Day 71 - Saturday April 17, 1998
Mom headed south for her VA Beach Baby Shower. Dad took the opportunity to bond with Summer. He showed up at the NICU a little after 2pm. Today was the day Dad would get to bottle feed Summer by himself. He started with a bottle of breast milk supplemented with the puppy chow. The bottle was filled to 36cc. A few cc’s more than her regular feeding incase he spilled some. Dad learned the proper techniques for bottle feeding. Hold the bottle like a pencil between your thumb and forefinger. Poke the nipple into the mouth on top of the tounge. Use your ring finger on the same hand to support her chin. And twirl the bottle in her mouth if she stops sucking. It takes a lot of dexterity but Dad finally got the hang of it. Summer responded well and Dad only choked her with too much milk one. Summer’s response was a quick cough and a red face. Dad returned later in the evening to interview several of the nurses who work the graveyard shift. Long haired Debbie, one of Summer’s primary nurses who has spent many many hours with Summer through the evenings, and Marlena, Summer’s first nurse from her very first night. Both of their biographies are available at the Doc & Nurse page.
Day 72- Sunday April 18, 1998
Summer is 4 lbs today. What a milestone! Mom was still away so Dad went back to the NICU to help with Summer’s meals - which obviously seem to be getting Summer fat. This time Dad got to do a little of everything. He changed her diaper for the first time, took her temperature, (98.4), and bottle fed her. The hardest part of the diaper change was figuring out how to rebutton her the little I piece outfit she was wearing. Ahn had to held. She responded very well to the feeding and was wide awake through out most of it.. Dad held her for over an hour and a half. He talked to her and played music. She was very happy considering she had to endure another eye exam earlier in the morning. This exam reveal no ROP. She will continue to be monitored. . Dad put her back in her isolete and didn’t even bang her head.
Day 73 - Monday 19 April 1998
Summer has two goals for the week. This week she must go to full oral feedings and begin living in an open crib. Over night we discovered she was removed from her nasal canula. Now she is breathing room air full time. Later in the day they determined she was holding her temperature well enough to go to the open crib. Her new home is terrific. The corner of the NICU is so quiet and so unencumbered with equipment. The machines and the noise that were such a part of Summer’s early life are now absent. I can project the emptiness that will be felt in that corner of the NICU when Summer leaves. She was so full of life she lit up that corner of the NICU for almost 3 months. Now the silent lifeless machines will stand-by until they are called on again. Not even a peep is heard from Summer as she sleeps silently in the open crib completely covered with blankets. It’s been a good day.
Day 74- Tuesday 20 April 1998
Mom is trying to show up for as many feedings as she can. She is nervous that Summer will reject her nursings in favor of the bottle. The nurses let Mom know that many very early premies have trouble every adjusting to breast feeds but Summer shows all the right signs of being able to do well. When mom is not around the nurses attempt to bottle feed. They experiment with various nipples to try to regulate the flow of milk so that Summer will get enough and not get tired too quickly, but also will not choke because of the fast milk flow. When Summer gets tired they simply feed her the rest through her gavage tube. The idea is to get her strong enough to take the full feeding and wean her from the gavage tube. Dad came in today for her 5:30 and Summer almost took the whole bottle. Dad continued to learn how to hold the bottle and rotate it to stimulate her to suck. He supported her chin with his ring finger as her was holding the bottle in her mouth. He is beginning to get the hang of it. Dad then tried to burp her. He wasn’t very successful. Burping seems unnatural to him. It’s hard to hold a small baby and pat her on the back. She squirms a lot and is never patting her hard enough. Apparently it takes a firm pat on the back to get this stuff to work. Ahn was able to get her to burp however. Mom was upset with Dad for feeding her the bottle because she planned to come in an nurse at 8:30 pm and didn’t want Summer to be tired. But the new rule is that if Summer will take a bottle they have to give it to her because the overall goal is to eliminate the gavage feedings.
Day 75- Wednesday 21 April 1998
Feedings continue. Mom is having more success with the nursing. Summer seems to favor one side over the other however. Mom is struggling with the same types of coordination problems dad was having. How to you hold Summer while she is nursing properly? How do you hold her so she is the most receptive? Mom is getting the hang and the nurses keep encouraging her. By the end of the day Mom is very happy with her own and Summer’s performance. Summer is beginning to realize what she must do in order to eat.
Day 76- Thursday 22 April 1998
Summer is almost completely on oral feeding. Mom is very happy with the progress of her nursing. After each feeding just a residual amount of milk has to be served up via the gavage tube. It wont be long now before she is completely on oral feedings. Dad showed up after class but did not feed Summer this evening. Instead he interviewed some more of the medical staff. Time seems to be running out for Dad to speak with everyone. Dad did make it home in time to see Seinfeld and record it for Summer.
Day 77- Friday 23 April 1998
Today was Mom and Dad’s first training day. We are to spend 12 hours alone with Summer in our own private room. Dad took the day off of work. We used a older style monitor that is not as accurate as the one in the NICU. The alarm was going off almost continually throughout the day. Sharyl assured us that it was just picking up motion. When Summer was asleep seemed to be the only time the monitor wasn’t going off. She must be right. Every 2 ½ hours or so Summer would wake up to feed. Mom would nurse her for most of the day. Just a few bottles were used to deliver her medications. We held her while she was sleeping a great deal. She seemed to enjoy this. By the end of the day 12 hours had ticked by and we didn’t realize it. We will get to spend one more day with Summer before she comes home. We are hoping that will be within two weeks. Oddly enough, although tensions did increase during times throughout the day, mom and dad didn’t get too upset with one another. This is a good sign.
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