A Very Special First

What an amazing little guy our Colin is! He just continues to exceed expectations. But yesterday's first may top them all, at least in the category of "special firsts". One of Colin's neonatologists had stopped by to talk to us to provide an update and just to see how we were holding up. His timing was perfect as Colin's nurse was just about to start his feeding. The doctor thought we should try to introduce the breast to Colin, just to start getting him used to the idea! He was also ready to start another room-air trial, so Ania got to hold him without the CPAP. Even though he still had his OG tube in his mouth, the doctor still thought it would be okay to try. So, with Ania in position, the nurse handed Colin over to her and as if right on cue, Colin opened up wide and he was placed onto mommy. Immediately he started to suckle! No practice needed for our man, he picked it up right away! There was a little learning curve, in that he was sucking so well he forgot he also needed to breathe and within 15 seconds or so he had a brady and desat. So, he was pulled off of mommy just temporarily. He stabilized, then went back for more. This time, after several seconds, he started taking "big gulps" which also caused him to brady. Another mini-break settled him down, then it was success thereafter. He only breast fed for several minutes, but was it something special to see. A very sweet moment that will forever be ingrained in our minds.
Colin has also been over-achieving on his room-air trials. Someone is motivated to get that CPAP off for good! Since my last blog entry, Colin has gone 6 and 7 hours, respectively, during two trial runs of breathing on his own! How soon he accomplishes being completely off CPAP we're not being told yet, but the transition has clearly begun and it seems logical (to us) that maybe he'll be off in a matter of days, maybe a week or two at most?
The only less-than-stellar bit of news to report is that Colin is stubbornly not putting on any more weight. He appears to have plateaued for now, which we're being told is not uncommon during periods of transition: getting off CPAP, moving to an open crib (from an isolette), and others. Hopefully the weight gain will commence soon, after which it won't be long for some serious cuddling with our chub-filled beautiful boy!