Peepers, Socks and Primaries

Tonight's Weight: 2lbs 10oz
Last Night's Weight: 2lbs 9oz

Today was Austin's first eye exam and he did better than expected. This is one of the few things I cannot watch. To do this exam, the opthamologist has to use a retractor to keep Austin eye open while he looks at the blood vessels growth on his retina. The growth is where they would expect it to be based on his gestational age. He will have another exam in 2 weeks.

As I was sitting in the NICU today, I noticed that Austin's heart rate would spike into the 200s even though he was not really upset. Trying to figure out what could be causing it I noticed the little blue socks I had put on his feet the night before and remembered how after the nurse would tuck him in he would figure out a way to get one or both feet out. I did point out to the nurse that I was concerned about how his heart rate was so elevated and she started looking up the last xray he had done to see the placement of his PICC line. After talking to the doctor another xray was ordered just to be sure the current placement was still ok, since sometimes it can cause problems if it is too close to the heart. While waiting on the xray tech to arrive, I got up an pulled his socks off to see if it would make a difference. A few minutes later, his heart rate was under 200. When the xray came back, the doctor had the nurse pull his PICC line back 1cm. I'm not sure if it was the PICC line or Austin protesting his new socks, but it's funny how taking them off did help.

Some of the most important people in the NICU are the nurses as they spend the most time with the babies. When Jackson was in the NICU at Baylor Grapevine, we had several nurses that would always be assigned to his care. This was so nice, because they really knew him and we got to know them. Since being at Baylor Dallas, we really haven't had the same nurse more than once or twice so getting primary nurses is pretty important right now. We do have one for sure and then yesterday I think we may have another since she had been with him for both Saturday and Sunday. They both are so sweet with Austin!

Well, that's all for today!

P.S. Congratulations are in order for Jacob. He changed Austin's diaper for the first time tonight.