The Surrogate Brother

Up until yesterday, the boys had been on the same feeding schedule. But now that Drake is taking most of his meals by bottle, his nurses had to stagger their schedules so they can spend enough time feeding Drake his bottle before they move on to Leo.

As I was feeding Drake a bottle today, Leo started getting really fussy in the crib. So his nurse put the boys' toy elephant next to Leo to take Drake's place. Leo calmed down as soon as the elephant was next to him.


When I was feeding Drake his next bottle, Leo started to fuss again. I asked Matt to put the elephant next to Leo, and it worked again! The little guy really does miss Drake when he's off having adventures without him. This breaks my heart, because Drake will undoubtedly come home weeks before Leo.

Drake is really taking off. His nurse today told us that he would be at home already if he wasn't so difficult to feed by bottle. He really isn't difficult to feed, he's difficult to burp! When his belly fills up with air he falls asleep, and you have to work for a loooong time to get the burp out so he can finish his bottle. For Leo's sake, I'm glad Drake is so difficult to burp. Drake is really packing on the weight. Last night he weighed 4 lb 11.7 oz. He's turning into a chub-a-lub before our very eyes!

When we first walked into the NICU today, Leo's nasal cannula was flowing room air, which is the last step before the cannula is removed. Unfortunately, it didn't last.

I had the pleasure of feeding Leo a bottle for the first time today. He took it like a champ! But when he was done with the bottle, he was so exhausted that he was desating (his blood oxygen level was too low). So his nurse increased the oxygen in his cannula. His nighttime nurses will decrease the oxygen flow tonight. Hopefully he'll be back on room air in the morning. Leo gained 10 grams yesterday, putting him at 3lb 2.8 oz.

Before we left, we set Leo's universe to rights when we tucked Drake in beside him.