6 Days...

Another day down and one day closer to surgery. Only 6 more days.

Today was a normal day on the Pediatric Medical Unit. The nurse was in by 7:30am, the pediatric resident was in by 8:00am. The whole team was in to see Ben and discuss his progress. How he was doing on his medication and if the cream was helping the dry skin on his poor little face.

Feeds have continued as normal, trial by bottle first followed by top up NG feeds. I am now a pro at the feeding pump and have actually been showing the nurses a few tricks I've learned along the way. Ben is back up to taking 2 ounces or more by mouth every feed during the day. His weight continues to climb and he is up to 4.190 Kg as of this morning.

The dietitian came in and discussed a care plan. It looks like Ben is far surpassing their expectations for weight gain. We all agree to not change anything prior to his surgery. After his surgery she feels the NG will slowly be discontinued. This gives me hope that with a lot of hard work with Ben we can get him feeding and gaining weight totally by mouth and get rid of the tube within the next few months.

I have been working with Ben to help him develop his jaw muscles. The doctors have suggested a minimum of ten minutes of sucking on his bottle at his feeds, allowing him to use his soother and facial massage. I have been allowing Ben to stay on his bottle for up to 25-30 minutes if he is interested and offer his soother while the feeding pump is infusing. I am sure poor Ben thinks his mother is on drugs by the look he gives me when I try to massage his jaw and cheeks. Only 6 days.

This time next week we will be post surgery. T - 6 days....