Becoming a Big Boy

Today and this evening Katy and I had the chance to do several things differently than before with Zac. For one, they let us give him a bath in an actual tub of water, which he did very well with. Also, they've weighed him before with us and let us help, but hadn't measured him before while we were there.

Zac is now 5 pounds even and has grown 3/4" in the last week, so he's now up to 18" long! Way to go Zac! We're pretty pumped about this change in length. I don't think either of us were expecting him to have grown so much, so soon. That makes 1' 1/4" in almost 3 weeks, so that seems pretty good. And being up to 5 pounds is great, meaning he's gained 1 lb. 4 oz. since he was born, and really, in the past 2 weeks. That's a good rate and the nurses are happy about that.

Today, they switched Zac from a continuous feed to what they call a bolus feeding, which means changing his rate of feeding. Before, he received 42ml over 3 hours. In English, 30ml equals an ounce, so 42ml is a little over 1 1/3 ounces. Now, he receives that same 42ml over a 2-hour period, then has an hour off before they do it all over again. This helps him get used to taking in more food at once, closer to how regular meals will be.

So we were excited a bit at this change, until Katy asked the nurse tonight when he'd be able to start trying from a bottle (and Katy) instead of through the feeding tube. The nurse thought it'd be a good idea to try the bottle tonight after we'd given him his bath, since he was due for his feeding. Sweet! So she put the 42ml in a bottle and Katy let me feed Zac. He took it like he'd always been drinking from a bottle, which was very exciting! He had no trouble burping and by the time we left, he hadn't spit up anything either, so that was also good. Now, he took the bottle in 15 minutes, too, and then collapsed in tiredness. :)

I'll be curious to find out tomorrow if he wanted to eat again sooner than 9pm tonight, which would've been when he was next due to get a feeding. I also hope the nurses take the time to continue trying to bottle feed tonight to see if he takes to it full-time. If we find out they didn't when we arrive tomorrow, we'll check into what happened to make sure they continue to try.

So that's it for tonight. Weather-permitting in Kansas City, Zac's big sister Claire and her sister Abby will be able to see him this weekend. I know they are excited about it but so am I! Can't wait for Zac to get to meet his big sister and Abby as well. :)