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A closeup |
SO CUTE! |
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Kyle & Mommy |
The Baby Condo |
Kyle Matthew Natalie was born on December 7th, 2000 at 10:16 pm. He weighed 3 lbs 5.8 ounces and scored an 8 at 1 minute and a 9 at 5 minutes on his apgar. Unfortunately he tired easily and required a ventilator because his lungs are premature so he will be calling the NICU at the local hospital his home for the next several weeks. Kyle was born 11 weeks early so these complications are not uncommon.
2-8-1 Our first night AT HOME with Kyle was wonderful but exhausting. He has decided that he needs many more feedings than he did in the hospital - this little boy cant seem to get enough food! We have nicknamed him our little "zerg-ling" because he makes constant gurgling, grunting and groaning noises, he was keeping us awake all night but at least I dont have to be the neurotic mother checking to see if he is breathing every other second since we can tell hes doing just fine by his noises!
2-7-1 KYLE IS HOME!!!! Please feel free to call us and get more details!
2-6-1 Kyle is probably going to come home tommorow!!! I say probably because this is the third time the carrot has been dangled in front of us. He is doing much much better on his feedings, he always takes at least 60 ccs and wakes up before his feeding most times. His weight is up to 6 lbs 2 ounces! He has also done better with his oxygen and he will only need 1/16 of a liter!!! We cannot wait to get him home!
2-3-1 The last few days have been an emotional roller coaster ride for us because Kyle has had one foot out the door of the nursery and twice now we have been told he would be coming home the next day and something happens that makes it necessary for him to stay longer. It is incredibly discouraging, please keep us in your prayers! The good news in all of this is that he is so close to coming home and the only remaining complication is his need for oxygen. He will be coming home on oxygen (1/8 liter) but we are used to this with our first son, Tommy. Kyle's weight is up to 5 lbs 15 ounces which means he barely fits into the preemie clothes! Hopefully he will continue to do well in his feedings.
1-30-1 Kyle is doing wonderful and its only days until he comes home!! He is taking almost all of his feedings by bottle or breast and he is still declining in his oxygen saturation during his feedings but he is doing it less often. He has passed his room air challenge and so its just a matter of time until we get to cuddle him nonstop! His weight it up to 5 lbs and 13 ounces, pretty soon he won't be able to fit into his preemie outfits and he is already in newborn diapers!
1-19-1 Kyle hit the 5 lb mark today! 5 lbs and 2.0 ounces!! He also had his best breastfeeding session yet which is very encouraging and he did well on both of his bottle feedings so it shouldnt be too much longer!
1-18-1 Weight= 4 lbs 15.6 ounces
1-17-1
Weight= 4 lbs 13.8 ounces
1-11-1 Weight= 4 lbs 8.2 ounces Kyle moved to a room temperature crib today because he is maintaining his temperature on his own! His oxygen usage moved up to 75 today because the pulse ox test they ran today (all Mondays and Thursdays)showed that he wasn't saturated enough. He had a bradycardia today (his heart rate dropped very low) that he didn't self resolve (he needed stimulation to bring his heart rate back up) which isn't great but is normal for a preemie.
1-10-1 Weight= 4 lbs 8.6 ounces
1-9-1 Weight= 4 lbs 7.2 ounces
1-8-1 Weight= 4 lbs 6.0 ounces
1-7-1 Weight= 4 lbs 4.6 ounces
1-6-1 Weight= 4 lbs 3.2 ounces
1-5-1 Weight= 4 lbs 1.4 ounces Kyle's first time at breastfeeding, he did amazingly well!!! He is going to remain in 50 ccs of oxygen as he is growing just to make it easier on him.
1-4-1 Weight= 4 lbs .04 ounces
1-3-1 Weight= 3 lbs 15.8 ounces Kyle started the Epo meds today which will stimulate his bone marrow so that he produces more red blood cells. They removed his Iv today which is a step in the right direction!
1-2-1 Kyle is up to full feedings!!! WOO WOO! Now all that is left is for him to learn to breastfeed and the sad thing is that I am super sick so it will be very hard to learn to breastfeed without a breast since I don't want to expose him to this horrible cold. He is up to 3 lbs 14.4 ounces in weight.
1-1-1 Kyle's weight dropped a little today, he is at 3 lbs 12.6 ounces. Otherwise he is doing the same which is great, just a little grower and feeder as they call him in the NICU! They even capped his IV today!
12-31-00 Kyle is 3 lbs 11.8 pounds! He is going up on his feedings and they are adding the human milk fortifier to make the breast milk 24 calories (natural breast milk is only 10 calories).
12-30-00 Kyle lost 20 grams so he is down to 3 lbs 11 ounces even today. His head ultrasound came back normal which is GREAT!.
12-29-00 Kyle's weight today is 3 lbs 11.2 ounces which is an incredible gain. He had to increase his oxygen today to 50 ccs and otherwise he is doing great. I got to hold him for an extra long time today and his eyes are definitely brown like his Daddy's.
12-28-00 Kyle has started the Epoeitin, which is a medicine that stimulates the bone marrow so that it grows more red blood cells. it is a shot he gets in his thigh every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He had his head ultrasound today as a follow up, his first scan showed normal which is a good indication. His weight is up to 3 lbs 8.8 ounces. Kyle is on 25 ccs of oxygen and they are slowly weaning his hyperal as he increases his feedings. His hyperal is at 2.5 and his feedings are up to 19 mls.
12-27-00 Kyle is almost to his birth weight! 3 lbs 5.4 ounces!!! They have taken him off of all stimulants for his lungs and he is still having a little oxygen administered through the nasal cannula. He is doing great with his feedings, there are no residuals left when they check his tummy and no signs of reflux!
12-26-00 Kyle's weight is up to 3 lbs 3.6 ounces! He had to go back on the oxygen today, the nurses tell us this is normal because his body is using its energy to grow, they are not surprised at all especially since his weight gain has been so great.
12-25-00 Kyle gained weight today, he is now 3 lbs 2.4 ounces! They are going to increase his feedings by 1 ml every other feeding. His feedings are administered through a gavage tube which sends the food through his nose straight into his tummy. His feedings are every 3 hours. He is doing so well! What a change from last week, all our prayers are the reason why I am sure.
12-24-00 Kyle is off of the abuterol completely and they are giving him 2 ml of breastmilk every 3 hours! He is still off of the oxygen and doing wonderful. Grandma Natalie was able to hold him today, it is Christmas Eve and what better gift? Hopefully Aunt Amy will be able to hold him later this evening!
12-23-00 The most exciting news yet: Kyle is off of the oxygen (as of 5pm)!! The nurses had been telling us that he would probably go home on oxygen and yet he is off of the oxygen less than a week after being taken off of the ventilator which is almost unheard of! His weight is also up 40 grams! They will we taking him off of the abuterol and amanopholin (no idea on the spelling of those two drugs) which are for his lungs and breathing tommorow. He is also digesting his breastmilk at a rate of 1 ml every 6 hours and if he continues he will get 1 ml every 3 hours. Andy held him and he had his eyes open nearly the entire time! (they are a dark shade of blue, I hope they turn brown like his Daddy's)
12-22-00 Kyle is doing wonderful today! He is still off of the ventilator and his oxygen level is at 27. They are waiting to feed him until his tummy is less irritated. His whole little body shakes from the steroid medication decadron which is still in his system even though its been 24 hours since the last dose was administered. He is still under the billirubin lights for his jaundice. His weight is down to 3 lbs 0.2 ounces. Hopefully he can start to eat tommorow at just 1 ml of breastmilk every 6 hours its not much but it would be a start!
12-21-00 Kyle does not like to be bothered at all, he prefers to be all cuddled up but he is on phototherapy for his jaundice so the lights need to be on his skin. He gets upset when we hold him and even more so when he gets put back into his isolette, usually dropping his oxygen saturation so we(Andy and I) have decided that we do not want to hold him until he has less going on unless the nurses need to change his bedding. His weight is down to just over 3 lbs.
12-20-00 Kyle is off of the ventilator!!! WOO WOO! This is such a milestone for him! He is on an oxygen hood at 35% oxyegen. His weight is down to 3 lbs 3.3 ounces from 3 lbs 4.4 ounces yesterday. They have found some blood in his stool so no breastmilk for now. No phototherapy today! Kyle's head ultrasound came out clear which is an incredible relief. One of the major complications (long term) is brain bleeds ov IVH (Intraventrical Hemmoraging) and thankfully our little one has no sign of this. Nanuk the Beanie Baby Wolf is guarding our little one and Kyle seems to enjoy the weight of him on his back.
