Benji is home!

Surprise! Benji came home today! 

He was such a hungry boy in the NICU that he skipped past “Phase 1” then again skipped past “Phase 2” of the feeding protocol. In Phase 3, the goal was to take all of his food via bottle, which he did no problem, surpassing his volume goal four shifts in a row. After proving he could get all his food via bottle, his feeding tube was removed. Typically then it would be time for Phase 4, where he continues to get all his feeds via bottle and just has to continue gaining weight, but since he did so well at Phase 3 and had been gaining weight they just let him graduate!

We were expecting to get discharged Tuesday, but got a call asking if we wanted to bring our baby home today! We said yes. So after a whirlwind visit to the NICU, we brought Benji home in time for Cordie to meet him after waking from her afternoon nap.

We’re so happy to be united as a family of four all at home. Thanks for all the support and reading this (abbreviated) blog. If you’d like to help feed us, you can find our meal train here: https://mealtrain.com/w463o1

Benji comes home!

March 24th Update

Benji is back on “room air” meaning he is no longer receiving any supplemental oxygen! Last night, he got moved down to the lower acuity Neonatal Intermediate Care Unit on the second floor, also know as the “feed and grow” floor. He has been doing well with feeding and has almost come back up to his original birth weight (though weight for him isn’t really a progress metric we’re following like it was for Cordie).

He drank whole bottles (about 2oz) on his own multiple times when he was still on “low flow” oxygen support. Since being on room air he hasn’t managed to finish a whole bottle yet as it takes some more effort to do it all “on his own”, but that is why we are in the NICU, after all! It’s all progress and part of learning how to live out in the world.

Alyssa and Danny have been going every day and most nights to give lots of cuddles. Benji very sweetly will sometimes cry when we put him down, then calm as soon as we pick him up again, which brings back memories of Cordie from her first few months at home.

Benji taking stock of his surroundings.

March 20th Update

Benji is slowly getting used to life out in the world. He still has a high flow nasal cannula but hasn’t needed any supplemental oxygen for over a day and the pressure has been lowered. This means he can now try bottle feeding. He has already successfully drunk a whole ounce of milk from a bottle twice for the nurses. Then today his dad got to feed him and he drank 10ml! It tires him out quite a bit (he is still a preemie after all!) but it’s a very encouraging sign that he is nippling so well already.

Welcome Baby Benji!

Benedict “Benji” Otis Askew was born via scheduled c-section at 36 weeks 2 days gestational age on Thursday, March 12th at 2:54pm. It was a very different experience compared to his sister Cordelia’s birth! We planned to welcome Benji early to avoid any risk of Alyssa going into labor due to the classical c-section she had when Cordie was born.

Benji’s birth went smoothly and we were delighted to see some familiar faces from the NICU admit team in the delivery room, including the very same admit nurse who admitted Cordie two and a half years ago! This time, Danny got to be present in the OR, performing time-honored dad duties like cutting the cord and cracking jokes while his wife undergoes major surgery.

Our return to the NICU was not unexpected given Benji’s (intentional) prematurity. The best way to describe it, perhaps surprisingly, is “joyous.” There are so many people we know well from the four months we spent here with Cordelia; this is a reunion for us, and we’re comforted to have their talent and care in our corner again.

Benji’s support needs at 36 weeks are much lesser than Cordelia’s were at 26 weeks. He currently has a high flow nasal cannula with a whiff of extra oxygen to support his breathing. He’s been getting milk from a feeding tube and we’re hopeful he’ll get to practice bottle and breastfeeding more once his breathing support lessens.

Cordelia got to come meet him (her review of the NICU was “so many computers!”) and seeing the two of them together just about broke our hearts wide open. We’re so elated to be a family of four now and are looking forward to bringing Benji home once he gets some practice with life outside the womb.

Thank you everyone for your support and love!

Cordelia meets her baby brother Benji for the first time, showing concern that he drops his paci from his mouth.