Seven weeks 4 days old

Well our little man had a big day today! His new "lot" is really nice. It feels a bit cramped, but I like being cozy. The doctor would like to challenge Evan to try to breathe at room air. He typically requires about 30% oxygen. Today, he was dropped to about 27%. His saturation was okay, but Evan will get used to it. They're really trying to wean him on the respiratory support.

(Heads up - boobie talk ahead...)

I'll be with you in just a sec. I'm busy bottling!

In super awesome news, Evan went straight to the tap today! We had our first breast feeding experience. (For the non-moms or men that have that fleeting "Hm, wonder what that feels like" question: It feels like a titty twister. You would think since Evan is small he would be gentle, but NO! That little boy is persistent and hungry!) We only tried for about 10 minutes because I didn't want to tire him out too much. He definitely knows what he needs to do, but wasn't quite sure he felt like putting forth the effort. He ended up taking about 16 mL via bottle and then the remaining went down his NG (nose) tube. We also bottled him again tonight. I was holding him a bit squnched so that delayed us a little bit before I realized I was the problem. Evan took about 11 mL this evening. (Up from the 5 he took the other day!) He can bottle twice a day, once for each shift. During the day shift, I can try to breast feed for his bottle time.

Evan had a repeat eye exam this morning. Thankfully I had stepped out to pump so I missed the whole ordeal. With this exam, the doctor noticed that Evan may be developing ROP. Here's a great "normal" person explanation of ROP (taken from the eye exam sheet):

The retina is the inner lining of the eye that receives light and turns it into visual messages that are sent to the brain. If one thinks of the eye like a camera, the retina functions as the film. Blood vessels that supply the retina are one f the last structures of the eye to mature; they have barely completed growing when a full-term baby is born. This means that a premature infant's retina is not yet completely developed. For reasons not yet fully understood, the blood vessels in the immature part of the retina may develop abnormally in some premature infants. This is called retinopathy of prematurity (ROP).

Do not google ROP (mom :)). Just chalk this up to a "preemie thing". The doctor is going to repeat the exam in another 2 weeks. I'll try to ask for a little clarification during rounds tomorrow. From what I can tell, this is to be expected.

All in all, a great day for our Mr. Pants.

I look fabulous!