I let him become the smelly kid...

When we called this morning to check on Par the nurse asked us if we'd bathe him when we got in because he smelled. On one hand, we were thrilled we'd get to give him his first bath (which turned out to be a glorified sponge bath)but on the other hand, how embarrassing that our baby smelled so bad the nurse had to ask us to clean him.

He didn't love his bath--but he didn't scream bloody murder as we have heard other babies in the NICU. He definitely likes being clean--and just as a reminder--this is the first time EVER that he has been cleaned because they didn't clean him when he was born because he was so fragile--so we were literally cleaning off stuff from his old living quarters (ie-the womb).





As another surprise we found out he was definitely going to try to feed today--but with a BOTTLE! I was shocked. They felt that since his sucking seemed so strong and he was "acting" hungry (rooting and stuff) they thought he might take to a bottle feed. This is just to try--if it doesn't work out--they'll feed him through a tube as planned. So I got to feed him 1cc (which is a tiny amount) in a teeny tiny bottle with a normal size nipple. He was a little confused but seemed to swallow pretty well. We did it again at 8pm and then at 12am--so far so good. They'll feed him again at 4am--and if all goes well he'll get 5cc's at his feeds tomorrow. Apparently, this first feed is really to work on swallowing and to prime his stomach since it has never had any food in it. Tomorrow will be more telling--it will actually be enough to spit up if he is going to have reflux issues. Please pray that this nasty reflux problem has decided to skip us (but we know it is almost a certainty with cdh).



After his feed, they came and took is UA line out--which was quite a process because it has to go really slow--pull a bit out, wait 5 minutes, pull a little more, wait 5 minutes--all this so that it clots because it is going into an artery--that's the danger with these--if it is pulled out too fast there is a potential for bleeding internally. Thankfully our NP took her time--unfortunately I came back from eating to find mom had just about fainted from watching the procedure--so they had mom sitting with her head between her knees.

With his UA line gone and him being clean now--he can wear clothes! So we put on one of his little sacks that it sooooo cozy--he loves it! He's looking more and more like a real baby!



Ella is still taking her time, although it seems that her latest xray showed slight improvement--Praise God! Continue to pray for her lungs to get stronger and stronger.

In closing, we receive all but an eviction notice from the nurse practitioner in the NICU today. She said that the NICU is expecting 2 more critically ill babies in the next day or so (one of them being ANOTHER CDH baby) and there is just no more room. I said something about this in the post yesterday--I didn't know we'd be the people they'd move out! We should be thankful that Par is doing so well that they feel he can take a step down to the NICU II--but I feel it is just a little too soon--the amount of care isn't the same as in the NICU III--plus, we'd really never see Dr. Kays--but, it is the next step to coming home--i just wish it was because Par was ready and not because they need the space--but hopefully by the time he moves (which isn't definite quite yet--but possibly by Friday)--both will be true. I guess it is just bitter sweet.

Thank you for your prayers!
Love, Liz, Rusty & the smelly kid, Par