April 19 Update

Weight: 3400 g (7 lbs 8 oz)

This kiddo had a big day today with his swallow study, so he was completely out when I got to the hospital in the afternoon and he didn’t wake up enough to eat, so we just snuggled.

The swallow study went well. He aspirated a little (some milk got into the airway and into the lungs), so they decided to thicken his milk and see how he does. I can still breastfeed but whenever he takes a bottle, he will get the thicker milk and a higher flow nipple so the thicker milk will come out more easily. We’ll see how that goes.

Matthew was much more awake during his 6:30 p.m. care time. He was very curious and looking around the room, and He he enjoyed the black and white book we read together.

Sasha was Matthew’s nurse tonight and we just adore her. She’s so good with him and she’s a great friend to me. She took the time to listen and talk and answer all my questions. She made sure we got a good update from the doctor and had everything we needed.

I told Dustin tonight that even though this schedule is exhausting and I’m excited to have Matthew home, it will be hard for me to leave the NICU. With a few exceptions, I have been at that hospital every day for over 3 months. These nurses are my friends. They are family. I don’t think I will ever be able to express enough gratitude for all they have done. They are part of our story and will forever be in my heart. I hope in some way we will be able to keep in touch.

We are still waiting for a bed to open up at Primary Children’s Hospital. They are very busy right now apparently. Dr. Fuller said she’s called them several times a day and is disappointed that things are moving so slowly. They are thinking he won’t need to be in the NICU while there- just in the infant wing. So they are still working on that and trying to coordinate with the surgical team so that when Matthew is transferred he can have the surgery the next day and then hopefully be discharged the day after that.

So for now, we just wait. And at some point a bed will open and we will have to get down there quickly. It sounds like it will be a bit of a whirlwind. 😆 Thats not exactly how I would like our time at McKay-Dee to end, but we’ll just have to wait and see and take whatever comes.