My Fat Baby Loves To Eat

Bumble B's bilirubin was 5 this morning! Praise the Lord! Thank y'all so much for all your prayers yesterday. Knowing so many people are praying for my little man is so incredibly amazing and humbling. It makes me so happy. And thanks for those spare prayers for myself. I have been much less emotional today. I could blame the hydrocodone, but I'm sure it was y'all ;)

So he is off of the light today. He did lose 2 more ounces however, which puts him at 4 pounds 3 ounces. Almost ALL newborns lose weight after birth, but for an 8 pound baby to lose 5 ounces is not as big as a 4 pounder. Baby is teetering toward 3 pounds, and we definitely don't want that. So today he was still in his isolette with the heat up. The temperature inside is 88.7 degrees F (thanks to a Twitter friend for that conversion! The isolette is in Celsius!).

He's also eating like CRAZY. So now we are just feeding him what he wants and not restricting it. Through some experimenting today we see that little B eats about 2 ounces! That's how much he lost last night, so I jokingly suggested to weigh him after he ate LOL. So we are feeding him lots so he gets some fat to keep his little body warm.

This kid loves eating. He eats so fast he forgets to breathe and we have to stop and make him catch his breath! I told him that this food isn't going anywhere, so slow down. He's done a little better about it the last 2 feedings. He's a great burper too, and poops as soon as he's done eating! Such an EASY baby so far. Hopefully he'll keep it up, but I'll try not to count on it ;)

We'll start breastfeeding later when he gets his weight on and he's about to come home. Breastfeeding will take more energy and burn calories and I want him to conserve all the energy he can for making fat. Some people have also asked me about his pacifier. This baby is still 34 weeks gestation. I am making him happy right now and keeping his vitals as high as possible so that he will finish growing and be able to come home to me. When he's home and stable, we'll talk, but for now, what makes Bumble B happy is exactly what we'll do. And if a pacifier while we're changing him waiting to feed him keeps him from burning 20 calories crying is what we need to do, that is exactly what we're going to do. If me pumping every hour because all those babies in the nursery make me absolutely miserable (if you know what I mean) is what it takes, then I'll do it. I don't have to breastfeed yet. He needs fat and if drinking it out of an easy bottle nipple is easier and cause less burnt calories, that's what I'll do! I want my man home.

I've gotten along great with all the nurses in the nursery. They are really great people and I really like them all. They really care about the babies and they call Bumble B by his first name, which they don't on any other babies. Christopher made him a name card with his name, some bumble bees, and a palmetto tree. The neonatologist even called him by his first name! At shift change they were talking about what babies they wanted and they called them each by their last name except mine ;). I've had a good time with them all and I feel so confident with his care.

Thanks again for all of the prayers, thoughts, support, comments, tweets, visits, presents, and well wishes. I am getting them all and LOVE them all. I'm sorry if I don't respond or respond really fast. There is so much going on and I'm rarely sitting still. I can't BELIEVE I got this post done at all!

Daily Bumble B fix ;)