Learning to Eat

Max and Michaela are continuing to work towards homecoming day. The last big hurdle they both have to overcome is learning how to eat on their own. Max is a great eater – his suck/swallow reflex is strong and he eats well whether nursing or eating from a bottle. His issue is that he eats so quickly that his breathing coordination suffers. His oxygen levels drop so low when he’s eating that he requires oxygen support through a nasal cannula whenever he’s feeding from a bottle. The doctors say this is a developmental problem he should grow out of, but if he is ready to go home otherwise, he may be sent home with oxygen support.

Michaela has a different eating challenge in that she is typically uninterested in sucking. The problem with that is that if she doesn’t finish her bottle on her own, she has to be gavaged – force-fed through her feeding tube – so she gets all of the calories she needs. In order to be eligible for discharge, she has to complete every feeding on her own for 48 hours.

Once they are ready, both babies will go home with home apnea monitors that will keep tabs on their respiratory and heart rates. They are cumbersome, bulky and ridiculously loud, but they will give us some peace of mind the 1st few months the babies are at home. We will also be working with a nurse who will visit the house a few times a week to monitor the babies’ progress.

Meanwhile, Max & Michaela had some very special visitors this weekend and we got to celebrate their progress with friends and family with a (slightly delayed, but absolutely perfect) baby shower!