Baby Eats!

This morning baby Hunter started eating! 

So far, he has been on an IV that has been keeping his blood sugar levels up since his levels were SO low right after birth. 

Yesterday, Dr. Fransworth the pediatrician that was assigned to us, came in to update Kevin and I about everything they were monitoring on little Hunter. He told us that is vital signs all remain good and he is breathing great and his blood sugars were level steady (because of the IV). He said that he wanted me to start trying to breast feed. Thus far we hadn't been trying because Hunter wasn't showing any signs of being interested in eating and the first time we tried it was so overwhelming for both mommy and baby. 

Right after he was born and it was discovered that his sugars were very low the nurses brought Hunter into me to try to get me to feed. Of course I had never breast fed a baby before so I was expecting/hoping to take it a little slow and get some direction. Instead, the nurses literally forced the baby on me and forced my boobs in his face. When he wasn't showing a desire they started poking him and doing all sorts of things that were irritating him and making me anxious. After just a few minutes they decided it wasn't working and rushed him away. 

I was left feeling helpless and scared. 

When the doctor told us he was put on the IV for the blood sugar levels I was relieved that it would be controlled but still felt like I wasn't able to do one of my fist jobs as a mommy.

Last night I was finally rescued from my feelings of helplessness to be able to feed my baby. The AMAZING nurse Jenn in the NICU called and invited us down before bed to go over what the doctor had planned.

She explained that the doctor wanted me to try and feed Hunter 3-4 times a day. She said that the nurses score the baby throughout the day and so far Hunter had really shown no signs of wanting to eat. The scale is from 1-4. 1- Being alert and anxious and looking for food. 4- Showing NO interest at all. Hunter had been a 3 since he was born. I explained how overwhelmed I felt trying to feed him at first and she said that we did not have to force it. 

We came up with a plan that instead of me just coming down whenever to see if he wanted to eat, she would CALL me when Hunter woke up and had his eyes open and was more alert and in the mean time I would continue to pump so we could get him the food through a feeding tube if he wasn't ready to nurse. 

I instantly felt good about this plan because I just knew little Hunter would come around and let us know when he was ready. And that is JUST what happened.

At 2am this morning I woke up to pump and as soon as I got everything hooked up, Jenn called and said Hunter was awake and to come on down. 

Kevin was asleep so I walked myself down to the NICU trying to motivate myself that baby and I could do this!

When I arrived little Hunter had his eyes wide open, was sucking on his pacifier and looked right over at me when he heard my voice! I instantly was hopeful. 

Jenn was so amazing and I was so glad that she took the time to help me get this little guy going (Unfortunately the lactation specialist isn't in on the weekend, but I think Jenn was awesome). I was able to take my time and try different positions until I and baby were both comfortable. Hunter eventually latched to BOTH sides. I was ecstatic. Not a ton of sucking once he latched and Jenn reassured me that it could take a few attempts for him to figure out the WHOLE process. She reminded me when he gets hungry enough let us know and will eat. 

It was such a good feeling to not only help my son start eating like he should, but also just finally to HOLD him and be with him. 

Since Hunter didn't actually get any food the first time he did have to be fed through the tube. 

Feeding Tube sounds so scary, especially in a little baby. You just imagine this HUGE uncomfortable nasty thing taken up his lung space. Luckily, the tube is actually a tiny little thing they put in his stomach through his nose and it just extends out a little over his shoulder. 

This morning we got a call from his new nurse, Nancy, that he was awake again and that we should come try to feed him. Kevin went with me this time and having the confidence from the last feeding I was so excited to see how he did. 

It was awesome! Hunter latched right away to the first side. I had actually just pumped so we weren't thinking he would get anything but Nancy got out the scale so we could see afterwards. He stayed on the first side sucking a lot more then the previous feeding and so it was really cool to see him really trying. We switched sides and it was like he had been doing this all a long. Nancy weighed him again right after he ate and based on the scale she said that he got 4ml during that feeding! Success! 

It was such a great feeling. Both Kevin and I were comforted to know our little guy is strong and is gonna start getting better real soon. 

This morning we are waiting for the doctor to update us on all of the tests that were done on his heart. The tests were sent to a specialist at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake so we have had to wait for her to review them. Waiting is the worst part, however we are so hopeful and at peace, especially since his successful feedings this morning.

Thank you for all of the continued prayers on behalf of our little Hunter. He still looks so good and we just know the Lord is watching out for him and hopefully soon we can take him home!