Day 74: A summary to close the year

I thought I'd summarize Loki's situation for those who have joined late or become overwhelmed in the details.

Today Loki is 74 days old (Somewhere we recently were off by a day) and is at 35 weeks of total development. He weights 2090 grams, or just shy of 4 pounds + 10 ounces. For reference, he was born at 24 + 1/2 weeks development and weighed 610 grams, or 1 pound + 5 ounces.

He is breathing with the help of the nasal cannula, which is set at 3 liters per minute and low oxygen levels (21 to 25%). He is being fed 45 mL breast milk plus a nutrient boost every three hours. He has an occasional brady arrhythmia (drop in heart rate) and a few blood oxygen desaturation events ("desats") per day.

Recently, he moved out of the isolette and into a crib.

I've noticed that, in the last few days, his eyes now very much look towards sound, especially Mom's voice. His eyes still wander independently a bit.

The current struggle is to train him to breastfeed.

Here is a nice summary of preemies' common medical problems. Right now, Loki's vision is most on our mind. But his retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) has been diagnosed twice as mild. This could change a lot in the upcoming weeks. This may require laser surgery. His vision could turn out to be just fine or quite bad.

He has a moderate case of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), which is damaged lung tissue. He may have breathing problems for a couple years, but the symptoms should lessen as healthy tissue grows around the damaged stuff.

He had a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), which is an unwanted connection between two major blood vessels near the heart. This is sometimes called a heart murmur, which is actually the sound made by the PDA. It was closed successfully via drugs.

He has a inguinal hernia, in which his abdominal wall is not closed on the bottom, causing some his intestines to reside in his scrotum. This will likely require surgery soon, but it must wait until his abdominal wall has strengthened enough to be able to be closed.

Preemies are usually in the hospital until around their due date, which for Loki will be February 5. Discharge is dependent upon criteria, which - if I remember - are:
* Over four pounds and growing (done)
* Can maintain temperature enough to be outside the isolette and in a crib (done)
* Breast or bottle feeding, not through a tube
* No apneas (breathing pauses), brady arrhythmias, or desats for five days
* Off oxygen support

Loki, Mom, and I wish you all a wonderful new year. For me, the past year (summarized in two photos below) has been extremely tumultuous, with the most wonderful and challenging events imaginable. I witnessed the miracle of a new life, the stunning power of modern medical care, the dedication of my wife, and an amazing outpouring of support from family, friends, and colleagues. These certainly put things in a new perspective, with new priorities. I know that next year will also be wonderful and challenging, but in a very different way.

We can't thank you all enough.