Eating and Transfusing

Before I begin...doesn't this picture sort of look like me? I know he looks like Rusty--I am not discounting that--but doesn't this remind anyone of me as a baby?

As I write this blog, precious little Par is receiving his first (hopefully last) blood transfusion. He will receive approximately 2 ounces of blood in about 4 hours. This should help with his anemia and hopefully he will be like a "NEW PAR" tomorrow with a lot of energy.
When we arrived this morning, we thought he had already been given the transfusion because he seemed really energized and had taken his oral feeds really well the past few times--we found out later he had slept for 5 hours straight and was just REALLY REFRESHED! The good thing about his "mini-hibernation" is that it kept him awake for a good part of the day and we were able to work on breastfeeding for a long time. Elaine (OT/lactation) was great and VERY patient (I don't know how she does it)--she was so supportive and after about 45 minutes of working with Par he started figuring things out. Elaine seems to think that Par already has the tools and he is just getting frustrated. Something is telling him "I'm supposed to be doing this, this feels right" but he just can't "get it"--by the end he was figuring it out but had worked so hard that he fell asleep while attempting to latch on. Elaine reassured me that this is HUGE progress and that it is a blessing that he is so interested in breastfeeding--he gives all the cues for wanting to--hopefully over the next few days it'll "click" before he gets too tired.



On top of that, he's been eating all 10cc's of his bottle of breast milk at each feeding--and he actually shows hunger cues beforehand and immediately calms down when the bottle touches his lips, so he knows that the milk with satisfy him--another big deal! As I have said, this is a slow process--but hopefully he'll be upped on his bottle feeds.

He's been enjoying his NJ feedings--I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see all my pumping put to use! Please pray that he can get up to full feeds by the end of the week and that he'll progress nicely with breastfeeding. My ultimate goal is for us to go home with him being exclusively breastfed--although this might change if we find that he is having reflux issues--but so far, so good--just keep praying.



Rusty and I gave Par a bath today--he cried a little bit--but he loves to be clean--you could tell he felt so much better. After his bath, we cuddled for a long time--I just enjoyed breathing him in. He is such a sweet little boy and you can tell he loves being loved on. Watching Rusty love on Par feels amazing, but watching Par love his daddy is even more amazing. Praise God for the love of a child!





So here is something pretty funny (a little scary)--the picture above is of Par and me cuddling--we cuddled for a long time. Funny thing is--we didn't notice that his nasal cannula had come out until we saw the pictures tonight. It pops out a good bit when we are moving him around, so I am sure I noticed when I moved him into a cradle position and just figured it popped out during the transition--but now we have proof--it was out before then--and his saturations never went down--maybe we'll be off oxygen before we come home--wouldn't that be awesome!

Rusty and I fed Par this evening and then I held him for the first hour of his transfusion to keep him calm--they have to check his vitals every 15minutes and they (babies) tend to get upset being bothered so often, so holding him kept him relaxed. He eventually fell asleep pretty hard--so hard he didn't even notice when his blood pressure was taken (he usually cries pretty hard)--so we felt that was a good time to leave. We put him in his bed (Rusty made a cozy little "nest" for him) and said our prayers and then left. We pray that he'll feel 100% tomorrow.



We praise God for the work we can see in our son's life and for what He has in store for us in the future. We know that God sees the entire picture and we trust in His will for our lives and our son's life.

May God continue to bless all of our friends and family and those we do not know. We praise Him for the goodness He has shown through those we've met here in Gainesville and those we've met through our blog.

We lift Par's friends up in prayer--precious children of God--may angels surround them as they sleep tonight and may they wake stronger as they heal in God's time.

Much Love,
Liz, Rusty & Transfused Par