5 Pounder!

Well it's not official....but it is safe to say Henry is now 5 lbs!!! When I held/fed him on Saturday he was 4 lbs. 14 oz. and I am assuming he has gained 2 oz. since then and is now 5 lbs. Jenny is going to call later tonight when they weigh him to officially find out. Well as you can tell, he is gaining weight at a good pace and is now feeding with both the bottle and breast. He is still on a 3-hour feeding schedule and the nurse or me/Jenny attempt to feed him with the bottle at the beginning of each feeding. The goal is to have Henry take his entire feeding with the bottle. He is currently being fed 38 mL each feeding (28 mL = 1 oz). When I fed him last weekend he took about 16 mL from the bottle and was too tired to finish the remaining 22 mL. He is then given the remaining amount via his feeding tube. Once Henry can take the entire 38 mL from the bottle at each feeding, they will give him the "ok" to come home! Right now he simply gets too tired/worn out when trying to bottle feed. Every once in awhile Henry will struggle to breathe while bottle feeding. He will suck and then the monitors will beep because his breathing drops so much and we have to take the bottle out so he can breathe. I think he will slowly get the hang of it and coordinate his sucking/breathing. He does a great job of latching on and taking the milk when he does feed. Henry actually breast feeds better than he bottle feeds, which is the opposite of a typical preemie. The nurses are encouraged by his successful breast feeding, but don't want Henry to completely favor the breast over the bottle....because it is the successful bottle feeding that indicates whether or not he can come home. It is difficult to determine how much he is getting from breast feeding, where as the bottle feeding can be measured much easier.
As you can see....I posted a lot of new pictures. Jenny got to give him a bath the other day and they took off all his leads and cannula. It was interesting to see Henry without any wires hooked to him. Jenny said Henry really enjoyed the bath....and probably not having all the wires attached! I posted a picture of the nurse measuring his length and he is now 17 1/4 inches long! It is becoming more obvious when Henry is awake vs. sleeping. He wakes up right around the time he is fed and lets everyone know he is hungry!
As of today Henry is now being fed 44 mL each feeding. We are trying to get a video of Henry taking a bottle....and will post it soon! Thank you again for all the thoughts and prayers! Henry is doing great and we are so thankful for everyone!
Oh, in one of the pictures, Phoebe is wearing the "Dupont Hospital" hat with Henry's footprints.

Henry's First Bath

Henry hiding.....and Phoebe's first dentist appointment!

Lots of Changes!

Sorry, it has been so long since my last post. There have been a lot of changes to Henry's status...all positive so far! Last night Henry took 10 mL from a bottle for the first time!!! The nurses decided to try this earlier last week and he wasn't up to the task at first, but the nurses continued to attempt the bottle feeding throughout the week and he finally latched on and drank last night! I actually have not been up to the hospital since Saturday (been under the weather) but I do not think his feeding tube is removed yet. Since he is on scheduled feedings, they can simply elect not to use the tube and feed Henry with the bottle. Jenny also said last week while "kangarooing" him the doctor told her to place Henry near her nipple and see what happens. He actually opened his mouth and tried to suck. Jenny said it was really cool! We will definitely get a video of him bottle feeding and post it soon.
Henry is now 4 lbs 2 oz!!! The nurses are surprised at how fast he is growing! There is a weekend nurse who is with him it seems like every Saturday, and she was shocked last Saturday at how much he had grown in 1 week! I believe they will soon move him from his isolette (incubator) to an open crib. This is just one of the progression steps to prepare him to go home. Pray he continues to successfully bottle feed as this will speed up his "going home" date! It is crazy to think he could be coming home in the next couple weeks! Phoebe is in for a surprise! I am sure I forgot a few things....but Jenny will be sure to remind me of them and I will update you soon.