Day 34

The past couple of days I have thought Maks has been looking kind of pale. I wasn't sure why, but I mentioned it to the nurse practitioner yesterday. I am glad I did, because she decided to order another hematocrit today, and it was only 28 (that is really low). Needless to say, when I came in this morning, a couple of nurses were in his room trying to get a new IV started so he could have another blood transfusion. They finally got one started in his left leg, and they infused the blood this afternoon. I don't know if the pictures really do it justice, but I took one of Maks before and after the blood. I notice it mostly in his face. Look how pale he is in the first picture; the blood definitely helped to "pink" him up!





We're up to 7ml on the breast milk, and he still hasn't had a bowel movement. I am starting to get worried, but Doctor Jenkins said his belly still looks and sounds good, so he isn't concerned yet. Other than the blood, no other new orders today. He continues on the TPN and the caffeine.

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Day 33

Maks is going strong today. He seems to be tolerating the 6ml of breast milk every 3 hours well. He hasn't pooped in the past couple of days, so that has me a little concerned, but his belly is still soft, and he still has good bowel sounds. Hopefully everything is all still working well, and he is just getting ready for a big blow out. :)

He hates to be on his back, and he requires more oxygen in that position. He definitely favors his belly, and seems to maintain better oxygen saturations with less oxygen requirements when he snuggles up on his belly. His CPAP is still at 5, and he is between 25% and 40% on his oxygen. Overall he is having a good day. We pray that he continues to tolerate the slow increases in the breast milk so he can get off the TPN soon!

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Day 32 - 1 Month Old!

Maks is 1 month old today! His sweet nurse decorated this for him today, so I had to take a picture. He is still pretty tiny, but just look at the difference a month has made. This first picture is kind of blurry, but he was just a day or two old.


These next pictures are his first "comparison" pictures. When I had Milyn, I took a picture of her next to a teddy bear every month of her first year for a comparison of her growth. For Maks, I bought a washable monkey, washed it last night, and took it to the hospital to stay by the incubator. I put it in the incubator, but didn't let it touch him. It is a regular sized TY beanie baby, but it is huge compared to Maks! I think it will be fun to watch his growth change through the months.





He is having a good day, and he is up to 5ml on his breast milk! He has never made it that far, so I am pretty excited! He also passed the two pound mark today! Tonight he weighs 945 grams, which is almost 2lbs 1 oz. He has almost doubled his birth weight. Crazy!!! Other than that, not much has changed! Keep it going, Maksim!

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Day 31

Maks is hanging in there today. He went up to 4ml of breast milk every 3 hours, and he is supposed to go up to 5ml tomorrow. That will be a milestone, because he has never made it up to 5 before. He seems to he tolerating it well, and he has good bowel sounds, a soft belly, and good bowel movements. I am really hoping he can get off of the TPN soon to prevent complications associated with long-term use of it.

This morning when I got there, he was having several bradys and desats. I have no idea why he was, but it was stressful because the alarms kept going off. He self-recovered on some of them, but required some stimulation on others. I got to hold him this morning, and he actually did much better when I was holding him and even after. I don't think he had any bradys the whole time I held him!

I know he is still a little guy, but I think he looks kind of chunky in the picture from today. You can also kind of see him pushing himself up on his knees. He has been doing this a lot. He has figured out how to wriggle himself off the side of his pillow, and he looks like he is trying to escape from the incubator. He is definitely getting stronger.

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Day 30

Day thirty means Maks had his thirty day head ultrasound. I am so relieved and excited to see the results came back as normal!


Maks is having a good day! He is back up to 3ml of breast milk every three hours, and they reduced the CPAP settings back down to 5. He has been tolerating that well, and he is continuing to have more regular bowel movements. We are very excited about that! He weighs 825 grams which is 1 lb 13.5 oz. We are getting closer and closer to 2 pounds!

I held him today, and I must say it is getting harder and harder to leave the hospital. I shouldn't even say that because I know we have such a long road ahead of us, but I just hate to leave him. Especially when his eyes are wide open looking at me. :( This little guy is quickly stealing my heart.

Milyn is also at such a fun age right now. I just had to post this cute picture of her having a tea party with "snuggles" her teddy bear! She is so stinking cute.


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Day 29

Maks is 4 weeks old today, and 30 weeks gestation as of yesterday. The 30 week mark is a milestone which means he gets to have colored bedding! Here is a picture of him with his cute safari sheets.


He is back up to 2ml of breast milk every 3 hours, and he finished his course of the diflucan. That is a medication that is used prophylactically to prevent fungal infections in micro preemies. He has been on it since day one.

Tomorrow he gets his 30 day head ultrasound to see if he has had any brain bleeds. We are praying that this turns out well. Tomorrow is fast Sunday, and we are praying for good results on that and that Maks will start tolerating the breast milk better so he can grow!

My cousin, Katie, went through the temple this afternoon, and I was grateful for the opportunity to be there. I am grateful for the peace I felt there today and for temples and eternal families. I am also thankful for prayer and for the many prayers throughout the world being said for Maks. Please continue to include him in yours!

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Day 28

The ups and downs of having a micro preemie in the NICU are starting to get stressful. Today wasn't even a horrible day, and it still stresses me out. Maks is having a hard time again tolerating the breast milk (surprise surprise), and the doctors are starting to get concerned about his lack of weight gain. He is pretty far behind where he should be, and it is definitely discouraging. I feel so helpless; there is literally nothing I can do to help make him better. I held him yesterday, but I worried about bothering him too much today. I wanted to give his body some time to "rest and digest," so I hardly even got to see him. I know I will get used to the roller coaster, but in the meantime, it is stressful.

They decreased the breast milk to 1ml every 3 hours and increased his CPAP settings to give him a little more breathing assistance. He did have another bowel movement today, so that is encouraging. Nothing else has changed, and I am definitely grateful for no other major setbacks at the moment. Hopefully the decrease in breast milk will help him adjust, and they can start increasing again soon!

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