Day 2 - Snuggle time!

Day two has been a good one. Rhonda was with Grayson again and had a list of goals of the day which included getting rid of CPAP, increasing his feeds, and letting me hold him.

The doctor and the respiratory therapist both agreed that Grayson could come off of CPAP. This is wonderful especially because the CPAP is so uncomfortable for Grayson. It is bulky and he had to wear a little hat that covered up his eyes to secure the heavy tubing...not fun for the little guy. So around 9 am, they took off the CPAP and he was breathing completely on his own! He didnt even need a nasal cannula! I was thrilled, especially because you can now see all of his perfect little face.

Grayson has been tolerating his feedings very well. He started out yesterday getting only 2mL of food every 3 hours, increasing the amount every 12 hours. He was doing so well with the food that they decided to increase the amount of food every 8 hours. So around 3 am tonight, he will get a whopping 10mL of food! YAY little buddy! The nurse told us tonight that his ultimate goal amount of food is 35-40mL, so we have a long way to go but we are making progress.

And the best part of the day...I got to hold my sweet little baby for the first time. I was scared to death and so nervous but it was amazing. Rhonda took him out of the isolette and it was then that I realized just how t-tiny he is! I loved snuggling with him. Jai and I took a lot of pictures and really enjoyed talking to him and watching him. He seems to love to suck on a paci already! But that is great practice for him to learn how to suck properly. Jai and I didn't want him out of his warm little isolette too long and so we had Rhonda put him back after about 45 minutes. It was then that I was able to change his little diaper! I was scared to death that I was going to hurt his little legs because they are just so small, but everything went well.

Tonight when we saw him he seemed comfortable and is still tolerating his feeds. He got a good bath and his weight was 3lbs and 13 ounces, just one ounce off of his birth weight. Now it is time to pump and go say good night to my sweet little Trooper!