Today I had a nice visit with Campbell.  He’s up to 8 ccs of milk every 4 hours, but he isn’t always digesting it all, unfortunately. They’ll keep at it – sometimes it just takes a little time to get everything back up and running.  The nurses also think he might be having some reflux, which may also be contributing.

He’s also up to 3 pounds, 11 1/2 ounces, but I think some of that weight is fluid retention.  He looks a little puffy to me, and he’s gained a whole lot of weight in a short amount of time.  You can see how pudgy he looks here:

Also, they moved us again.  They had an open isolation room, which is a small private room, so they moved us in there.  It’s great because it provides more privacy for our visits.  I guess they thought it made sense to give it to us since we’re up there so much!  Hopefully we can stay there a while longer – or at least until they need the room for someone else who needs the isolation.  I’ll try to get some pics to post soon of his new digs.

Campbell is up to 3 pounds, 9 ounces!  Some of that may be some extra fluid, but still, he’s really growing – even off most of his milk.  He’s still getting 4 ccs every 4 hours, and it seems to be going well so far.  I’m hoping they’ll start increasing the volume when the doctor sees him later today.

We also got a visit from the Easter Bunny today at the NICU.

And, it turns out that Einstein was also a preemie, so we have high hopes for Campbell!  And, this was the first time Campbell has gotten to wear any of his own clothes.  We thought it was fitting.  🙂

Well, today was an exciting day.  They re-started feeding Campbell this afternoon.  He started with 4ccs of milk every 4 hours.  We’ll have to see how he tolerates it, but he sure seemed happy to be getting what he got, so that’s encouraging.

In other news, Pat Pat and Bing got to to change his diaper today and hold him.  They were so excited, and so was Campbell!

Campbell is also growing and graduated to a bigger blood pressure cuff!  He was up to 3 pounds, 7 ounces today.  And you can see all of it in those chubby cheeks and the growing double chin!  🙂

Today there isn’t much to report.  Campbell is up to 3 pounds, 7 ounces.  Gigi and Papa Doc got one last visit this morning before going back to Jackson, and they got some really cute pictures of Campbell when he was really awake and active.  He got to kangaroo with Dad this afternoon, and we’re hoping that tomorrow they will restart feeding him.  

Today was exciting!  Gigi got to change Campbell’s diaper this morning, and then, at the night visit, Gigi and Papa Doc got to hold him!  You can see how excited they are!

Also, Campbell really is growing!  He’s grown from 14.5 inches long when he was born to 16 inches.  And, his head circumference has increased from 24 cm at birth to 28.5 now.  Yay!  And, he’s up to 3 pounds, 6 ounces, as you can see on  the scale below:

And, this is my favorite pic of the day:

Today was mostly uneventful, which is good!  Campbell is doing well – still gaining weight even though he’s only on IV nutrition right now – up to 3 pounds 2 1/2 ounces, which is exactly a pound since he was born!  They’re planning to start feeding him milk again on Sunday so his stomach will have a full 7 days to rest since the GI issues of last weekend.  He doesn’t seem to mind too much, other than being a lot more interested in the pacifier and having his hands in his mouth.  🙂

Here’s a cute pic from today when he got to kangaroo with me.

Well, just like you can get unexpected bad news, you can get unexpected good news.  On our drive out to the hospital today, the doctor called to tell us that he thinks Campbell doesn’t have NEC.  They are taking him off antibiotics today (well in advance of when we thought they would) and are hopefully feeding him again tomorrow or the next day.  Basically, all the x-rays and tests came back normal.  So, that is a huge relief.

They also were able to get a picc line in today (after not having been able to last night).  The picc line isn’t great news because it means that they’ll be giving him stuff through an IV until he gets back to full feedings, but it is a good thing on the other hand because the little guy doesn’t have to get stuck so much.  And, he didn’t have to keep the stick in his head (I was calling him a “pinhead” but not sure that was the right thing to do…).

All in all, it was a good day, topped off by getting to kangaroo with him today, even if he didn’t give me as a big of a smile as he gave Meredith yesterday.

And, I think we may have a trendsetter on our hands, based on how he likes to wear his hat…

Well, today was also a hard day for Campbell.  We called in overnight and found out that he had to have an IV line put into his skull.  :(.  Apparently, his veins are so small that it’s hard to keep them open, so they’ve had to start several different ones. Even though it sounds bad, the ones in the skull are apparently bigger and easier to keep open.  And, his hematocrit was borderline again, so they did another transfusion on him – he was up to 21 ccs of blood this time, but he was more awake and alert tonight when we saw him, so I think it made him feel better.

You can barely see the IV in his head in this picture:

He was doing well enough to Kangaroo with mom again, which was really great after a couple of days of not being able to do that.  He’s gotten very into his hands and the pacifier the last few days, which I think is because he’s hungry since they’re not feeding him milk (only IV nutrition for the moment).  You can also see him sucking his thumb in the picture above.

And, he has a really cute smile here, which I hope means that he’s not too bothered by the IV and doing okay.

Well, we haven’t been in to see him yet – we are going up there this afternoon – but I called and talked to the doctor to see how Campbell was doing today.  Apparently, he had more blood in his stool overnight on a few of the diaper changes, so they re-x-rayed him and started him on antibiotics.  The x-ray was normal, and the antibiotics are a precaution, but unfortunately they are going to hold off on milk feeding him for 5-7 days.  :(.  (I’m sure he’s not going to be at all pleased about this).  He’ll have to get the picc line put back in for the antibiotics and for the IV nutrition.

And, we got more information from the doctor about Retinopathy of Prematurity.  Apparently, Campbell does have a very mild form of ROP, but it’s stage 1, zone 2, which is good and usually resolves on its own without treatment or any major long-term effects on his vision.  They will check him again in a couple of weeks, but with any luck it will get better, not worse.

Here’s hoping for no more bloody stool and that we can get back to feedings soon!

Well, we saw him tonight, and he seemed to be doing okay, although he was pretty sacked out.  He was a little puffy (he looked much bigger than usual), and the doctor said he was retaining some fluid and gave him some lasix to help with that. The plan is the same – just to keep him on IV nutrition to let his stomach rest and keep the antibiotics going to be safe.

Well, today was a total bummer.  When Ernie & Pat went to visit at noon, the nurse changed Campbell’s diaper and found a little streak of blood in there.  They’ve had to stop his feedings, and they had to x-ray his stomach to see if there was any gas in there.  Apparently, the concern is for NEC (necrotizing enterocolitis), which can be dangerous for preemies.  But his x-rays were normal, he’s acting normal, and the doctor doesn’t think he has NEC.  But they will watch him and keep him on IV nutrition instead of milk for a little while to check him out and make sure he is okay before they restart his feedings.  He was just shy of 3 pounds when they last weighed him, and I’m betting we won’t see him gain as much or as fast as he has over the past week or so with all the milk he’d been taking.

You can’t tell from this picture that he’s having a bad day, though:

He was especially excited to meet Aunt Lizzy for the first time too!  🙂

Well, today was a great day.  Mason got to kangaroo with Campbell, and he was really sweet.  He seems to be taking to his new bed, and he continues to do well off all breathing support.  We are very impressed!  In other news, Campbell saw his first (but certainly not his last, if Papa Doc has anything to say about it) Ophthalmologist.  He was evaluated for Retinopathy of Prematurity, which is a common eye issue in early preemies.  We need to talk to the doctor to get more information, but we understand that the initial evaluation was pretty good.  Here’s a cute pic of Campbell snuggling with Dad today.

Today is Campbell’s 1 month birthday!  I can’t believe it’s already been four weeks!

We were disappointed not to be able to kangaroo with Campbell today, but it was for good reasons!  He’s apparently regulating his body temperature better, and he was getting too hot in his double-walled Giraffe incubator/isolette so the nurse moved him to a single-walled isolette.  And, they are trying again to get him off the breathing support, so today they removed the bi-nasal cannula around noon, and Campbell is breathing entirely on his own again.  It’s a great step, and we hope he can keep breathing on his own.  As a result of these changes, though, the little guy was pretty sacked out, and we didn’t want to disturb him too much.

But you can see below his sweet face with no breathing apparatus.

And a picture of him in his new isolette.

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Well, today I visited with Campbell by myself because Mason had to go back to Virginia to teach.  Fortunately, he was having a good day, and we got to “kangaroo” for a nice long visit.  The doctors also have upped his feedings to 27 ccs every 3 hours. An ounce has between 29 and 30 ccs, so that means Campbell is getting nearly an ounce of milk every 3 hours.  He’s digesting it pretty well, although he did spit up some today when we were kangarooing.  And, since he’s eating so well, he’s also really gaining weight.  Up to 2 pounds, 14 ounces.  Otherwise, he’s doing well.  We’re just hoping he’ll be ready to come off the oxygen soon, but really not much to report.

Well, Campbell had a big day today – we had a few developments.

First, he’s 31 weeks today!  Kind of hard to believe!

Second, he lost his umbilical cord, so we can finally see his cute little belly button!  See pic below:

Third, since he’s up to 2 pounds, 13 ounces (yay!), he has “graduated” to a bigger sized diaper (from Pampers Preemie XS (the smallest ones they have) to Preemie S).  See pic below with my phone for size comparison (Samsung Galaxy S4).

You can also see him in the bigger diaper in the picture above, which is really still much too big for him.

He’s still on the bi-nasal cannula, but he’s doing better with his breathing – fewer drops – so the doctors may try taking him off that again sometime soon.  He’s still on 25 ccs every 3 hours, but now they’re giving it to him all at once instead of on the pump over 45 minutes, which we think means he is digesting it pretty well.

And, his overnight nurse got a great picture of him taking a bath earlier today and used it to decorate his “room” with a new sign.  See below:

Finally, mom and Campbell got to “kangaroo” again today.  Yay!

Like everybody else, Campbell doesn’t feel great when he eats too much.  He is up to 25 cc’s per feeding, but he isn’t always digesting it all (which I wouldn’t have guessed from the mess he made in his diaper while I was holding him today). He had a little left over in his stomach, but they are encouraged and think he’ll continue to eat well.  Love his cute smile below:

And, these cute pics of him “kangarooing” with dad today:

Mom kangarooed with Campbell today, and he is eating a lot (23 cc’s of milk).  They’re also putting his milk on a pump so he gets it over 45 minutes to make it easier to digest since the volume is bigger.  He also has become kind of a chubby little dude at 2 pounds, 11 ounces (he was above that yesterday, but mostly because of the extra blood).  His nurse took this great picture of him while working on him.

The blood worked!  He’s feeling much better, has more color, and is eating well (21 cc’s).  In fact, he did well enough overnight that the picc line came out and we were able to kangaroo with him again today.  Having the pic line out means he is getting all his nutrition from milk!  So he is totally off IV nutrition now!  Here’s what the little guy looks like in comparison to an iPad mini–we are hopeful he’ll be the size of a regular iPad soon!

And here’s a cute “kangaroo” picture with dad today:

Campbell was being a bit “wimpy” today.  He had a few small drops in vital signs here and there and was pale (more pale than his dad, which is pretty damn pale).  So, he had to get blood.  A blood transfusion for a two and 1/2 pounder is fascinating because he only got 18cc’s of blood (picture of the blood going in attached).  (Thankfully, he doesn’t seem too bothered by blood).

Still, we hope it’ll make him feel better and we’re looking forward to the picc line coming out soon!

He’s eating more, also, and getting 18cc’s of food, but won’t be able to eat for 6 hours after the blood transfusion.

And, this is a cuter picture of him before they started the transfusion:

Well, we had some good news and some less good news today about Campbell.  On the positive side, he’s doing well with his feedings.  They increased him to 16 ccs every 3 hours, which is nearly 4 1/3 ounces of milk each day!  That’s a big improvement from where we started with 1 cc every 4 hours!  They’re also now fortifying the breast milk with formula to give him extra calories and nutrition.  He’s nearly up to what they would feed him just based on weight, so we’re hoping that he will soon be able to stop needing any IV nutrition, which will also hopefully mean that they will take out his picc line soon.  He’s up to 2 pounds, 9 ounces, so something is working with the food, and you can see it in his belly here: 

On the less positive side, he’s had to go back on the bili lamp, as he’s had some jaundice, but they don’t seem too concerned about that.  Unfortunately, he needed some help with his breathing – he was having to work too hard to breathe, so they put him on the bi-nasal cannula, which just give him a little push of room air so he doesn’t have to work so hard.  Hopefully, he won’t have to be on those for too long. Mom did get to “kangaroo” with him, which was great.  Mom and Campbell got a nice nap during the 90 minute visit.

Also, you can tell from this picture how small his little hands are in comparison to the shirt button pictured.  So tiny, but so stinking cute!  🙂

Until Campbell gets a few weeks older, he is allowed to sleep on his stomach, which is definitely his favorite!  (At least he gets something from mom! :))  (See pic below). But, he also apparently likes to move around when he isn’t tucked in completely.  In fact, when they checked on him this morning, he had moved himself all the way to the side of the bed….

In other news, Campbell is eating better and better.  We figure he is at least two to three weeks away from being ready to play O-line, but is gaining weight (up to 2 pounds, 8 ounces today!).  He still isn’t remembering to breathe perfectly, but he was doing well enough to have Meredith hold him for awhile.  But, that got cut short when he had a few little breathing scares.  The doctor tells us it isn’t something to worry about at the moment.