Colby the Crank Pot

Poor little Colby is cranky today. I think it's because they've added fortifier to his milk and that's messing with his belly. The nurses may look for alternatives if Colby continues to show signs of problems.. I stayed with him for over 4 hours today and at times it was impossible to quell his discomfort. He would cry, his arms would punch, push and pull his blanket that I tried to wrap around him. His legs were kicking about. Then he'd stop, catch his breath and kind of look around as if to see if I was paying attention, then start at it again. I had to chuckle inside though because I've heard about this....about a baby just being cranky as hell and the parent not knowing what to do or how to make things better. Well, here I am, experiencing it first hand and let me tell you.....not fun. I also did my best to give him a full bottle and burp him. He's only been taking a bottle for about a week or so and many times it would be when I wasn't there, or if I was there a nurse or Tracey would walk me through everything. That had mixed results. I've never burped a baby before, at least not that I could remember. My big hands and his little body made for an odd combination. I'm sure that over time as I get more used to it, it'll become second nature.
Colby got his broviac like out yesterday. He has a bit of gauze covering the site where they took it out and then some clear, tape-like stuff covering that. He pooped 2-3 times while I was visiting him and on one of my attempts to change his diaper I got the tape from his diaper stuck to the clear tape covering the incision site. The poor guy. He was already uncomfortable and now this! I had to call over a nurse and they then got a couple people together and ended up having to cut away a little bit of the tape to get the dirty diaper off.
So as you can probably tell, it was a long day for Colby and I in hospital today.
The physical therapist has visited Colby. She said that all in all he's looking good so far. They did remark that he's twitching quite a bit. His movement for the most part is fluid, however he'll have phases when it's more twitchy or jerky. I simply don't know what to make of it because you read one thing that says it's normal. Then the next article says it could be a neurological issue. I prefer not to worry too much about it now.
Tracey and I are having a meeting with the doctors and nurses tomorrow so that they can inform us about Colby's bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). BPD or Chronic Lung Disease can result from being on a respirator with high levels of oxygen being pumped into a premature lung. As I currently understand it though, the human lung continues making new lung tissue for years. So although Colby has some damage, over time this will get better. I'll learn more about it as it pertains to Colby's situation tomorrow.
I continue to be amazed that even after 3 months, just about every day presents us with new challenges. From what I read and hear from other parents of preemies, that's something that won't change for a very long time. So we'd better get used to it.
I'll end on another funny story. Last night we went over Liz and Chris' as it was Chris' birthday. They have a newborn, Caitlin. Liz fed Caitlin, burped her and all was well. I had gone out to the mall yesterday and bought a new shirt to wear to the parry (yeah, you know where this is going). Caitlin visited with Tracey without inceden. Then, I was holding her and she was looking up at me. I thought all was going great when all of the sudden, without any warning what so ever, this river of formula came shooting straight out of her mouth as if it were sprayed from a hose. Yup, I got a good dose of warm baby throw up from my right shoulder, across my chest and down my left side.
I believe that things in life balance out. So given that I got puked on, my son was already a crank pot and then I accidental stuck his diaper to his wound, tomorrow is bound to be a better day!