"My Baby is an Honor Student at NICU"

I could not find a sticker for my car in the hospital gift shop.  They must be out.

Actually, those of you who really know me would probably think I am more inclined to buy the sticker that says "My Baby Beat up Your Honor Student".  I have a bit of a sarcastic side.

Jackson confirmed my suspicions today and proved how advanced he is.  He decided to skip nuzzle nursing, ignore the fact he is only 34 weeks AND still on oxygen, and go straight to breast feeding.  Now, keep in mind this is not a hard and fast rule, but when I was asking our neighbors when I should expect Jackson to actually express milk from a breast on his own, I was looking at a few weeks before we should expect him to do this.  Certainly we should at least expect him to be off his oxygen first before he even tries.

It all started so innocently.  I came in for kangaroo time at 8 a.m. and the feeding specialist was looking at Jackson.  I explained that I planned for some nuzzle nursing time (allowing baby to explore around breast and dropping some milk on skin to encourage contact).  She decided to stick around and see what happens.  Remember from my list of milestones yesterday, Jackson had latched on and held my nipple in his mouth for a while and even tried to suckle on it a bit.  The specialist and I were both hopeful he would respond to drops of milk placed strategically on the breast.  Boy did he!

As she dropped milk on me and in his mouth, Jackson started to follow his instincts.  Pretty soon, he was latched on again!  Just around that time, the lactation specialist walked in and saw what was happening.  She ran to get a nipple shield.  These are used typically until a baby is to to term (until they are as old as their due date) to help the baby get the nipple placed correctly in their mouth and manipulate the nipple into the shape they need to if they want to express milk from a breast.  You see, breast feeding is really not that simple.  We expect a lot from a baby, and this is just the start.

With the nipple shield, it was game on!  Jackson opened wide and latched on properly this time.  Within a few minutes he was taking gulps.  The lactation specialist was showing me how we knew he was feeding by watching his throat take down gulps.  She gave me pointers on how to hold him in the right position and then stepped back to watch us do what was natural.  It was INCREDIBLE.  The bonding that happens between a mother and child while breastfeeding is so special I won't even try to describe it.  I was in awe of how impressive my child is and emotional because of the nature of the milestone.  It was if we had both been waiting forever for this moment and I was so relieved that he was willing to work hard to make it happen.  Both the regular and lactation nurses were so impressed at what was happening they almost forgot that we were not measuring how much he was eating, which is a "no no" at this point and against doctor's orders.

Fortunately, Jackson's nurse was excited at this turn of events and willing to take the blame if the doctor was mad that we did not follow orders.  She pulled the milk back out of his belly (that is not as bad as it sounds; he still has a gavage tube) and measured that he had eaten 8 ml (plus whatever else he had already digested) and was showing no signs of being done.  We estimated that he ate about 13 ml when it was all said and done (I happen to think he ate more than that; he nursed for an hour!) so we gave him 18 ml in his gavage so put him at the 31 ml he was requiring per feeding.

Jackson was not just nursing.  Jackson instinctively was pacing.  This means he figured out on his own to suck, swallow, and breathe.  This process is the most time-consuming process to get a premie through and they must master this to get out of the NICU.  Term babies even have a hard time with this process.  The fact that he was doing this on his own the very first time is really great.  My nurse said lactation nurses don't get excited, and my lactation nurse was excited!  We got permission from his doctor to continue this new feeding process (breast + gavage) once every 12 hours.  Victory!!!!

Despite the fact he was tired at 11 p.m. last night, he fed again at breast.  It was not anywhere near as much, we were both pretty tired.  It was really encouraging that he got right back in the saddle again.  Jackson had a big day yesterday.  In addition to breast feeding, he wore clothes all day for the first time, which means he is tolerating the dressing process each time he has a diaper change and kangaroo time.  He also had his first photo shoot with a professional photographer in the afternoon and did not fuss too much when we messed with him for some family photos.

In my humble opinion, Jackson is a champion in the premie world.  Not that I am biased, but he just seems a little more advanced than what the doctors expect to see at 34 weeks.  Of course, with his genetic pool, how could he not be?

Maybe I will get the sticker that says "My Boston Terrier is Smarter Than Your Honor Student" for now.  No sense starting to brag too early.  I don't want to be "that mom"......

I like my clothes mommy!