Toby Robert Conger
The party started early!Holding Toby for the First Time
Posted on October 30, 2007
There’s nothing sweeter in life than holding your baby for the first time! And when you get to show off your bundle of joy to his godparents, it’s even sweeter.
We arrived at the NICU to find that Toby had been moved from NICU #1 to NICU #2. The difference between these two NICU’s is that new babies and the sicker ones all stay in NICU #1. When the babies start getting better, they get moved to NICU #2 and that is where Toby had been moved.
The nurse also told us that Toby is now a whopping 2 pounds, 5.5 ounces and his feedings have been increased from 20 mL to 22 mL every 3 hours.
Thank you to everyone who has been praying – keep it coming because it’s working!
Grandma Marilyn visits Toby
Posted on October 28, 2007
Colleen’s mom visited Toby today and spent time just marveling at her newest grandson. Colleen’s brother has 2 sons of his own so Toby makes the 3rd grandson for her.
Toby is still holding at 2 lbs., 4 oz. but as his feedings increase (which today they went from 19 mL to 20 mL), we’re expecting his weight to slowly increase too. The neonatologist tells us that it’s a slow process for preemies to gain weight, but over time, Toby will start packing on the pounds.
I’ve graduated to a new bed!
Posted on October 27, 2007
There’s been a lot of activity today. Toby moved into a brand new bed called an Isolette/Incubator (see the above picture.) The nurse tells us that it’s a step up from my OmniBed (the bed Toby’s been in since he was born 2 weeks ago.)
The nurse also informed us that Toby’s feedings have been increased yet again from 18 mL per feeding (every 3 hours) to 19 mL. He’s still holding his weight at 2 lbs. 4 oz., but has gained back the 10 grams he lost yesterday. Also, the doctor is trying to wean Toby off of the VapoTherm. This causes his breathing to be a bit more labored, but that’s expected because he was born so early.
More is more…
Posted on October 26, 2007Today Toby’s feeding has been ratcheted up to 17 ml per 3 hours and will bump up to 18 ml tomorrow. At this rate he needs no additional fluids so the line they were using for that (called a PIC line) has been removed! He’d had this since delivery.
He’s still on a little bit of breathing assistance, but other than that, he’s holding his own just fine.
That’s all for today. No changes that warrant a photo.
Sleepy Boy
Posted on October 25, 200712 days old and still going strong. The neonatologist ordered another x-ray this morning to make sure the fluid in Toby’s lungs was going away. There is still a little bit left, so respiratory therapy is giving him treatments of albuterol to help him breath better.
Toby is a hungry little fella’ too. His feedings have been increased yet again from 14 mL to 16 mL every 3 hours. It’s a wonderful feeling to know that even though I can’t feed him yet myself, he is getting the benefit of mommy’s milk in his tummy and that will help him put on weight.
More food, less fluid, better air!
Posted on October 24, 2007
Well, the Tobymeister is lovin’ Mommy’s milk so much they bumped him to 14ml per 3 hour feeding. As a comparison, he was at 12ml for the past day or two and at 4ml per feeding at birth. As a result of this increase his IV fluid has been reduced accordingly. Lastly, the CPAP “scuba” gear has been exchanged for a gadget called a “VapoTherm” which provides less breathing support (meaning he doesn’t need as much.)
Various tests such as XRays and blood tests still occur regularly especially after changes to fluid and air. It’s this level of attention to detail that brings up our confidence in the NICU staff and procedures.
The picture is from today. He’s on his tummy most of the time for better breathing. They tell us that preemies breathe better in this position.
A little too much fluid
Posted on October 23, 2007Yesterday, the neonatologist informed us that Toby had some fluid in his lungs. Nothing terrible, but it needed to be addressed so they reduced his food fluid intake a bit, gave him a dose of a diuretic, and placed him back on the CPAP machine that makes him look like a scuba diver. This combination did the trick. His food fluid intake has been restored to previous levels.
As a precaution they performed an ultrasound on his heart this morning which came back normal.
He’s just as wriggly as ever! (and it seems he’s a bit ticklish!)
Welcome to Toby’s world!
Posted on October 20, 2007Take a look around and make yourself at home.