When we got to the NICU for our 2:00 visit Evie was still in her hood but it was turned all the way down to 21% oxygen, which is normal air level. She will probably be back on the cannula (nose tube) later on but her breathing has improved a lot. The nurse practitioner is planning to start feeding her at our 5:00 visit. It sounds like she is going to skip the feeding tube and go straight to trying breast feeding and the bottle. She will start with 6 mL per feeding like Ben did. She enjoys her pacifier much more than Ben does so I am thinking she will figure out nursing or bottle feeding pretty easily. Jessie tried nursing again with Ben. He was too sleepy to do much. The nurse practitioner was ready to double his feedings to 12 mL every 3 hours. She also said we can start trying a bottle instead of the feeding tube. It took him a couple minutes to get used to it, but he drank all of his 12 mL of breast milk we had turned in plus a bonus 2 mL of formula.
I asked how much milk babies their size need for 100% of their nutrition. They don't like to give definite answers but the range I got was between 1.5-2.0 oz per feeding, and between 3 and 4 hours between feedings. So between 9-16 oz per day of milk per baby at this weight, in the nurse's estimation. Ben's intake at 12 mL per feeding is about 3.25 oz per day and increasing. This was a good visit with very positive news for both babies.
I got some pictures of Ben with his first bottle. I will get some of Evie as soon as she is out of her hood and ready to pose.
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| Ben's first bottle |
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| Ben's first bottle |
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