THE FIRST FEW DAYS

This whole week has been kind of a blur. I will do my best to give you the most information as possible.

MONDAY: Justin's ventilator was taken out as he was doing the most of the breathing on his own. YAY! He was put on a CPAP which is constant air flow to help him breathe. This is not as invasive as the vent but is still alot on his face. He is not given milk for the first couple days because premie's tummies can not handle food right away. Their intestines are not fully developed yet. We were able touch him and hold his hand for the first time.

TUESDAY: Justin's jaundice levels were pretty high (very common) so he was put under phototherapy lights. He wears little sunglasses and spends the day sunning at the beach :) They also started feedings. 1ml of milk every 6 hours. If his tummy is digesting the milk they continue the next feeding. He seemed to do ok, do they continued. Jason and I held him for the first time. They swaddled him up and we were able to hold him for a short time. Oh yeah, he pooped for the first time. Never thought poop would be an exciting thing! The nurses like the parents to do "cares" with them. So, I got to change his diaper, take his temp, and Jason helped fix his mask.

WEDNESDAY: Since he did so well on the CPAP machine on Tuesday, the doctor ordered CPAP for 2 hours then an air cannula (in his nose) for an hour. Feedings were changed to 1ml every 3 hours. His lung Xrays look great and they are developing perfectly. Justin is under phototherapy lights today and will continue until his levels go down. They did decrease from 6 to 5. I got to hold Justin today without the swaddle blankets. They call it kangaroo care. That is where you hold the baby skin to skin. It is supposed to be really good for the baby because they can hear your heart beat and they seem to get really comfortable. I was able to do that for about 45 minutes. Oh yeah, Jason changed his first diaper today!!

THURSDAY: Nothing much new today. He is still continuing to do very well. The feedings stayed at 1ml every 3 hours. The CPAP to nasal cannula also stayed the same. I got to hold Justin for an hour this evening.

Today (10/1/09), visiting rules changed at the hospital due to the H1N1 flu going around. Unfortunately, we are not able to have visitors anymore. Just parents. So, please enjoy the blog as I will do my best to update it daily with posts and pictures.

ENJOY!