John and Debbie - Happily Ever After ...: Landen's stay in the NICU - Part 2 (9/6

After our amazing day on Monday, John and I could hardly wait to get back to the hospital Tuesday to see how Landen was doing. When we got there Laurie told us that he was still doing great and that they had been able to keep increasing the amount of formula he was getting through his tube. One new development was that they had checked his bilirubin levels and found that he had some jaundice. It was a little over 14 and they wanted it to be at 12 max. He would need to go into a baby "tanning bed" for a day or so to help his body break down the bilirubin. This is super common amongst all babies, not just premature ones, and his levels weren't really that high. The doctor said the danger zone doesn't really kick in until about 18. They planned to get him under the light later that day. Laurie also told us that Landen was going to be getting a new home. The room he was in was for the sickest of the NICU babies and he was leaps and bounds ahead of the others. There was a new baby coming in that needed his spot so he got bumped. Landen moved to another NICU room with babies that were in less serious conditions. By that afternoon they had him under the blue light to help his jaundice. He wasn't too happy about having to wear something on his face again but he did well. I laughed when I saw him because he'd spread out in there and it looked like he was laying on a beach tanning.

Getting some "sun".

He's giving us the 'ok' sign.

They let him take a break so we could have our first skin-to-skin time. All babies benefit from this, but especially preemies. I was so excited! (Cue the tears, of course.) It was such a great peaceful bonding experience. I felt so close to him.

He was pretty happy too.

We were told before we left that Landen was being moved again already. There was a new NICU that opened up in the children's hospital side of the building and they were starting to transition babies over there. The nurses were all excited about it and said it was really nice. When we arrived on Wednesday we got to see it for ourselves ... it was great!! The babies each had their own cubicle complete with a rocking chair. Landen stayed here for the rest of his stay and we loved it! When we got there John was able to have his first skin-to-skin time with Landen. It was so precious watching them together. It made me heart melt.

About lunchtime the doctor had our nurse, Maricar move Landen's feeding tube from his mouth to his nose so he could try to start feeding from a bottle. Woohoo!! Maricar gave him the first bottle so she could monitor his sucking. He did pretty well but didn't get through very much of it. She lavaged what he didn't finish. After that feeding though he did better and better. He was a champ! In fact, that night I got feed him! We were so excited. A little scared, but mostly excited. It was the first of many bottles to come.

First bottle feeding with Maricar