The day we've been waiting for!

Today's visit to Duke was quite eventful! We were told to expect to be there a good part of the day, so we arranged for Lacey to have a play date with friends. It's a good thing, since our appointment was at 10am and we didn't finish until after 2pm. We met with the speech therapist, physical therapist, the neonatologist fellow, the attending physician, and a few other Lawson fans.

As we checked in, Lawson began working his smiley magic on the receptionist and continued throughout the day. We had been in the waiting area for quite a while, when one of our favorite fellows who was there when he was born, through it all, and there when he left, walked by. She smiled and waved but kept walking. Brian and I puzzled over why she wouldn't even stop to get a look at him. A few moments later, she reappeared, stopping to chat and oogle over Lawson. Every time we'd ever seen her, which was only in the NICU, she had been wearing scrubs. Since she was dressed in street clothes today, I asked, "So are you just hanging out at Duke today?" Her reply surprised and delighted me! "I actually wanted to see if I could get in on Lawson's appointment. If they can get you guys into a room soon, I'm going to stay."

The nurse came soon after to get his weight and height. They didn't have a room yet, so she asked us to leave the stroller and our stuff and just carry him to the scale. As I undressed him, I unwrapped an unexpected surprise! Lawson had blown out his diaper and had poop from his underarm all the way down his outfit to his toes!!!! I didn't notice at first, so it got all over the exam table! Since I had just carried him in there, I didn't have the diaper bag with me! I was mortified, yet cracking up at the same time! I left Lawson with the nurse and went back for the diaper bag. By the time we got him cleaned up and dressed in his third outfit for the day (he spit up on the 'special outfit' before we even left the house this morning), a room was ready for us.

One of the first people we met with today was Amanda, the speech therapist who nixed breastfeeding after the swallow study showed breastmilk that had not been thickened would aspirate into his lungs. So since we've had Lawson home, we've had to add Simply Thick to all of Lawson's bottles to protect his lungs. If you've read my earlier posts, you know how devistating it was to me that I would not be able to breastfeed. Well, we had our big test today. It just happened to be time for Lawson to feed while Amanda was there. She asked if I felt comfortable trying to breastfeed in front of her so she could see if Lawson seemed to be ready. Within a few seconds, Lawson was coughing. Oh no! Coughing is a sign of aspiration! My heart raced and spirits dropped! I know Amanda could see it on my face because she said, "Don't worry, he's just getting warmed up!" It didn't take long before got himself together and nursed like a champ! So the very best news we got today was that we don't have to use Simply Thick in his bottles any more and WE CAN BREASTFEED!!!!!

Other highlights of the day . . . Lawson now weighs 10lbs 9oz, still below the 5th percentile for his chronological age (actual age since his birth), but 25th percentile for his adjusted age (age since his due date). His is 22 inches long, 10th percentile for his adjusted age. He smiled at EVERYBODY who looked at him, charmed all the ladies, and managed to keep his good mood most of the day. He is on track for his chronological age in his social skills and on track for his adjusted age in physical development. We still have to be very careful to protect him from colds, illnesses, germs, etc due to his lungs still not being healed. He will continue the daily nebulizer and the current meds at higher doses based on his new weight. His feeding schedule will be to breastfeed whenever he is hungry and supplement with a bottle of breastmilk mixed with formula occasionally for the extra calories. I will continue to pump after feedings to keep up my milk supply. His next appointment is next Monday with our regular pediatrician. I can't imagine we'll have anything but good news to share from here on out, but there's no way anything can top the news we got today! :)