Ups and Downs

The past two weeks have been filled with many ups and downs for us. When Warren got moved to intermediate care, we were very excited. That was definitely an “up”. The environment was much quieter and calmer than the other NICU rooms. In his first day there Warren was given a “Room Air Challenge” where he was taken off of all respiratory support. He went for almost three days without a nasal canula. On Saturday (July 3) they decided to put him back on the nasal canula, with a very low flow. He was working too hard to breathe and maintain his oxygen stats. The doctors wanted to focus more on his feedings and didn’t want him to get over-tired by working on his own to maintain his oxygen. While Keith and I were sad to see the nasal canula back on, we were still pleased with him making it nearly three days on his own.

Another big “up” was Warren’s progression with his feedings. We started two important steps in weaning Warren off of his feeding tube. One step was to “compress” his feedings. Instead of getting a continuous flow of breastmilk, they would compress the volume he was to get in a 3 hour period to 2.5 hours, then 2 hours, then 1.5 hours and so on until he was getting all of his food within in 30 min window. The other step was to begin offering Warren breastmilk via a bottle. He was certainly eager in that department. He still needs help “pacing” as it takes him a couple of minutes to get the whole suck, swallow, breathe process properly coordinated. But once he gets that figured out, he’s great. And he really seems to enjoy eating from a bottle. After he finishes and lets out a rather solid burp, he just lays there with the sweetest look of contentment on his face. FOOD COMA!!! He is definitely his father’s son.

On the down side, I had to return to work last Tuesday (July 6). Unfortunately my company does not have any real maternity leave. Of course they follow the appropriate FMLA guidelines, but that only promises you the right to take up to 12 weeks of leave – but that leave does not have to be paid. My company only gives 6-8 weeks as a short term disability for giving birth (6 wks for normal, 8 wks for C-section). My short term disability leave was over and I want to save up my vacation time for when Warren comes home. So I am back to work. Thankfully, my customer is being super flexible about my hours/work location so I am able to be at the customer site in the morning, at the hospital in the afternoon and finish off my work that evening from home. Needless to say, it is not easy to be back at work. Last week was rough and I was exhausted by the end of the week – physically and emotionally. I am hoping that I find some kind of rhythm with this. I am sure it will be easier once Warren is home and we get him settled – but for now it is hard to focus on doing my job when I am so worried about Warren’s health.