Day 38 (30)

I’m amazed that we’ve made it to 30 weeks (gestational age)…

Seems like just yesterday we were tracking Asher’s heartbeat from inside mom’s tummy…

Like we just had “the talk”…

We’re praying that Asher is home with us in 10 weeks!

6:04am – Text Message

“Good morning mom and dad! I had a phenomenal night, I was such a good boy and had no desats or bradys! My gas was good this morning so they will probably wean me a little bit, or so they say…I don’t understand everything they talk about 🧐

I had a nice real big poop all by myself and my belly is looking great despite the doctors fortifying my feeds again
Even though I had a big poop I still gained weight tonight and weigh 940 grams…I’m getting so close to the big 1KG!

Don’t worry even though nurse Kelly wasn’t my bedside nurse, she checked in on me about every hour and she even had me do a little photo shoot!

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I’ve learned over the last couple days that I love my pacifier so so so much, it’s my new favorite thing!

Love you mom and dad and can’t wait to see you later!“
Xoxo
-Asher

6:53am – Nurse Update

His paci is his all time favorite thing! He “goes to town on it” lol! It’s helped calm him down when he gets over stimulated…

His 3pm blood transfusion from yesterday went well. They draw so much blood from him for labs and ABG that he needed the “re-up”…

No de-sats or brady’s at all last night…

He’s at a true 940 grams (2lbs) and is measuring at 13″ long. According to our tracking, if he were in utero, he’d be 1,360g (3lbs) and 16″ long. He’s a little behind, but doing well…

Kelly was on delivery duty last night, so his nurse was the first nurse he had here at Sunrise…

They started him back on 4mL/hr feeds at 9pm. Its standard protocol for blood transfusions (waiting 3 hours after blood transfusion is complete to feed). His feeds were bumped up to 22kcal (with fortification) as well. They’re going to take the fortification a little slower this round to make sure his gut can handle it…

10:23am – Phone Call

Dr Lipsky said he’s doing very well!

“He has so much personalty! He’s so active that he’s burning all his calories…”

They’re leaving his feeds at the rate (volume + kcal) they’re at now. They’re watching his gut closely and will be upping the kcal to 24 tomorrow. Its a balancing act because he needs the extra calories for growth, but too much too soon can back him up…

All of the testing they did for Asher’s low sodium came back negative…

What this means is the areas of his brain that would typically be affected by his brain bleed, which would in turn cause the low sodium, show no signs of being affected by the brain bleed…

Cortisol levels were good as well…

They have a couple other tests (testing his adrenal glands) that will happen later to determine whats causing the low sodium. Those cannot happen until he’s been off the DART protocol (steroids) for a few weeks…

Breast milk doesn’t help much in this regard as its naturally low in sodium…

With the TPN coming out, and the PICC coming out soon, it’s simply a matter of adding salt to his feeds until they can diagnose the cause later on…

Dr Lipsky did mention that one of the things it could be is SIADH (Syndrome Of Inappropriate Antidiuretic Hormone Secretion). This is when the body creates too much antidiuretic hormone (ADH) and can cause levels of electrolytes, like sodium, to fall as a result of water retention…

One thing in our favor for this possible outcome is that his urination volume is currently at normal levels…

Thank you Lord for having your hand on Asher’s life thus far. We trust that you know what you’re doing and that every outcome is for your Glory alone…

Dr Lipsky is also VERY pleased with Asher’s rate of growth. He’s right where she wants him to be 🙂

Side note: We asked Dr Lipsky if Asher stays on this track of progress, what can we hypothetically expect for bringing him home…

She said it definitely is on a case by case basic, but the average is 36-37 weeks gestational age…