On Tuesday, he had his first consult with his oral therapist. Micro preemies often have oral adversion - in other words, issues with things being in and around their mouths. This is from being intubated for so long, which changes the shape of the palate (in Alexander's case this made the roof of his mouth, or his palate, have a deep groove). This impacts how they pick up eating orally - they often have problems sucking, can be sensitive with textures, and don't like to have food in their mouths. We were so excited because the oral therapist was very happy with how he responded to having things around his mouth and how he loves his pacifier. He has a strong suck motion and we got the go ahead to put a few drops of milk in his mouth with his pacifier during feedings (he gets all of his feedings through a feeding tube that goes through his mouth down his throat into his stomach). So basically the nurse puts a few drops in and he is able to get a taste of the milk while he sucks on the pacifier and then she puts more in. This is done for the first 10 minutes of his feed and helps with a positive association with sucking and getting yummy milk!
On Wednesday, Alexander had another eye exam and got a great report! He is now Zone 3, Stage 0, which means that he is VERY close to having a perfect report. This is completely defying the odds - 65% of premature babies less that 1250 grams (Alexander was 680 grams) have some form of ROP (eye disease). In fact, his doctor was so funny. She couldn't believe it and said she would love to study Alexander to try and figure out why he was not impacted. She said she would assume it had something to do with his great genes - definitely from Pete's perfect vision! He will have another check in 2 weeks before he can get a final okay.
We had another bath this week in a big boy bathtub - with some funny looks. He was able to have his ventilator settings turned down to 10 - only 4-5 more settings to go and we can try to start feeding orally!! The plan is to go down 1 setting per week but could be faster depending how Alexander handles the weaning.
And we got some special visitors over the weekend - with my parents (Papa G and Nana) and my Grandma (Gram) coming to see the little guy. Andrew was able to hang out too!
Weight: 8 lbs 2 oz
Day of Life: 111
Gestational Age: Term!!
Alexander is: definitely recognizing us. For the last two weeks, when we have come into his room, he fights hard to open his eyes and say hello. His heart rate calms with the sound of our voices and he sleeps hard when we hold him.
Andrew is: my funny, talkative little man! From saying, "bless you Papa" after a sneeze to "Go Hawkeyes, tv, hoops, now, remote" in order to demand watching his favorite basketball team for a few minutes, as that's all he'll sit still for!
I feel: blessed! I am so enjoying our family and how well everyone is doing right now. Of course I can't wait until we can all be under one roof but first we will be remodeling that roof! Yep, we closed on a new house last week and have already begun painting and doing some work. It's going to be the perfect place to raise our family and to bring Alexander home!
Lesson learned: A positive outlook can change your life for the better. I know it's hard to stay positive, especially with the challenges that we all face, but staying positive and thinking positive can completely change our situation. I truly feel that our positive thoughts and prayers have helped Alexander beat so many odds and will continue to do so!!
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