16 weeks actual | 40 weeks gestational 

weight: 3,800 (8 lb 6 oz)| height: 21 inches

Respiratory– Cycling CPAP (pressurized air) and nasal cannula (steady oxygen flow) has been going great. In a week’s time Jack is now 9 hours on cannula and 3 hours back to CPAP for a break. He’s doing great! Slowly moving down on settings and growing stronger everyday. It’s as if something clicked this week and he realized he should be a newborn baby. A long way to go until he’s breathing on his own but the good news is we are taking the baby steps in the right direction.

Brain Bleed (Grade IV) – Head ultrasound has been stable for about a month now so will continue to monitor every other week.

Eyes– ROP Plus disease after the laser treatment has been regressing. Jack might need a touch up laser treatment down the road but as of today, not necessary!

Feeds– As you can see week to week we are gaining weight like a freight train. Volume is up and we are now doing two bottle/breast feeds per shift and the rest are by gavage (tube). Eventually the goal is to have all eight feeds a day by mouth. Jack LOVES bottle feeds- we have to manually pace him as to not suck down the entire bottle – literally. He would eat the container if that was an option.

Corrected Age-Mentioned here ( Due Date Day ).  This is Jack’s first week corrected age. Four months to get to zero days old. Crazy.

Happy 16th Week Jack! You are now a full term baby and looking every bit the part. You sturdy boy you!