Benigno Erasmo David

Preemies communicate often in ways other than crying. They do in fact cry to try to communicate a need, but they also have other ways of telling us they are in distress. These include hiccoughing, sneezing, and finger splaying. It took us a while to recognize that these things were signs of distress in Ben [...]

Ben has recently been moving to bottling more and more of my breast milk (and having fewer and fewer of his feeds given through the NG tube).  Feeding preemies by bottle is considered more challenging than full term babies since they are still in the process of learning to coordinate sucking, swallowing, and breathing.  If [...]

I had this realization yesterday as I was comparing the pictures below of Ben that Lawrence uploaded.  It’s obvious to most but seemed incredible to me (in the un-credible sense): all of Ben’s growth has been due to nourishment from me.  Since conception and til now, every cell of his has been sustained solely through [...]

“That’s just cruel.” That was the response our primary nurse had to Lawrence when she heard him laughing at Ben-Ben.  He had been kangaroo-ing with Ben-Ben this weekend when, as usual, Ben-Ben began rooting.  It probably takes Ben anywhere from 5-15 minutes to make his way to Lawrence’s nipple.  In the past, he has gotten [...]

now that he’s bottle-feeding regularly, benig has been moved out of his isolette and into what looks like a large tupperware bin.  the bins make caring for him much easier, since you’re not constricted by arm ports.  but, the bins aren’t heated, which can be problematic when hospital thermostats are set in the 60s.  we’ll [...]

benig just hit his gestational age of 35 weeks on friday.  a look back at week 34: benig hit 2200 grams (4 lbs, 13 oz). benig got taken off the caffeine he was taking to prevent apnea spells benig learned how to drink from a bottle mom and dad also crossed the refrigeration rubicon: we [...]

In the first days of life, Ben-Ben had issues passing bowel movements, requiring suppositories to help him along.  His movements became more regular until my breast milk began being fortified with extra calories and iron, since the volume of breast milk he can presumably handle, based on his weight, does not provide the adequate number [...]

ben just turned 4 weeks old on friday, which puts him at a gestational age of 34 weeks. one of the infant behaviors ben’s starting to exhibit is “rooting.”  rooting babies show signs of wanting to be breastfed: they tend to open and close their mouths during feeding times, and they have a tendency to [...]

last week or so, benig graduated from intensive care in the NICU to intermediate care. the intensive care room at the NICU is fairly dense; there are 6-8 incubators crammed into a room the size of half a volleyball court.  this is where the most premature babies first come, and where the very sick babies [...]

grandparents and aunts came through town these past days to see ben.  our parents (benig’s “lolo” and “lolas” in tagalog) got to hold him for the first time. everyone looked very happy.  so happy, in fact, that christina and i are concerned that our parents love benig more than they love us. lolo rico (my [...]