Residuals and other updates

Wyatt looks good. He is starting to lose that generic "newborn look" and is starting to look more like Rus. The resemblance is quite strong when you look at old pictures of Rus as a baby. The Seadog looks bigger. He really enjoys "Kangaroo Care" where we hold him skin-to-skin. I pumped at bedside for the first time yesterday. I am not sure I got that much more milk but it was at least nice to spend more time watching Rus hold him then pumping in the back room.

Wyatt has another day of a small weight loss (20 grams) , but he is still at a net gain. The doctor assured me that they were keeping an eye on it. He was having no "residuals" until yesterday when his 19cc feed had a 12cc residual. The nurse gave him a 7cc feed at 8:30PM to total back up to the 19cc. Twelve cc is a rather large residual, but she said unless there is another one after his 8:30 feed they won't get worked up about it. A "residual" is left over stomach contents. Yes, they suck them out, measure them, and send them back down. His residual was breast milk and a small amount of mucous, which is a good thing (or at least better then finding other colors or contents). Residuals can be caused by a wide variety of factors, like he got too much air in his stomach (from the nasal oxygen tubing), infection (unlikely because the stomach contents looked normal), constipation, or the milk content was too rich in that particular batch. Sherry put him on his tummy when we put him back, which she says will help. She was also going to vent his stomach at 9PM to help get the air out. It isn't as sinister as it sounds.

He wasn't as wakeful today as he had been a couple of days ago, but that was probably due to me holding him against my chest. He tends to get super-relaxed when he is in that position. He sleeps and makes soft cooing noises. I try to keep him from sliding down my chest. I have to occasionally reposition him. He doesn't approve of such handling in general, but settles down really quickly. The nurses keep saying he is going to be a handful, but so far to me he is really easy. You can generally quiet him by cupping his head or bracing his feet. He likes the feeling of boundaries. He is really the sweetest little guy.

We brought home one of his blankets and a hat so that Jane could sniff them. We were expecting something big - a hiss, a rub, something. Jane tentatively took a couple of sniffs and then grew bored. We tried both the hat and blanket, but the response was the same.

We are starting to get more familiar with the staff and the other parents in NICU. There are two sets of parents we see almost every time we visit. They are to Wyatt's right if you are facing him. Currently, there is no one to Wyatt's left. You have to wonder what is wrong with the other babies. I think that the one to Seadog's immediate right is premature, but not as much as Wyatt. I have no idea about the other baby. I think that might be the baby on morphine.

We found out that nurse Wanda is leaving Kaiser at the end of the month. She lives in Manteca and is taking a job closer to home. I can't blame her, but we will sure miss her. She is my favorite nurse there.

Nurse Pat (who is another great nurse) reminded us that they have books to loan out. So I have started to read "Newborn Intensive Care - What Every Parent Needs to Know." The other book we have is "Parenting Your Newborn Baby and Child." I am a little scared to start that one right now, but I did happen to open it and was on a page where they had a bunch of quotes about how hard pumping is and how the nurses/lactation consultants just don't get it and the guilt they put on you.

It was perfect timing since I talked to the lactation consultant later in the day. I don't think that I had talked to this one before. Her name was Fritzie I think. She told me I am not resting enough. I should be napping (not doing it), not doing dishes (doing them), not going to the store (already done it) and I can go to a six hour sleep at night (OK! Sounds good to me.). She asked if I was holding him skin-to-skin and at that point it had been a couple of days since I had. I also mentioned that Rus holds him once a day and I hold them the other time. She sounded kind of disappointed that I wasn't holding him all the time. She said well Rus could also do skin-to-skin, but that wouldn't help me get more breast milk. Good lord, it's all about breast milk!

She kept going on about how important breast milk is for babies with newborn palates. (I have read a little and I guess if they get a little milk through the palate in to their nasal cavity, it is better if it is breast milk than formula.) I brought up the fact that I was worried about pumping and then bottle feeding. How much time would all of this take? She told me eventually pumping won't take as long and I should just consider that I am bound to the house now. Of course, it's my choice if I want to stop. It doesn't make me a bad parent. Seems like her way of saying I am a bad parent if I don't pump. Sometimes when people put an idea out there, even if meant to counter-act another idea, they put the idea out there and you can't take it back. I don't believe I am a bad parent if I give up pumping, not that I plan to.

Speaking of putting other bad ideas out there. I couldn't get myself over the recessed chin question the craniofacial nurse posed. I started googling and came across Pierre Robin Sequence (or Syndrome - PRS), which is a condition where babies have a cleft palate, recessed jaw and a lot of breathing problems. I asked Pat if she thought his jaw was recessed, she said maybe a little then she looked at Rus and said it seemed hereditary and he just looked like Rus. She brought up PRS, but said those babies have a lot of breathing problems (the implication being that Wyatt doesn't have a lot of breathing problems?) Francine (the social worker) overheard the discussion and said she could set up a "conference" with Dr. Jennis. I had seen the name Dr. Jennis on Wyatt's NICU card, but I have no idea who Dr. Jennis is. Should I know who Dr. Jennis is? Francine told us we should ask whatever questions we want and not to let them sit. I thought to myself "Isn't that what I am doing?" and "Was my question stupid? I don't think so." Again, putting the thought out there. . .

Anyway, I have concluded that if the doctors thought he had PRS, they would have said something already. I also asked if his desaturation events were caused by the cleft palate. Pat said no, this is just typical preemie stuff.

So next week, at some point, the mysterious Dr. Jennis will stop by to talk to us.