Big boy eater

Mason officially finished his first bottle tonight in less than 15 minutes! He's definitely getting the hang of it and is also doing really well with breast feeding. Unfortunately, he may have finished it a little too fast because his reflux was pretty bad after the bottle. We'll try to slow him down next time... We hope that they will increase his bottle feeds to more than 2 per day now.

Here are a few pictures from the past few days. We've been working so hard with the bottle that we haven't been very good about taking pictures. There are more on the picasa site: http://picasaweb.google.com/chenretty

My sweet baby boy sleeping peacefully - just over 3 weeks old.

Wide awake and ready to gulp down my bottle!

Dozing off after finishing his bottle - he is worn out! We're going to have that tube out of his nose in no time!

3 weeks old!

Things are finally looking up after a frustrating week. Mason has been struggling with his breathing and having a lot of desat/apnea episodes. It is always during his feedings and seems to be caused by the reflux. The medication (zantac) hasn't helped much, so the doctor decided to add a thickening agent to his breast milk to see if it would help 'keep it down'. So far, it is really working!! He took almost a full bottle on Saturday and Sunday (previous bottle attempts ended almost immediately because of the reflux). He is also much more comfortable during his tube feedings and has had very few breathing episodes since they added the thickener. He did so well that they removed his nasal cannula on Sunday, so he is completely breathing on his own again! We are so relieved to be making progress!

Now that he's doing better with the bottle, we're going to start 2 bottle/breast feedings per day, with the rest of his feedings going through the tube. And then we will gradually increase his bottle feedings until he no longer needs the tube. He really enjoys the bottle and gets upset when it's taken away, so hopefully it won't take too long. He's also gaining weight consistently- he is currently 4lbs, 15oz and gaining about an ounce per day. We hope he hits 5lbs tonight!

So, the good news is we're a few steps closer to coming home, but he still has a ways to go. The criteria for coming home are that he has to take all bottle feedings (8 per day), consistently gain weight, and go several days with no desat/apnea episodes. We probably have a few more weeks to go, but we're moving in the right direction.

The dreaded reflux

It has been a rough week for Mason in the NICU. Overall, he is doing well and has no serious problems, however, his reflux has gotten worse. Almost all preemies get reflux because their esophagus is not fully developed, but Mason has a pretty severe case. It's difficult for me to be there during his feedings because he is obviously in a lot of pain. He squirms, grunts and whimpers almost constantly during his 2 hour feedings. And it is worse when he is being held, so Chris and I are limited to holding him for a few minutes at the beginning of his feedings. The doctors are hesitant to use medication on a premature infant, but his doctor finally agreed that it's time since nothing else has helped. It will be a few days before we can tell if the medication works. On a positive note, his lungs seem to be getting stronger. He was having constant 'desats' (oxygen levels decreased) whenever he had reflux and required supplemental oxygen during his feedings. This makes the reflux a little more serious since it was affecting his breathing, but now he is keeping his oxygen levels up on his own with fewer desats. He still has the nasal cannula, but we hope it can be removed soon. We are still attempting the bottle/breast feeding, but the reflux is so bad that we haven't made much progress. We hope the medication gives him some relief very soon!

Chris celebrated his first Father's Day on Sunday! Mason made him an adorable card with his footprint that was waiting for him in the NICU (OK, the nurses probably helped, but it was very cute!). Chris has been such a wonderful daddy to Mason, even though it's been a pretty rough start to parenthood. Here is a cute picture of Mason with his Daddy on Father's Day.

Ups and downs

The doctors and nurses warned us that being in the NICU can be like a roller coaster ride of ups and downs and this week has proven that. On the positive side, Mason was moved to the 7th floor NICU, which is considered the less critical care nursery. On the 2nd floor, he was in a large room with several other critical babies, which meant a lot of beeping monitors and doctors and nurses running around all the time. He now has a semi-private, cubicle-style room which is much quieter and calmer. I don't think Mason really notices the difference, but mom and dad are thrilled ;-). We also had our first minor setback this week. His reflux did not improve with the feeding changes, so he was put back on a low-flow nasal cannula to help with his breathing. Even with the cannula, he is still having some oxygen decreases during his feedings. Chris and I are a little frustrated, but the nurses keep assuring us that this is normal and he just needs time to mature.

He is definitely more alert and active when he's awake and we're starting to see a little bit of a personality. So far, he is a very laid back baby (the nurses say he is very 'chill') and we have only heard him cry a few times when he was really being messed with. I hope this continues when he comes home, but somehow I doubt it! His hair color seems to change almost daily and lately it's looking a little red!? Chris and I have gotten into a good routine of visiting him once in the morning and at night and we stay several hours each time. It gets harder and harder for mom to leave him every time we visit. We can't wait to get him home, although we know that is several weeks away.

Again, thanks for everyone's thoughts and prayers. We have to keep reminding ourselves that he isn't supposed to be born yet and he just needs time. And mom and dad just need to learn to be patient! Here are a few pictures from his second week.

Grandma and Grandpa H came to visit this week and Grandma got to hold Mason for the first time. Look how sweet! I think the grandmas will be fighting over him before too long :-)

Mason making faces at us during his feeding. We used to think they were cute until we realized it's caused by the reflux!

What a difference a week makes!

I'm a few days late, but Mason celebrated his one week birthday on Monday. We are amazed at the progress he has made in one week. He is still breathing on his own without any oxygen or breathing support. He has a few apnea episodes each day (where his breathing and heart rate decreases significantly), but that is expected and should diminish as his lungs get stronger. It seems to happen during his tube feedings, so the doctor suspects he may have some reflux that is causing his breathing distress. They are making a change to his feeding schedule to see if that helps.

We attempted his first bottle and breast feeding session this week. He did OK, however, the doctor decided to hold off a week on the bottle because he's not quite ready. Babies usually don't have the coordination to suck, swallow and breathe at the same time until 34 weeks gestation (Mason would be 33 now), so we will try again next week. He is gaining weight and is almost back up to his birth weight (currently 4lbs, 2oz).

The goals for now are for him to improve on his breathing with fewer apnea episodes and continue gaining weight. Hopefully next week the mouth feedings will go better. That will be our next big milestone and I've heard it just takes time, patience and practice! Here's a few pictures from the week.

Mason on his one week birthday (in the adorable onesie that Miss Lisa gave him)! Look how long and skinny he is!

Mommy attempting his first bottle. He wasn't quite sure what to do with it.

Mason at 9 days old - napping in Mommy's arms

And being held by Grandma Young for the first time. She is going to spoil him rotten!

We're so proud of our little boy!

As of Sunday morning (6 days old), Mason is officially breathing all by himself! When we went to visit him on Saturday night, he had already been removed from CPAP onto a high flow nasal cannula and was doing really well. Mommy and Daddy even got to help bathe him (and dad got peed on for the first time :-). We were pleasantly surprised to get a call from the doctor on Sunday morning that he was doing so well that they were going to remove the cannula and see how he handled it. It's only been a few hours, but so far, he's doing a great job without any breathing support. It's possible that he could go back to the cannula if he shows any breathing distress. Here's a few pictures now that you can see his beautiful little face.

These are from Saturday night with the nasal cannula. He still looks a little yellow from the jaundice.
Tuckered out after his bath. Look at that blond hair!
And on Sunday morning - breathing all by himself! Finally opening his eyes for us!
A little smile for mommy
We're so proud of our little guy! He's progressing so quickly and we hope he continues to do well!

Making progress!

I am posting some of my favorite pictures to the blog. However, if you'd like to see more, we're posting all pictures to the Picasa link below. We update it as often as possible.

http://picasaweb.google.com/chenretty

Chris and I were a little concerned the first few days when Mason's breathing did not seem to be improving. The doctor told us to be patient and we should see some progress when he was 4-5 days old. Well, she was right and the past few days have been very encouraging. We noticed Thursday that he seemed to be struggling less to breath and his respiratory levels looked more stable. As of today, he looks so much more comfortable breathing and they even started reducing his CPAP level. The goal is to continue reducing the CPAP and then switch to a nasal cannula, which will still provide some breathing support, but is less invasive. They also continue to increase his feeding amounts, which he is tolerating well and even gaining a little weight!

And few fun milestones... Mommy got peed on for the first time during a diaper change yesterday. I had been warned that this was a common problem with boys :-). And Daddy got to hold Mason for the first time last night. He was a natural!


And while we were there, the respiratory therapist was changing his CPAP tubes, so we were able to sneak a few pictures without it. Unfortunately, he was not happy about being messed with.

Mason is doing well

Mason is stable and improving in the NICU. He is still receiving breathing support from CPAP (a machine that provides constant positive air pressure to his lungs), but his oxygen levels have improved and he is breathing almost all room air with very little supplemental oxygen. He is doing great with his feedings, although for now it is all through a feeding tube. He got a little jaundiced yesterday, which is very common in preemies, and they are hoping to remove the lights within a few days. The main goal for him now is to improve his breathing and reduce the amount of CPAP support. His little lungs just need more time to mature. These are all expected complications for a preemie of his gestation and hopefully should have no long term effects.

I was sent home on Wednesday after 33 long days in the hospital. Although it is nice to finally be home, leaving Mason behind was the hardest thing I've ever done. I know he's getting the best care possible and thankfully we live 1/2 mile from the hospital so we can visit several times a day. I was able to hold him for the first time yesterday and can spend more time doing 'kangaroo care' (skin to skin holding time that is very beneficial to preemies) when his jaundice improves.

Our precious baby Mason is blessed to have so many people who are praying and thinking of him. I know many of you would like to go see him at the hospital, but unfortunately, visitors are limited to parents and grandparents while he's still in the critical care nursery. I'll keep posting pictures for everyone to see his progress.

Mommy getting to hold him for the first time (2 days old)

All cozy in his bed (2 days old)

Welcome to the world, Mason!

Mason Thomas Henretty arrived June 7th at 5:56 pm weighing in at 4 lbs, 3oz and measuring 17 inches long. He is doing great in the NICU. He was briefly put on a ventilator to help with his breathing, but he is now breathing with the help of CPAP and, so far, has no other serious problems associated with his early arrival. Please keep him in your prayers as he continues to grow while under the NICU care.

I went into labor early in the morning of June 7th, which the doctors think may have been caused by the start of an infection, so I guess he knew it was time. We made it to 32 weeks exactly, which is a big milestone, even though we didn't quite make the 34 mark we were hoping for.

Chris and I are totally in love with our precious baby boy. We don't know yet when we'll be able to bring him home, but we will keep everyone updated of his progress. Here are a few pictures from his birthday. The ventilator has since been removed and we hope today we will get to hold him.

Mason and daddy


And with mommy (after a VERY long day!)

Ultrasound pictures - 31 weeks

I thought I'd share a few good ultrasound pictures we got the other day at 31 weeks. It's very difficult to get a decent picture this late in pregancy because the baby is too large and likes to hide from the ultrasound. Of course, that's not the reason we're having such frequent ultrasounds. The doctors are mainly checking the baby's organ development, movement and amniotic fluid levels (all of which have been great). These may not look like much to the untrained eye (it didn't to us until the tech told us what we were looking at), so I'll try to explain.

This is a side profile shot of his face. Looks like he has his eyes open checking us out.

In this one, he's facing towards the 'camera', so you can see his nose, eye and mouth and what I think is a very chubby little cheek.

We're counting down the days until our next big milestone - 32 weeks on Monday!