Report from West Lafayette (we’re not at the hospital with him):
So we have been calling the NICU about every 6-8 hours. We’re trying not to be an overly worrying couple, so we’re trying to balance how often to call. Basically, there has been little change since we left the hospital. He still hasn’t figured out swallowing, which isn’t surprising anyone. Also, for clarification in case anyone is wondering — he is not being fed intravenously. His gastro-intestinal system and lungs are working just fine. So he’s being fed through a tube which “dumps” food directly into his stomach, where the rest of his bodily functions process it normally.
They bumped him up to 40ml of food each feeding yesterday, and today they are moving up to 44ml of food. They are also moving him up to a 22cal formula, from a 20cal formula. Apparently, breast milk is usually 20cal, so this is to help him catch up in size. He was last weighed at 4lb, 13oz, which we think means he may not have been weighed last night (at least, the nurse said that was up 22grams, although we were there when he was weighed at 4lb 13oz, so that’s why I’m not sure he was weighed again).
Overall, the NICU has been a great experience. David has his own room, which means everything in the room is personalized care. The nurses have been extraordinarily friendly and instructional. It seems we get a new nurse every shift – we haven’t had any repeated nurses during shifts we were present. On the one hand, this is good, because everyone gives us a little different perspective and information. On the other hand, we get a lot of the same information, and even though they pass things along with each shift, they never know quite now how much we have been there/involved/informed. We think he actually is rotated around so much in part because he is one of the easier babies in the NICU.
Frequently Asked Questions (and Answers):
- Q: What’s the story behind the name? A: Well, of course, Charles is his father’s name. David is the name his birthmother had chosen as his middle name, and since we like the name and wanted to integrate a part of his birthfamily, we wanted to use it. We’re calling him David because his father goes by Chip, and his grandfather by Chuck. We weren’t as thrilled with other nicknames for Charles, so we thought it would be appropriate to go by David.
- Q: So when did you really learn you were adopting David? A: Really, the first indication we had about David was when we got the call on 2/16. We had received no information about the possibility of an adoption prior to that point. So, no, we weren’t just keeping it a secret (though we definitely would have been keeping it more of a secret this time); we just really didn’t know.
Finally, here are a few pictures we took after the last status (though they are from Thursday night, not Friday or Saturday):
