Nice to meet you, Grammy and Aunt Karin!

Jason's mom and sister came from Arkansas for a short visit this weekend and today was the first time they got to see Cayden in person.  They took turns holding him and I think he enjoyed spending time with his family.

Before they got to the NICU, the developmental therapist was doing another evaluation, this time with a 3/4 strength Simply Thick concoction.  He took about half a bottle for her and didn't choke at all even though it's slightly thinner than he's used to, so she deemed it a success and gave the go-ahead for making the switch.  Again, the thinking is that if he doesn't have to work as hard to pull thick stuff through a nipple, he will burn less calories and gain more weight.

About an hour after taking the bottle, Cayden was resting in his crib and started fussing.  I went over to see if he wanted his pacifier but he wouldn't take it.  He looked really distressed and uncomfortable.  I heard his stomach gurgle and then he spit up, twice.  Although his sats never dropped, he sounded like he was really choking and struggling to breathe and it was terrifying to watch.  Needless to say, we won't be switching to 3/4 strength Simply Thick any time soon.

Nurse Kathy said that I should be ready for Cayden to come home as soon as Monday or Tuesday despite his feeding issues and two brady episodes yesterday.  I was shocked and said, "Monday, as in two days from now??!"  She said yes - the brady episodes wouldn't "count" because one was feeding related (if he chokes while feeding, as long as I tip him forward and pat his back, he should recover just fine) and the other was positional (the nurse had him in a swing and didn't have his neck supported to keep it from tipping forward, which is apparently what happened.) 

I'm sorry.  Everyone knows how anxious I am to bring him home, but I do NOT feel comfortable with all of these issues yet!  I am scared to death watching them happen in the hospital with monitors and doctors and nurses there to handle the situation.  How am I supposed to be able to handle this at home, without monitors, doctors, or nurses to help and reassure me that he is o.k??  Honestly, I'm hoping it will be later in the week before he comes home and that he can at least go a few days without any of these scary episodes.

There is one more thing that can delay his homecoming:  they pulled his NG feeding tube today and are trying the ad-lib feeding approach again.  He has to wake up on his own and take a minimum amount of milk in a 24-hour period.  If he doesn't meet that minimum, they'll put the tube back in and start gavaging him as necessary.  So we will see what happens. 

He did gain weight again tonight, 7 lbs. 0.9 oz, so he just may make it with the ad-lib gig this time!