Emmett is now 5 weeks old and weighed in tonight at 3 lbs. 3 oz. The weight gain makes me really happy. For one, gaining has always been our biggest goal since his other issues should work themselves out as he grows. But also, seeing those numbers go up provides a tangible measure of progress that I can fully understand. Unlike all the other numbers that leave my head spinning, weight = good. And the closer he gets to weighing what a term baby would weigh, the better.
He’s still having some oxygen saturation issues, and they turned his cannula flow down to 4 liters today, which may be contributing, or at least didn’t help. All day we were chasing the numbers. They’d turn his oxygen down and he’d desat. So they’d turn it up and he’d high-sat. Lather, rinse, repeat. But he’s at 21% currently and satting nicely so hopefully we’ve turned a corner.
He’ll need to get down to 2 liters before we can truly attempt breastfeeding, though the nuzzling we’re doing during kangaroo time is still going really well and he did quite a bit more actual sucking today. Still not officially feeding, but he was definitely pacifying. The nurses are impressed with his progress, and it just felt really normal and natural to have him there like that. It’s funny the things you take for granted until you’re thrown into a situation like this where “normal” is rare and momentous.
Keeping up with the Hoffmans 
He is doing so well because he knows how much he is loved and cared for