Feeding Plan

Before I get into Jaime's latest plans...I'd like to Welcome, left-CDH'er, Andrew Hobbs to this world. Andrew was born today, he is 9lbs 4oz. As of late this afternoon, he was supposed to be going on ECMO to control his pulmonary hypertension. Please keep Andrew and his parents, Gene and Becky in your thoughts and prayers as they begin their CDH Roller Coaster ride!
You can click on the following link to check out their blog. http://babyandrewhobbs.blogspot.com/

We'd also like to wish our Cincy buddy, Carter Adler best wishes tomorrow. If all goes as planned, he is set to be extubated again. We're hoping he flies this time so that the Adler's can be one step closer to their CDH Roller Coaster ride heading HOME! That little guy (and his parents) have been through sooooo much in his 5 months of life. It's just not fair and it's totally time for Carter to catch a break! Please send some positive thoughts their way tonight and tomorrow! (We miss you guys, it kind of stinks being in the hospital without you guys just down the hall from us! Best wishes tomorrow!)

Finally, it's October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month! Ladies don't forget to do your self-exams and schedule your mammograms accordingly! They really do save lives! My Grandma is living proof as she is a breast cancer survivor! Way to go, Gram! (By the way, no word on her tests yet, I talked to her earlier and she said she was hungry...sounds about right for her! HA!)


OK, now on to Jaime. We are STILL in the hospital He had some craziness overnight. In fact I only got about an hour of sleep last night. The residents came in at 1:30 A.M. and we were brainstorming most of the night (OK until about 5:00 A.M.). Jaime was still "puffy" last night, but his intake was very diminished. His intake and output were consistent with each other, so that was a bit confusing. Also, during the night, Jaime was working very hard to breathe...again, he was satting well on a 1/2 liter O2, but was working hard to do so. They put him back on the monitor and on his diuretics. He seems to be less puffy now. Also during the night, he had lots of residuals in his tummy when his nurse checked. This means that for some reason, he is not digesting his formula...such a strange thing since we are back to base with his formula.
Anyway, we discussed lots of things...first and foremost all of his stool cultures that were sent looking for infection were negative....just as we all suspected. The general peds residents were contemplating consulting GI service, as this appears to be more the case. There was also discussion about doing a chest and abdomen x-ray, this has not occurred as of yet. (Not sure why!) We were tossing around all sorts of feeding ideas...finally early this afternoon I met with the dietitian. We spent about an hour toying with ideas and FINALLY came up with a plan that we HOPE will work. We are going to offer Jaime 4-75mls bottles a day of Isomil 24 calorie formula. Then, we will put Jaime on the feeding pump for 10 hours a day to get the remainder of his feeds. If this plan works, Jaime will get 600mls a day. His target goal is 760, but we have to start somewhere. Jaime is not drinking much of his bottles...at most 2.5 oz. This is a boy who used to drink 6-4oz bottles a day. The change is bizarre. Jaime does not have a real desire to eat...hopefully we'll get to the bottom of this soon so that I can take him home. Jaime is 24wks old today and to date has spent 16 of those weeks hospitalized. :-(

Here are two pics from today....

Jaime bored and ready to go back to sleep after his early morning basin bath...yep, he had another "explosive" diaper this morning.


This is Jaime "helping" me tube feed him this afternoon...Jaime's saying, "I've got the syringe plunger, Mommy."


Well, I'm off to get Jaime ready for his 5:30 feed. We have to have it done by 6:00 so that we can put him back on the pump at 9:00 P.M. Wish us luck that all goes well tonight! And don't forget to keep our CDH friends in your thoughts and prayers, too!
Thanks!