Hernia and Hypospadias (new words in my vocabulary)

Originally posted on June 21, 2006 ...

Just wanted to give you an update. Ayinde is "doing beautifully," according to his care team at HSC Pediatric Center. He was transferred there last Wednesday from the Washington Hospital Center's NICU. The fact that he is at HSC means he has graduated from the NICU. Praise God! We'll have weekly family meetings with his team until he is discharged. We did discover that Ayinde has a hernia. I was very sad about that but the doctor's told me not to worry (common among preemies) unless he is in pain they are just going to "watch it" and hope that it will correct itself. He also has a condition called "hypo-spadias" where the urethra of his penis is under the tip instead of at the tip. This too sometimes corrects itself but certainly is not life threatening. I am claiming healing over all of this in the name of Jesus! Yesterday I spent the entire day at HSC with my baby. I now have a lactation consultant that works with me daily and a team of professionals who 100% respect my desire to exclusively breastfeed. Yesterday at his 3 p.m. feed Ayinde was wide awake and nursed for about 7 minutes (my lactation consultant timed it). We weigh him before/after to determine how much milk he's taking in. Last night when I arrived at 9pm he was wide awake and ready to nurse. He nursed for about 20 minutes on/off. We have a privacy curtain at bedside and a comfortable rocker so I can go and breastfeed anytime I want to if he's alert and interested. The doctors say that sometimes babies wait until their due date (July 20) and perk up and just start making leaps and bounds in breastfeeding and development. I am getting antsy about bringing him home but do not want to bring him home on a feeding tube because of it's possible complications if not inserted correctly. I know that everything is in God's time. So we're probably looking at a couple of more weeks. We're working on getting Ayinde to take all of his feedings via mouth and then he's ready for discharge. So I have to work my way up to about 6 feedings a day, which means I have to be at the hospital a total of about 8 hours a day, sometimes returning at night. Eventually, I'll have to spend the night at the hospital's apartment so that I can do all 8 of the feedings through the night, including the 12 midnight and 3 a.m. I had the pleasure of giving my baby a bath yesterday and dressing him in a cute little preemie outfit. Then I kissed his little feet, hands and forehead and tucked him in the crib. Though I had been at the hospital all day, I could have stayed all night. Every time I look at him I am awed by the mercy of God.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers. I ask specifically that you pray that Ayinde is getting all of his nourishment from mommy's breast so that we can bring him home to his family.