Harper's Story...NICU Week 4...

What a great way to kick off Harper's fourth week than by letting him breathe some fresh (well, hospital fresh) air! I was so relieved when I called that Sunday morning and heard the doctor had stuck to his word (and Harper stuck to his end of the deal by having a spell free night) and had removed his mask. I was so nervous waiting for our Noon visit that he'd regress and the CPAP would be back on, but our little trooper held strong and so we got to enjoy an amazing visit and cuddle session with full view of our little guy's face and hair (and oh my, that hair!) 

After our visit they did put him on a nasal cannula - but that was to be expected. Just a little extra help as he eases into being completely on room air. Aside from being a bit fussy when you put the prongs in his nose or when you have to adjust them, he really doesn't mind them at all and the awful side affects from the CPAP are gone which is a huge victory and I know my boy was much happier as a result (confirmed by all of his nurses raving about what a different baby he was now). 

Spitting up, or emesis is still an issue, though we've all come to the conclusion (doctor included) that he's just a reflux baby - which makes sense as his big brother was also a big time reflux baby! Runs in the family I suppose. So with everyone on the same page that spit ups are going to happen, the doctor agreed to move his feeding tube back to his stomach and continue to increase his feeds as planned. This was another big step as he needs to get up to full feeds and his belly needs to tolerate them so we can get him moving towards bolus feeds (meaning his recommended amount in a bottle every three hours instead of the continuous feeds). So progress is being made on that front as well. 

Another milestone this week was that his feeds got high enough that they were able to stop his IV fluids (which after his IV in his arm went bad they had to move it to his scalp) and remove his IV - hooray! So the morning after they removed his IV I was greeted with a sweet little Harper wearing a shirt - even though he was practically swimming in it I loved that site, just another sign that our baby boy is moving in the right direction. 

While the hospital clothes are all fine and well, I was told we could bring in our own outfits and blankets for him. What fun! Between outfits that the Chappells sent us and some outfits and blankets that Auntie Amy bought, we had lots of options to bring to the hospital and I'm loving (and so are his nurses) playing dress up with him. 

The IV being out also meant he could start having actual baths. I loved being there for his first one and seeing how much he enjoyed it. He was loving it so much he stayed asleep for the first half, then finally woke up and just had this relaxed look on his face. Happy (and clean!) baby boy. 

His final milestone for the week was hitting 4 pounds on his 4 week/33 week birthday! Way to go Harper! What a fantastic week - here's hoping week 5 brings as much progress!