August 2, 2007

Thursday.

Michael, Michael, Michael. He keeps things interesting, that is for sure. All day today, he has proved himself a championship eater. His 15 mls have gone down quickly, without a fuss (but with some pretty impressive burps). The schedule is that Michael is to eat 15 ml by bottle, and have an additional 50 by tube, for a new total of 65ml.

His nurse today said that she had to put him down in his crib in the middle of the bottle to attend to something, and he belched so loudly that everyone in the NICU stopped to look. There is a sign at Michael's bed that says "SHHHHH, please be quiet at my bedside. Michael." A cardiologist visiting another baby looked over and said, in response to Michael's performance, "I thought we were supposed to be quiet at that bed?"

But, tonight, at 8pm, Michael was playing and not eating. He had some burps, but nothing like the dayshift drama. And, his stomach was distended. They had noticed during the dayshift that his stomach seemed a bit large, but Michael had no symptoms of distress. At the 8pm feeding, though, Michael seemed to be in some discomfort. His belly was fairly turgid, so we stopped feeding. He did not burp, and the nurse called the nurse practitioner to take a look. His belly softened before she arrived, but she ordered an x-ray anyway to see if anything was going on. When we left tonight, the x-ray was taken but not yet read, and Michael's belly was soft, he was happy, and he seemed to be content. We'll find out when we call later on what was on the x-ray. We doubt they will see anything worth reporting, but we will let you know.

Tomorrow, Michael meets his new pediatrician, who will be coming to the hospital on normal rounds and will stop in to meet Michael . He is all set to help in the care and well being of the baby when the long-awaited date of discharge finally arrives!

More to come after we know....