i haven’t been posting many updates on eric’s weight, because – well – not much interesting happens in the first couple of weeks ( unless he gets sick and loses a bunch of weight ). all his energy in the beginning is spent fixing vital systems and isn’t directed towards weight gain per se. micropreems will typically lose a little ( it’s normal to lose about 10 percent of their birthweight in the first few days ), slowly gain it back over the following two weeks, and then ( hopefully ) go on a weight gain tear.

tonight, he weighed in at 685 grams, which is about 1 pound 8.2 ounces. he was down to 1 pound 6 ounces a few days after his birth, at which point he weighed 1 pound 7 ounces.

so he’s perfectly normal. for a micropreem.

we also learned tonight that, after being taken off breast milk when he went back on the vent, he’s back on regular “feedings” ( technically they aren’t feedings at all, but rather “gut priming” to get the blood flow going in his stomach, but gut priming has a much less appetizing ring to it, so i just call everything a feeding ). he’s on an IV drip of breastmilk at a rate of 1 cc per hour, which is different than the previous feeding protocol known as “gavage” feeding which involves putting a few drops in his endotracheal tube. i think they are being a little more cavalier about the amount that they are giving him because it’s being given through his new “o.j.” tube goes straight to his intestines ( see today’s prior post for more information on his feedings, the “o.j. tube” and how this all might be related to his most recent downturn ).

i’m a little suprised that they would start putting him on 1 cc per hour of milk when they were expressing concern that some of his issues over the past few days might possibly ( or might not, depending on the latest theory ) be related to his feedings, but what do i know. i’m not a doctor. and i don’t even play one on tv.

in any case, if we tolerates his feedings, i’d expect him to start gaining weight quickly over the next few weeks.

oh. and as you can obviously tell from the picture – he clearly doesn’t like to be weighed.