Tues 22 Nov

Hmm... my plan to gain weight is not working as well as planned, actually lost a little today (back down to 3 lb. 13.4 oz. - that 4 lb. mark is hard to crack!).  And that despite the fact that I've done nothing but sleep the whole last day!

In fact, it turns out that maybe the 36 ml per feeding I was up to was just a little bit too much for me to handle and I was not processing some of it.  So they've backed me off to 30 mls, but are fortifying it with that extra calorie stuff more than before so it's 26 calories per ounce instead of 24.  Which I guess means I'll still be getting about the same amount of total calories (I'd need a calculator to check, but they won't give me one because it's not sterile.  Also because I don't have good enough motor control to push the right buttons.  Also because I'm still working on learning basic addition and subtraction, so word problems are probably a bit much for me to take on!).

In a change from our normal schedule, Mom and Dad both came by this morning for my 11 a.m. feeding (I sound like a zoo animal!).  Dad took my temp and changed my diaper; I had been swaddled up nice and tight so was a little annoyed at being unwrapped.

On the other hand, I'm rocking that white shirt!

Nurse Cathie measured my belly and found it had actually shrunk a little bit - which was good because it had been pretty full of air the past couple days.  Not as bad as when I was on CPAP, but definitely still more than I want in there....

After all that was done the OT (occupational therapist, not offensive tackle, obviously) Gina helped me out of my incubator and gave me to Mom to try out the bottle again.

Unfortunately, I was pretty sleepy today so had a little harder time than yesterday staying awake enough to drink from the bottle.

I did wake up briefly....

but even then it was just long enough to take a peek at what was going on before I passed back out again (what?  growing is hard work!).  Mom gave it a valiant effort all the same:

In the end I only took 1 ml, but I'm still learning so I'm still counting that as a success.  Mom also learned how to burp me, which I must say is not the most comfortable thing:

Maybe they can just stick with that tube that automatically pulls the extra air out of me?

Anyhow, after that they put me back in my incubator to get the rest of my food.  It was a busy morning!

Both Mom and Dad came back in the evening to find me sound asleep, still resting up from all the activity in the morning.

Sure, I was tired.  Being the rock star that I am, though, I woke up when they unwrapped me and even waved hi!

Since I had had a good day (didn't set off my alarms too many times) they let me have some kangaroo time with Dad.  We had a nice little visit at the start; since I was awake I looked at him for awhile and also at Mom who was sitting next to us.  This time after a quick squeeze of his chest I figured out this wasn't the right person to try to breastfeed from - though I did still pinch him pretty hard a few times with my hand when I was straining to get out some poops.  Take that Dad! ;-)   Oh yeah, that's right, I've now learned emoticons :-0 (that's everyone acting surprised)

After we had visited for awhile I started feeling sleepy again (who could blame me? I had been awake for almost twenty minutes nonstop!) so I got comfy and tried to go to sleep but kept getting woken up by the stupid alarms from the other babies in the room (including my brother, who apparently still doesn't know how to keep his breathing up).  Okay, granted, I set my own off a few times with minor desats, but then the nurse realized that my nasal cannula tubes had come undone from the pump so I wasn't getting any airflow - which actually makes it pretty impressive that I only had a couple minor desats, since I was breathing with (a) no airflow help and (b) my nostrils blocked by the tubes.  So my alarms were excusable.

Anyway, Dad gave me my pacifier and that helped keep my calm enough through the alarms to finally fall asleep.

Once I did, I snuggled right up with Dad and slept like a rock.  In fact, he said I looked so peaceful he didn't want to have to put me back in my incubator, but after about an hour and forty minutes he did so he could go home and get some dinner.  I was a little annoyed about having to move, but understand - it's easier for me since I was getting fed through my tube the whole time I was being held! - and fell asleep pretty quickly again.

Now gonna get some rest - the nurses said tomorrow's gonna be another big day!