Day 51 - Primary Care Team, Pacifiers, and Patience

Friday, February 19, 2021

After the blood transfusion yesterday James was able to have his IV and NIRS removed today. The NIRS was in place to study the effects of blood transfusions on regional tissue oxygenation in preemies. Less lines, yay! His oxygen settings have been higher today starting at about 45-55, needing to go to 70 during his evening Hands-On, and now napping at 65. This evening's weigh-in was at 1580 grams (3lbs 7oz)!! 📈💗🏋️‍♂️

Mom was able to have one-on-one time with the top up twice today for 30 minutes each. Baby James received some good reiki energy and enjoyed his pacifier. Video below. 

It is now noted in Jimmy's chart 📝that he is pretty fussy about having a dirty diaper. So now that is the first place we look when he is upset. He has also been setting a record for going through the most number of diapers (lol we're guessing). Typically at each diaper change we are using two to three diapers! It just keeps coming! 🧷

Sweet Baby James is now on the Primary Care Team. ⚕️ This decision was made maybe a week or two ago but we didn't mentioned it here yet. This means that there is more focus and attention on his care being that his lungs are so critical and he will have a long stay in the NICU. There is a select number of doctors that will discuss his care more frequently. 👩🏼‍⚕️👨🏻‍⚕️We also signed a contract with a nurse to become our primary day shift nurse. For those families that will have a long stay in the NICU they are recommended to choose a primary nurse for continuity. She has been taking excellent care of James when she has had him on her service and also allows us to be very much involved during hands-on. 👐🏻 He definitely recognizes her voice and we are excited to be working with her for the duration of his stay. It will be a very exciting graduation day! 🎓

Another note it is very sweet to hear several of these nurses tell us that they had James about a month ago and they can't believe how big he is now and that "he is so cute!". Jimmy is so expressive, always using his eyebrows. 👶🏻 He is becoming a NICU favorite. 😘

Give you an idea about how many machines are in the room.