I like to think we've done well so far. The first night was hectic. We weren't sure what was normal and what wasn't. Bennett had a bit of indigestion and made a lot of noise most of the night. We learned how important a good burping session is. He does tend to make bouts of noise while sleeping, but I guess that's normal. He sleeps for 3-4 hours, eats, looks around, gets his diaper changed, and goes back to sleep. His eating has been increasing rapidly which is great. We just have to make sure he paces himself so he doesn't choke. He's had a couple of episodes of choking since coming home. It is very scary to see him stop breathing for a moment while his face turns purple.
We had our first follow-up with the pediatrician today. Bennett is up to just over 5 lbs and over 17 inches. Hopefully, we can get him up to around 7 lbs by his due date!
Monday, December 29, 2008
Friday, December 26, 2008
Home at last
The past week has been a bit of a whirlwind. Bennett was progressing well in the NICU. He started bottle feeding once per day on December 15th and increased from there. By Christmas Eve, he was taking all of his feedings by mouth and the tube was removed. He was put in a crib very recently also and was keeping his temperature up (with 2 sets of clothes and three blankets). He remained on the lowest amount of oxygen possible and failed a room air test twice this week. This did not matter because he could come home on the oxygen without a problem.
Last Thursday, his nurse told us she thought he would be there another four weeks. Monday, the MD said another two weeks would be all he needed. Then he turned on a switch. By Wednesday plans were for discharge this weekend. Yesterday, they told us we could take him home today. It is a little overwhelming to have everything happen so fast. I had to get up extra early this morning to get him an appointment with a pediatrician, buy all the stuff we still needed, and get the car seat installed. We left the hospital at about 3:00 this afternoon. There are a couple of pictures of his departure on the picture page.
He is still on the oxygen and may need that for up to another month. His body does not have enough mature red blood cells to stay properly oxygenated. However, a recent blood test showed that he has plenty of them maturing. So hopefully it won't be for long.
Now we are super alert and have a hard time leaving his room for long. I'm sure that will fade over time. It feels amazing and scary at the same time to have him home. He will be 36 weeks gestation tomorrow. He's up to 4lbs. 13oz.
He's eating about 2oz, 6-8 times per day. He gets breast milk for all but two feedings when he has to have a special preemie formula. I don't like it, but it is what is best for his development at this point. We hope to switch to full breast feeding around the time he is full term. It will depend on how well he gains weight. So think positive thoughts.
Bernie is taking the next 2-3 weeks off, so we have some time to adjust to being parents together. We will be spending most of our time at home because Bennett is not supposed to go out much until he is a bit older. Too many germy nasty people out there.
Lastly, Happy Holidays to everyone! I hope to get birth announcements out as soon as possible...so keep your eye out.
Last Thursday, his nurse told us she thought he would be there another four weeks. Monday, the MD said another two weeks would be all he needed. Then he turned on a switch. By Wednesday plans were for discharge this weekend. Yesterday, they told us we could take him home today. It is a little overwhelming to have everything happen so fast. I had to get up extra early this morning to get him an appointment with a pediatrician, buy all the stuff we still needed, and get the car seat installed. We left the hospital at about 3:00 this afternoon. There are a couple of pictures of his departure on the picture page.
He is still on the oxygen and may need that for up to another month. His body does not have enough mature red blood cells to stay properly oxygenated. However, a recent blood test showed that he has plenty of them maturing. So hopefully it won't be for long.
Now we are super alert and have a hard time leaving his room for long. I'm sure that will fade over time. It feels amazing and scary at the same time to have him home. He will be 36 weeks gestation tomorrow. He's up to 4lbs. 13oz.
He's eating about 2oz, 6-8 times per day. He gets breast milk for all but two feedings when he has to have a special preemie formula. I don't like it, but it is what is best for his development at this point. We hope to switch to full breast feeding around the time he is full term. It will depend on how well he gains weight. So think positive thoughts.
Bernie is taking the next 2-3 weeks off, so we have some time to adjust to being parents together. We will be spending most of our time at home because Bennett is not supposed to go out much until he is a bit older. Too many germy nasty people out there.
Lastly, Happy Holidays to everyone! I hope to get birth announcements out as soon as possible...so keep your eye out.
Monday, December 15, 2008
It's Almost Christmas??
Time is all but meaningless to me right now. I have a difficult time keeping track of what day it is, but apparently Christmas is in less than ten days. We officially have none of our shopping done.
Graduation was this past Friday. It felt good to go through the ceremony, but I still won't officially done until this Wednesday. I am waiting for a few slackers to turn in papers that will be graded for a maximum of half credit. And then they will bitch about their low grades. Most of the students are normal responsible adults, but there are definitely a few that make life difficult. I'm not sure if I would want to pursue teaching in college for a career. Once their grades are turned in, I will feel like I can concentrate on all of the crap around the house that needs to be done.
We had a graduation party that turned out really fun. My mom and Bernie's parents made a ton of food and we had about 30 people. I didn't think we knew that many people around here. I was ready for bed at 7pm.
Our guests are slowly trickling home. My grandma was only here for a couple of days. It was great to spend some time with her, she really is a fun lady. Bernie's parents left today as did Melanie. My mom will leave tomorrow. I hope Mel had some fun with all of the family. We can be an interesting group. I'm sure I will start to miss people in a few days, but it will be nice to have some time on our own. There are a couple of books I would like to read that have no academic value.
We did a shit ton of shopping over the past four days. Bennett and I were very spoiled. His room has almost everything it needs. I plan to post pictures once we get the dresser home and the rocking chair is delivered. My mom bought him the cutest vintage Humpty Dumpty lamp along. Jackie brought an unbelievable amount of clothing (some new and some from our nephew Grant who is four months old). None of it fits of course, but he will get there. I bought a pile of preemie clothes because they are dressing him now. Check out the pictures for one of his new little outfits. They look like doll clothes and they sort of hang off of him.
Along with being dressed now, Bennett has started to gain some weight (keep your fingers crossed that it continues). He has been up and down over the past 10 days. He is now at over 3lbs 14 oz. We are almost to 4 lbs! That's when crib time becomes closer. It will be a big step to have him out of the incubator.
The most exciting news is that he had his first feeding by mouth today. I got to feed him a bottle and he took to it surprisingly well. The nurse tried to prepare me that it might be a struggle at first, but he ended up drinking 25ml (a regular feeding is 35ml). He was so cute. He would suck really hard for about five seconds, rest for 30, and suck for five more. It totally wore him out. He was basically sleeping at the end. We will keep this up once a day for a bit and then slowly increase. Hopefully, we can introduce the breast soon also.
My mom and I put together as much of his room as possible tonight. I will post pictures of that when we get everything in place.
Graduation was this past Friday. It felt good to go through the ceremony, but I still won't officially done until this Wednesday. I am waiting for a few slackers to turn in papers that will be graded for a maximum of half credit. And then they will bitch about their low grades. Most of the students are normal responsible adults, but there are definitely a few that make life difficult. I'm not sure if I would want to pursue teaching in college for a career. Once their grades are turned in, I will feel like I can concentrate on all of the crap around the house that needs to be done.
We had a graduation party that turned out really fun. My mom and Bernie's parents made a ton of food and we had about 30 people. I didn't think we knew that many people around here. I was ready for bed at 7pm.
Our guests are slowly trickling home. My grandma was only here for a couple of days. It was great to spend some time with her, she really is a fun lady. Bernie's parents left today as did Melanie. My mom will leave tomorrow. I hope Mel had some fun with all of the family. We can be an interesting group. I'm sure I will start to miss people in a few days, but it will be nice to have some time on our own. There are a couple of books I would like to read that have no academic value.
We did a shit ton of shopping over the past four days. Bennett and I were very spoiled. His room has almost everything it needs. I plan to post pictures once we get the dresser home and the rocking chair is delivered. My mom bought him the cutest vintage Humpty Dumpty lamp along. Jackie brought an unbelievable amount of clothing (some new and some from our nephew Grant who is four months old). None of it fits of course, but he will get there. I bought a pile of preemie clothes because they are dressing him now. Check out the pictures for one of his new little outfits. They look like doll clothes and they sort of hang off of him.
Along with being dressed now, Bennett has started to gain some weight (keep your fingers crossed that it continues). He has been up and down over the past 10 days. He is now at over 3lbs 14 oz. We are almost to 4 lbs! That's when crib time becomes closer. It will be a big step to have him out of the incubator.
The most exciting news is that he had his first feeding by mouth today. I got to feed him a bottle and he took to it surprisingly well. The nurse tried to prepare me that it might be a struggle at first, but he ended up drinking 25ml (a regular feeding is 35ml). He was so cute. He would suck really hard for about five seconds, rest for 30, and suck for five more. It totally wore him out. He was basically sleeping at the end. We will keep this up once a day for a bit and then slowly increase. Hopefully, we can introduce the breast soon also.
My mom and I put together as much of his room as possible tonight. I will post pictures of that when we get everything in place.
Friday, December 5, 2008
What's new
Bennett continues to do well and is making small (and big) improvements every day. He still has the cannula in his nose, but the pressure has been reduced to 1 (from 4) and the oxygen in only at 23% (normal room air is 21%). The pressure is to keep the sacs in his lungs open. Apparently he cannot go home until the pressure is gone, but can come with oxygen. Of course, we hope it will all be gone by that point. At this rate, we may see him come off of all of it within the next week.
They did a scan of his brain yesterday and there was no sign of bleeding or other damage. This is very comforting news, since that was one of our biggest fears. The doctor told us that the risk for that has passed and not to worry about it anymore.
The IV has been removed from his bellybutton, so there are significantly fewer cords coming out of him. I got to hold him skin to skin for the first time yesterday which was wonderful. He seemed a bit uncomfortable, but I think we need more practice! After about 15 minutes, he peed on me despite wearing a diaper. I'm sure that won't be the last time.
His feedings continue to be increased. Today he will be at what is considered full feedings for his weight (30ml every 3 hours). I'm not sure where they will go from there, but I assume they increase them more as he gains weight. He was 3 lbs 7 oz when he was born, dropped to 3lbs 3 oz., and has now gotten up to 3 lbs 9oz as of yesterday. He has been gaining quite a bit in the past 3 days, so here's to hoping that rate continues. When he gets to 4 lbs, they will begin to slowly lower the temperature in his isolette. The we can start dressing him. When he maintains his body temperature, they will put him in a crib.
The four things he needs to do to come home: breathe on his own, gain weight, tolerate full feedings by mouth, and maintain his body temperature. We are on our way to all but the eating at this point, which is a developmental issue.
A nurse told me we can begin next week to introduce him to the breast. They call it breast play. I pump before we visit and he is allowed to roam around down there to get used to it. If he actually latches on, all the better. Apparently we can actually begin trying to feed him at 34 weeks which is earlier than I had thought. That is only a little over a week away.
Overall, Bennett seems to be a very mellow baby. He only cries when something is making him physically uncomfortable, like heel pricks and removing the IV line. Even then, it's only for a moment. He must get that from Bernie.
Other things in life are going well. I'm a bit stressed with all of this school work I'm trying to finish up by next week. My students turned in 8 page papers this week (60 of them) which are a mountain to finish. I have a take home final due Tuesday, which I need to get started on. There isn't a moment in the day to relax, but it should settle down after graduation.
My mom is coming back Wednesday, my grandma at some point, Bernie's parents Thursday, and Melanie is coming on Friday! I'm very happy that Mel is coming down, it was a great surprise.
They did a scan of his brain yesterday and there was no sign of bleeding or other damage. This is very comforting news, since that was one of our biggest fears. The doctor told us that the risk for that has passed and not to worry about it anymore.
The IV has been removed from his bellybutton, so there are significantly fewer cords coming out of him. I got to hold him skin to skin for the first time yesterday which was wonderful. He seemed a bit uncomfortable, but I think we need more practice! After about 15 minutes, he peed on me despite wearing a diaper. I'm sure that won't be the last time.
His feedings continue to be increased. Today he will be at what is considered full feedings for his weight (30ml every 3 hours). I'm not sure where they will go from there, but I assume they increase them more as he gains weight. He was 3 lbs 7 oz when he was born, dropped to 3lbs 3 oz., and has now gotten up to 3 lbs 9oz as of yesterday. He has been gaining quite a bit in the past 3 days, so here's to hoping that rate continues. When he gets to 4 lbs, they will begin to slowly lower the temperature in his isolette. The we can start dressing him. When he maintains his body temperature, they will put him in a crib.
The four things he needs to do to come home: breathe on his own, gain weight, tolerate full feedings by mouth, and maintain his body temperature. We are on our way to all but the eating at this point, which is a developmental issue.
A nurse told me we can begin next week to introduce him to the breast. They call it breast play. I pump before we visit and he is allowed to roam around down there to get used to it. If he actually latches on, all the better. Apparently we can actually begin trying to feed him at 34 weeks which is earlier than I had thought. That is only a little over a week away.
Overall, Bennett seems to be a very mellow baby. He only cries when something is making him physically uncomfortable, like heel pricks and removing the IV line. Even then, it's only for a moment. He must get that from Bernie.
Other things in life are going well. I'm a bit stressed with all of this school work I'm trying to finish up by next week. My students turned in 8 page papers this week (60 of them) which are a mountain to finish. I have a take home final due Tuesday, which I need to get started on. There isn't a moment in the day to relax, but it should settle down after graduation.
My mom is coming back Wednesday, my grandma at some point, Bernie's parents Thursday, and Melanie is coming on Friday! I'm very happy that Mel is coming down, it was a great surprise.
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