Big Boys Don’t Cry! They Take Bottles!

Big excitement this week! Max had a milestone moment… He has come a long way from a 1.5 mL tube feed to a 28 mL tube feed to his first bottle! Usually babies start to develop the suck-swallow-breathe reflex coordination between 32 and 34 weeks (gestational age). The doctors and nurses gauge when babies are ready to try a bottle by watching them with their pacifiers. Well Max has become best friends with his pacifier and wowed several nurses with his sucking reflex. Therefore, I decided to ask a little prior to 32 weeks when we could give the bottle feeding a go- and got the green light! Max took his first 5 mL bottle on Monday. The doctors had okayed one try a day so Max also took a 5 mL bottle on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday morning we got more good news: they approved a PO-NG order. This means each feeding time that Max is alert they will let him try to take as much as he can from the bottle and tube feed the remainder. While I didn’t expect his first bottle today to be all 28 mL, I was surprised he took a whopping 10 mL on the first attempt. Later that afternoon he took 14 mL! Grow, Max, grow! He is one seriously determined little man!




While Max is growing and changing daily, he also looks different for another reason: he is wearing clothes! I’ve grown so used to a naked baby (okay, diapered baby) that it is so funny to see him in little onesies. His first outfit was from the hospital since we had little warning that this day was coming. He wore a little white jacket with the Children’s Hospital logo on the back. We joked about it being a doctor’s coat or a robe for a trip to the Baby Day Spa. His current attire is a bit too big due partially to the lack of preemie gear readily available and partially due to how much easier it is to pull a newborn onesie up over his NICU hardware. Big thanks to the Rosics for sending preemie clothes found online, Grandma Mary for making some tiny attire, and Grandma Kim for washing all the gear twice to make it NICU safe.

We are sorry that we didn’t post sooner. We are much busier than you might think. John is working again (and driving home to do so!) and I am trying to finish off my Master’s degree while getting more opportunities to participate in Max’s care. And, of course, we try to occasionally take time to enjoy a sunshiny day, get a haircut, or read a book. It’s hard to be away, but also important for one’s mental health! I think our new philosophy with the blog will be shorter posts so we can hopefully post more often. Thanks again for thinking of our family. We are working hard and continuing to learn along the way (ALL of us!).