Caffeine free!

Oliver's doctors said he no longer needs caffeine!  Alleluia!

We've been downloading the information from his apnea monitor every two weeks and finally the data from the monitor showed no apnea events (when he would forget to breathe or breathe irregularly for too long).  He's been on caffeine since he was a week or so old for apnea due to his prematurity, and his doctors have been eager to get him off of it as soon as possible because the caffeine may be exacerbating his hypertension. 

I'm especially excited because that means he won't need the monitor for too much longer!  The home apnea monitor is a foam/velcro strap that goes around his chest with two electrodes stuck on either side.  The electrodes detect when he takes a breath and when his heart beats, and if he waits too long to take a breath or if his heart rate drops too low it sounds off a crazy loud alarm.  It also sounds the alarm is the wiring is loose, if the power cable is faulty, or if you've left it plugged in next to a baby monitor for two long (in our experience, 95% of these kind of alarms happen between the hours of 11pm and 5am).  Also, the electrodes have been chafing terribly on his soft baby skin, so I am very eager to get rid of the monitor.  Usually they want to keep a baby on the monitor for a month after stopping caffeine, but I may push to see if we can stop a bit sooner.

Oliver continues to gain weight well, though I think it is mostly in his cheeks.  He's nursing much better now - today he nursed for about 30 min. for three of his meals!  We have a developmental assessment on Thursday when the occupational therapist will evaluate his progress again.  He's still a sleepy baby, but he tries hard to lift his head and do normal baby things when he's awake and alert.  I'm proud of him - it's hard to lift your head when half your weight is in your cheeks!  (and when your mama keeps flashing the camera in your eyes when you're finally looking up!)

Self-portraits with a camera rarely turn out good for me, but here's a few decent ones from when I was holding Oliver tonight (it was the only way to get a plesant face; he would fuss as soon as I put him down).