You will have significant experiences.
I hope that you will write them down and keep a record of
them, that you will read them from time to time and refresh
your memory of these meaningful and significant things.
Some may be funny. Some may be significant only to you.
Some of them may be sacred and quietly beautiful. Some
may build upon another until they represent a lifetime of
special experiences.
- Gordon B Hinckley

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Gaining Weight...

Friday, February 05, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

Let me start by saying thank you all for your encouraging words and endless prayers.  In the emails, texts, and phone calls sent by so many of you, Zac and I have found the strength to face another day and renewed hope that Everett will progress forward.  You have made a difference in our lives and for this we are forever grateful. 

As the subject of this email implies, Everett is gaining weight!!!  He has put on over four ounces since Wednesday...now weighing in at 4 lbs. 13 oz.  He is tolerating the fortified breastmilk well.  In fact, the GI doctors feel he's doing so well that they've increased his feedings to 15 mls an hour via feeding tube.  His output from his ileostomy is just slightly high but within acceptable range, so we are pushing ahead with the plan.  The doctors will continue to increase the amount of breastmilk via feeding tube until Everett is consistently gaining 1-2 ounces per day. 

On Wednesday the occupational therapist helped me bottle feed Everett for the first time.  It was a remarkable moment, in my eyes, to get to do some of the things "full-term" mommies get to do.  He was heavy in my arms but to finally get that moment of bonding while feeding him...I understand what all those moms have been talking about.  It truly is a precious time when the world quiets down and it's just you and your son looking into each other's eyes.  Just that moment alone made all these months of pumping and saving so worthwhile.  The nursing staff will be responsible for bottle feeding him four times a day.  This will help keep his suck/swallow reflex going while he is receiving tube feedings. 

We gave him his first haircut on Saturday.  After months in the NICU and having countless IVs inserted into his scalp, Everett had ended up with a pretty funny "NICU haircut."  It was patchy and growing in at all different lengths so Zac and I decided to start fresh.  His wonderful nurse lovingly shaved his head.  He has a great looking head...nice and round and no flat spots...a testament to all the great nursing care he's received. 

It has been several days of good news and Zac and I are savoring the moment.  We're relieved to see that he's putting on weight and now just hope that he continues to do so.  Thank you all for your concern for us and for Everett.  If our little boy could grow on love alone...he'd be the size of a teenager :-)

With Ounces of Love,

The Bollinger Family

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