Gained another 9 ounces making him 10 pounds 3 ounces!!

Still taking about 3 ounces every 3 hours (75-100mL).

Doing great with OT,  just still needs a lot of stretching.

Eye exams are going well and no issues as of now!!

Go Kai!!

Kai's mini photo shoot

Kai continued to have a great day today, meaning nothing like yesterday.

He was eating almost 3 ounces evey 3 hours and kept it all down and without an excessive amount of dirty diapers. His appointment with OT today went well and Kirra got to come and join in on the fun as well. She was really impressed with how well he sucks and how strong his suck is. Actually, overall she always seems impressed with him. Nonetheless, we're still applying him for the Early Start program here to further aid him in his development. Its not a guarantee that he will be accepted, but its worth a shot to help get him the best possible outcome!
We'll know more next week.

Also, each week we weigh him at the OT, today he weighed in ar 9lbs 10oz! 10 ounces in one week is awesome- so nevermind he had a "lazy" day yesterday! He's right on track.

He actually did throw up again tonight, but I think I've solved what triggered it. When giving him his Prilosec, I was told to give it to him 30-60 minutes after his last bottle and not to eat again until 30-60 minutes after given as well. I think what happened was his milk was not digested completely when I gave him the Prilosec and he hates the way it tastes so he initially tries to spit it out and so seems like everything just came back out with it. I'll talk to the GI doctor about this, but I will be extra careful about timing so he doesn't throw up anymore :)

Poor Baby

Yesterday Kai had a bit of an off day. He pretty much slept the day away and hardly had any milk. I was a little concerned especially since he was having a lot of poopy diapers and was acting like he didn't want to eat  when I gave him the bottle. 

So all I thought to do was give him the day to sleep it out, a little TLC, and careful monitoring. Well, he never really snapped out of it all day and when I could finally get him to take a bottle and take the whole thing last night, he ended up projectile vomiting it all back up. Adam and I were even more concerned after that because it was so much vomit and was even shooting out of his nose. 

We gave him a bath and cleaned him up and offered him a bottle and immediately he acted back to his normal self. He ate the bottle and fell into a deep sleep for a few hours until he woke back up 3 times last night to eat. And he sure was hungry. Even this morning he did great with his bottle. Yesterday morning he probably went a little over six hours without eating! I still can't really pinpoint what caused this lazy weird day yesterday, but one of my thoughts is teething?... He's gnawing on his fist like crazy, more than he ever has and from what I've researched (since it will be a little different than Kirra's teething) diarrhea, vomit, not eating, and lethargy 'could' be related to teething. Now his teeth haven't actually cut through his gums, but teeth can just move around under the gum and it can still be considered teething. It was just one possible explanation and of course I have others, but like Adam said, we'll just never know for sure why he was having these symptoms. The important thing is that he never had a fever and he's doing great this morning! 

I'm all about taking him to the doctor, but I'm confident enough and trust my gut feelings enough that there is no problem at this time, but of course I'm keeping track of every single thing just in case I need to take him to his pediatrician. Hopefully he's ok until his next visit in November! 

Just a few pictures

Burping on Nana

Kirra helping with Tummy Time

(She calls it "Tummy-butt")

?

Hi

Missing Adam here

Such a big boy! Kai weighed in at 9 pounds today! That means he's gained over a pound since being home (23 days-left hospital at 7lbs. 11oz.)

We met with the Gastrointestinal Specialist on Monday and he thinks Kai has been on the right track. He wants to keep Kai on the Prilosec for reflux and he increased his dosage from 2mL to 2.5mL since he's grown and also increased the Neosure formula that is used to fortify the frozen breastmilk he's been taking. He also wrote a new prescription for the Prilosec to be flavored since he has to take it by mouth now rather than down a feeding tube like before, because it taste very, very horrible (I've tried it-it's disgusting) so it's bubblegum flavored. It seems to help cover up the chemical taste a bit so he doesn't spit it out.

His Occupational Therapy appointments have been going really well also. She basically asses him each week by stretching his arms, shoulders,  legs, and pelvis or trunk area. She watches how his tummy time is going, watches him feed, and does oral exercises simply rubbing a finger around the ridge of his gums and allows him to bite down as if he's chewing gum. She's actually very impressed with his overall preemie 'tightness' because she can tell that he had great positioning and was really taken care of during his hospitalization. She can tell he was not simply lying flat backed in an issolette and forgotten about. and she's right! He was flipped, turned, on his tummy, on his back, on his side, right side, left side, all while being intubated and even stretches once he was big enough!! Because of that he was able to develop the Physiological Flexion that most preemies do not keep because of their time lost in utero. So he curls up just as a newborn would rather than being arched and sprawled out which is common in Preemies. This also means his muscles should grow how they should have although they're a little tight.

In hindsight I am so thankful that he was taken care of and grateful to his caring Primary nurses! So thank you Jasmine, Christine, and Analia! You ladies really knew what was best for Kai and I am so happy his is thriving because of his awesome care!

He's been doing a lot of tummy time at home with the help of Kirra and a lot of mirrors. Next week we'll try tummy time on a yoga ball to give him a variety of tummy time exercises. He's still eating about the same, anywhere from 50mL to 75mL every two hours! He wakes up every night at 2am and 6am still just for a snack then goes back to sleep. :)

We have another appointment with his Pediatrician today as well today just to check his weight and see what the specialist have been saying. He will also be getting his 4-month shots today as well!

4 Months-Old & 3 Weeks-Adjusted

Doing great on bottle feeds now that the NG tube is out! Taking down about 75-100mL every 2-4 hours!
He's gained weight since last week as well which proves also that he is right on track with feeding! He weighs in at 8 pounds 8 ounces!

Kai has been home nearly 2 weeks and everything is going great! We've taken him to lots of doctors appointments.
He's been seen by his eye doctor who did the surgery and likes what he sees in Kai's eyes and will continue to follow him every other week until he's around 1!

We met the local Pediatric Cardiologist to asses his PDA that is still there. She took an ultrasound of his heart and an EKG and will follow him every other week as well for as long as it's open.

The other specialist Kai met was the Occupational Therapist at Dominican. She will help us work on feedings, tummy time, muscle tone, and stretching every week.

Aside from running around to doctor's appointments, Kai has been keeping us busy just as any 'newborn' would! He loves to be held and loves his swing. I've finally figured out what bottle and nipple works best for him so he can eat at a steady pace and not have any apneic or brady episodes. The other night he pulled out his feeding tube again and this time our Pediatrician told us to leave it out and see how he does until we see GI specialist in two weeks. So far, he's been doing well with taking the bottle more often. He could be eating more for sure, but I think he'll figure it out and realize that he's hungry and has to work for food now. He's still struggling with the reflux, but I think the Prilosec is working and as long as he doesn't eat too much too fast he's fine.

He's also finally hit the 8 pound marker and looks great!

Thanks to everyone for all the love and sweet thoughts!