Gage is moving up in the world! He graduated from his oxygen! His breathing is doing tons better (still just a little fast but MUCH slower than before) and he is maintaining good oxygenation... so they took off the oxygen and he is doing GREAT! I'm so excited because they thought he was gonna have to go home on oxygen... and he hated that stupid tube stuck to his cheeks and in his nose.
And he is at his goal feed, meaning he is tolerating the entire amount of milk he should be taking for his size. So they are gonna take out his PICC (which is his IV in his arm) today! He is doing ok on a bottle so far. He only drinks small amounts (about 10 or 15mL tops, aka a tablespoon) from the bottle. But sometimes he just can't quite figure it out so we have to go back to using the pacifier with a syringe of milk so we can squirt tiny amounts in his mouth while he sucks the pacifier. So they can take the feeding tube out of his nose once he can drink the whole thing through the bottle. Although he's very helpful with pulling it out right now. He gets his little fingers around the tube and gives one big pull and rips it out every couple days. He hates the tube but I think he hates getting it shoved back in every time even more.
And we tried breastfeeding yesterday! He only did about 5 minutes but it was a good attempt. The doctors goals are to get him home on a bottle rather than breastfeeding, cuz that's easier for him and they can measure the amount so they know how much he needs to gain weight. But since my goal is to breastfeed and I dont want to have to take a breast pump with me everywhere I go, we are slowly incorporating breastfeeding- but I'm talking like once a day. But at the rate he is going, I won't be surprised if it takes him a while, like a few months from now.
AND he is totally off his pain meds! He's such a big boy! He is doing so well! I can't believe he is almost a month old too! That's so crazy!
