A new doctor is in service this weekend (that's usually the case). He made some changes with Lewis' feeding and medication today. The doctor has upped the pace of the feedings, increasing them 2 ml/h every twelve hours. Lewis was getting 9 ml/h today, and he'll be getting 11 by this evening. Both Jenn and I discussed this with the doctor - his reasoning seems sound, so off we go. He is anxious to get Lewis up to full feedings as soon as possible, in hopes that they can remove the PICC (IV) line, which is a potential source of infection. Lewis will be monitored closely - if/when he is unable to digest the volume of milk, they will back him off to the last good feeding level. This new strategy was a little hard for me to accept at first, given the expectations of the prior doctor. Still, it represents a positive change in outlook - the new doc is convinced that Lewis can handle full feedings. I hope he's right.
In other news, the drain on Lewis right side was removed today, another good step. The new doc also cut his morphine down to "as needed" only. Lewis did well all day without a dose. When I spoke to the nurse just now, she said he was "inconsolable" when Jenn left tonight - so he got his only dose of the day so far. Morphine is a poor substitute for Jenn, but I can't blame him, I'd hit the sauce too ;)
Lewis hasn't shown much interest in his pacifier the last day or two. The nurses have suggested dum-dums (lollipops). Apparently they're often used to help develop positive associations and work on sucking in little babies. We'll see what the speech therapist thinks of that on Monday.
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