July 23, 2006

Hello again,

This morning we made it in for Michael's 9:00a feeding. We figured that he is usually pretty awake at 9:00a, so Gretchen would give breastfeeding another try. Well, as most plans go, he wasn't very awake this morning, but she tried anyway. This time they went the full route and weighed Michael prior to the feeding. They do this to determine how much milk he actually gets.

Even for being pretty sleepy he did latch on and suck pretty well for about 10 minutes. It did take a bit of effort to keep him from just dozing off instead. After continuing to try for a total of 20 minutes, we stopped and said it was a very good effort. After reweighing Michael it seemed as though he got abotu 4ml through his efforts. Pretty good for a first somewhat serious try.

After doing that we tried giving the rest of his feeding by bottle. Well, after scarfing down about 20ml in about 10 minutes, Ruth came in to say that they were actually going to be performing his circumcision now, so the meal would have to wait.

Michael had been on the list for several days, so it was nice that it was actually going to happen now. We figured Gretchen would pump, and then we would step out and get a quick snack. Again, plans! He'll break us of that habit yet. Gretchen had just finished pumping and I was cleaning up stuff, when Ruth came back with Michael. It seems the doctor had just decided to get his circumcision done before she went home from her day on call. So she was just standing around waiting for someone to bring Michael up to her. Since the procedure only takes about 10 minutes he was back in a flash.

One nice thing is that this doctor (actually the same one who delivered Michael) does anestitize the area with a shot and cream. Not all doctors do the shot along with the cream.

We did got out and get our snack before the great-grandparents arrived. They were thrilled to be able to see their new great-grandchild. It was a real treat that the timing of all of this, Michael's birth and Gretchen's baby shower, happened to coincide with their already scheduled trip to the area. They got a good long visit with Michael and were able to get several pictures.

We went back for the 9:00p feeding, not to give him a bottle or try at breastfeeding again, just to be there. He had had a busy enough day. He didn't need to exert himself anymore.

While there we ofund out that he had passed his car seat apnea test. The test involve strapping him into the car seat (which we had brought in several days ago) and monitoring him for a while. If he doesn't have any apnea sessions (apnea is when you stop breathing, like sleep apnea) he passes. He hasn't had any breathing issues, so we were not surprised that he passed. I think they do several of these tests as time progresses.

We also found out today that he is now 2750 grams. This is 6 lbs 1 oz. He gained 130 grams over yesterday. It will be interesting to see what tomorrow brings with his weight. Whether this one was just a big poop. It wasn't last time.

All in all, a very good, make that "great" day!