Bath Day!

CURRENT WEIGHT: 3 LBS, 8 OUNCES

Truman enjoyed his first bath by Mom and Dad very much and only fussed at the end once the water got a little cold. Trying to dry off a tiny squirming baby was a challenge, but we loved it.

Here, Truman has been wrapped up in a heated hat and blankets before being put into the tub with a couple of centimeters of warm water in the bottom.

Truman in the midst of his first bath from Mom and Dad.

Kara gets practice at trying to dry Truman off.

Truman is almost dry...

Truman in his freshly cleaned birthday suit.



Truman had some desats overnight, so they put him back on the canula. Nurse Gayla assured us this is not a setback, but more of a break so that he doesn't tire himself out and use too many calories and slow his growth. The canula is set at .5 liters, but he's clearly proven that he can breathe on his own. They also ordered a round of blood tests to make sure that it is just fatigue rather than illness causing the desats. The initial results look fine.

We also learned that Truman had another eye exam that we didn't know about on October 16. Things still are progressing normally, and there are still no signs of plus disease -- the eye disease caused by oxygen exposure.

His feeds were increased to 30ccs today. That's a full ounce per feed or 8 ounces per day.

Some of you have asked when Truman will come home and whether there is a requisite weight he much reach. The short answer is that we don't know when he will come home, and there is no requisite weight. The goal for all preemies is their due date, which was December 5 for Truman. The average at Baylor is at 36 weeks gestation. Truman is 34 weeks now and clearly will not meet this average, due to his particular challenges. There are some milestones any preemies must cross and some particular factors in Truman's case.

Now for the long answer to the question: when Truman had the bowel surgery done, we were told that once Truman hit 2000 grams, or about 4 lbs, 6.5 ounces, he would be big enough for the re-sectioning of his intestine. Based on his current growth and the goals they have for his growth, he is projected to cross that magic number anywhere from the second week of November to just before Thanksgiving. Of course, he could go through another period of slow to no growth and stall that process, but we're hoping he continues at a reasonable pace. Once he reaches 2000 grams, he will have to be evaluated to see if he's ready for surgery, and of course, the surgery would have to be scheduled and performed. We've been told to expect about a week post-op recovery, which will include not only typical post-op recovery that any surgery requires, but also a new round of "gut priming" of the lower intestine. Remember, it hasn't really been used. Truman will have to work back up to full feeds after the surgery. He will also be intubated for the surgery and work back off of that.

In addition to his surgery, like all preemies, Truman needs to outgrow the desats and Bradys and be eating and growing at a good pace. That does not mean that he needs to be fully off of the canula to come home. Many preemies go home with a canula and apnea monitor. Although we hope he can leave the canula at the hospital, and we have confidence that he can, we do kind of hope he has an apnea monitor for our own peace of mind.


--Kara