getting better...

still on the drip, but out of the oxygen crib!

baby woke up at 2:30am this morning and started sucking at nothing, obviously realising that food is missing... (when the drip in his hand stopped taking fluid and they had to do one into his other hand, he were without food for a little while, which explains why he got hungry)

the night nurse came and found me and asked if they could give him formula. i said of course if you really need to. however when i walked in there a few minutes later and she had been attending to one of the other babes, she said, let’s try him on the breast and he sucked happily for 40 mins, and didn’t seem too distressed afterwards. 

back into the crib he went. he had another feed at 530... and your breathing was finally down to 55 (normal range is 40-60). a blood test showed he has an infection of some description, with the infection marker at 46, which shouldn’t be above 3. thankfully as a precaution, when his breathing was accelerated they had already started him on antibiotics which they will now continue. 

maddie and joseph came to see baby through the nursery door and m was so happy she bounced up and down, then cried the whole way home because she couldn’t hold him. after feeding well throughout the day and this evening they took away his crib and put you in a regular cot! hooray!

baby was given this adorable mini quilt (pictured above), which all babies in the midland hospital special nursery receive, made by a wonderful group of volunteers. it is adorable and has been placed above the crib to block out the lights and is now keeping him warm in his cot. he's already doing so well and i am feeling very positive. it's hard not too when the nurses are so lovely and keep me so well updated on his progress. if i have to be still in the hospital, it's a very nice place to be. ♥

special care nursery

for a bit more of an explanation, baby alexander ended up in special care because he was "breathing up." a baby should be taking anywhere between 45-60 breaths per minute... alex was doing 93!! obviously this was a strain on him and he was sent to the nursery to be monitored until they could get it under control. it's likely to have happened because of the speed of his delivery, which may have left fluid in his lungs. the nurses say this is the most likely reason.

they are feeding him with a sucrose drip installed in one hand (which was swapped to the other after a few hours as the vein in his hand was collapsing, he's now got a giant bruise where it was), as his breathing sped up following him breastfeeding yesterday, so he'll get his feeds that way for now until his breathing slows a bit. they are also treating him as though he has an infection, as it's likely he has one, also from the fluid. blood tests (my poor baby now has multiple heel pricks in both heels) will show further.

but here is my sweet boy in his closed in crib. he was lying on his stomach for most of his first 24 hours, to ease the effort required to take breaths. he's very alert and looks around a lot while he is awake. i've been in to see him a lot, but the heat (a constant temperature of 27 degrees) is making me so sleepy and i can't stay in there for too long at a time.

above all else, he is doing really well. i know things will be fine, it's just a matter of time until he'll be out and in our arms. ♥