8 Weeks Old!

Oliver Elliot turned 8 weeks old this morning! His due date was tomorrow (or Friday according to the OB and MFM doctors). He's had newborn acne for the past three weeks, but that is finally starting to clear up. His skin is still irritated where the tender tabs are placed to hold his cannula. Hopefully his skin will be able to clear up completely in about two weeks if he passes the test on the 17th to go completely off of the oxygen. His fingernails need to be trimmed, but they are SO small I am scared to death about that. So far he hasn't hurt himself with his fingernails, but that's likely to happen if I don't find a way to trim his nails in the near future. He does put his fingers in his mouth at times. He's not keen on a pacifier. When Nadia was really little I thought it was cute when she sucked her thumb. It's not cute now at the age of four so I am actually hoping that Oliver will be like Ian and not suck his thumb. Ian's way to comfort himself is to play with his belly button. That's a better habit than sucking one's thumb. Speaking of belly buttons, Oliver's umbilical hernia is much worse than Ian's was. Oliver's belly button is HUGE. It's very, very bloated. To call it an "outie" is an extreme understatement. His hair is still dark, but the same was true for his siblings when they were 8 weeks old. His eyes are also still blue (so far). He has a blocked tear duct in his right eye. It had been oozing until I remembered yesterday that Nadia's pediatrician suggested that breastmilk in that eye would help. That did the trick! Oliver's eye has looked so much better today. Yesterday I actually started to worry maybe it was pink eye, but today I am sure it's just the blocked tear duct.

Today marks day number five in a row where he's done a good job with nursing. This is a big relief to me although I'm still giving him 30ml by bottle after I nurse him. I had been pumping 7 ounces a day, which was at the time more than I was giving him by bottle each day. Since then I've increased how much I give him by bottle and decreased how much I am pumping per day, which isn't the best combination. I'm trying to get back to at least pumping out 4 ounces a day, which would be about half of what he is taking by bottle each day at this point. I'm grateful for the supply in the freezer. He hasn't had any formula since he was discharged on September 2.

He's gaining weight, which is very encouraging. Over the past 14 days he gained 12 ounces, which is very close to the goal of one ounce a day. What a relief!!! He's still on the shield, and the boppy (and sometimes my pants) get soaked with milk every day when I nurse him. I wish all of it was going in his belly instead! I haven't had too much success with keeping the hat on his head. He's a pretty easy going baby, but the second I start to put the hat on his head he starts crying. I can't blame him as I myself do not like to wear hats! His current weight is 5lb 5oz. I am expecting him to hit 5.5lb in the next few days, and that was the lowest weight for Nadia and Ian in the NICU. I thought 5.5 lbs was very small when I held them, but now it doesn't seem so small since for Oliver that's a gain of two full pounds from his lowest weight. It's all a matter of perspective! He's still wearing preemie size clothing and Pamper's preemie-small size diapers. Some of the preemie outfits are still too big for him, some are getting a bit too small (in terms of length not girth), but most of the preemie clothing is still "just right."

He naps really well during the day whether he's in the Weego, pack n play, or his crib. In fact he'll even fall asleep in his gym. I make sure we follow the schedule during the day that once he wakes up I feed him, then I try to keep him awake, and then he takes a nap. We keep repeating that schedule throughout the day. At night I am trying to have the routine be sleep, eat, sleep, eat, etc., but that is not going very well these days unless I let him sleep on my chest while I'm lying in bed. This way I at least get a little sleep, but it's really rough on my back, and of course I sleep much better without a tiny baby on my chest. I'm really hoping he goes back to sleeping in his crib at night in the near future. It's frustrating at times when he takes a really nice nap during the day. I keep wondering why he can't do that at night? He sleeps only 5-10 minutes at a time in his crib at night. I swaddle him but keep his arms free. Burping him is a challenge (can take a very long time to accomplish) and is very necessary for him to sleep well. If I burp him well, he doesn't spit up. If I don't FULLY burp him, then he does end up with a mess that usually includes hair soaked in milk.

He doesn't cry very much. His cry is still rather weak (warbly) sounding. It's pretty heartbreaking to hear in my opinion although it's not as feeble as some babies I heard in the NICU that sound like bleating lambs in my opinion. The times I hear him cry the most are when he's in his car bed. If being put in his car bed wakes him up, it's not a pretty thing because he then assumes it's time to eat no matter how little time has passed since his last feeding. Other times he sleeps in the car bed.

I will add pictures to the post tomorrow! I did snap a few of him today. I am sure I will be taking far more pictures of him once the cannula is out. Today was his last day on the diuretic that he's been taking every 12 hours for many weeks as well as the NaCl that he's been taking every 6 hours. Starting tomorrow it's only vitamins with iron once a day for Oliver. Woohoo!!! October 16 could possibly be his last day on oxygen if he passes the test on the 17th. I can't wait!!!