Elliot, meet Breast

Hi all! Today was a great day! Elliot is now taking by mouth twice a day and the remainder of his feeds are going through his tube. He continues to tolerate them well. When we went to visit, the nurse told us that they were trying to get him out of the incubator and into a "big bed." By the time I left, they were able to do this. The "big bed" was the regular little bed that they put newborns in (you know, the big tupperware looking thing). This is good-it makes it easier for me to hold him whenever I want, and it means that he's controlling his temperature on his own.

The highlight of the visit is when the doctor told me that I can put him to breast once a day. I know the doctors in the NICU because they're the same doctors from Children's Hospital. And I work in the NICU there...thank God because it's made me much more comfortable with everything they've been doing. I'm even calculating his feedings to make sure he's getting enough calories. Haha. The head doctor (attending) that has been on service since Elliot was born happens to be the director of the NICU. I really like him, and my favorite thing about him is that he is proactive. He works hard to get the babies out of the NICU, which is comforting to know. So when he told me that I can put Elliot to breast, I was ecstatic!

They warned me that he wouldn't be latching, mostly just licking and hopefully putting my nipple in his mouth. At first, he wasn't interested but after five minutes and a little bit of milk in his mouth, he was totally interested. His eyes were wide open and he was trying to get his mouth around. So, the first attempt was successful in that aspect :). The last time he took by mouth today, he drank about 30 ml of his 35 ml. Not bad!

Before I left today, I got to hold him quite a bit and change a poop diaper. In the minute it took to change out the diapers, he peed everywhere. Guess it's a boy thing! Here are some pics for the day: