32 Weeks Gestational Age

Today's post should be me standing sideways in front of a wall holding my sign that says 32 Weeks in pink and blue, but instead I am going to give you an update on Maxim.

Weight
Today marks his 32 week gestational age and he weighs 3 pounds 11 ounces.  That is really good.  He started at 3 pounds 6 ounces and went down to 3 pounds because that is what babies do.  When we went to the hospital today we were happy to find out his weight increased more since yesterday.  I am celebrating the small weight gains.

Apnea and Brady Episodes
He had a rough day yesterday as he kept having apnea and brady episodes.  This is where he holds his breath or just forgets to breath and his brain isn't mature enough to get him breathing again.  This is completely normal for premie babies.  He did this15 times in one evening which is a lot, so the doctor and nurses were a little concerned.  One thing that can cause this is infection, so they put him through a bunch of tests to find out if he has an infection.  The episodes kept happening so they put him on antibiotics and did not wait for the tests to come back.  This was a precautionary method because you don't want to mess around with a premie getting an infection.  This morning we found out that all the tests came back negative, but the antibiotics helped him as he had a great night.  The doctor said that since these episodes were different from his usual behavior they were going to keep him on antibiotics for the next 24 hours to ensure there was no infection.  He could have a small infection that was in the early stages and therefore not showing up in the tests. I learned that UTI's are common in premie males, so we are more than ok with continuing the antibiotics.  Yesterday was also a rough day for me because I was unable to hold him all day and I had to see him go through these episodes where he wouldn't breathe.  It was very tough on this mommy.  Today was a better day and I got to kangaroo hold and that makes me happy.

Personality
He has definitely calmed down on the temper and takes his "cares" very well.  He doesn't mind a diaper change anymore as he pretty much just lays there or sleeps through his cares.  He is starting to scoot himself around in his isolette.  I am not sure how he does it because the nurses usually have him wrapped up pretty tight in the fetal position.  The last two nights we found him horizontal and out of his tightly wrapped bundle.  The nurses said they definitely did not do that to him.  Somehow he manages to escape from his position.  The reason they wrap him up so tight is to help him with his development.  Apparently he doesn't think he needs to develop, or he is trying to escape his isolette.  Either way it's too cute, but he needs to rest and not be moving around so much that he burns calories.