9-20-06 Quick Update on Burke's Progress



Well, we're slowly getting back on track with the eating and growing. Burke weighs 7# 13oz now! Burke started eating by mouth on Monday and has progressively been able to tolerate more each day. He is now eating 20cc of breastmilk every 3 hours then is on continuous feeding of milk through his new G-tube at night. He continues to receive some of his nutrition via IV until he can tolerate his full feeding into his stomach. Everything is still in the healing process so we're going pretty slow with things and find his balance. He is currently free from infection and no longer needing antibiotics. We continue to care for the wound on his abdomen that was a result of the perferation of his original G-tube...the wound is deep and yucky looking but healing well. Aside from feeding stuff, Burke has managed to sucessfully pull out every tube possible (IV's, PIC lines, G-tubes)...we think he's trying to tell us something like "hey guys, I don't need this stuff anymore...leave me alone and let me go home!" We continue to have hope that we'll be heading home within then next few weeks...yes, we've said this before but we're really hopefull this time! :)

Another exciting breakthrough is that we've been able to spearhead a new creative research project with feeding Burke high calorie breastmilk through a process called lactoengineering. Burke has some "digestive" issues with fortified breastmilk as the formula they use gives him major gas and blowouts (see July posing called Burke Blow outs)! Now we're using the fat from my breastmilk for fortifying so he can easily digest it without all the discomfort (for him and for dad)! We're super excited to pave the way for other premies and parents who may be in this situation with needing more calories for growth but not wanting to use formula to add them! Go Breastmilk...whoo hoo..it really is all babies need to grow!

Please keep us in our prayers as we push through this next week and plan to go home. Burke specfically needs prayers for his stomach and esophagus to continue to heal properly so he can get all of his nutrition by mouth. Please continue to pray that Burke stays free from infection while in the hospital!

Comments

Anonymous said…
We're still praying!! Burke is sooo cute!! I can't wait to meet him. Hopefully soon!!
10:26 AM
D-Lo said…
That's great news! What a cool idea with the "lactoengineering"
11:08 PM
Anonymous said…
We continue to send our prayers and good thoughts to you and little Burke. We are delighted to hear that things are looking brighter. Your patience is remarkable and your baby is adorable. We love this blog system to keep us informed. Looking forward to the next one. Hi to Grandma Julie.

Love to all,
Great Step grands,
Duncan and Ginny
4:45 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

9-26-06 We're Going HOME!

YES, it's official!...we're GOIN HOME! OH MY! In exactly three months Burke has managed three major surgeries, two major procedures,3 nosocomial (hospital acquired) infections, two rounds in the NICU, a million x-rays and florostudies, rounds and rounds of expert opinions and even more trials of ways to feed and gain weight. As of today, Burke has doubled his weight to 8 lbs and is taking in the appropriate amount of milk by a bottle (binky trainer good bye!)! His esophagus and stomach are slowly but surely starting to coordinate themselves appropriately and Burke is now HUNGRY when his tummy is empty and HAPPY when his tummy is full of mommy's milk! We've managed to convince Children's Hospital Surgical Team, Dieticians, Residents and Feeding therapists that premies with surgical complicaton CAN grow and gain weight on breastmilk alone through a process called Lactoengineering...I've even been asked to publish an article for the Journal of Human Lactation a
Read more

7/6/06 Mommy & Baby Burke

Image
Isn't he cute! :) He looks like daddy but with darker hair! He's doing ok today (post heart surgery) but still needs help breathing as his medications for pain cause him to not take as many breaths on his own. We are very very proud of his strength and endurance for the past 10 days of his little life...what a fighter! Thanks for your continued prayers...we feel them!
Read more

8-20-06 Surviving the Hospital

Image
Well...we're still hanging in here at Children's and trucking along in the right direction (homeward bound). We're still just "talking" about going home so there are no official plans yet but we hope it will be sometime later this week. Burke's official due date is Aug 24th so we hope to be going home around then! In order to get there, Burke must gain weight steadily and have stable breathing. His weight gain has been slow but is on the rise and he weighs 6lbs as of yesterday! He continues to have 1 to 2 episodes of oxygen desaturations during the early morning hours which has been somewhat concerning as the doctors can't quite figure out why they're occuring. Burke hasn't been negatively affected by these episodes and doesn't require extra breathing support/oxygen which means his body is strong enough to recover nicely on his own. An expert plans to visit us tomorrow to help uncover the meaning behind these episodes and we pray she'll b
Read more