Feed Me!

Jenn held Lewis for a good long time this morning - he stayed in a pretty good mood while we were there. Around lunchtime, he went downstairs for the barium study. The surgeons were satisfied with what they saw on the x-rays, so far the stitches in his stomach appear to be holding well. Armed with those results, the surgeon removed the repogle tube Lewis had in (a suction line to help drain his stomach) and replaced it with a naso-gastric feeding tube. Lewis started on very small feedings by dinnertime - about 3 ml/h so far.

Feeding will progress very slowly, until we understand what Lewis can handle. We had a long talk with the head doctor about feeding possibilities today. He prepared us that it could take quite a long time, and there's some chance that Lewis would need to spend some time in a stepdown facility, after the NICU, before he comes home. The good news is that kids can come home with full feeds via NG tube, or full feeds through an IV, or anywhere in between. Many of the feeding limitations may improve as Lewis grows.

In other news, Lewis moved back into a crib today (he had been on an open, warmer type bed). He seems much more comfortable and is spending most of his time lounging in a "boppy pillow" that gets him in a more upright position. Besides feeding, his main project is quitting morphine, not so easy, since he's been on narcotic pain meds for a couple of weeks straight, now. They are very slowly cutting his dose. He seems to be okay so far, but the nurses are keeping a very close eye on things and not pushing him too hard.