Today we reached 31 weeks gestational age. We’re into the single digits in weeks on our countdown to going home. I realize we could go home earlier or later — and the doctor told me the other day that if things keep going the way they are, she sees us going home much earlier — but until we get closer to having a better ETA, I’m using our due date to avoid getting my hopes up.
Emmett had another good day today. His weight is up 60 grams, finally bringing him over the 3 lb mark! His hematocrit levels are also up 5 points, so the Epo seems to be doing its job. He’ll stay on it at least another week and then they’ll reevaluate.
E got to “nuzzle” again during kangaroo care today. He did more rooting than yesterday and even a tiny bit of sucking, but didn’t officially latch. Great progress. The only bad part was when they were putting him back, the moisture in his cannula backed up into his nose a bit and he stopped breathing. Babies this young don’t typically aspirate, thankfully, but their bodies’ response to getting water in their airway is to just stop breathing. Which is also scary. The nurse had to pull his cannula out and stimulate him a bit to get him going again. It was only for a few seconds, but they felt like an eternity.
He’s still having a few more events than I would like, which is only more noticeable due to the good streak we had last week. But we’re told repeatedly that he’s doing really well, especially for a “wimpy white boy.” I’ve had multiple NICU staff point out that statistically, Caucasian males have the most problems and longest stays in the NICU. Conversely, black females typically do the best. There aren’t any conclusive studies that explain why this may be, but it is statistically accurate. So not only is Emmett doing great for how early he was born, but he’s doing so in spite of his race and sex. He should grow out of these events as he gets older and bigger, so growth is still our biggest goal.
Keeping up with the Hoffmans 