You+Me

<Day 37>

We continue to have progress with this little guy. He is doing wonderful on his Vapotherm ventilator. The nurses are lowering the percentage of air he is getting from the ventilator, we are now in a range from 23-28%, most of the time. He is gaining weight, yay! We are up to 860 grams, so close to the 900 gram mark or 2lbs! The last three days we have seen continued weight gain which is very exciting. Most of the milestones we need to meet will come when he weighs a little more. I can really see him gaining more awareness of the world around him. He is starting to like for people to talk to him and interacting more when he knows people are in the room. I am able to help with things like taking his temperature, changing his diaper and repositioning him everyday while I am there.

Today was another first for me, I was able to start kangaroo care! This is basically skin to skin while he is eating. We had a rocky start today, he just couldn’t get positioned correctly and was having problems regulating his oxygen saturation but I still held him, on me, for a good 5 minutes. Tomorrow, we are prepared with more ways to help him get comfortable faster and hopefully he will last the whole 45 minute feeding on me! The few seconds I was holding him and I was not terrified he was going to stop breathing, I was able to take in the fact that I was finally holding my baby! That moment you dream of when adopting or are pregnant. It is so surreal to think of all the times I have sat and dreamed of that very moment. Holding my baby on my chest and feeling his little heart beat on top of mine, no words can describe that unbelievable feeling! Another miracle today as get adjusted to one another and he figures out how to live in this big world.