Things are looking up

Monday Jan 31st- Ryan went back to work today. I feel bad for him because since we are staying at the Ronald Mcdonald house he has to get up even earlier to make it to work on time.  I am spending my days going to each of Dylan's feedings ( we are breastfeeding twice a day & supplementing formula and the rest of his feedings are formula only) after his feeding I walk back to Ronald Mcdonald house. Usually by the time I pump breastmilk and get myself fed its time to walk back across the hospital to the NICU.  My whole body is still very swollen with fluid. My Dr says it will take weeks before I am back to normal. After each walk to the NICU my legs and ankles look even worse. I try to prop my feet up while I feed Dylan & then again as soon as I get back to our room. It is very painful. It feels like I am walking around with ankle weights. My legs are so big it hurts to bend down. I literally have rolls where my ankles should be! Cant believe its still this bad 7 liters & 7 days later.

This is the only picture I have and this was taken on day 11...If you look at the picture from earlier post you can see how swollen my fingers were!

Nurse at the NICU suggested to Dylan's Dr that he be switched to a sensitive type of formula. This is the best thing that could have happened. All of the sudden our baby boy had his appetite back. We think it was a mixture of change of formula & him feeling better after the round of antibiotics. Now all we need is for him to keep up the good work.

Tues Feb 1st- Dylan & I had a very sucessful breastfeeding today, Up untill now they have been hit or miss. Today he latched on like a pro. The rest of his feedings today went just as well. They have decided to take his feeding tube out sometime tonight! Today I was crying again but this time they were tears of joy!

I actually left the hospital today. My mom came & picked me up and took me to lagrange for my Dr apt. I had to have my staples removed. Suprisingly it didnt hurt at all. Similar to plucking your eyebrows. My blood pressure was high so my Dr wants to see me again next week. They have not put me on medication for it yet so I assume he wants to wait till next week to see if it has improved. He told me to monitor it at home & if my bottom number gets 100 or higher to go to ER.  When they weighed me I was actually heavier than I was the morning I went to the hospital to deliver! I wish I knew how much I weighed after delivery when my fluid levels were the highest.We are guessing that I put on a good 30 pounds of fluid. The sooner the fluid comes off the better my blood pressure should be. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Since we were in Lagrange I got to stop by my house. This was my first time home in 8 days! I got the chance to look at all the baby shower gifts we had recieved & it was nice to spend a little time with our dog Shelby.

Wed Feb 2nd- I was so excited to see Dylan with out a feeding tube this morning. They also did his hearing test and he passed. Later today he wil get circumcised. After that only a few more basic test and the Dr says we will be discharged on friday. I am so excited I cried!! My mom picked me up again and took me to the mall. I got a pedicure while I was there. My Dr said the massage would be good for my swelling. I was supposed to get one at the salon I work at on Thurs but now have to be at the hospital all day to get ready for our discharge for friday. It was nice to be pampered.

Thurs Feb 3rd-  Today was a busy day. Dylan had his hospital pics made, I met with a nutritionist from the hospital to discuss the best eating plan for Dylan once we are home. Since he was so early he needs to be supplemented with a higher calorie formula. He needs to be on this formula till he reaches full term ( 40 weeks). hopefully by this time I can switch to full time breastfeeding insted of just 2 feedings a day & a lot of pumping!