Day 8 Update

4/29/12

Today was a big day for Ethan.  He was able to get the last line that was running through his belly button taken out.  He was getting TPN through that line to supplement his milk feedings.  So its good that they were able to take that out so he lowers his chance of getting an infection.  He had the UV light pad removed today. 

He also weighed in at 2lb 11oz's, up from yesterday so that is good.  When I sat with him yesterday they were feeding him 11mL of milk every two hours.  Today they were up to 14mL when I was sitting with him.  Its just incredible to think what tiny amounts we are talking about, but it makes such a big difference for him.  Our next goal is to get him eating 15.5mL every feeding so that he can get out of his incubator box and into a bassinet.

While I was sitting with him tonight I talked with the mom in the next station over.  Their daughter has been in the NICU for 13 weeks.  She was born at 24 weeks.  She was mentioning all the things that they have had to deal with and all the complications.  It made me realize how lucky we are with Ethan and how well he is doing.  She even mentioned tonight that "he's strong, he's a fighter.  We never hear alarms going off his machines."  And its true.  In the 4 days that we've been there I think I've only ever heard any of his monitors beep, and that was because the nurse pulled one of the cords out by accident.