES

As of Saturday, Truman is sustained by breast milk alone!! He's up to 21 CCs per feed or 5.25 ounces per day. He's off the TPN, and the PLL (the line that was used for IV-nutrition) is gone. That means he has no IVs, lines, or anything needle-like in him, and all his limbs are free to wriggle and grab.

He still has some leads on monitoring his vital signs and the prongs in his nose for the C-PAP machine. He is doing very well with respiration. The C-PAP is on a back-up support of 10 breaths per minute, and he has been on mostly room air for several days now.

He slowed down some on growth this week and even lost weight a couple of days, but he's regained what he lost. He did not grow in length this week. We're hoping he picks back up to his prior pace of an ounce or so a day or we are in for a very long stay in NICU.

Truman had his first eye exam this weekend. Both eyes are on track and developing normally. One is even a little ahead. And, he does not have the eye disease caused by oxygen exposure! The next eye exam is in two weeks.

He has his voice back completely now. He likes to grunt a lot when wriggling, and he can definitely cry when he's mad. Last night, he decided to get mad when we put him back in after holding, and he let us know. But all it took to calm him down was a pacifier and some touch from Mom and Dad. His nurse said we were good with him. That was really nice to hear.

We are doing a lot more with him these days. Last night, we both took him out and put him back for the holding. I also aspirated his nose (or at least I tried). I guess we realize he's not so fragile anymore, and we've got to start learning sometime. Becoming comfortable in NICU is definitely a mixed blessing.


--Kara