Coburn Kids

Caden is starting his bottle feedings! He did well today and took 5-6 ml’s and he might have done even better except he squeezed the nipple the wrong way with his mouth, it squirted into his nose and then he didn’t want anything to do with it. Understandable. Caden has a special nipple for his bottles called a Haberman and will need these the entire time he’s a baby because of his cleft. A baby with a cleft palate can not form suction since they are missing the roof of their mouth so they have to squeeze the nipple to get the milk out. These nipples are expensive too… about $13 per nipple and they can only be used 15-20 times each. No, insurance doesn’t cover it. Even when he starts on sippy cups they can’t have the suction. Once he has his palate repair done when he’s 12+ months old then we won’t have that problem anymore.

The whole bottle feeding experience will be quite new for me.  I nursed my first daughter for 16 months and my 2nd for 12 months without either ever having a bottle. So having to wash bottles and then make and heat all the formula will be different. Cleft babies can’t form suction because the roof of their mouth opens to their nasal cavity so they can’t breastfeed or user regular nipples on bottles. This also makes Daniel sad because at night all the feedings were always up to me!  I didn’t mind actually, so this is a whole ‘nother ballgame.

He weighs in at 4 lb. 6 oz.’s and is on about 30% oxygen still with a 1 flow. I posted a pic of Daniel holding Caden to the left. It’s the cutest thing with Caden looking up at his Daddy!

Daniel and I went up to visit Caden yesterday and we both got to hold him. There’s a picture of Caden to the left… looking a bit like a lil’ old man with his wrinkled forehead (he still needs to put on a few more pounds to look like a baby but you could just die at how tiny and perfect those little hands are without any chubbiness on them.) Caden also was moved to an open air crib and he was dressed for the very first time yesterday as well! Quite an exciting day. Later on my Dad and I went up to see him.  Every time we show up he starts to desat. I’m convinced he does this just to get attention and to have his mommy’s or daddy’s hands on him.

Caden is gaining weight and able to maintain his body temperature now. His last big hurddles are to stop having A&B’s and to take at least 8 bottles a day feeding. He could take off and do very well with his feedings, but more typical this will be a long and slow process. Learning how to suck, swallow and breathe is quite the task for a preemie. This ability usually develops around 34-35 weeks gestation, but since Caden was intubated for so long he’s got to catch up on this.