NICU Diary Day 48

Thursday, November 23, 2000

This is my first Thanksgiving. I didn’t get to eat turkey, but Mommy and Daddy brought me a stuffed one that made “gobble, gobble, gobble” noises. I also have a turkey that Grandma Brockhaus brought last week. So, at least my bed was festive for the holiday. It’s too bad the nurses wouldn’t let me have a little gravy through my feeding tube!

Speaking of feedings… I'm quite the crabby boy when my food is delayed. If my tummy is empty, I let everyone know it by throwing my arms around and getting so mad that my face turns red and my heart monitor goes off. I also have quite the temper when my trach needs suctioned or when my diaper needs changed. I really don’t like anyone messing with me!

In lieu of the holiday, the doctors increased my feedings to 52 cc every three hours. That should help give me some extra energy to do all of this breathing. They are really making me work harder now. I’m going off the ventilator for six hours at a time, and I’m doing really well. Mommy and Daddy think I’m actually more comfortable off of the ventilator than on it.

Mommy and Daddy came to see me today, and they each held me for a few hours. I loved it! They left late this afternoon to go home for a big Thanksgiving dinner. My neighbors, Mike and Lisa, are fixing a holiday dinner, and they invited Mommy and Daddy over to share in all the good food.

I'm glad Mommy and Daddy went somewhere for the holiday. They really need to get out more. Last night, they both got excited because there were bags of “Cheez-It” crackers in the coffee room! I guess they were tired of the graham crackers. Divot was happy too because he got to spend the day over at Mike and Lisa’s playing with their giant cat!