Hi Everyone!
Sorry for the delay between posts, life has been crazy since Owen was born. There is also no phone allowed in the NICU so if you’ve been trying to get ahold of us and can’t that is probably why.
Owen has been growing like a weed and is gaining about an ounce a day. He is now 2 weeks and 5 days old (Sunday 9/30/18)! He is given 36 mL of milk every three hours through his feed tube and is working on tethering. Tethering is where Owen is given food and a pacifier and as he sucks little drops of milk are put on the pacifier for him to get the taste of it. He is doing really well at this and the next step is to start nippling with a bottle; which occupational therapy will probably try and start this week. Owen loves cuddling with mom and dad every chance he gets. He loves making faces at Grandma Mandy and isn’t quite sure what to think when Grandpa Ben holds him. When Grandma Kara was here he slept most of the time and Grandpa Chaffin hasn’t gotten a chance to meet him yet but soon he will be running around their house like a crazy man!
It has been a big week here and baby O is making huge steps toward coming home. In addition to the tethering he was taken off IV nutrition last week and had his PICC removed! (YAY less cords!) He has also gotten to start having tub baths, which he is skeptical about for the majority of the time and then screams right at the end. He has also been getting very warm in his isolette so the temperature was decreased almost daily until Thursday when he reached the lowest temperature they will go. At that point he was able to try putting on clothes! So Thursday night he put on his very first onesie, which almost fit him! He is so tiny the onesie was a little bit big for him. When Jess went back in the morning he was out of the onesie because he got hot. The next step is to pop off the top of his isolette, which he started on Friday. Being able to regulate his temperature is a huge step for him and they don’t normally ween premature babies out of the isolette until 34 or 35 weeks so he is ahead of the curve, as always. Owen is doing an amazing job and we couldn’t be more proud of his little body and all of the progress he has made in his 2 and a half weeks of life.
We can’t believe how fast he is growing up and are so grateful he is healthy. There isn’t a great place for parents to stay at the NICU so Austin and I go home every night to sleep. The only reason we can do that is because we know our baby is in great hands and is healthy. We couldn’t imagine leaving him at the hospital if he were sick like some of the other babies in the NICU. We are so grateful for the staff in the birthing center, they have been amazing throughout our almost 6 weeks there. Right now Owen feels like he is a big boy now that his umbilical stump fell off and we hope this attitude will continue only until he gets home. Once he gets home we want time to slow down a bit and be a newborn otherwise we are going to be in for a wild ride! Owen, Austin and I have felt the prayers and love that have been sent to us throughout our journey and we greatly appreciate them! We’ve had a couple of people reach out to us to send notes to Owen. If you want to do that please comment or get in touch with either Austin or I. Our little guy LOVES being read to by his daddy.
Now that you’ve read the update take a look at all of these cute pictures! (You could say we’ve gone a little overboard on the pictures haha)
First outfit!
