Thursday, April 27, 2006

What a Big Shot!

Gus is receiving his first round of immunizations this week - shots in those pudgy drumsticks! Gus' two month birthday was yesterday (4/26/06) and he is really healthy right now so it is time to start. Gus' nurse Susie has given him some Tylenol to help him feel better after his shots but it sounds like he can make some noise when being poked!

We decided not to do skin-to-skin care today because Gus was a little agitated due to the shots. Here he is about to take the pacifier while he is fed. This helps him associate sucking with having his tummy filled. Gus' feeding has been increased to 33ml over 1/2 hour! This is a big jump - it is more than an ounce over that short period of time which simulates bottle or breast feeding. It looks like Gus will move to gravity feed through his tube soon which is still faster. Indications are that he may try bottle feeding next week some time. Wow!

Gus is up to 3 lb 13.5 oz today. The increased feeds just keep adding up so quickly. We had been told that the time between 3 and 4 pounds would go quickly. Looking back, Gus weighed 2 lb 12 oz on April 12 so he has gained a whole pound in just two weeks! Gus continues to do OK on the cannula oxygen feed. He didn't have as many heart rate or respiration rate drop episodes today as yesterday. (Update morning of 4/28 - he had twice as many last night as he had all day...) Please keep Gus and his "pod-mates" in your prayers, especially KK, VE and MH. They are all at critical phases of their development and need all the support we can give.


It Hurts Me More Than It Hurts You,
Gregg, Jill and Gus

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope Gus is doing well after his shots. Braden had 4 shots last Friday at his 2 month (actually 10 weeks) visit. He slept all day on Friday, waking up only to eat and take baby tylenol, slept great Friday night, had a slight fever on Saturday and then was not his usual self until Tuesday. But my happy boy is back. Hope Gus does as well or better with his shots! I love the picture from yesterday!!!

Anonymous said...

Poor little Gus, having to get his shots. That's not fun, and as you said, it hurts Mom and Dad more than it hurts him! I cried when all 3 of mine got their shots. Well, at least the first round of them.

Good luck with the walk tomorrow! I'll be thinking of all of Gus' Gang!

Anonymous said...

I remember those dreaded shots. At the doctor's office, it was a real assembly line. They would put the three boys in line on the table and different nurses would give the different shots to the boys one after the other. Good luck with the walk tomorrow. We will be out of town. The boys have a soccer tournament this weekend. Yes, they do grow fast. We can hardly believe we have 3 fourteen-year-olds!
A big hug to all three of you!

Karin A-J