10 weeks old

Halloween

Oliver is doing so well that sometimes it's easy to forget how far he's come and how far he still has yet to go.  He's up to a little over 4 pounds now, and regulating his own temperature, so he's been moved out of the incubator and into a real crib.  He's eating 37 ml (a little over an ounce) every three hours, and has been able to attempt to nurse a few times.  The lactation department calls him the rockstar of the NICU because he's a natural at nursing.

Big boy bed!

Since it's now cold, flu and RSV season, Nathaniel is no longer allowed to go into the NICU to see Oliver.  For now, we can still take him with us to visit and switch out with him in the waiting room or cafeteria, but if there's a flu or RSV outbreak in the area the entire hospital goes on lockdown and no children will be allowed into the hospital at all.

Big brother



While Oliver is making great progress, two things continue to bother his doctors.  First, his Chronic Lung Disease is not getting any better.  The hope had been that as he grew, his lungs would continue to regenerate and his need for pressurized oxygen would decrease.  Unfortunately, that hasn't happened.  At 4 lbs, he should be on low flow o2, but he still needs 3 lbs of pressure on the high flow.  Hopefully, as he continues to grow his lung growth will start catching up.  The other problem is with his eyes.  He has what is called Retinopathy of Prematurity, or ROP.  Right now it's considered moderate and is being monitored weekly to make sure it doesn't become severe.  At that point he would need LASIK surgery to prevent him from going blind.  Hopefully that starts moving towards the better soon, too.

 

Go Illini

I recently came across the website for an organization called Pictures of Hope Foundation.  It's a network of photographers who are willing to go into NICUs and take complimentary documentary style photographs of NICU babies.  We found a photographer in the Aurora area who is affiliated with this organization, and booked a session with her next week.  I'm very excited to see how they come out.  I wish I had found it earlier, because I'm already forgetting just how little he was at the beginning.  http://www.picturesofhopefoundation.org/