finger feeding

we went to meet with the lactation consultant today.. eidan hasnt been latching ever since we took him home from the hospital.. he would take 2 sucks and then fall asleep or scream frantically while shaking his head..

i understand that it could be because he was mostly bottlefed pumped breastmilk while he was in the NICU.. however, even when we're feeding him through the bottle, the plastic nipple would sometimes collapse to the point where he can no longer suck any milk anymore..

the lactation consultant observed that eidan's tongue was flat rather than cupped when he tries to suck.. which makes it more difficult for him to take milk from the breast or the bottle.. given that, she taught us how to do finger feeding..

how is it done?

a very thin tube connected to a milk bottle (that's positioned like an IV bottle) is taped on the index finger.. the finger is then held, pad side up, into the baby's mouth.. this would eventually teach him to use his tongue better when feeding..

first pedia visit

Eidan had his first visit to the pediatrician last Saturday.

His appointment was at 915am but we were already up by 6am. We didnt know how much time it would take us to prepare everything - take a bath, eat, feed him, prepare his stuff etc. Fortunately, we were able to make it on time. Actually with 5 minutes to spare. =D

The visit was pretty quick. They got his stats - weight, temperature, height. Then the last small piece of his belly button fell off. But since there was a very small portion that seems to be bleeding, the doctor cauterized it using silver nitrate.

We got to ask our list of questions (yes, I made a list) - about his feeding, his being nasal most of the time, how to remove boogers, the definition of 'worse' when it comes to spitting and vomitting (we have to know the proper time to panic. lol!).

As for the removal of snots, they showed us how to shoot saline up eidan's nose and then clean it out with the bulb syringe.

Also, they we're trying to wean us out of some of the things we learned in the NICU.. like sterilizing everything. Apparently, that's not needed anymore. The good old soap and warm water will do. They also suggested that we changed the nipple that we're currently using to feed eidan. The nipples that we got from the NICU are now too soft for him. We need to get the regular slow flow white nipples.

Now we have a new list of questions. Good thing we have another appointment this Friday. =)

homeward bound

finally, we're on our way home!!!

we bought a chocolate fudge cake to mark this milestone.. in addition to that we gave away some souvenirs to the nurses and doctors who took very good care of eidan for seven weeks..

now we get to take care of eidan ourselves.. im expecting it to be challenging at first but im sure it will all be worth it..

here we go!