Day 35: Happy 5 Week Birthday!

Paxton tried to prove what a big boy he is by showing everyone that he was ready to move on. Today, Paxton got transferred from the PICU to the Pediatric Intermediate Care Unit. To top that off, the fecal occult blood test came back negative for any microscopic blood in his stool. Yay! Even though Paxton's new room was much smaller and he had to share it with another child, it was very exciting for Susanne because this is where he will be discharged from. She could sense the end was near. Paxton will be there for at least another two weeks while he is transitioned from tube feedings to oral feedings. If he is unable to get enough nutrition this way or if he is unsuccessful with oral feedings altogether, then he will have to go home with a nasogastric tube (NG-tube) or a gastric tube (G-tube) to receive his bolus feedings where he gets a significant dose of food at a time. The plan is to continue the hypoallergenic formula for now and transition him slowly from continuous feedings to bolus feedings. If he does well with that and his stool continues to be negative for microscopic blood, then they will challenge his system with Susanne's breast milk. The hope is that he will tolerate her milk and be given the chance to nurse and be trained to be bottle fed. The concern with this is obviously the cleft soft palate. The speech therapist has some tricks up her sleeve that Susanne and Scott are hoping will work. Time will tell.
The occupational therapist stopped by today to work with Paxton. She was encouraged by his progress. Susanne was ecstatic when she found out that Paxton could start working on tummy time. Due to his recent surgery, he could only lay chest to chest with Susanne today. In another week or two, he will be able to start tummy time on a blanket or a play gym. This will help him to strengthen his neck muscles and get him prepared for crawling. Susanne and Paxton snuck in a quick nap together after the therapy session ended. What a wonderful day!