The Cubby Chronicles XXVI

Note: Jacob Raymond Walker was born 12 weeks prematurely at Duke University Hospital the morning of Monday, May 19 2008. The following are updates, notes, & observations on his growth & development.

It's been a quiet holiday weekend here at Duke University hospital. Jake's really had a wonderful week as his breathing continues to be excellent and he's working on putting on some weight as well. He's also growing fonder of his pacifier, which he tries to keep a grip on. Hopefully he'll settle into this pattern so he can just rest up, put on weight, and grow until we can take him home.

In the respiratory department, Jake's been on the nasal cannula unit (definition in the handy glossary) for the 2 & half weeks. As correctly mentioned previously, the NC is the weakest form of breathing support and the doctors have been steadily turning down the dial of airflow help. However, as incorrectly mentioned previously, only now is Jake at its very lowest setting (.5 liters/min), while before he was actually at 1.5 liters/min.

He's still doing well on the (true) lowest setting & assuming that continues through tonight, he'll be off it entirely and back to breathing on his own. He's had a couple of stints breathing himself (the first was right after he was born which earned him the 'rock star' moniker), but hopefully this should be the final switch. Breathing without assistance is important not only because it would be a pain to lug around an NC machine for life, but its also a prerequisite for the exciting world of bottle feeding, which he would start soon.

The other goal is to put on weight and Jake's doing a pretty good job in that department too. Since his allergy scare, he's been on pure breast milk without any additives or fortifiers that add extra calories & nutrients. Still, even without the extras, he's now up to 2 pounds, 14 ounces and we can see that he's noticeably fuller in his face & extremities. Certainly he's still pretty skinny but its nice that his face is more rounded & his ribs aren't so prominent. We'll say that now he's less Manute Bol & more Kevin Garnett,

The only 'new' development is we've now given him his first 'big boy' bath. He gets them twice a week and all his previous baths were of the sponge variety and done within his isolette. On Thursday we actually put him in a little tub of water & gave him a proper scrub down. He may have been less than thrilled during the process but he calmed down well afterwards. We repeated the process today and he was much more calm so we think they're growing on him....

Addendum:

• Big thanks to our good friends Stephanie & Nathan who were not only kind enough to grill up a classic 4th of July meal (burgers, corn, & potato salad) for us but schedule it to fit right in TCN dinner break. Hope everyone had a good holiday....