Learning to Nurse

Post date: Dec 17, 2010 4:40:38 PM

December 17 (AM) QUICK STATS: Weight: 3 pounds, 1.6 ounces Length: 15 inches Cuteness: Amazing Yesterday was a great day for Grady Jeremiah. We had good reports and saw progress in several ways...NURSING --- Thank you for praying for him yesterday to be able to learn how to nurse. We were able to put Grady Jeremiah in the feeding position and he immediately knew what to do. He was able to latch on and try to nurse for a minute, then would stop. He'd look around, look at us, and start back for a minute. This process repeated itself for 10 minutes. Grady Jeremiah continued to breathe and did not need even a breath of oxygen during this time. His nurse for the day was absolutely amazed. She said it's rare for a premature baby at his age be able to make these initial steps of nursing! Thank you for praying about it. Please keep praying that he will continue to learn how to nurse.
HEAD ULTRASOUND --- We just learned that the doctors did a second head ultrasound a week ago. Once again there was no sign of bleeding in the brain, a condition that can be found in premature babies and that leads to future challenges. We are grateful for that good report. They did note again that Grady Jeremiah is missing the septum pellucidum, the membrane that divides the hemispheres of the brain. I wrote about this issue on our November 13 post and it is an issue not related to being pre-mature. It is something that he would have had whether he was born at 26 weeks or full term. The doctors and nurses still are not sure what, if any, impact this may have on his future. They plan to do an MRI in about 4 weeks to look at it more closely. Please continue to pray that he will not have any vision, developmental, or other problems from missing this septum.
GROWING --- Grady Jeremiah is growing in weight and length. He's 15 inches now (1.5 inches longer than a few weeks ago) and continues to gain about an ounce a day. The nurses expect him to see even more weight gain this week. They've increased his feeds again so that he now receives 27 cc every three hours, yet still gets fussy thirty minutes before it's time to be fed. Please continue to pray that he will digest well and grow without any setbacks.
QUALITY TIME WITH DAD AND MOM --- We are so blessed to be here with him throughout the day most days. Yesterday we were both able to hold him for a while. He is getting more and more alert and looks at us even more when we talk with him. Notice his alertness with us in the pictures below... Yes, I'm looking for a good reason to post a few more pictures from the last several days :) Please continue to pray that we will stay healthy so that we can be with him each day.

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

It's almost Christmas!

Thanks for praying! We hope each of you have a restful weekend ahead.

PS - Santa visited UAB Hospital last night. Pictures are coming soon!

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