Day 26, Thursday, December 9

Another good day today for Tate. The most excitement was when I changed his diaper at noon. He was still working on dirtying it. So I waited a little bit, decided he was done, wiped his bottom, slipped the new diaper under him – and he pooped a bunch more! He definitely isn’t having problems pooping anymore! He’s been dirty every time I’ve changed him the last few days. Tate’s vitals were great all day today again and he slept really well.


I guess the day wasn’t all good for him though – he had his first shot today. (That I’m aware of anyways. I don’t think they’ve given him anything as a shot, although he’s been poked and prodded with needles a lot already.) He did not like it. That’s definitely the loudest and most I’ve heard him cry so far. He doesn’t usually do more than whimper but this was a real cry. He calmed back down as soon as the nurse was done though. The shot they gave him is called Synagis which is to prevent RSV. They say all children have had RSV by their second birthday, but most are not even diagnosed with it because their bodies are able to fight it off. This isn’t true for preemies whose lungs are still developing, and children with lung and heart disease. Synagis is specifically for these children. In fact, children have to meet at least 2 of the qualifying criteria or insurance and doctors won’t give them the shots.

Synagis is similar to a vaccine in that it’s supposed to prevent him from getting RSV, but instead of injecting him with the virus, live or dead (like they do with vaccines), Synagis is actually made up of human antibodies that will help him fight off the germs. So it’s kind of like breastmilk specifically for RSV, if you want to look at it that way. It’s very expensive (anywhere from $1000-$2000 per shot) and he will have to get one shot a month throughout the RSV season, which is November through April for Kansas, I think. I’m assuming, since they didn’t tell us anything different, that our insurance approved it. If not, I guess we’ll find out eventually. I try not to think about how much our hospital bills are going to be! :)

Tate did better today on his latching than he did yesterday. He did latch on a few times and sucked a little. The nurse weighed him after we were done and the scale showed he had 64 ml. She asked me “is that possible?” Umm, I’d like it to be but considering the most he’s gotten so far is 2 ml – and he didn’t latch on for more than 20 seconds a couple of times - I think not. He was pretty worn out after the nursing so we skipped finger feeding and he had his full meal through his tube. I did get to kangaroo him while he ate and he slept good, vitals were good the whole time.

He took 10 ml from Jamie at 9 pm through a finger feed. I discovered again today that Jamie is getting to hold him for an hour at the 9 pm assessment, and then they let him hold him for another hour at midnight. I definitely have to go to a few nights shifts this weekend so I can hold him some more. I wonder if it’s just because things are so much slower at night (usually) if that’s why the night nurses are more relaxed and let him hold more than the day nurses do.

Tate gained 60 grams today and weighs 3 lbs, 14.5 oz. That’s 1774 grams which means he only has to gain 26 grams tomorrow to hit the 1800 mark, which is four pounds. That’s a HUGE milestone!

On a different subject, my grandma was hospitalized today because they think she had a mini stroke. She was at the grocery store and started feeling really bad and she doesn’t really remember what happened but she called my uncle and he came and they ended up calling an ambulance for her. Tests at the hospital showed a mini stroke but the good news is by this evening she had all the feeling back in her left side and her speech wasn’t slurred. The only problem she’s still having is some issues with her swallowing. They are keeping her at least overnight for observation and to run a few more tests. Please keep her in your prayers as well. The ambulance took her to Wesley and I told her she should have told them St. Joe so her and Tate could have hung out! But hopefully she won’t be there too long anyways…