Three Weeks!

Greyson turned three weeks old today. He has been introduced to breast feeding, but still has a way to go with that. (Come on! How hard can that be!) His hemoglobin level dropped to 8, although since his level of new-but-not-yet-developed red blood cell level (can't remember the name for it) has increased, the concern over a blood transfusion has been reduced. Last week, we discovered that I have the same blood type as Greyson (A Positive) so there is a unit of the good stuff standing by, just in case. :)

Over the last couple of days, he seems to be less of a premie and more of an infant. He spends more time with his eyes open trying to figure out the world. Good luck, I'm still trying to make sense of it.

Here's a video of the kid:


Here's some pix from the last week:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=11dwb14f.cq5cdph3&x=0&y=h1moj7&localeid=en_US

Progress

Greyson was moved to the NICU annex last week, essentially because the NICU was packed (60 kids!). But he's out of his isolet now, marking one of milestones of being able to regulate his own temperature. This makes him a little more accessible. :) Here's a shot of us last Thursday when he was two weeks old.

Over the last week, he's been opening his eyes more and more. He seems to really respond to our voices. Here's a rare shot of his eye open, checking out the world.

I'll get more pictures up soon.

Ups and Downs

Greyson’s biliruben level is down so he’s out of the tanning bed. 

Something we’ve been keeping an eye on is his anemia. One of the ways this is measured is by monitoring his hemoglobin level, which has continued to drop. It’s now at 9. If you followed Trish’s hemoglobin level prior to her C-section you know may remember that 9 is about as low as you want it before you start discussing blood transfusions. The current plan for dealing with the anemia is to give him iron to help him develop his own red blood cells. He won’t receive any iron until the volume of milk he is receiving is enough to offset ill effects of the iron. It’s been a little bit of a race between how much food he can tolerate and how low his hemoglobin level goes. The doctors believe he’s probably ready for iron and should start receiving that today or tomorrow.

The much less desirable ‘plan B’ would be a blood transfusion. This could occur as early as next week if he starts developing more anemia symptoms.

Biliruben and Birthdays

Biliruben is what's leftover after red blood cells have have expired. Greyson's underdeveloped liver can't quite handle all the biliruben. The high levels of biliruben cause jaundice. For some reason, and I haven't quite made this connection, putting him the fancy blue light helps get rid of the extra biliruben.

Good news is that they have removed his problematic IV. This means that he is relying entirely on mamma's milk for nutrition. It also means that he can avoid being stuck with a new IV several times a day.

Today is TRICIA'S BIRTHDAY so that news was a nice birthday present for mom.

Breathing a sigh of relief

Greyson was allowed to remove his nasal cannula today. He is breathing completely on his own for the first time ever. This makes him very happy as you can see.



His biliruben level is back up indicating jaundice, so he's back to the tanning bed and wearing his cool sunglasses again. And nurses are reporting hearing another heart murmur. So, we'll be keeping an eye on that.

Ouch!

Greyson had his bellybutton IV line removed yesterday. It only had a ten day life span before they start worrying about infection. Now, he has to have an IV in his hand. It took them three tries yesterday to find his tiny little veins. Even then, it only lasted a few hours before they had to stick him again. Poor guy.

He'll have to keep the IV going as they ween him off IV nutrition and get him on his mamma's milk. He gets fed every three hours using a line that goes directly into his stomach. Not fair to get fed without tasting it! He's up to 23 ml of milk. Although that's not much, it seems like a lot compared to the 3 - 5 mls he started with.

It's neat to see him recognizing our voices. He has just started opening his eyes when he hears us. That's pretty cool!

Greyson is one week old

It seems like a life time already. I guess it is. Attached is a pic that show's how tiny he is. Or how big my nose is, depends how you look at it.



Also, he's responding well to his light treatment. It's kind of like being under a french fry warmer,... mmmmm, french fry.... He get's to wear these cute little sunglasses. He looks totally cool.



Latest new is that his red blood cell count is low. He started out a little low due to mom's touch C-Section. And the organs that develop those healthy red blood cells are still a little premature. So we're in a wait and see pattern, much like with mom before the delivery. The good news is that he is able to eat now, which means he receives a small amount of mom's milk through a line that goes into his stomach. His esophagus and swallowing muscles aren't quite ready yet. Totally normal for some one as early as him. His meals consist of 3 - 5 mls of milk. Not much, but way up from where we started.