So long, isolette!

Oliver was able to maintain his body temperature, and he still gained some weight. The doctors want him to gain 1-2% of his body weight each day. He's back to his birth weight. Maybe he'll hit 4 pounds tomorrow! Because of these successes, he was moved from an isolette to a bassinet this morning. This makes changing his diaper and getting him dressed somewhat easier. I say somewhat because he still has six wires/tubes attached to him (oxygen, feeding tube, respiration rate monitor, etc.). Putting a onesie on him is rather difficult for me with all those wires. Paul said that a woman from church dropped off a baby gift yesterday - a preemie size outfit for Oliver (not a sleeper but an outfit that included a onesie). I can't wait to start dressing my doll baby up in his own clothes! I ordered a few preemie size outfits from Carter's a few days ago. I would be tempted to dress him in his own clothes now, but he went through MANY outfits yesterday. At least two times all his clothes had to be changed due to a leaky (poopy) diaper. His bowels are definitely working these days! Another time he had to be changed and have a bath because his feeding tube came unhooked in the middle of a feed. He was lying in my milk. All his bedding and clothes had to be changed. When Pastor Jamie came yesterday, Oliver was in the middle of that bath. I was going to take a picture of him during the bath, but he was screaming his head off. It was just a sponge type bath, but his cord stump fell off yesterday evening, so he could have a "real" bath now.

Yesterday Oliver did pretty well with nursing at 9am, noon, and 3pm. He latched on and did get some milk. However his stamina was very limited. The 6pm feeding was a total bust. I couldn't get him to wake up. Even though the nurse gave him his Hep B vaccine at 9pm, he just wanted to sleep through that feeding as well. When the midnight feeding also wasnt' going well, I asked the nurse for a shield. I have a love/hate relationship with those things. They have helped my three children start nursing, which is necessary to being discharged from the NICU, but then getting them off the shield is rather stressful and difficult. I had hoped to avoid the shield this time around, but by midnight last night I caved in. At 3am I was ever so glad I had made that choice because he had his best nursing session then, and then he topped that one at 6am. At 6am he nursed on and off for 20 minutes, and at times he nursed rather vigorously. Yes, the shield does really help preemies. They only had extra-small shields in stock. It's not the right size, but we're using it for now. The 9am feeding also went rather well. He actually had too much milk between what he consumed by mouth and feeding tube so he spit up a bunch of milk in his isolette. When the doctors did their rounds they said I am to tell the nurse after each nursing session whether Oliver should have a full feed (by feeding tube) or a feed half the size of what he has been getting lately. At noon I asked the nurse for a half-feed because he did pretty well. He still takes quite a few breaks (he stays latched on but stops sucking), but he is only 34w1d. I feel far more encouraged than I did at midnight, although I'm already dreading the process of weaning him off the shield. One thing at a time. First we have to get this boy HOME. The two things that can still be improved are #1 getting Oliver off the oxygen and #2 getting it to the point that all of his nutrition comes by mouth.

Last night each feeding/ pumping session took 65-75 minutes from the time the alarm on my cell phone went off until the minute I crawled back in bed. I walked back after the 9pm feeding, but I drove to and from the midnight, 3am, and 6am feedings. I walked far more than necessary for the midnight feeding. The first two entramces I went to at the hospital were locked. Now I know where to go when the building is locked (9pm to 5am).

Today I paid $1,897.79 to one hospital and $210 to another hospital for bloodwork. Last week I received a bill for $2,516 from the hospital in Harrisburg. I haven't paid that one yet. All of these bills are just for bloodwork. I'm praying that the MFM clinic will assist me in showing the insurance why these tests were medically necessary so that the insurance will pay the bills, but the one hospital was threatening to send the bill to collections if we didn't pay so I decided to pay it now so our credit isn't ruined while we wait for the insurance to process the appeal. What a relief that we don't have to worry about any medical bills incurred past July 1. If we end up having to pay more than $5K for laboratory bills, I definitely screwed up. It would have been better to pay the extra $3K to stay on Blue Shield. Live and learn. I still haven't given up hope yet that the insurance will pay eventually. They did actually end up paying for Ian's feeding program even though Hershey said they wouldn't. Ironically if I could pick, I wish they would have refused to pay those charges (because Medical Assistance would have paid if the insurance didn't) and covered these instead. Hershey is probably glad though because the insurance paid a higher rate per day than MA would have paid.

Yesterday I didn't leave the hospital property once I arrived here at 9am. Today I did venture off after the 3pm feeding/pumping session and shopped at a children's consignment store that is just a couple of minutes away. I got two things for Oliver (including one preemie size onesie/pant outfit), a leotard for Nadia, and two things for Ian (a 3 piece suit and a pirate costume). I think he's going to love the pirate costume, and Paul will be glad if it means Ian stops asking to wear one of Nadia's princess dresses. I also stopped at Dunkin Donuts for a egg/cheese bagel as my dinner. Yesterday I just ate food from the RMH refrigerator. It costs $15 a day to stay here so I'm trying not to spend any money on food during my stay, but I was really craving a breakfast sandwich today.