ENERGY

So sorry for such a late post today. I was so tired this afternoon that I took a nap instead of blogging. I have not had a full night sleep in weeks as I am up pumping a few times a night. And, we all know how well you sleep when you are in the hospital...yeah right!

Justin is having another great day. Not a ton of new stuff for the day. When we left tonight, his feedings were at 3.6 mls per hour and the doc said the goal now is to get him to 7.8 mls per hour which is full feedings for his age. It was 6 mls at the beginning but now that he is 30 weeks, it is a little higher. He was also on a medication called amenophlin (sp?) and that is to stimulate his brain and remind him to keep breathing. Apparently it is similar to caffeine. But, I learned today that it isn't as strong as caffeine and so they switched him to caffeine today. The amenophlin was given 3 times per day and it is sort of like a roller coaster as it wears off before his next dose. The caffeine is different in that he needs one dose per 24 hours and it keeps him on a more steady stream throughout the day. This will hopefully eliminate all spells of not breathing. In the next couple weeks, he should outgrow his dose of caffeine and as long as he isn't having spells, they will just shut it off. I know, it sounds harsh to give a baby caffeine but it doesn't hurt him at all.  He is still keeping his bilirubin levels at a good spot and hasn't needed phototherapy lights. I think it's because he is pooping more now. We weighed him tonight at his 8pm cares and he is now 2 lbs 14 ounces!! Way to go buddy! We have almost hit the 3 lb mark! Yay!

That's all for tonight.