Day 49: Happy 7 Week Birthday Buddy!

Susanne woke up at 3:00 am this morning and realized that she had accidentally fallen asleep. While doing so messed up her pumping schedule, it seemed like her body was telling her to get more rest.

Susanne got to the hospital and noticed that Paxton was just staring at the side of his crib. The mother of his new roommate said that he had been awake for a while, but seemed content. She commented on how cute he was and what a good baby he had been overnight. The two mothers exchanged their stories and discussed the struggles they had been through. It helped Susanne to talk with someone that had been through something similar. Susanne also appreciated the fact that the other mother had six other children so she knew that what she had to say was valuable.

Susanne was really excited when she found out that the speech therapist was going to allow her to feed Paxton a bottle for the first time. He was doing so well on his NG feedings thus far so they wanted to challenge him a little bit more. Paxton ended up taking only a very small amount of formula from the bottle, but part of this could be due to the fact that he was falling asleep during the feeding session. He also had been on continuous feedings, which doesn't allow for him to get really hungry. Even though he only took a very small amount, the speech therapist thought that it was a positive sign that he was at least trying. She wanted Susanne to continue to try to feed him small amounts up to every eight hours on a daily basis. This was another sign in the right direction.

Susanne held Paxton all afternoon, changed a few diapers, squeezed his little toes, and sang him some silly songs. Unfortunately, later in the day Paxton vomited once. It was difficult for Susanne to watch formula come out of his nose. She could only imagine how painful that must be. The great news was that the doctors wanted to continue his feedings despite the one episode of vomiting. They think that it may be the equivalent to when a baby spits up, but they plan to continue to monitor him closely for evidence of nausea. His formula is more likely to come out through his nose when he vomits because of his cleft soft palate. Poor Paxton.

Susanne headed home late in the evening...well past when there should be traffic. When she got onto the highway, the traffic was extremely backed up for an unknown reason. More than likely there was an accident because in this area people forget how to drive when it's raining. She had driven this path so many times that it should be second nature by this point. Instead, she got caught up in her thoughts and ended up at the border of Maryland. Seriously?

Susanne finally made it home safe and sound. She was looking forward to a nice dinner, watching American Idol on DVR, and going to bed.

Goodnight all!