Henry Update

This past Monday, Joe and I had a family conference with Dr. DeJonge, a neonatologist, to discuss Henry's health.  Overall, he feels Henry has made terrific progress.  His eating had briefly plateaued, but has recently shown improvement.  In fact, yesterday he took his full feed, 70 ML, twice!  In order to come home, he needs to take 75 ML every feeding for 48 hours.  It's still a struggle for him, though, so in a couple weeks, if Henry still depends on his feeding tube, Dr. DeJonge would consider sending him home with it, and we would gavage any milk he doesn't drink on his own.  We're hopeful that won't be necessary, though it'd be so good to have him home!

Also, we're grateful that Henry had his PICC line, a long-term IV, removed yesterday.  Another small step and a nice indication of his progress. 

The current debate within Henry's medical team is deciding when to fix his hernias.  The surgery could be done before he's discharged, or later as an outpatient procedure.  We'll keep you posted.  In the meantime, we enjoy watching Henry grow as he becomes more alert and active.  Many nurses have told us how unusual it is for an omphalocele baby to be so pleasant.  He's such a great little guy!