| The NICU Experience | Aaron update 74 |
| Subject: Aaron update 74 Date: Monday, February 17, 2003 12:18 PM From: Kevin Quick To: Aaron Update List Today, Aaron’s gestational age is 36 weeks. He’s been in the NICU now for 83 days. It’s exactly 4 weeks now until his due date of March 17. Kathleen and I talked with social worker Norma and nurse Jo for a little while this morning, and they reiterated to us that in order for Aaron to go home, he’ll need to be maintaining his body temperature in his open crib (which he’s doing), eating by breast and bottle only (no gavage feeds), not having any A’s nor B’s for a week, and staying on low oxygen settings, if he’s not weaned off of oxygen completely. The baby’s due date is normally the target date for when we should hope to bring him home, but there’s still hope that Aaron could come home a week or two early. So, our best guess now is that Aaron will be coming home with us in two to four weeks. Of course, this could change, too; he could have to stay for another couple of weeks after his due date, so we’re trying not to be too impatient. Sometime this week, Aaron will probably be moved to the TCN (Transitional Care Nursery). This nursery is for babies who are doing well, who are in open cribs, are not on IV’s, and who are making progress toward getting ready to go home. This will be another milestone for us. Aaron gained 15 grams yesterday. He’s been a bit fussy on the breast feeding the past few days, but has been doing great on the bottle feeding. Kathleen and I will be going home this afternoon. Kathleen will be having her baby shower this evening. Then, we’re hoping that we will find a volunteer to bring Kathleen back down to San Francisco on Wednesday. If not, we’ll figure something out; we do want Kathleen to be here with Aaron as much as possible. Many of you will be at the baby shower this evening. Kathleen’s looking forward to seeing you then! Love, Kevin, Kathleen and Aaron |
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