No More EPO!
Hello to everyone.
Xavier was a lot more active today. It seems Rebecca's theory of tiredness means greater weight gain may be correct. He gained 50 grams and is now at 1325 gm. That's 2 lb and 14.5 ozs.
His low-flow is down to 0.04 liters/minute. Yesterday, his high-flow pump was rolled away and we said thank you to it for its service. They waited to take it away in case Xavier needed to go back on it. Doesn't look like that will be necessary.
During his afternoon care, Xavier was alert and attentive and did not fuss. He took his bottle in record time today. As expected, his feeds have been upped to 178 ml/kilogram/day (that's fancy doctorese speak for 27 ml a feeding). Still using 24 calories per ounce and 1.5 to 1 ratio of breast milk to formula.
We brought in a Dr. Brown's bottle Rebecca picked up at Babies R Us. This bottle and the associated preemie nipples were recommended by the NICU nurses (the nipples are hard to find, but the Babies R Us near us carries them--Kathy, one of the NICU nurses, buys from this Babies R Us frequently to keep a stash in the NICU for parents getting ready to take their little one home). The nurses said to bring one in and use it so Xavier can get used to what he will be using at home. It really is a superior bottle. The nipple seemed much better for Xavier and he worked it like he owned it! And, very little leaking and drooling with this nipple.
Today marked the his last EPO shot. Hallelujah! He shouldn't need them any more. Tomorrow the nurse will draw some blood for labs to check his hematocrit level. We want to see numbers over 40.
Always, thank you for your prayer.