MAY 6TH

Today I got to bottle feed Ryan all by myself (well with the OT/PT there), but it was exciting. I had a little trouble getting started, but ending up doing well with him. Ryan doesn't just take a bottle easily like a full-term healthy baby. He has had to learn to suck, then swallow, then breathe. As I've mentioned before, he sometimes doesn't do them in that order or he forgets to breathe. He is much better now that he is being bottle fed 3 times per day. There is a scale from 1 - 10 and he usually gets a 5, which is a poor. However, lately he has been getting 6 & 7's which is fair. We'll keep working on it with him and both of us will get the hang of it soon.

Ryan is still retaining fluid so the doctor is giving him a diuretic again. They will keep an eye on it and see if they need to do anything else. Ryan is also still having some breathing issues. He is still on the low flow nasal cannula. They have tried him on room air and he doesn't do well yet.

We are hopeful that Ryan will be able to come home in 2 weeks. He will most likely come home on a monitor for his heart rate and breathing. He will probably have some issues for a while, but we will deal with them. The hospital will give us any training needed before Ryan comes home. We are a little nervous about it, but once we know what we are dealing with we will be OK.

Please keep Ryan and our family in your thoughts and prayers!

Lisa