30 weeks

Today little man is 30 weeks.

The nurses happily reported this morning that Jensen was doing well and is very stable on CPAP. He has been sleeping most of the time since the change, but I don't think he realises anything has changed. He does however, reach for the tube occasionally for something to grab hold of. This evening he had to have his gastric tube replaced as he yanked his out...little monkey. He got cranky with the nurses last night when they changed him from the mask to the prongs, and the little darling let out a tiny husky noise, because of course now he's off the ventilator, he can use his voice box. This morning when he was a bit cranky, he was crying I stuck my ear through the window of his crib to hear him, but could only hear a funny little raspy noise. We can't wait to hear him cry!

I'm not sure if he is finding it easier or he is exhausted, because he is sleeping quite soundly. He is putting all of his energy into breathing at the moment and may not put on weight while he is so busy burning calories on this...he weighed in this morning at 1049g, that's an increase of one whole gram..

Last night he had his arterial line removed from his leg, which is to check blood pressure and gases etc, so he now has 3 free limbs, and as of tomorrow will have them all free. They are planning on turning off the TPN machine tomorrow as he is predicted to increase his milk to 120ml so will no longer need intravenous feeding...the milk will be all that he needs and the 120ml is considered a full feed.

Daddy has had the day off work today as we were supposed to attend a meeting with the obstetrician about the birth. A labour less than two hours requires a debrief and discussion of possible causes of preterm labour. They send the placenta away for analysis and discuss the results. Often there are no results or answers as to why it all happened, but my midwife hinted that there was a small sign of an underlying infection, so Phil and I decided we can wait until Jensen is home to hear that information. We weren't going to go at all, but I do want to know why, and also if it would happen again, because if the answer is yes, Jensen will be an only child.

On doctors' rounds tonight they have decreased his CPAP pressure from 8 to 7. They are all extremely pleased with him and everyone is so proud of the little chap. We've had lots of congratulations from excited nurses due to his pleasing progress onto CPAP. Dr Jenny, says a couple more days before she can breathe a sigh of relief, but that's just her medical self and we know our little Jensen will be just fine. He is very much a little super star.



Oh and yesterday the remainder of the umbilical cord finally fell off, so now he has a real proper little belly button.

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