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Monday, December 1, 2008

Day 6

Today was another good day for all of us hanging out with Henry at 2650 Ridge Ave (AKA Evanston Hospital).  Last night, he had a peaceful night full of his new favorite activity...yawning.  He yawns and yawns.  If you are lucky, he'll reward you with a nice squeak while he is yawning.  

Do you remember in elementary school when one of your friends made you laugh so hard that milk came out of your nose?  Well, Hank has the opposite situation.  The nurses are defrosting the milk that Meade has been pumping, and it is then poured into the tube that runs from Hank's nose down into his belly.  He is getting 10 mL of milk every three hours right up his nose, and he seems to like it just fine.  So far, no spitting up!  

Some other details of Hank's progress:
1.  His head circumference did not change from yesterday.  We are watching this closely to monitor the pressure inside his head.  No change is good news.
2.  His seizure drug levels are continuing to drop, and the seizures have not returned.  The doctors are going to wait until Wednesday to test again in order to save him a "heel stick."
3.  He sucked our fingers very strongly today.  This puts him a step closer to drinking from a bottle.  His gag reflex is still too weak, however.  Once this gets stronger, we'll try bottle feeding.  When he is good at that, we'll move him to the breast.
4.  This afternoon, he started doing full body stretches.

Once again, we enjoyed the company of many visitors, including Meade's cousin Jana and her husband, Aaron, from Alaska.  They are both physicians with lots of baby experience, so we were glad to see big smiles after their visits with Hank.


Visitors

D6-Daniella

D6-BigDon-1

D6-Karyn-2

D6-John-2

D6-Jana

D6-Aaron


Family time

D6-Sucking-1


D6-Sucking-2

D6-FirstFeeding-1

D6-FirstFeeding-2

D6-QuickNap

D6-PeacefulSleep

D6-WhitakerFamily


7 comments:

icky said...

Wish we could be there to cheer on the tough little guy!! Meade and Sean, you both look so relieved and happy. Sending hugs to all -
Jess and Steve

Anonymous said...

The smiles are getting bigger and the relief is showing in all your faces... with good reason! What a good day.

(Sorry for always posting first but there has to be one benefit to being so far away on the other side of the world!) Px

ETA Jess you just beat me!

Angela said...

Such wonderful news! Is it possible that Henry is starting to chub up a bit? :) He looks so round and content in all the pictures.
Sending love, Angela

Will Jones, esq said...

Yay Henry!

Will

Rick P said...

Hank seems like a tough kid! Babies are tougher than they seem. He seems to be making terrific progress. He comes from good stock! Make sure Mom and Dad get enough rest. Hank is on the mend now. Healthy parents are what he needs. Hang in there!

Love and Prayers,

Rick P and the Waterstone Gang.

Paul, Jenn & Phoebe said...

We are so happy to hear that Henry and the two of you are doing so well. The pictures are great. He's such a beautiful boy and you two are lookin' great yourselves. We keep you in our thoughts and hearts.

Paul Jenn and Phoebe

Gaertner's said...

We are all happy to see that Henry is making progress. We noticed in the pictures each day that there are more smiles on everyones faces. You are all in our thoughts and prayers each day.
The Gaertner's

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