New bed for Hendrix

This morning Hendrix moved to a little "tanning bed" for the day.

This is called phototherapy and it is a special incubator that he lays in and gets some serious bright rays all over his body.  This treatment is to counteract the jaundice (which is apparently a very common thing among preterm babies that shows up around day 3 or 4).  

His little eyes get covered up because the lights would be too bright for him to see.  He doesn't really seem to mind being in there though, and the only real downside is that we are not able to handle him any time outside of his feeding time so that he can get the maximum benefit of this treatment.  He needs to be in there for 24 hours for sure, and will have bloodwork drawn first thing in the morning tomorrow to see if his bilirubin levels will have gone down enough that he can come out.  The jaundice just means that his liver isn't fully developed yet, but he has been pooping, so that is definitely a good sign!


Hendrix has been doing a great job at increasing his eating abilities.  He has been able to eat as much as 25 milliliters at once consistently throughout the day today.  In fact that has been enough that they decreased the volume of the IV that he still has in his arm.  I was also able to do the feedings today which was a really neat experience for me.  Up until this point, they would just hold his head up to feed him while leaving him laying in his bed.  He tolerated food best this way because he was only focusing on one thing - eating.  Now, he actually has the ability to be held and focus on me and eat at the same time.  It is slow going and he isn't ready to try nursing yet, but it was really just a big step for me to feel more involved in his care.  

As you can see in this picture, I was just thrilled to be given this opportunity to bond with my son!  Daddy got to come over his lunch break to see us and took some super cute pictures of Hendrix smiling while I was holding him.

I guess this is just one more way he favors his momma over his daddy, as I have a big smile and love to share it - and Bud tends to be a bit more serious.  I am told that he was especially serious as a child, and often had kind of a 'worried' look on his face.

I don't think this kid looks worried at all!

We are patiently waiting for daddy to get to the hospital from work now so we can spend some time together as a threesome at his evening feeding.  Since Bud hasn't built up much vacation time at his job yet, he decided to go back to work this week while Hendrix is still in the hospital and save his time for next week (or later, but hopefully, next week!) when we are home as a family and I could really use his help with nighttime feedings etc.  I didn't realize how much I would miss having him here to go through each little milestone with me today.  What an amazing family dynamic it is - Mommy, Daddy, and Baby.


I took my picnic lunch outside this afternoon and enjoyed soaking up some sunshine.  I don't think I realized just exactly how little I have seen outside the walls of the hospital in the past few days.  It was super windy here, but the sun felt great and I enjoyed a long stroll around the hospital "block".  I am really looking forward to spending a few of these lazy fall afternoons taking Hendrix for walks in the stroller when we get home!  That is going to be a perk of him coming a few weeks early - more nice weather to enjoy together before it gets super cold. :)