Thurs 24 Nov

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  Mom and Dad said this is a day to be thankful.  So what am I thankful for?  First off, that I finally started putting on some weight again!

It's not a lot, but it's an ounce more than yesterday, and that's something after losing weight the past couple days.

Second, I'm thankful for all the nurses, doctors, and staff at the NICU.  I know sometimes I complain when they're doing things to me, but this is a good day to remember that it's all because they're trying to help me, and they do a great job.

Third, I'm thankful I keep making progress and growing - not just putting on weight but with my feeding and breathing.  Still on the nasal cannula at 21%, and another good night with very few desats.

A big step feeding-wise today.  I did two big poops (one early in the morning, the other when Dad changed me early this afternoon), so that shows that I'm processing my food better.  When Mom and Dad came to visit, Nurse Janetta told them I could try eating from a bottle again.  I was wide awake and ready to try, and even practicing with my pacifier so I'd be ready to suck on a bottle!

Dad took his first try at giving me the bottle and I was doing well, taking in a lot of it!

In fact, I was drinking so fast that I started to spit some of it back up - in my defense, I figured I deserved a good Thanksgiving dinner too, and most meals they just feed me through a tube straight into my stomach so I was enjoying getting to actually taste my food!

So Nurse Janetta took me and showed Dad how to burp me.  I made two really good burps.

Still not sure how I feel about the burping - I like getting that air out of me but don't like getting hit on the back.  I guess I'm indifferent:

Anyhow, after I was burped they gave me the bottle back and took the rest of the bottle.

Did you catch that?  That's right, I took my entire 32 ml feeding through the bottle - didn't need to get ANY of it tube-fed.  Hooray for me!  Nurse Janetta, Mom, and Dad, all said they were really proud of me for doing so well with the bottle.

After I was done Dad held me for about half an hour so I could digest better, then they put me back in my incubator to rest from my big adventure with the bottle.

I'm gonna sleep well tonight!  Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Love,
Rory