num num num MILK!

Hello! I have good news to report~ Dominic has been eating his milk and the Doctors are steadily increasing the amount that he gets. He started out at 5mL every 3 hours and just today was increased to 38mL every feeding!!! This is awesome and he's doing SO WELL. He hardly spits up anything when he eats (if at all) and is pooping like a little poo-champion! Some days he goes 5 times, so all the prayer for poop really worked! The Doctor spoke with me yesterday and said that if he continues to do this well he'll be home in less than 2 weeks!!!! I'm realllllllyyy trying not to get my hopes up about this because I know that anything can happen but I'm pretty darn excited. :) He should be up to full feedings within a week and I think he's going to just keep on eating like a champ. A few things we've found out about Mr. Dominic: he LOVES to be held. The nurses are all very familiar with him and have all held him PLENTY because he will let everyone in earshot know that he wants some love. I'll hold him for hours and as soon as I set him on his bed (no matter how asleep he may be) he'll start crying and fussing again... and all you have to do is put your hands under him and lift him up and he's happy as can be again. He just wants people there lovin' on him, it's so cute. When I leave the hospital I trick him into thinking he's still being held by making his blankets nice and tight around him. I honestly don't mind- I hope he stays snuggly like this because of course I love to hold him. Another thing about Dominic- he will quickly let people know when he's upset! I know all babies cry and get worked up but all the nurses comment on how Dominic rules the roost and insists on being taken care of exactly when he wants. We've got our work cut out of us!!

Ok I think that's all the updates for now- please keep praying that he continues to heal and that we can take our baby home soon! Oh- we heard that our application for orders has FINALLY been approved!!!! Now we're just waiting for them to find a job and a base for us, so JEEZE I hope it doesn't take a long time! Almost forgot- they took out his nose tube which sucked out bile from his tummy and he hasn't had any incidents and his weight is over 7 1/2 pounds now!

Stephanie

Started feeding again today!

Dominic is 3 weeks old today and seems to be making more progress! He has pooped 4 times in the past few days (I think 4... Rick thinks 5, so I'm not sure)! This is so great that he's going more regularly now! His bile output has been improving and getting less of it, and it's also getting lighter in color. We're really hoping that with starting feeds today he can just keep improving and keep his food down. In my opinion, it's looking more promising now than it has before that he can continue eating, but we'll see with time. He's had 2 bottles today (5 cc's each) so far and hasn't had any vomit yet so I'm optimistic. I know it goes back and forth, and we've experienced that already so I don't want to get too excited about this, but I still do. =) He's looking cuter and cuter and getting nice and chubby so we're all happy about that. He's around 6 lbs 8 oz now so he's well past his birth weight.
Please keep Dominic in your prayers for fast recovery and that he'll keep pooping and for those intestines to work perfectly! Thank you so much for all the prayers and support!

Stephanie

Playing the gastroschisis game...

Well, yesterday I was so excited because the Doctors decided to give feeding a try. Dominic had pulled out his suction tube (and smiled at the nurses while he was at it), so they just decided to leave it out. I got to give him his first bottle- very small, only 5cc's but they have to start out slow. He just sat there for about 5 minutes with the bottle in his mouth not quite knowing what to do, but as soon as he sucked he understood and the bottle was empty in no time. He did really well and didn't spit up at all with that or the next one so we were getting hopeful that he could continue. When I went in this morning they told me that Dominic had thrown up some bile and still hadn't pooped since eating, so the tube goes back in. It's disappointing but we knew this would probably happen, and that he could go back and forth with this a lot so we just have to keep optimistic about it all. Now we're just waiting for the amount of bile to slow and for it to clear in color again, as it's now back to a darker green. His intestines just aren't ready to fully work yet, but hopefully soon.

Please keep Dominic in your prayers for fast healing so that we can take our little guy home. Thank you for all the continued support!

Stephanie

Making Progress

Just wanted to let you all know that today the Doctors decided to stop the suction of Dominic's bile! This is a small step forward, but I'll take what I can get! They're going to see how it goes with letting gravity work its magic and see if maybe his intestines have started working at all. Ideally he'll start pooping and the bile won't come up the tube or out his mouth, so that's what we're praying for now. PRAY FOR POOP! =) When he starts to poop regularly, they can start feeding him.
Also today the Doctors decided to stop replacing fluids at the 1:1 ratio that they were doing. This is because he's putting out a lot less bile than he was before, so there isn't a need to give him additional fluids.
Dominic has been much happier these past 2 days, fussing a lot less than that one day. Hopefully this means he's not in pain and that things are moving along as they should, so we'll see!!

Thanks for all the continued support!
Stephanie

Dominic is now 6 days old

I can't believe it's almost been a week already. It's gone so fast and yet feels like a lifetime ago that our baby was born. In just 6 days Dominic has come so far and made us so proud already, I can't imagine what's more to come. He's been doing great off the ventilator and his coloring is looking so much better. He doesn't fuss and cry unless people are poking and prodding him or he's got a reason to be mad, so we hope he stays this content! Yesterday was the first time he was crying a lot, and he would just sleep and then wake up and start crying real loud and upset and couldn't be consoled. He did that all day, and after we left from visiting him his nurse said he cried for 3 straght hours. I felt terrible and told the nurse to write it down that whenever Dominic was that upset to call me and I'd come right over to hold him. I know sometimes he'll just be upset but I'd rather be there for him than not. Turns out, the nurses and Doctors (and us) think he's just hungry and maybe has gas. Poor thing isn't eating anything yet, and while he's getting all his nutrition through an IV, nothing is going into his little belly and he just must be so hungry. We'll put the binky in his mouth and he'll suck on it real hard for a minute until he realizes nothing is coming out of it, and then he's mad again. I feel so bad for him, but there's nothing we can do to help him. His bile is still being sucked out of his tummy and today it was lighter in color (positive sign) and there's less of it (another positive sign) so if it keeps going down in volume he'll be able to start eating soon. We're not holding our breath for that, but let's just hope and pray for the best =). Today he's been much more calm and relaxed. I go in every morning by myself and hold him for a couple of hours and yesterday he cried almost the whole time, but today he slept in my arms the whole time. The nurse said he keeps pulling out his tube that sucks the bile from his tummy and they've had to put it back in a couple times today. It usually goes in his mouth but the nurse thought if she put it through his nose he wouldn't pull it out but he just wouldn't allow her to put it there. She tried 3 times and he fought her off each time. Our little fighter =). He's doing much better today and is sleeping right now, so I'm happy.

I'll update later, thanks for the thoughts and prayers!!