Day 3 Update: Daddy's first diaper change

Dear family, 

Daddy's first diaper change. Ever.

A little later than yesterday, but here is a brief update on Luka's third day (25 March 2011).

We continue to do 'Kangaroo Care' for approximately 10 hours every day, meaning bare skin-to-skin contact for Luka with either Susan or Chris.  

Feeding: Yesterday the little man had another great attempt at the breast, and managed to latch long enough to get a good couple of suckles in.  The most promising progress is his current trend of digesting food well enough to receive continuously increased amounts (considering we started with 0.5ml of colostrum on a cotton swap a mere 4 days ago, to now being able to tolerate 10ml of breast milk every 2 hours via the tube to his tummy - what he gets from mommy is a bonus)

Breathing and other vitals: Remains strong, still no need for oxygen and other assistance - though we had to recalibrate our own attention to the alarms yesterday when Luka got a little 'too comfy' on a chest and his breathing slowed - it was nothing to be concerned about, he corrects this himself, just his jumpy parents with alarms that don't mix well right now.  The good thing is that he does correct it, and then the alarm resets - but upsetting to rookies nonetheless.

Jaundice: His jaundice was low enough yesterday to be removed from under the light, but it is expected that it might return again for a bit more treatment before he rids his body of all the hemoglobin (increased feeding will help);

Medication: After clean blood screens, he was taken off all medication including antibiotics, and presently only receives some glucose through a drip to augment the feeds, again, as feeds are increasing, this is decreasing so we are hopeful to 'graduate' from another pipe soon (this one makes changing and snuggling particularly difficult)

First family portrait

Luka continues to amaze us every day, considering he was born somewhere between 30-31 weeks, and most nurses and doctors don't expect a baby to have the ability to coordinate breathing, sucking and swallowing necessary for feeding until around 34 weeks.  We are eternally grateful for his progress, and are slowly settling into that unmistakable bond that one can only ever imagine if you have lived through it.  For now, Luka has short 'awake' spells when we try and put him on the breast, or we change him.  Chris did a magnificent job of his first diaper change yesterday ever.  He simply walked in and said 'I'm determined to change my first diaper today' and then did an excellent job, despite his hands being far bigger than Luka's entire backside.  

Susan continues to do well, emotionally still a little rough around the edges, but Days 3-5 are apparently rough with the hormones all over the place.  Chris remains ready with snacks, chocolates and tissues pretty much on demand for which Susan is very grateful.

Camping out in the Special Care Nursery (SCN)

Good news is that we have secured a house to rent close to the hospital which will make our living situation a lot easier than being in a TravelLodge 20 mins away.  

Attached are some photos from yesterday.  Once again, thank you to each and every text message, email message and phone call we have received.  We appreciate your love and support.  Also, we have not yet managed to send out the wider distribution email to our friends around the world but we intend to do so tonight - you will also be on that list - once that is out, the 'Facebook ban' is lifted.  As always, we really appreciate your understanding.

Much, much love

Chris, Susan and Luka