A Restful Day

Post date: Nov 21, 2010 3:11:12 AM

November 20 (PM) - It has been a good day for us and for Grady Jeremiah.

Julia and I have been able to get some much needed time away from the hospital. We enjoyed the beauty of this afternoon out at railroad park in downtown Birmingham. It was so refreshing to get out of the hospital building and enjoy a walk. For those of you who know me well, you know I enjoyed this park... We spent some time sitting on an overlook bench watching two long trains go by, while watching planes in the distance land and take off :-) This evening we were able to get away from the hospital food court and restaurants next to it, and go to Julia's favorite restaurant - Nabeels (Greek food in Homewood!). Please keep praying that we will stay healthy, and that we will be able to find more time like today to rest and enjoy time together.

Ok... enough of the update on us... now to an update on the little guy! Grady Jeremiah is doing well today. Here are two bits of progress for today.

1) He continues to digest his food well, so the doctors increased it again to 17 cc every three hours! He is only gaining a little weight each day, so they are starting him on human milk fortifier to add calories to his milk. While most of us need to decrease our caloric intake, it is good for him to increase his :-) Please pray that he will continue to tolerate the full feeds well, be able to digest all of the milk, and that he will start gaining more weight.

2) The doctors removed his nasal canula (tube under his nose to help with air flow)! That is one less tube attached to his little body! Now he only has his OG feeding tube going through his mouth, two electrodes to measure his heart rate, a temperature sensor, and an oxygen sensor on his foot. It is fun to look at his face and his facial expressions with less tubing on it! He has done well with his breathing today, even without the minimal room air flow he was getting from that tube. Please pray that his lungs will continue to develop and that he will be able to go throughout the day without any breathing lapses.When we arrived this morning, we found that his isolette had been changed. He is making good progress, and the doctors did not think he needed the high end isolette. This simpler model is what they use in the critical care step down unit. It is one step closer to us going down there.Thanks for praying. As I close tonight, I want you to see Grady Jeremiah enjoying time with his mom :-) Notice his eyes open even more in the first picture, and how restful both he and mom are in the second picture...