6 weeks old

Today Jensen is 6 weeks old. He got his first little award this morning too..

It has been really quite here today, not as many people or alarms going off. Jensen has one of our favourite nurses Dana, from when he first arrived, back with him today and we all feel very relaxed when she has him. I have my dream team of nurses and when I walk in and see them all here I am a very happy mummy.

After the doctor's rounds this morning, Jensen will have 5 more days of steroids and antibiotics to make sure the E.coli is gone and to help him off the ventilator. Over the course of the day he has increased his milk up to 7ml, and once he reaches 14ml he can have the pic line in his leg removed as he won't need the fluids anymore, just breast milk. This evening he has also had the cannula in left hand removed so he has two free limbs again. Dana had to put the Zaky hand over his arm as he was flinging it around with its newfound weightlessness.

He has been doing very well with his breathing today, still triggering a lot of breaths and has had his back up pressure dropped from 50 to 40. The aim is for 30 at this stage. This number is just the ratio of supported and unsupported breaths. A few days ago the doctors dropped him from 50 to 30 in one hit, and he only lasted 40 minutes before misbehaving. So a gradual decrease surely makes more sense, and has responded nicely. He appears to not cope well with big change, so baby steps it is! He has also been in and out of air today.

Little man has looked happy today and has had a nice peaceful day, so much so he has grown some more cartilage in his ears which we now need to roll into shape during cares so it stays flexible and keeps its shape..

And it may just be a cuddle day tomorrow too (big smile)

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Sunday

Today little Jensen has had a good day. His mode of ventilation was changed and he handled it very well for most of the day. He's breathing a lot more on his own, and has been sleeping very well at the same time.

He's done three big proper breast milk baby poos today, which is a good sign his bowel is functioning well again. His milk has gone up to 5ml which he is enjoying, and sucking some milk from a cotton tip while he is being fed.

He managed two hours on his unfavoured left side before misbehaving for the nurses. Overall a good day of progress for the little man, and hopefully a few steps closer to being ready for CPAP.

Mummy and daddy have both had a little sleep in and are looking forward to a week of progress ahead..

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7 March 15

Today little man has been in and out of air, and the doctors have been trying to put the back up pressures down, Jensen doesn't always like this for very long, but he is trying. He has been doing more breaths when he's asleep, which is a good sign his lungs are getting stronger and he's getting the hang of the whole breathing thing.

His milk has been increased to 3.5ml today, which he is enjoying. He appears to start wriggling 10 mins before feeding time, so we think he knows when it's time for a feed. He has been enjoying sucking some milk off a cotton tip while being tube fed too the little cutie.

He had another platelet transfusion yesterday, and his infection level is lowering. Doing lots of big wees and still weighed in at 1017 grams. The little man has also started to grow some cartilage in his wee little ears..

I bumped into yet another parent that I know from school today. A teacher from my internship school. Full-term baby but struggled getting out, so just here for a few hours under the light for jaundice. He was surprised to see me as he didn't even know I was pregnant. I said I had planned on letting them know but never quite got round to it in time.

We are hoping with all our might that Jensen will be ready at some point this week to make the transition to CPAP.

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5/3/15

Little man has had a good day today after keeping the nurses on their toes last night. Jensen likes his ET tube in a particular place and gets upset when it moves (which is mainly caused by him holding onto it and moving his head), and as he had some air in his tummy yesterday, it enlarged and was putting more pressure on his lungs. For this reason the doctor had him nil by mouth again for 24 hours to relieve some pressure and give his tummy a rest.

He is looking less oedematous which is the medical jargon for fluidy. This can been seen in his groin area, thighs and neck, as can be seen in his little saggy looking thighs in the photo above.

The infection level in his blood is coming down and he is doing better normal looking poos. He has been in air today off and on. This means that instead of putting oxygen into his lungs via the tube, he is now tolerating 21% oxygen which is the same amount as the regular air we all breathe. He has been swinging a bit in and out but seems to be getting used to it. The aim is for him to be in regular air of course, eventually.

He has two small hernias, one in his groin and the other around his belly button. Nothing to be too concerned about but just need to keep an eye on.

Today Jensen has had an IV line removed from his right arm so now has two free arms. He's been sleeping better today after a day of lots of 'awake time' yesterday, and is enjoying having his arms up above his head again.

The doctors plan on starting up his milk again in the morning.

Our little soldier is a fighter and staying strong.

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29 weeks

Today little fella is 29 weeks. 11 weeks now until his due date.

Jensen has spent most of the day awake. I think his frowning was due to some wind, as when nurse Jill checked the contents of his tummy there was quite a lot of air that she removed and he has been happier since. We all really like Jill, and I'm very at ease when she is with Jensen. He always behaves for her, and he seems to know and respond to her Manchester/Australian accent. I wish she didn't have to have days off...Having said that, we wish that nurse Dana and nurse Keeley, would find their way back to bed 2..we miss them!

He has increased his milk to 9ml two hourly which is 100ml per kilo and therefore his lipids have been stopped again. When he gets to 140ml he will just be having milk and no longer any other fluids through a drip. Which also means he can have the tube attachment in his leg removed. If all goes well his milk will be increased again tomorrow to 120 ml.

Phil and I are having an early night tonight and hoping to catch up on a little sleep. We also have alternate sleep ins planned for this weekend, so hoping to feel a little more refreshed in the coming days.

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3/3/15

Little man has increased his milk to 7 mls, and appears to get cranky around feeding time. Seems he doesn't like being hungry...

The doctors have finally located the source of infection that they were having trouble finding. He has E.coli in his blood and has been having antibiotics for the last few days, so hopefully that's on its way out. This evening Jensen has had a scan on his heart, as sometimes the candida that he'd had can grow little spores around his body, and his heart and eyes are clear indication of it. It also looks as though his duct may be smaller than the doctors thought, and perhaps the loudness of it on a stethoscope when they check, is due to it closing.....I hope so!

Jensen has been well behaved today, had good gases and seems to be responding to the steroids.

Phil and I had to have a case consult with the new consultant this afternoon, which is something we were both very anxious about. Essentially it's a progress report, what ifs and other things we don't want to hear, but has to be said because of legal reasons etc. I think we are both feeling better now that it's done, and hoping to avoid any others that are looming.

Tomorrow Jensen will be 29 weeks gestation....

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5 weeks

Today little man is 5 weeks old.

Mwah

He hasn't been the happiest this morning...I think it's because he has a bag around his willy to catch some urine to send away to make sure the candida infection has cleared up. I think it may be a little uncomfortable on his pecker.

A new doctor is on this week (one we haven't met anyway), he seems to take no mucking around by his staff, which is good and he wants to have a chat and 'get to know you' session with Phil and I. This, I'm not too keen on. I spend most of my day dodging doctors, and social workers...and have become quite stealthy of late.

Jensen has started on some new antibiotics today to try and rid him of the infection he is presenting but no one can find. His feeds have also gone back up to 5 ml two hourly after only a minor rest yesterday. One of the nurses gave him a dummy this morning as he was a little unsettled. He is always trying to suck on one of his fingers or thumb, so this has become his favourite little thing today, and he has been happy ever since.

Phil and I are just exhausted. We never seem to get enough sleep, even when we do. It's just going to be the new normal for now, and we should just get used to being tired all the time I guess, being new parents and all. It may be possible that we won't get a real sleep in until Jensen is a teenager....I think when we all get home we will just stare at him and hold him all day and night.

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