Judah: 1 week old

One Week Old Today
(33 and 6/7 weeks in NICU terms)

Here is an update on Judah now that he is one week old:

* He had his IV nutritional support removed and is taking a full feeding (a little over an ounce) of breastmilk every 3 hours. He is tolerating them well - there are no residuals or left overs in his tummy and he only has occasional reflux. He eats through a feeding tube to his stomach.

* He has been weaning down on his oxygen support and is no longer using an oxygen supplement - he just has an airflow at room pressure through a nasal cannula. This will continue to wean down over the next several days.

* He is becoming more alert and learning his schedule. This is important because he needs to learn to recognize when he his hungry. He takes a pacifier really well. Hopefully I will be able to start working with him on breastfeeding in this next week. This one will take time but it's great that he's started showing the early signs of being able to drink from a nipple (either bottle or breast).

* He has lost 5 oz and currently weighs 3lbs 14 oz. This is normal for all babies and still within the 10% tolerance for birth weight loss so Dr's are not concerned.

* He has started to maintain some of his own body temperature which means we can bring in clothes for him to get him used to wearing something. It also means that he is moving towards being out of the incubator.

* He started physical therapy today! Who knew?

What to Pray For:

* He has been having apnea episodes. At 1 day old they gave him a caffeine starter that helps with the apnea for 5 days and now that it has worn off, he is having issues again. They gave him another starter today and will put him on a maintenance dose to wean him off. Please pray that his little body matures out of the apnea episodes.

* That I can balance life between the girls and some normalcy at home, our marriage (we're not having any problems other than busyness and exhaustion so we don't see each other!), and spending time at the NICU with Judah.


A lot of you have asked when Judah will come home. And THAT is the question! He looks like such a normal baby (plus the oxy and feeding tubes) in all his pictures! He's actually quite small though so it's misleading. The nurses will tell you to expect him home by his due date (Aug 27th) but most NICU babies that do really well go home between 37 and 38 weeks. We are hoping to have Judah home mid-August.