Nolan's Weight Progress Update

Weight Length* Date Lbs Oz In Sat, Dec 09 2 15 16 Sun, Dec 10 3 1 Mon, Dec 11 2 15 Tue, Dec 12 2 15 Wed, Dec 13 2 15 Thu, Dec 14 2 15 Fri, Dec 15 3 0 Sat, Dec 16 3 1 Sun, Dec 17 3 4 17 Mon, Dec 18 3 5 Tue, Dec 19 3 5 Wed, Dec 20 3 6 Thu, Dec 21 3 9 * Length measured on Sundays As you can see our little peanut, Nolan, is gaining weight consistently. The 2oz. per day weight gain is roughly the same at which a fetus will grow in the womb at the same gestational age as Nolan (roughly 37-1/2 weeks). We were also delighted to find that he had grown about 2 inches in length in his first week of life. Also, his head circumference had increased by about 1-1/2. We are so pleased by how well he's developing and so proud of our feisty little boy. His will to thrive is truly amazing. Kolleen is working hard to stay ahead of Nolan's breast milk needs. She puts him "to breast" once or twice per day to get him familiar with what will be his normal feeding method. However, the neonatalogist is wanting him to be on fortified milk for the majority of his feedings. This means that he needs to be fed by bottle or gavage (feeding tube). Consistent bottle or breast feeding is a condition of his discharge so we are doing what we can to support this accomplishment. As you can imagine, Kolleen's discouraged because she wanted to be his "natural" source of food. We are accepting, though, that if it takes consistent bottle feeding to get him home from the NICU then that's what has to happen. I like to say that we have been afforded an extra 4-1/2 weeks getting to know Nolan because of his premature birth. If things don't go exactly as we had planned during these few weeks we are still blessed by his wonderful, miraculous birth! Thanks again for all your prayers, support and love! Dave