Hopefully tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!

Oliver was weighed early this morning (I think it was 1:30am if I remember correctly), and he showed a weight gain of 26 grams, which puts his weight at 4lbs 1oz now. Nursing didn't go as badly as it did at 6pm yesterday, but he definitely isn't nursing as long as he was prior to introducing the bottle. He did nurse a bit more vigorously at the 7:30am feeding, although he still only nursed for 15 minutes (whereas he had been nursing for 25-30 minutes yesterday). The nurse who came on at midnight said I was supposed to let him sleep for 3 hours in between feedings. In other words he was counting the 3 hours from the end of one feeding to the start of the next whereas all the other nurses count the start of one to the start of the next. His math doesn't make any sense because Oliver would probably only be fed 6 times a day, and I know the doctors want him fed 8 times a day (I was feeding him more than 8 times a day the first time I was in the demo room with him). Thankfully, Oliver woke up and was crying and rooting at what would have been the 3 hour mark (start to start) so I didn't have to wait as long as the nurse wanted me to wait. They won't let me wake Oliver up sooner than every 3 hours, but if he wakes up and is showing signs of hunger, I am allowed to feed him on demand in that scenario. Over the course of the day, he has been nursing more and more. We are supposed to give him a bottle with 20ml. The nurses usually got about 15ml in him. Paul gave him two bottles today, and I gave him one. All three times we only got 10ml in him. I thought giving him a bottle would be really hard for me, but it helped that he has to be held sitting up in order to take his bottle. When I gave Nadia and Ian bottles, it was in a position more similar to nursing than is the case with Oliver right now. This helps me quite a bit. Paul is quite insistent that we cut back (or completely eliminate) the bottles asap. I am sure that as long as Oliver continues to grow at a good pace, the pediatrician will be fine with that. One perk of the bottles is that it makes it much easier to give Oliver his medications, particularly the sodium chloride that isn't exactly very tasty!

Paul and the kids came to visit Oliver and I today. We spent some time in the demo room and then went to a mom and pop type restaurant that has an outdoor playground that is well shaded by large trees. The kids had a lot of fun, and the food (and ice cream!) was tasty as well. We were gone for about 2 hours when it was time to return to Oliver. After the next feeding session, a nurse loaded up the three coolers Paul brought for my milk. They filled them with the milk containers and ice. Hopefully Paul was able to fit them all in our freezer. The nurses had suggested buying a deep freeze because then the milk is good for one year. I'm really sure it wouldn't be worth it to buy that big of an item just for my milk. It's good for 3 months in the freezer. He'll need to bring back one cooler tomorrow. After we loaded up the car with the milk and my suitcase, we headed over to the RMH so the kids could play in the play room there for a bit. When it was time for Paul to take me back to the hospital, we made a quick stop first at Subway for my dinner as I'm weary of hospital food.

We missed the doctors during the rounds today as they arrived at Oliver's bedside when we were at lunch. The nurse told me the doctor said if he gains weight as nicely today as he did yesterday, Oliver will be discharged tomorrow. WOOHOO! We are in the demo room again tonight. I had been having Oliver wear hospital clothes the last couple of days, but the NICU's washing machine broke so they were just left with hospital gowns. Since Oliver spit up on the hospital outfit he was wearing this morning (and had been wearing for more than 24 hours), I got out some of his own clothes from my suitcase this morning. You can't tell from the pictures, but there's a monkey on his bottom. Nadia thought that was hysterical! She cannot wait to hold him. Hopefully tomorrow will be the day her wish comes true! I cannot wait to be home. I miss my bed, and more importantly I miss Paul, Nadia, and Ian. I don't have any babysitters lined up for next week, and I'm hoping none will be necessary aside from maybe 1 hour when I take Oliver to the pediatrician (probably on Tuesday).