We will get a check on his bilirubin count tomorrow and begin the consult with the GI specialists to see if there are any ideas on why his counts have been this high for this long. The doctors were expecting his bilirubin levels to drop faster once he got off ECMO, but he hasn't responded as they hoped, so this may be a clue as to what may be going on in his liver and or gall bladder, or somewhere in his GI. We will see.
So the main thing to report today is that I was able to spend some time trying to entice Lucas into breastfeeding. I wasn't expecting any success, and that's what happened. But we were able to cuddle and he played with being at the breast for a little bit. It's kind of hard to compete when he has a feeding tube that is continuously feeding him, all the time. But he did get a few drops of breast milk in his mouth, and did attempt to latch. It was a shallow latch, and not a true latch, but tomorrowI hope to work with the lactation consultants and feeding therapists who has experience with babies who are learing to latch, suck, and breathe at the same time. It is just going to take time. He has some interest, but really just wants to be held and sleep.
The other thing I'm noticing is that he's grumpy and grouchy. Either from his sore throat (he's still hoarse and coughs a lot) and/or working through withdrawal from his morphine weaning regimine. It's hard not knowing how to comfort him from his pain. Tylenol isn't going to touch it. But it has to happen and we can only ride it through with him. The nurses are on top of it, trying to comfort him as best they can, and they even resort to giving him a little bit of extra morphine to 'take the edge off'. My husband and I are conflicted about that. If he's being weaned off, why give him more? But he's clearly uncomfortable so perhaps a slower wean works best? I'm hoping for a smoother night tonight than last night.
I'll leave off here with an image of him dressed. He's a little grumpy since I just rocked his world by putting on a onesie.
Dang, not even a month old and he's already kicking morphine. I'm sad to say I've known grown folks who couldn't do that.
ReplyDeleteI like his grumpy face. And something tells me he's going to have quite the voice.