Day 94 Postpartum. Counting down the days...

Vinnie has been doing great and we are feeling so proud of our little man. We have one more week of the steroids to go and he is on a very low dose now. I am certain that he won't even notice once he is completely weaned off. On Sunday night Vinnie went on to low flow oxygen - straight oxygen without the pressure and humidified air that he was on before. The amount he is getting will be weaned over the coming weeks and months. Once we get him home we'll have this set up at home... a huge oxygen cylinder by the front door with tubes running all over the house and a smaller portable tank for outings. Hopefully he'll only spend a maximum of 6 months on oxygen before coming off it completely.

Now that Vinnie is on low flow oxygen and the steroids are almost finished it means the end is very near! The last box to tick is to have him fully feeding (breast or bottle I have now resigned myself to - whatever works best for him). He still seems to be struggling with coordinating his breathing and swallowing which is disappointing for everyone... I so just want him to get it! It is highly possible that he might be sent home with a nasal gastric line so that we can continue to tube feed him at home. Not the end of the world and it will be great to just get him home, but it is not exactly how you imagine feeding your baby. The idea of sticking the tube down his nose in to his stomach doesn't thrill me either, but Cam and I will get a crash course in this so we know what we're doing. It will just be a temporary measure until his airway is stronger and he can manage not to aspirate the milk in to his lungs.

Anyway, such a small thing to concern myself with after everything he has been through.

I still have heaps to do at home in terms of setting up Vinnie's room and getting myself organised for him coming home. Once he is home we will be hibernating for the winter. I think I might have mentioned in an earlier post that it is really important that we keep ourselves and the little man bug free this winter. If he catches a cold it could turn in to a respiratory infection and land him in Starship Hospital. This would be a huge step backwards and after 4 months in hospital (by the time he comes home) I am sure you can all understand that I don't want to come back anytime soon!

I know that heaps of people are dying to meet Vinnie (and we are looking forward to showing him off) but it might have to wait a few more months. So, we want to ask that we don't have any unannounced visitors once we get home, no children (daycare and schools are breeding grounds for germs) and obviously no snuffly guests. If you do come around you will be asked to cleanse your hands with the anti-bacterial sanitising solution... just warning you in advance! Hope I don't sound ultra-paranoid and neurotic but we won't be taking any chances. Thank you to everyone again for your friendship and understanding. Once he comes off the oxygen I will relax a little :-)

Here are some recent pics of Vinnie taken since my last post. He actually feel asleep in the bath after those pics were taken... he was so relaxed. You can also see Vinnie having a snooze in the sling I am wearing - never thought I would be following the 'attachment parenting' school of thought and wearing slings, demand feeding etc, but yep, I will be. The kid is going to be super spoilt and completely indulged! He isn't far off smiling and has starting making cutes little baby noises the last week.