June 12, 2006
June 12, 2006 | Updates
I’m so sorry for the delay of this update. I’ve been having internet issues the last week and it seems like everytime I try to do this, the internet is down. I have typed most of the update I want to post on my laptop, but since my wireless connection isn’t working for some reason, I can’t get to the internet from there. Aaaauuugh - technology!So the update is that our little Nathan Dwight Jewkes is still in the NICU. He now weighs about 5 lbs 5 oz. He lost a little weight those first few days, but is slowly gaining it back. He was on oxygen for a few days, but has been without it for about the last 5 days and seems to hold his stats well. He has also been weaned from under a heat lamp to an incubator and now to room temperature. He seems to keep his temperature well as long as he is bundled nice and tight. He had some problems digesting his food at first, but an enema cleared out some muconium (sp?) that was still in his intestines and that seems to have fixed the problem. Now our only hold up is he doesn’t want to eat by mouth. They say he just gets too tired trying to do so or won’t even wake up enough sometimes to try. We got a pretty good effort from him yesterday when he ate about 15 cc’s by mouth, but today, he just wasn’t interested.
So he has a feeding tube just like his big brother, Samuel. I teased him that his big brother has so many great qualities that it seemed he could pick a better one to emulate! But they think it is a temporary thing for sure. They want him to be able to eat 50 cc’s every 3 hours before he comes home. But that could take a while, and I can’t get out to see him more than once a day. So after speaking with the doctor, he consented to let us take him home earlier since I have so much experience with feeding tubes - NG tubes to be specific.
However, I am holding off a few more days at least because Tom is very, very busy this week and Tanner will be out of town. And I lost quite a bit of blood during the delivery, so I am still struggling just to get back to being able to care for Samuel each day. I don’t want to bring Nathan home before I can care for him properly and before I can take the time to help him learn to eat each day. So, hopefully, he will be here soon, but it will be a few more days at least.
Samuel is doing fine. He survived the few days without his mom around and has gotten over the cold he had. He is rolling over all the time every day and we’ve even seen him on his stomach with his knees pulled underneath him and his hands on the floor trying to pick up his head. It’s not a real coordinated thing, but he seems to be trying to figure out how to crawl. And when we help him with it, he is finally pushing himself up through his arms at least for a short period of time, so that is encouraging.
He has gotten to where he smiles for his dad the instant he sees him. He knows dad will throw him in the air and he absolutely loves it. He is still having a hard time falling to sleep at nights because of his myoclonus that constantly wakes him. But once he’s asleep, he sleeps well for the remainder of the night. We are also increasing his pediasure and other calories because he has lost a few pounds, but the good news is he has taken a growth spurt and is in the 50th percentile for height. We’d like to keep him growing that well, but he needs a few pounds to go with it.
Otherwise, all is well. I’ll post later the details of Nathan’s birth and all that if you want to read it. Just didn’t want to keep everyone waiting any longer for an update.
Keep praying for Samuel. He hasn’t even gotten to meet his new little brother yet, but I am certain he will love him. And I hope that little Nathan will be the drive Samuel needs to keep improving and gaining on his slow but steady course of recovery.
Love,
The Jewkes
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