Lets just say that Oliver had a rough Monday night into Tuesday morning due to withdrawal from the morphine so that is why I didn't post anything yesterday. He was very irritable and unsettled unless I was holding him tight so that he couldn't move a muscle. I ended up holding him from 9pm until 1:30 in the morning Tuesday morning. The only way he would sleep for almost 24 hours was to give him tylenol but then it only lasted for 1-1.5 hours or so and he was awake. I did sleep at the hospital Monday night but I did not last night due to me only getting 2.5 hours of sleep Monday night. I know I have to get used to less sleep when we go home, but it is so hard to see your baby go into withdrawal especially when you think things are getting better with them and then they decrease the dose of morphine and start the whole spiral again.
Monday they decreased his oxygen to 3/4 liter at 30% still blended air and oxygen and decreased the morphine to 0.15mg every 4 hours. Tuesday they decreased the oxygen to 1/2 liter and they did not change the morphine dose. Today the're decreasing the morphine again to 0.1mg. It's sort of bitter sweet because this is the dose I can take him home on but I don't want to see him go through withdrawal either.
We tried a bottle with breast milk in it yesterday since we're questioning if he is getting enough to eat when he breastfeeds and that could be the crankiness later. They're thinking he works too hard to suck, swallow and breathe that it tires him out and then he's alseep for around 20-30 minutes and wide awake again after crying. They say that it takes less energy to do a bottle and he did great. The nurses say that nipple confusion is an old wives tale and that in the 5 years she has been here she has had only 1 baby with it. Oliver does not have nipple confusion and today he had a bottle at 6am and at 9am I breastfed him. He does great with a bottle but that tires him out as well and he only gets in 30-40ml or about an ounce and a third in and then falls alseep and has to get the rest down his NG tube. So, we're continuing to work on eating because he has to be awake to take enough in to continue to gain weight. He's just gaining grams a day now and still weighs 5 lbs 12 oz. I can't wait for the time that they start on demand feedings instead of every 3 hours because that may help with some fussiness as well and help gain weight. We're looking at early next week now for discharge since we still have the normal newborn things to do.
I remember all too well, I could not feed my boys from the breast because it would tire them out too much. I pumped and then bottle fed them and it was every three hours. With having twins, by the time you get done with one it is time to start on the other baby. It was hard but it does not last for ever. They do grow and get bigger and before you know it they will hold their own bottle and feed themselves. Be patient, love to all of you
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