Baby Blake Updates: November 13, 2012

Today was a good day! Blake had his surgery 6 days ago and he has made some great strides forward since. Even though he has been getting all of his nutrition from an IV, he has managed to gain a little weight. He now weighs 4 pounds 14 ounces. So close to that 5 pound milestone! Blake was able to get off the ventilator on Friday and was placed back on the vapotherm (oxygen) which is great. I was really worried about him regressing after surgery and needing the support from the vent but he has done awesome. The surgery went smoothly and without any complications. The hard part about the whole ordeal has been seeing him in pain. I can only imagine how badly he must feel. His body is so little. Even though his incision is only about an inch wide, an inch compared to his tiny body is huge. They had him on morphine for awhile but once he was taken off the vent, they had to lower the dosage because he was too relaxed and wasn't wanting to breathe on his own. But he seems to be less agitated the last two days so I am hoping the pain is subsiding and he is feeling better.

After a week of not being fed, he was finally allowed to eat today. As I said above, he was getting all his nutrition from an IV because they needed to let his bowel heal after surgery. You could see how hungry was the last few days so I am very glad he was able to get something in his belly. They started a continuous feed of 1cc an hour of the Elecare formula he has been on. The Elecare is pre digested which makes it easier to digest. Once he can tolerate full feeds they will put him back on breast milk.

He was also able to wean the pressure of the vapotherm today which is wonderful news. Blake went from 5 liters to 4. Once he gets to 3 they can start trying to get him to take feeds from a bottle. I am sooooo thankful that he has managed to do so well since his surgery last Wednesday. I've been stressing myself out worrying about whether or not he was going to be set back on all his progress. But of course, my little Blake has proved to me again just how strong he is.

I would have been 37 weeks pregnant today which means there would only be about 21 days until his due date. That being said, the only obstacles in our way of getting him home are him sleeping in a open crib (which should be possible once he weans a bit more on the vapotherm), breathing on his own, and taking full feeds by mouth. I have my fingers crossed that he can accomplish these things soon! The finish line is in our sight and I am getting oh so anxious.