Day 2 Update

Dear family,

First cuddle with Daddy - 23 March

Our roller coaster ride of sudden parenthood continues.  Luka had a splendid day on the 24th of March, his first full second day.  This is something for which we are grateful although also awfully aware will not always be the case. 
 Briefly:

1. He was still being treated for jaundice (normal levels for someone of his and even older gestational age), but the last test last night showed him below the levels needing radiation, so perhaps if that is sustained in this morning's test, the blue light and silly sunglasses can come off;
2. He is definitely his daddy's boy - being HUNGRY all the time, which is good.  Most of the preemies in the room with him are many weeks ahead of him and still struggling with milk.  Luka has an extraordinarily strong sucking reflex, so much so that we have decided, against earlier intentions, to give him a pacifier to stimulate that reflex - he has been informed that it isonly because he is so early that he is getting away with that... more importantly, his tummy seems to be tolerating food well enough that he has already been fed exclusively on my expressed breast milk as of less than 24-hours.  Yesterday morning while Chris was holding him, he decided that the tube down his throat was no longer needed, and yanked it out right from his stomach.  Unfortunately for him, he still needs the tube to feed, but it is now in his nose, leaving his mouth free to suckle and try the breast. Remember, our milestones now come in minutes and mililiters, we we started out with 2ml every 6 hours, then 4 hours, and as of last night, 2 hourly.  The most amazing feat for us yesterday however was when the little guy got a great latch on the breast and even suckled a few times - which most of the staff could not believe a 31-weeker would do, so we will continue to try him on the breast first, and then 'top-up' with expressed milk.  He was weighed last night and will likely have dropped a few grams, which again is not uncommon for any baby, but more so for preemies - we are positive that his little appetite will put the grams back on quickly.  
3. Breathing and heart rate remains strong, and more importantly, constant.  While he was on the CPAP machine his HR was a little low, so we figured he was trying to beat his grandma Julie the marathon runner...but now that he has no respiratory assistance whatsoever, his HR is in normal range. 
4. We continue to spend about 10+ hours at the hospital, and provide as much skin-to-skin care (kangaroo care) as possible with alternating between my and Chris' bare chest - I told Chris the amazing thing is now that he gets to help 'grow' Luka for us, and boy oh boy does the little guy love that furry chest....(see photo of the day attached).
5. Luka's brain ultrasound came back negative for bleeding - this is a test they do at a few days, then a week and then 3 weeks to make sure there is no bleeding on the brain - so far so good.
6. He is definitely more alert, opening his eyes from time to time, and you can see the concentration as he tries to focus them - we will discuss with the doctors when an appropriate time would be to start introducing charts/pictures for him to focus on

Chris and I continue to process what has happened, I do struggle from time to time with emotions and going to the shopping center yesterday looking for nursing bras might have been a bit much after 48 hours.  My physical condition is great, no complications or concerns so far, my milk came in Day 2, so I am expressing everything Luka needs.  Now I can focus on getting Luka healthy.

Chris has been a rock throughout, he found us a lovely house to rent extremely near the hospital that will make our lives a lot better than living in the Travel Lodge, or one of the dingy 'hostels' frequented by hospital staff.  We believe this will give us time to heal and bond and process the whole thing, while being so close to the hospital.  The hardest part of course is leaving Luka behind every night, but we know he is in much more capable hands at the moment than even we can provide him.

Thank you for your continued support and understanding - and thank you also to everyone for being so sensitive to our request for privacy, it is amazing how we have almost entirely kept the news within our small family circle for now.  We just activated an Internet 3G device that will allow us more regular communications from the hospital during the day, and will start spreading the news a bit wider today.  

Please keep Luka in your prayers, and than you for your love and understanding and support.

Love

Chris, Susan and Luka