Rowan is two and a half. That’s halfway to five. More than halfway to kindergarten.
I wonder, sometimes, if I expect less of him than I did when Lorelei was his age. Am I letting his former preemie status stand in his way? Or is he just a different kid, with different strengths?
This morning Zach and I headed to the hospital one final time. We got there around 8:45. They did rounds on him first, then brought us paperwork to go over, and then we were on our way! I had to be wheeled down in a wheel chair, since our car seat isn’t an infant bucket seat. The nurses mentioned several times how very ready he was to go home. Maybe they knew how terrifying it is to go from 24/7 monitoring to… nothing. The NP mentioned during rounds that I’m good at pacing him when he eats. I’ve noticed that he is starting to remember to breathe between swallows, rather than gulp gulp gulping and then catching his breath.
Soon, hopefully.
The doctor said possibly this weekend. There are so many things that can prolong the stay that I’m very wary of getting my hopes up.
Just some random bits and pieces.
The nurses and doctors are all impressed at his nursing ability. One of the doctors mentioned twice that he had a latch score of ten. I just assumed she was just saying that as an expression. But evidently that is an actual scoring system. And preemies don’t usually get tens. His latch really is great. I think that his latch is better at one month (negative 3.5 weeks adjusted) that Lorelei’s was… ever. Though, I’m basing this partly on my lack of pain, and since I’m only nursing him twice a day it really isn’t a fair comparison.
After one false start, the ng tube is gone! It is possible that it will have to be put back in, but we are giving it a trial run to see how he does with ad lib feeding. So far he’s doing pretty well. But poor baby is really gassy and clearly has an upset tummy. The two aren’t related, but it is too bad his first day of all oral feeds is also a day he doesn’t feel great.