On Friday and Saturday we went to Dubuque as a family for the Iowa East District LWML Convention. I was supposed to talk about my experiences as a YWR (Young Women Representative) at the National Convention in Peoria last summer. This was somewhat nerve racking because it was the first time we were taking Samuel on an overnight trip!
On Thursday I put together a list of things to pack for Samuel (in the process though I found out I left some things I needed at home, but oh well, I made do!). Trying to make sure we had everything we need. In the end I didn't bring near as much stuff along as I envisioned I was going to have to take for him.
Things went well overall, so that was great! We left Friday after feeding Sam. We got there in time to get our room, grab registrations and our box lunch, feed Sam and eat our own lunches, just in time for the opening service. Which I would have to say was a nicely done opening service of the convention!
We stayed at the afternoon meeting session for most of it, until I had to leave to nurse Sam. Ben then joined us a little later and took a nap. We went down to the banquet that evening, which Sam did very well at, unfortunately we kept him out a little too long and he got a bit over stimulated. We fed him a bottle while we were there, which he did great with. When he was getting a little fussy around 9:30, I took him back to the hotel room so he could sleep and not be around all those people and the noise. Well, that was the right decision, because by the time we reached the room Sam had worked himself up into quite the fit! Once I got him settled down, I fed him and Ben showed up.
Sam wasn't so keen on sleeping that night, but again, we over stimulated him and I am sure that had something to do with it (not to mention he wasn't sleeping in his usual room!). The next morning I got up, fed him and went to breakfast. We didn't register Ben for the 2nd day, so he chilled in the hotel room during the morning. When it was time for Sam's mid morning feeding I went back to the room and nursed him. Then I took him along for an interest session and lunch, just to give Ben a break (and he had to load up and check out of the room!).
I gave him back to Ben during lunch. During the afternoon session I got to talk about my experiences at the national convention last summer. You can read my top tens post about it here. I opted to use humor when I talked about it, because most of the people there attended the national convention. I closed with a few points on participation of young women in LWML. Hopefully I was able to give them an idea of something they can do to encourage it! (the idea was personal invitations-not expecting the note in the bulletin to attract them)
I can say our first overnight was a success and the convention was good! I do regret that we didn't have time to walk through the exhibit hall. We just kept missing them! Oh well, that does happen! At least I have probably seen most of the booths present at different conventions and gatherings. With that though, now I sometimes personally know the exhibitors! So it would have been nice to go through and see who was there that I knew.
After being at convention I have a renewed interested in trying to get young women involved. The things that LWML does is truly amazing! I think us younger women have things to learn from those lovely older ladies who work so hard at doing all that LWML does. No, I really don't appreciate sitting through business meetings, but I love that missions are being funded so that God's Word can reach more people!
11 June 2012
07 June 2012
4 Month Check-Up
So a week ago today we went in for Sam's 4 month check-up. It went really well! But let me give you some background before talking about the actual check-up.
We had decided to switch pediatricians. Sam just really needed a doctor that understands the prematurity side of things (oh and one that would actually address his oxygen needs!). So we switched to a doctor that saw Sam in the NICU a few times and also happens to be a pediatrician. He's a great doctor, which means we had to ask special permission to be a patient of his and had to find times to squeeze us into his schedule.
We had our first visit with him 3 weeks ago. At that point we had already had his 4 month visit scheduled, but his office called wanting to schedule a special appointment just to address his oxygen needs! That made me really happy, because I did not believe Samuel actually NEEDED to be on oxygen, but we were left having him on oxygen because we didn't want to fully take him off without having confirmation of what we thought.
So we went in for that check-up. Ben and I explained to him what had been going on and got the green light to take Sam off the oxygen, but keep him on the monitor. Oh and we also got to change his O2 parameters on the monitor. They were originally set at 95-100 and now they are set 90-100. He's still supposed to be in the upper end of the range, but as he was already declared ROP free weeks before that appointment it's fine when his O2 is a little lower than 95 (higher O2=lower ROP according to some studies).
That gave us a lot more freedom in our lives. I didn't really want to take him to Church, but now that his parameters were different I felt more comfortable (otherwise off O2 he would do this thing where he'd go to 94 just long enough for it to alarm and then right back up, I really didn't want to go to Church and beep the whole service...). So now I have been able to bring Sam with to Church for the past 3 weekends.
Now zoom forward again to the 4 month check-up. This is one where they get immunizations. Because he reacted so poorly to the first round at 2 months (remember, we ended up staying in the NICU over the weekend instead of leaving just before the weekend) our doctor decided to split them up. He also decided it would be good to keep the oxygen stuff around just in case he reacts poorly. He asked us to monitor his oxygen for a day or 2 and then we could take him off the monitor until we go in to get the rest of the immunizations (later today actually).
Samuel also weighed in at 9# 3oz and is 21.75 inches in length. So he's growing great! He's actually starting to grow out of newborn more and more. We have him primarily in 0-3 mo clothes now as he is too long for most of our newborn stuff. The doctor also said that Samuel is a perfectly normal 1 month old baby now and that if he didn't know Sam previously and I had told him he was 1 month old, he would not have questioned the age at all! We are excited to start seeing more full-term baby milestones (not that the preemie milestones weren't great and hugely important!).
Sam did just fine with the first part of the 4 month immunizations and we pray that he does just as well with the last of it today. He will be going on his first overnight trip tomorrow, so we are really hoping he does well!
We had decided to switch pediatricians. Sam just really needed a doctor that understands the prematurity side of things (oh and one that would actually address his oxygen needs!). So we switched to a doctor that saw Sam in the NICU a few times and also happens to be a pediatrician. He's a great doctor, which means we had to ask special permission to be a patient of his and had to find times to squeeze us into his schedule.
We had our first visit with him 3 weeks ago. At that point we had already had his 4 month visit scheduled, but his office called wanting to schedule a special appointment just to address his oxygen needs! That made me really happy, because I did not believe Samuel actually NEEDED to be on oxygen, but we were left having him on oxygen because we didn't want to fully take him off without having confirmation of what we thought.
So we went in for that check-up. Ben and I explained to him what had been going on and got the green light to take Sam off the oxygen, but keep him on the monitor. Oh and we also got to change his O2 parameters on the monitor. They were originally set at 95-100 and now they are set 90-100. He's still supposed to be in the upper end of the range, but as he was already declared ROP free weeks before that appointment it's fine when his O2 is a little lower than 95 (higher O2=lower ROP according to some studies).
That gave us a lot more freedom in our lives. I didn't really want to take him to Church, but now that his parameters were different I felt more comfortable (otherwise off O2 he would do this thing where he'd go to 94 just long enough for it to alarm and then right back up, I really didn't want to go to Church and beep the whole service...). So now I have been able to bring Sam with to Church for the past 3 weekends.
Now zoom forward again to the 4 month check-up. This is one where they get immunizations. Because he reacted so poorly to the first round at 2 months (remember, we ended up staying in the NICU over the weekend instead of leaving just before the weekend) our doctor decided to split them up. He also decided it would be good to keep the oxygen stuff around just in case he reacts poorly. He asked us to monitor his oxygen for a day or 2 and then we could take him off the monitor until we go in to get the rest of the immunizations (later today actually).
Samuel also weighed in at 9# 3oz and is 21.75 inches in length. So he's growing great! He's actually starting to grow out of newborn more and more. We have him primarily in 0-3 mo clothes now as he is too long for most of our newborn stuff. The doctor also said that Samuel is a perfectly normal 1 month old baby now and that if he didn't know Sam previously and I had told him he was 1 month old, he would not have questioned the age at all! We are excited to start seeing more full-term baby milestones (not that the preemie milestones weren't great and hugely important!).
Sam did just fine with the first part of the 4 month immunizations and we pray that he does just as well with the last of it today. He will be going on his first overnight trip tomorrow, so we are really hoping he does well!
06 June 2012
Moving
So I have been rather delinquent here, but I think with good reason! For those of you who don't know we moved across town to a house that is a little better set up for a growing family. It also has the added perk that Ben is now only 1.5 miles from work instead of 7! So far we are loving the new house and are just praying fervently that God sends us a buyer for the old house. We will be having the first open house for it on Sunday 1-3, so if you know anyone interested...
Moving with a baby is not fun, at least I did not view it as fun. It might not have been soo bad, but we had some issues going into it (not real bad issues, but they still added stress!). Basically Samuel is nursed most of the day and is to receive 3 bottles of fortified milk a day (and I get to pump pump pump...). A few days before we started moving things is when the nursing issues started. He used to nurse 25-30 minutes no problem, but had backed down to 20-25 minutes a few weeks before the move. I take it as he has simply become more efficient at it because he seemed just as full.
Well a few days before the move I would spend an hour or more just to get him to go 15-20 minutes, which was quite unusual. Normally we'd be done nursing in a half an hour then I would spend another half an hour getting him to burp. At the time I thought it was just laziness because it is easier to eat from the bottle, but now I think it might have simply been my stress of moving playing out in his feeding ability, which a few days before the move I didn't think I was THAT stressed!
Anyways, so pretty much to sum up the move, I spent the time fighting with Sam to get him to nurse, getting practically no sleep, which made me really no fun to be around... I was not especially nice to my husband the whole time and he was a saint to have put up with me! Just proof that I have an extremely loving and gracious husband! During the move I basically shut down and barricaded myself off from the world in a room with Sam.
Since that weekend I have slowly been unpacking our house, one box at a time. I have made a small dent into the things that need to happen. Also since that weekend Sam has taken of with nursing again and has been doing just fine! We are all much more relaxed overall. The only thing missing is Ben. He's been spending all this time at the old house getting it ready that we don't see him much. All the more reason I pray that house sells quickly!
Also with the move we didn't have internet until yesterday. So now I am back on and can feel connected to the world again! Over the next few days I am going to be writing different updates about different things that have been happening, other than the move.
Moving with a baby is not fun, at least I did not view it as fun. It might not have been soo bad, but we had some issues going into it (not real bad issues, but they still added stress!). Basically Samuel is nursed most of the day and is to receive 3 bottles of fortified milk a day (and I get to pump pump pump...). A few days before we started moving things is when the nursing issues started. He used to nurse 25-30 minutes no problem, but had backed down to 20-25 minutes a few weeks before the move. I take it as he has simply become more efficient at it because he seemed just as full.
Well a few days before the move I would spend an hour or more just to get him to go 15-20 minutes, which was quite unusual. Normally we'd be done nursing in a half an hour then I would spend another half an hour getting him to burp. At the time I thought it was just laziness because it is easier to eat from the bottle, but now I think it might have simply been my stress of moving playing out in his feeding ability, which a few days before the move I didn't think I was THAT stressed!
Anyways, so pretty much to sum up the move, I spent the time fighting with Sam to get him to nurse, getting practically no sleep, which made me really no fun to be around... I was not especially nice to my husband the whole time and he was a saint to have put up with me! Just proof that I have an extremely loving and gracious husband! During the move I basically shut down and barricaded myself off from the world in a room with Sam.
Since that weekend I have slowly been unpacking our house, one box at a time. I have made a small dent into the things that need to happen. Also since that weekend Sam has taken of with nursing again and has been doing just fine! We are all much more relaxed overall. The only thing missing is Ben. He's been spending all this time at the old house getting it ready that we don't see him much. All the more reason I pray that house sells quickly!
Also with the move we didn't have internet until yesterday. So now I am back on and can feel connected to the world again! Over the next few days I am going to be writing different updates about different things that have been happening, other than the move.
03 May 2012
Happy ZERO Birthday! Err, I mean 3 month Birthday!
Time has really flown since Samuel came home! He came home about a month ago now. I can't hardly believe it! Some things important things have happened and I will focus on those in this post.
We went to the eye doctor 3 times since he came home and he has now been declared ROP free! That is great news! He saw less and less each time until he saw nothing of the ROP left. So he doesn't have to go back to that doctor for 4 months. Yippee!
He has steadily been gaining weight since that first bit of weight loss. He is now about 7lb 10oz. We'll get the freshest weight tomorrow!
The pediatricians office has been interesting... They haven't quite figured out that he was born 3 months early and that makes things a little different for him than regular full-term babies. I also thought that his records were sent over from the NICU, but now I question if they truly were. They were trying to get me to schedule a "2 month" check-up to give him his 2 month shots. If they truly were looking at his record they would have seen that he received those before his discharge... So we are in the process of getting switched over to a different pediatrician, who also happens to be a neonatologist. The only trick is he's really good so his schedule is totally booked! We do finally have an app. scheduled with him, though not until the end of the month...
We still have a visiting nurse coming to check weight and he is still on oxygen. We are hoping and praying that he can quit the oxygen soon. I personally don't think he really needs it anymore, but alas, we shall see, when the visiting nurse comes tomorrow I want to talk with her about that more and see what she thinks. She could have some good suggestions about getting in with the doctor and deciding further about oxygen.
That being said, Sam did give us a little bit of a scare last weekend and we ended up at the doctor's office on Saturday (his due date). He kept dropping his oxygen really low just after eating (and just before too because he thinks diaper changes are the worst form of torture known to mankind...). So we went in and the doctor thinks Sam has some reflux. We've been trying some simple remedies at home (like holding him more vertically for about a half hour after eating) and he seems to be reacting well to that.
We also have Sam sleeping on his own again! If you remember when he first came home from the NICU he decided that he needed to be held 24/7, well we didn't completely agree. Though we LOVE holding our son, it is nice to be able to have him sleep without being held as well. So now we have him sleeping mainly in his bassinet and occasionally on us. Let's just say Mom and Dad are now getting a bit better sleep (even if it is just in apr. 2 hour increments...).
As of last check-up we decided to try only 2 bottles of fortified milk a day. This means I get to nurse him one more feeding a day and I don't have to pump AS much. Please pray that he still shows good weight gain with one less fortified bottle a day.
I think that is it with big updates. We are loving having him home though it definitely is more tiring having him home (though I still have not been as tired as I was when I was pregnant). Maybe the next big thing we can work on (other than getting him OFF oxygen) would be getting him to sleep longer at night? We can only hope!
We went to the eye doctor 3 times since he came home and he has now been declared ROP free! That is great news! He saw less and less each time until he saw nothing of the ROP left. So he doesn't have to go back to that doctor for 4 months. Yippee!
He has steadily been gaining weight since that first bit of weight loss. He is now about 7lb 10oz. We'll get the freshest weight tomorrow!
The pediatricians office has been interesting... They haven't quite figured out that he was born 3 months early and that makes things a little different for him than regular full-term babies. I also thought that his records were sent over from the NICU, but now I question if they truly were. They were trying to get me to schedule a "2 month" check-up to give him his 2 month shots. If they truly were looking at his record they would have seen that he received those before his discharge... So we are in the process of getting switched over to a different pediatrician, who also happens to be a neonatologist. The only trick is he's really good so his schedule is totally booked! We do finally have an app. scheduled with him, though not until the end of the month...
We still have a visiting nurse coming to check weight and he is still on oxygen. We are hoping and praying that he can quit the oxygen soon. I personally don't think he really needs it anymore, but alas, we shall see, when the visiting nurse comes tomorrow I want to talk with her about that more and see what she thinks. She could have some good suggestions about getting in with the doctor and deciding further about oxygen.
That being said, Sam did give us a little bit of a scare last weekend and we ended up at the doctor's office on Saturday (his due date). He kept dropping his oxygen really low just after eating (and just before too because he thinks diaper changes are the worst form of torture known to mankind...). So we went in and the doctor thinks Sam has some reflux. We've been trying some simple remedies at home (like holding him more vertically for about a half hour after eating) and he seems to be reacting well to that.
We also have Sam sleeping on his own again! If you remember when he first came home from the NICU he decided that he needed to be held 24/7, well we didn't completely agree. Though we LOVE holding our son, it is nice to be able to have him sleep without being held as well. So now we have him sleeping mainly in his bassinet and occasionally on us. Let's just say Mom and Dad are now getting a bit better sleep (even if it is just in apr. 2 hour increments...).
As of last check-up we decided to try only 2 bottles of fortified milk a day. This means I get to nurse him one more feeding a day and I don't have to pump AS much. Please pray that he still shows good weight gain with one less fortified bottle a day.
I think that is it with big updates. We are loving having him home though it definitely is more tiring having him home (though I still have not been as tired as I was when I was pregnant). Maybe the next big thing we can work on (other than getting him OFF oxygen) would be getting him to sleep longer at night? We can only hope!
06 April 2012
Actual vs. Adjusted
We've been home with Samuel 4 days now and let's just say neither my husband nor myself have gotten a lot of sleep. I know, sleep when the baby sleeps, but we're dealing with a baby that sleeps best when being held and I just don't feel comfortable sleeping with him. I move around a lot in my sleep, so maybe I'm just paranoid that I'll squish him or throw him on the floor. So for now, I sleep when Ben's taking care of him at night (we trade off feeding times), and catch some cat naps during the day.
Right now it is extremely important that we help Sam sleep as much as he can! Of course if he is happily awake, we won't stop that either, but we need him sleeping. Which is why we hold him so much, if we're holding him he sleeps better, and if he sleeps better that means he eats better. The NICU doctor told us he should eat every 2-4 hours and about 8-10 times per day. This means we are not training him to sleep through the night right now, which brings me to the title of this post!
Samuel's actual age is currently 10 weeks. His adjusted age is only 37 weeks gestation, or he should not even be born yet. That means in some ways he's still kind of like a baby that is at 37 weeks gestation. As we move past his due date he'll have a different kind of adjusted age. His due date is the 28th of this month. That means on the 29th he'll be approximately 3 months actual, but only 1 day adjusted.
Where exactly am I going with all this? Well, we've been given some great advice on how to get Samuel to sleep through the night and for right now, we just have to file it away for when we'll finally be able to start getting him to sleep through the night. For now however the game is, get him to eat as often as we can! Most babies don't come out of the womb sleeping through the night right away (at least that is my understanding) and considering Samuel should not even be out of the womb yet, we have some time to go.
This doesn't affect just sleeping through the night however, there are many developmental markers that work the same way. Obviously every baby is a little different, but things that babies generally do around 3 months of age, is 6 months adjusted for Samuel. So just because he's 3 months old (on his due date) does not mean he'll be able to do the same thing as his 3 month old peers, rather he'll do them with his 3 months adjusted age peers (when he's 6 months actual). Confused yet? Welcome to my world!
I like to look at it this way, for other babies of his adjusted age, he's quite advanced! Most of them are still mooching off their mamas and haven't seen the light of day and Samuel is eating on his own and pooping quite well. So I like to think we have quite the advanced baby for his age! Maybe he'll even be ahead of his adjusted age peers in those developmental markers (though probably behind his actual age peers). All this of course won't matter much in a couple of years.
A quick illustration on why it is so important that Samuel keeps eating frequently: The first couple of days we struggled to get him eating more frequently than 4 hours apart. If you do the math, that does not equal 8 feedings in a day. When the visiting nurse came and weighed him, he had actually dropped 2oz from his discharge weight! Oops! Well, the last couple of days he's been a much better eater and he is now a half an ounce above his discharge weight! (discharge: 5# 14.5oz, Wednesday's weight: 5# 12.5oz, today: 5# 15oz). You see how important it is that we keep him eating as much as we can? I've already resigned myself to probably not remember much of the month of April....
I hope I wasn't too rambly... But I'll stop now, I need to wake that little baby up so he can eat and then I'll pump (oh yeah, still pumping after every feeding...). My time goes quickly with all this feeding stuff going on!
Right now it is extremely important that we help Sam sleep as much as he can! Of course if he is happily awake, we won't stop that either, but we need him sleeping. Which is why we hold him so much, if we're holding him he sleeps better, and if he sleeps better that means he eats better. The NICU doctor told us he should eat every 2-4 hours and about 8-10 times per day. This means we are not training him to sleep through the night right now, which brings me to the title of this post!
Samuel's actual age is currently 10 weeks. His adjusted age is only 37 weeks gestation, or he should not even be born yet. That means in some ways he's still kind of like a baby that is at 37 weeks gestation. As we move past his due date he'll have a different kind of adjusted age. His due date is the 28th of this month. That means on the 29th he'll be approximately 3 months actual, but only 1 day adjusted.
Where exactly am I going with all this? Well, we've been given some great advice on how to get Samuel to sleep through the night and for right now, we just have to file it away for when we'll finally be able to start getting him to sleep through the night. For now however the game is, get him to eat as often as we can! Most babies don't come out of the womb sleeping through the night right away (at least that is my understanding) and considering Samuel should not even be out of the womb yet, we have some time to go.
This doesn't affect just sleeping through the night however, there are many developmental markers that work the same way. Obviously every baby is a little different, but things that babies generally do around 3 months of age, is 6 months adjusted for Samuel. So just because he's 3 months old (on his due date) does not mean he'll be able to do the same thing as his 3 month old peers, rather he'll do them with his 3 months adjusted age peers (when he's 6 months actual). Confused yet? Welcome to my world!
I like to look at it this way, for other babies of his adjusted age, he's quite advanced! Most of them are still mooching off their mamas and haven't seen the light of day and Samuel is eating on his own and pooping quite well. So I like to think we have quite the advanced baby for his age! Maybe he'll even be ahead of his adjusted age peers in those developmental markers (though probably behind his actual age peers). All this of course won't matter much in a couple of years.
A quick illustration on why it is so important that Samuel keeps eating frequently: The first couple of days we struggled to get him eating more frequently than 4 hours apart. If you do the math, that does not equal 8 feedings in a day. When the visiting nurse came and weighed him, he had actually dropped 2oz from his discharge weight! Oops! Well, the last couple of days he's been a much better eater and he is now a half an ounce above his discharge weight! (discharge: 5# 14.5oz, Wednesday's weight: 5# 12.5oz, today: 5# 15oz). You see how important it is that we keep him eating as much as we can? I've already resigned myself to probably not remember much of the month of April....
I hope I wasn't too rambly... But I'll stop now, I need to wake that little baby up so he can eat and then I'll pump (oh yeah, still pumping after every feeding...). My time goes quickly with all this feeding stuff going on!
02 April 2012
The Finish Line
As I write this Samuel's discharge papers are getting finished up and Ben is driving home from Nebraska (with a stop in Des Moines). When Ben gets here we'll go through the discharge papers together and bring our little boy home for the first time.
It's all kind of surreal really. I mean all we have known about parenting has been our time in the NICU. As frustrating as it is to be in the NICU it definitely has come with some perks. Now we have to say goodbye to our "babysitters," farewell to 3 meals a day that we don't have to cook and so long to immediate medical assistance when something happens. This will be a new transition of sorts.
We will have a transition kind of like that of regular non NICU new parents, just a little different. Because of the traces of ROP (retinopathy of prematurity) they saw, he's back on oxygen. Apparently there is some evidence that keeping those o2 levels high decreases the growth of ROP. So, he's going home on oxygen (which is kind of scary!). Then there's a positive side, we know our son pretty well already. Most parents start getting to know their baby at the hospital, but then really get to know them at home, we have a bit of a head start on that! Of course, they have warned us, that babies tend to change some when they get home and develop some new patterns. So we'll still be getting to know him!
The last few days have been very uneventful and we actually probably could have gone home yesterday. Over the weekend he was having some borderline temps and the doctor was somewhat hesitant to send him home on Sunday. When talking he asked me what I preferred. I told him that I honestly preferred Monday over Sunday because then Ben could be here to help get him home and set up. So today it is and things continue to go well!
I can't speak for Ben, but I know I am sure going to miss the NICU. I have spent more time in the NICU in 2012 than anywhere else. The staff here have become friends and I will miss seeing them. The doctors and nurses have been just fantastic in every way possible. So as excited as I am to bring our baby home, I am also sad to see this chapter close for other reasons.
This year is going to be different, but as it has already proven, different isn't necessarily bad, in fact so far, different has been amazing! This will be the first year since I studied abroad to not be involved in Holy Week and Easter services, but that's ok. Right now, with Sam's immature immunity system and his needing to conserve some energy for eating, that is what is best for our boy. I don't know when I will start showing up at Church with him, but you can bet when I do, he will be kept very close to me and away from everyone else (at least for a little while). Eventually I will let others touch and hold him, but at first....
I digress... We are going home this afternoon and I can't wait! I think one thing I am looking forward to is him just being there and I don't have to shower before driving over to nurse him, I can shower when it's convenient because I won't be going out into public first thing in the morning!
The next post... will be from our house and no longer from the NICU!
It's all kind of surreal really. I mean all we have known about parenting has been our time in the NICU. As frustrating as it is to be in the NICU it definitely has come with some perks. Now we have to say goodbye to our "babysitters," farewell to 3 meals a day that we don't have to cook and so long to immediate medical assistance when something happens. This will be a new transition of sorts.
We will have a transition kind of like that of regular non NICU new parents, just a little different. Because of the traces of ROP (retinopathy of prematurity) they saw, he's back on oxygen. Apparently there is some evidence that keeping those o2 levels high decreases the growth of ROP. So, he's going home on oxygen (which is kind of scary!). Then there's a positive side, we know our son pretty well already. Most parents start getting to know their baby at the hospital, but then really get to know them at home, we have a bit of a head start on that! Of course, they have warned us, that babies tend to change some when they get home and develop some new patterns. So we'll still be getting to know him!
The last few days have been very uneventful and we actually probably could have gone home yesterday. Over the weekend he was having some borderline temps and the doctor was somewhat hesitant to send him home on Sunday. When talking he asked me what I preferred. I told him that I honestly preferred Monday over Sunday because then Ben could be here to help get him home and set up. So today it is and things continue to go well!
I can't speak for Ben, but I know I am sure going to miss the NICU. I have spent more time in the NICU in 2012 than anywhere else. The staff here have become friends and I will miss seeing them. The doctors and nurses have been just fantastic in every way possible. So as excited as I am to bring our baby home, I am also sad to see this chapter close for other reasons.
This year is going to be different, but as it has already proven, different isn't necessarily bad, in fact so far, different has been amazing! This will be the first year since I studied abroad to not be involved in Holy Week and Easter services, but that's ok. Right now, with Sam's immature immunity system and his needing to conserve some energy for eating, that is what is best for our boy. I don't know when I will start showing up at Church with him, but you can bet when I do, he will be kept very close to me and away from everyone else (at least for a little while). Eventually I will let others touch and hold him, but at first....
I digress... We are going home this afternoon and I can't wait! I think one thing I am looking forward to is him just being there and I don't have to shower before driving over to nurse him, I can shower when it's convenient because I won't be going out into public first thing in the morning!
The next post... will be from our house and no longer from the NICU!
30 March 2012
The Blip...
Remember how I talked about how the home stretch can mean different things? Well, his home stretch is starting to show us what it means.
The first type of home stretch was when you're going and going and going and then suddenly there's the finish line! -- Yeah, that's not Samuel's home stretch...
The second type I mentioned was when you see it for quite a while before you finally get to it! -- Slowly, but surely progressing? Also not Samuel's home stretch, he's a quick little baby...
Finally one where you see the finish and then you're sent off into a different direction -- Yup, this one is Samuel's home stretch! As of yet, who knows how many detours we'll have to make on the way to the finish line, but we just made one.
What I didn't tell you when writing that post is that we thought Samuel would be coming home today (Thursday). Well, that didn't exactly happen, everything was going great for it until yesterday, so this was a very sudden detour indeed.
In order to fully explain I have to back up to Tuesday night. We opted to have Samuel vaccinated and as discharge was getting closer and closer we decided to give them to him on Tuesday. So Tuesday night, during the first cares of the night shift, we gave him some immunizations. Of course he didn't entirely appreciate it (and by that I mean turning beat yet and crying as loud as he could with each shot), but that's to be expected. Most people, child and adult alike, don't really like shots.
Tuesday night he was extra grunty (preemies come as a small bundle of grunts, I mean squeaks, ok, so they just makes lots and lots of special preemie sounds). Which meant I didn't hardly sleep. On Monday I had started sleeping in Sam's room so we can be nursing in the middle of the night as well. Him grunting and fussing just a little all night made it mighty hard for me to sleep.
That morning he only took 20mL of his 50mL bottle, then the next feeding he nursed very lazily. Samuel was also being very grumpy. He seemed to calm down some so we tried to do his 90 minute car seat check (mainly to see that he keeps his oxygen up while in the car seat) and failed it within the first 10 minutes.
Then he seemed better, he ate really well at the next feedings, we managed to do the car seat check again and he passed with flying colors. He seemed a little more content again. Then night shift started. The first feeding for night shift he woke up an hour late. Now I understand flexibility in scheduling, but he was waking up like clock work up till that point, him waking up a whole hour late was unusual.
We gave him a bath, checked him over and Ben settled down to give him another bottle. Again he only took 20mL of the 50mL, not a normal thing for Sam to do. We put him back down in his crib, checked his temperature again and decided to bundle him up warmly. They swaddled him in 2 more blankets with hot packs and then laid another blanket on top. They also put a hat on him (infants temp control through their heads).
Based on when he took the bottle he was due to eat again at 1:30am, but maybe earlier as he ate so little. He didn't wake up to eat at the next time, at 1:45 we decided to try to wake him up to eat. We got him into position, but no matter how hard we tried, he just wouldn't. We managed to get him to latch and swallow some milk that I squeezed out, but that was it. The decision was made, we were going to have to put a new tube down his throat and he was going to get moved into an isolette (you know, the one that he wasn't ever in before because he went from the fancy one to the bed).
******continued writing on Friday******
With that decision I decided to go to sleep, so I laid down on the little sofa/bed thing they have the rooms and passed out almost immediately and didn't wake up until 6:30am. It sounded like things were pretty calm while I was sleeping, Samuel took the tube feeding well, then right before I woke up the nurse managed to give him a full bottle. So that was great to hear, that meant that he was on the rebound, eating for himself again.
So I pumped, headed to the shower, grabbed breakfast and tried to relax a little. We dilated his eyes at 7:30 for his eye appointment (he was not happy about that, it took 2 nurses to get his eyes open enough for the drops... At 8am (this is all Thursday morning now) the decision was made to see how he does back in the crib.
The belief was, as mentioned already, that it was a reaction to the vaccines, with that the doctors thought that if we can just help him get back to his normal place we should be able to take the supports used to do that away and he should be fine. So out with the crib. After he was in the crib I realized I never took a photo of him in that isolette than he only spent about 5 hours in (but he'd never been in one like it before). Oh well... You could say I was somewhat tired and stressed feeling at the time.
The opthamalogist then came around 8:30 to do the eye exam. They were trying out new equipment that actually takes video of the exam from his perspective. The tricky thing they were finding is that even though the doctor can see things just fine, if he didn't have the linse lined up just right, it didn't show up on the monitor. He couldn't however look at the monitor to see because that would point the camera at the monitor. Overall they seemed to like the new equipment they're trying out and that "issue" is more a matter of practice than anything else.
My hope going into the appointment was that his eyes would continue to check out as immature (which is exactly what they are still, as he isn't due for another month to be born!) and we would be told to he'd be seen in 2 weeks. Well, that didn't exactly work out that way... They found some beginnings of retinopathy of prematurity on the outer edges of both eyes. It isn't much yet, so we are now on the weekly appointment schedule. How many of you know who Stevie Wonder is? Yeah, ROP (retinopathy of prematurity) is why he went blind. Now with this kind of monitoring we are able to catch ROP soon and there are procedures that can be done when it is caught at the right stage that can prevent blindness. Hence weekly appointments. If it looks more concerning in a week, we'll be going in even more frequently.
So that wasn't exactly the news I wanted to hear from that check up. But we have a preemie and with that comes all sorts of fun preemie things. I know my worrying about it isn't going to help at all, so I have decided not to be worried. Samuel is doing fantastic despite these "blips."
Yesterday (Thursday, the day after the long night), he was back to his normal Samuel self again. He was being feisty during cares and checks (definitely did not like his diaper getting changed again), demanded food when he was hungry (which I think he was playing catch up for not eating much the shift before, he only had 2 1/2 of the 4 feedings) and was just overall a more content and happy baby.
Along with putting him back in a crib they weaned him back off of oxygen by 3pm. So he is no longer on oxygen again! They aren't sure if they will be able to keep him off, so they might train me on the monitors and oxygen this weekend, just in case he goes home on it.
Last night we also had some fun. He was being fussy after his 6:30 feeding. I had already tried to burp him and only got littles ones out of him (he can sure burp loud though, don't let his size fool you!). I tried holding him and he didn't quiet down. As he just ate, I didn't try feeding him because he showed me that he was clearly done already. I tried holding him in different positions, but nothing seemed to help. So I checked his diaper. Sure enough he'd pooped. I started cleaning up, had a clean one under him, had pulled out the dirty one and was just about to finish wiping when he squirted out a bunch more. It kind of sounded like a ketchup bottle when it's almost empty and it squirts out a glob more...
Well he really squirted and got his sleeper dirty, his swaddle sack dirty and his sheet dirty... So I took that recently fresh diaper out and put a truly fresh diaper under him, closed it up real quick and just waited while he grunted and pushed the rest out. This was also happening at shift change, so when the night nurse came in I let her know what happened and said that this might be easier to clean up with a bath. So that's what we did! The little guy got 2 baths for 2 days in a row! That normally doesn't happen, but he was a messy little pooper....
That is basically what our little blip was. We went from being told he'll likely discharge on Thursday to being told the earliest he can discharge is Sunday (which is code for he MIGHT go home Sunday, but it easily could be after Sunday). So we are back to not knowing how much longer we'll be here, but knowing that he is receiving excellent care and we only want to bring him home when he is truly ready to be brought home.
After all, can you imagine how much of a basket case I would have actually been in if we were home? As it was, I was slightly emotional as this was happening in the middle of the night, but I very tired from trying to not fall asleep and just wanting to sleep, but wanting to make sure Samuel was ok. When I woke up I was able to simply be extremely grateful that it happened before we were discharged. I know I keep saying how the staff is here great and I truly mean that. I know I don't have to worry about Samuel here. Today he's still doing great and I'm doing great and we are just hanging out waiting for him to show us he's actually ready to go home.
:-)
Oh and those of you on facebook, the crib did beat him home.
27 March 2012
Quick Note
So I just wanted to tell you all about how amazing Samuel is. Of course I think that, I'm his Mom. However the nurses and lactation consultants seem to agree.
Nursing:
He needs no aids to latch.
He latches himself (I just guide him to latch correctly)
He has perfect form
He does not drop his oxygen while nursing, rather he brings it up really high and keeps it there!
Bottles:
He has perfect form
He has great oxygen levels
He has been doing it correctly since he received his first bottle last week!
He wake up so well for his feedings and does just an amazing job. The Lactation Consultants and nurses were all amazed that we don't have to use any aids to get him to latch. The nurses are thoroughly impressed with how well he eats from a bottle as well. They would love for Samuel to give the other preemies lessons on how to eat.
We have truly been blessed with an amazing little boy!
The bottles are so that he still takes in some fortified milk every day, this helps him with his energy level and his weight gain. After we leave the NICU, we'll work with our pediatrician on how long we will continue giving him bottles. Right now we are to give him 3 bottles a day (that means he nurses 5x and will take a bottle 3x).
If he gains weight a little better than last night, we should be home in a few days! Prayer for everything to go smoothly and that he will have received all the care he needs before heading home!
Nursing:
He needs no aids to latch.
He latches himself (I just guide him to latch correctly)
He has perfect form
He does not drop his oxygen while nursing, rather he brings it up really high and keeps it there!
Bottles:
He has perfect form
He has great oxygen levels
He has been doing it correctly since he received his first bottle last week!
He wake up so well for his feedings and does just an amazing job. The Lactation Consultants and nurses were all amazed that we don't have to use any aids to get him to latch. The nurses are thoroughly impressed with how well he eats from a bottle as well. They would love for Samuel to give the other preemies lessons on how to eat.
We have truly been blessed with an amazing little boy!
The bottles are so that he still takes in some fortified milk every day, this helps him with his energy level and his weight gain. After we leave the NICU, we'll work with our pediatrician on how long we will continue giving him bottles. Right now we are to give him 3 bottles a day (that means he nurses 5x and will take a bottle 3x).
If he gains weight a little better than last night, we should be home in a few days! Prayer for everything to go smoothly and that he will have received all the care he needs before heading home!
25 March 2012
The "Home Stretch"
Before you get too excited about the title of this point, I want to give you a running analogy. For those of you who don't know, I got into running about 2 years ago and love it! It is very addictive I think! I need to get back out there, because I would love to run a half marathon sometime this fall. Alright, digressing...
Anyways, different races have different kinds of home stretches. Let's talk about 3 different kinds.
Anyways, different races have different kinds of home stretches. Let's talk about 3 different kinds.
- Some races you run and run and run, then all of a sudden the finish line is there. You couldn't really see it coming, it just sort of pops up out of nowhere. Then you're finished.
- Other races you can see it for miles until you finally finish it. Those aren't nice because you can tasted the finish, but it feels like it's being kept from you like candy on a string attached to your hat. No matter how far you go, it just never feels like it gets closer.
- Then there's even meaner races (right now I am thinking of the San Diego Rock'n'Roll Marathon I did last summer). In that race (while I was in a lot of pain because my knee hurt like crazy) you could see the finish around mile 22sh I believe, but then you had to run around this peninsula/island thing and you couldn't see it for a few miles. So cruel! It was sooo close, you could see it not that far away, then you had to run where you couldn't see it....
So, how does any of that have to do with Samuel going home (some day)? Basically I say we are on the home stretch because we have now been given the orders to feed orally whenever he is awake (on Friday we could feed him orally twice a shift and that went very well). Remember how one of the big things is that he has to be on 100% oral feedings with 2 days of weight gain? Yeah, we are getting really close.
The problem is, even though we are getting really close we really don't know what close means... Does that mean he will start eating orally and gaining weight well and we'll be home within a week? Maybe! Or is his energy not quite up to snuff and after eating more he will be sleepy more, thus keeping us here past Easter? Maybe! We just don't know at this point, it is too early to tell.
Oh and remember how I mentioned that his oxygen levels haven't been as spectacular as before? Yeah, we got to get that more under control too. How long will that take? I have no idea. Maybe within a week or maybe not until after Easter. So, yes, we are in the home stretch and we could be going home very soon (note to self, get that car seat installed!), but we could also be here for several more weeks.
What I do know, is that we want him healthy and strong so that he can handle what life at home means. That's a life without monitors to make sure he's breathing and has his heart rate where he needs it. It's also a life where being too tired to eat is not an option, there will be no more tube feeding (which is not a favorite of his anyways). We are simply thankful for the excellent progress he has made so far and we just pray that he will continue moving forward no matter how quickly.... or slowly!
Samuel means "God heard" and we surely know that God hears all our prayers, including the ones about Samuel! We have definitely been blessed with an amazing staff at this NICU, which is one way that God has heard our prayers!
22 March 2012
Long Time, No Post...
I know a week and a half has gone by since I last posted. Here's a good rule of thumb, if I haven't posted recently, that means not much has happened and what has is what is expected. As is the case since the last post. Besides I am constantly busy doing things as well, which I will explain more in this post.
So he started nursing last week on Monday and he has taken in quite a number of full feedings since starting. We have not been given the orders yet to do 2 attempts a shift, but he is started to do awesome at 1 attempt a shift. They look for things like taking in a full feeding while nursing (not needing to supplement with a tube feeding), waking for all feedings and desiring to suck or nurse at all feedings. Basically all the criteria they looked at to start him nursing, they look at all over again to add a feeding per shift.
That may seem silly at first that they use the same criteria, but it really makes a lot of sense. Remember how the milk in the tub feeding is being fortified with extra calories? Well, when we nurse, he isn't getting the extra calories, as there is really no way to fortify the milk as it is coming out. Also, nursing takes a lot of energy. What you end up with is a baby using a lot more of his energy in one shot instead of throughout the day AND he's getting less calories to draw from. That makes for a very tired baby after nursing. When we first started nursing it was very common for him to sleep through 2 or 3 feedings, whereas before nursing he was awake for pretty much all his feedings (sleeping through an occasional feeding very seldom).
After about a week and a half of nursing he is starting to be awake more again for his other feedings. He is still not as awake as he was before, but he is making progress in that direction and is getting close. As the staff here tells us, it is very common to be put in a holding pattern like this, as the baby develops, gets stronger and has more energy.
I would also like to add that he has been getting full feedings in when we try to nurse. He knows exactly what to do and he wants it! In fact, yesterday morning we weren't sure if we were going to nurse or not, and as we had to change out his clothes (he had peed out his diaper) I was holding him. He was being somewhat fussy, so I was trying to hold him in different ways to find one he liked, and well, he liked being positioned to nurse. I think he was very confused that he couldn't just nurse with my clothes in place like normal... So we nursed and he did great! Samuel sure knows what he wants!
The other "big" news is that he has now been back on a nasal canula since last Friday. I don't remembered if I mentioned this or not (but guessing I did), but it is extremely common for this to happen, especially when the parameters change and they start nursing. With all his energy being used on eating, he doesn't have as much energy to keep his oxygen up!
One of the doctor's was in looking at him 2 days ago and suggested giving Samuel some medicine that would help him get ready of the extra fluids in his body. While it is normal for babies to be on and off and on and off of oxygen, he is needed a little more support than in the past. Even on the CPAP that oxygen was generally set at room air or slightly above (21%), but this time he's in the 30s% for oxygen on the nasal canula. The doctor said that if the lungs and wet it can cause them to need oxygen, then he went on to explain a condition some preemies have that have to do with the lungs and moisture. He didn't think Samuel has been exhibiting signs of this condition because he hadn't really needed much oxygen in the past (and as I was very tired when he was telling me about it, I have no idea what it was...). Now Samuel is getting some medicine to help him rid himself of extra fluids (his legs and feet have been kind of puffy, showing extra fluid retention), and as he has shown an ability to gain weight despite the meds, they are giving him some more.
The doctor told me that nothing he says can prepare parents for the amount of pee, that made me laugh. He's had some rather large wet diapers and we have had to change his clothes and bedding a little more frequently... :-)
Last weekend was also the weekend of 2 baby showers. I'm sorry if I did not invite everyone I intended to, I have been really preoccupied and tried to get everyone invited, but that doesn't always happen. The showers were really good and we had company from out of town come. I did leave Ben to entertain them, as I am rather busy with Sam. Ben's Mom came out for the first time, so it was great for her to see Sam. My Grandma was also out for the first time, which meant it was the first time we had 4 generations together (though we didn't get a picture of my Grandma, Dad, myself and Samuel together... oops!). My Dad was born the day after my Grandma's birthday and Sam was born the day after my birthday, so that is a neat "family tradition." Ben's cousin also came out with her 2 girls.
Let's just say, between Samuel starting to nurse (and not knowing which feeding time he is actually going to nurse) and the baby showers I got very off on my pumping. Actually during the last 3 days I have pumped just over half of what I was pumping up till then. So this week I have been extremely busy pumping like a crazy person to get my supply back up. Today has already been better, but we'll have to see how the rest of pumping goes the rest of the day to be sure. I know that Samuel is nursing and taking some of the supply himself, but he's definitely not taking half of my supply away with 2x nursing and at first it actually caused my supply to increase. Nothing produces milk better than a nursing baby! But considering I am just 3oz behind where I was at at supper time yesterday, today is already looking MUCH better.
That's all I have, Samuel is doing great and hopefully in the next day or 2 I'll actually update my facebook photo album as well...
So he started nursing last week on Monday and he has taken in quite a number of full feedings since starting. We have not been given the orders yet to do 2 attempts a shift, but he is started to do awesome at 1 attempt a shift. They look for things like taking in a full feeding while nursing (not needing to supplement with a tube feeding), waking for all feedings and desiring to suck or nurse at all feedings. Basically all the criteria they looked at to start him nursing, they look at all over again to add a feeding per shift.
That may seem silly at first that they use the same criteria, but it really makes a lot of sense. Remember how the milk in the tub feeding is being fortified with extra calories? Well, when we nurse, he isn't getting the extra calories, as there is really no way to fortify the milk as it is coming out. Also, nursing takes a lot of energy. What you end up with is a baby using a lot more of his energy in one shot instead of throughout the day AND he's getting less calories to draw from. That makes for a very tired baby after nursing. When we first started nursing it was very common for him to sleep through 2 or 3 feedings, whereas before nursing he was awake for pretty much all his feedings (sleeping through an occasional feeding very seldom).
After about a week and a half of nursing he is starting to be awake more again for his other feedings. He is still not as awake as he was before, but he is making progress in that direction and is getting close. As the staff here tells us, it is very common to be put in a holding pattern like this, as the baby develops, gets stronger and has more energy.
I would also like to add that he has been getting full feedings in when we try to nurse. He knows exactly what to do and he wants it! In fact, yesterday morning we weren't sure if we were going to nurse or not, and as we had to change out his clothes (he had peed out his diaper) I was holding him. He was being somewhat fussy, so I was trying to hold him in different ways to find one he liked, and well, he liked being positioned to nurse. I think he was very confused that he couldn't just nurse with my clothes in place like normal... So we nursed and he did great! Samuel sure knows what he wants!
The other "big" news is that he has now been back on a nasal canula since last Friday. I don't remembered if I mentioned this or not (but guessing I did), but it is extremely common for this to happen, especially when the parameters change and they start nursing. With all his energy being used on eating, he doesn't have as much energy to keep his oxygen up!
One of the doctor's was in looking at him 2 days ago and suggested giving Samuel some medicine that would help him get ready of the extra fluids in his body. While it is normal for babies to be on and off and on and off of oxygen, he is needed a little more support than in the past. Even on the CPAP that oxygen was generally set at room air or slightly above (21%), but this time he's in the 30s% for oxygen on the nasal canula. The doctor said that if the lungs and wet it can cause them to need oxygen, then he went on to explain a condition some preemies have that have to do with the lungs and moisture. He didn't think Samuel has been exhibiting signs of this condition because he hadn't really needed much oxygen in the past (and as I was very tired when he was telling me about it, I have no idea what it was...). Now Samuel is getting some medicine to help him rid himself of extra fluids (his legs and feet have been kind of puffy, showing extra fluid retention), and as he has shown an ability to gain weight despite the meds, they are giving him some more.
The doctor told me that nothing he says can prepare parents for the amount of pee, that made me laugh. He's had some rather large wet diapers and we have had to change his clothes and bedding a little more frequently... :-)
Last weekend was also the weekend of 2 baby showers. I'm sorry if I did not invite everyone I intended to, I have been really preoccupied and tried to get everyone invited, but that doesn't always happen. The showers were really good and we had company from out of town come. I did leave Ben to entertain them, as I am rather busy with Sam. Ben's Mom came out for the first time, so it was great for her to see Sam. My Grandma was also out for the first time, which meant it was the first time we had 4 generations together (though we didn't get a picture of my Grandma, Dad, myself and Samuel together... oops!). My Dad was born the day after my Grandma's birthday and Sam was born the day after my birthday, so that is a neat "family tradition." Ben's cousin also came out with her 2 girls.
Let's just say, between Samuel starting to nurse (and not knowing which feeding time he is actually going to nurse) and the baby showers I got very off on my pumping. Actually during the last 3 days I have pumped just over half of what I was pumping up till then. So this week I have been extremely busy pumping like a crazy person to get my supply back up. Today has already been better, but we'll have to see how the rest of pumping goes the rest of the day to be sure. I know that Samuel is nursing and taking some of the supply himself, but he's definitely not taking half of my supply away with 2x nursing and at first it actually caused my supply to increase. Nothing produces milk better than a nursing baby! But considering I am just 3oz behind where I was at at supper time yesterday, today is already looking MUCH better.
That's all I have, Samuel is doing great and hopefully in the next day or 2 I'll actually update my facebook photo album as well...
12 March 2012
Nuzzling, Nursing and No More Canula!
Time has just been flying past! I feel like I had just posted yesterday, but alas... it's been a whole week! There have been a few developments since last Monday, mostly dealing with eating. :-)
For the Moms' planning on nursing their babies they encourage doing something called nuzzling once the baby is showing to be awake more and the need to suck on something. Basically you position the baby as if you were going to nurse, only you had pumped out all the milk you could just before this. You don't want to have too much milk there, because the point isn't to actually swallow the milk (though the baby might do a bit of this too, just the nature of things when you are constantly producing more milk), the point is to simply get used to the idea of being there (of course sucking and licking is encouraged!).
So last Tuesday we were given the go ahead to start nuzzling! Basically Samuel's spent most of the time just hanging out there making occasional sucks from time to time, but last Saturday he was going to town! He was eager to suck as much as he could!
Today I came into the NICU and was informed we've now been given the green light to start nursing! Yippee!! So basically starting today we are going to try to nurse one feeding in a 12 hour shift. There are 4 feedings each shift. As many of the nurses and lactation consultants have been good to warn me, this part of the NICU experience can be the most frustrating. Yes, it's not fun to see him hooked up to a bunch of machines (which right now he's hooked up to practically nothing), but I think this is frustrating because Moms have expectations of the baby simply taking to it quickly when this is rarely the case with preemies.
So I have decided that whatever happens happens! Which has been my attitude with Samuel pretty much the whole time. I clearly can't control what happens, if I could have he wouldn't have come out in January! This morning was our first attempt and lets just say, he was not really up for it. I think he was more awake about 10-15 minutes before we starting trying to nurse, by the time we started finally he was falling back asleep (our nurse got called away briefly and that threw us off, that's ok though because as we do it more I will feel more comfortable to take ownership of just going for it). We are about to try again this evening and he is usually very awake at this next feeding time, so we'll see if he's up for it this time.
In other news we took Samuel off his nasal canula last weekend! This means he is doing great with his new oxygen parameters. Ok, great might be a slight exaggeration, but he's doing good enough not to need it, he has his great moments with oxygen and then his not so great moments. Next weekend when he turns 34 weeks gestationally, so I won't be too surprise if he's back on a nasal canula within the week, but that is all a part of being in the NICU!
We thank God every day for the amazing progress and growth Samuel has been having!
For the Moms' planning on nursing their babies they encourage doing something called nuzzling once the baby is showing to be awake more and the need to suck on something. Basically you position the baby as if you were going to nurse, only you had pumped out all the milk you could just before this. You don't want to have too much milk there, because the point isn't to actually swallow the milk (though the baby might do a bit of this too, just the nature of things when you are constantly producing more milk), the point is to simply get used to the idea of being there (of course sucking and licking is encouraged!).
So last Tuesday we were given the go ahead to start nuzzling! Basically Samuel's spent most of the time just hanging out there making occasional sucks from time to time, but last Saturday he was going to town! He was eager to suck as much as he could!
Today I came into the NICU and was informed we've now been given the green light to start nursing! Yippee!! So basically starting today we are going to try to nurse one feeding in a 12 hour shift. There are 4 feedings each shift. As many of the nurses and lactation consultants have been good to warn me, this part of the NICU experience can be the most frustrating. Yes, it's not fun to see him hooked up to a bunch of machines (which right now he's hooked up to practically nothing), but I think this is frustrating because Moms have expectations of the baby simply taking to it quickly when this is rarely the case with preemies.
So I have decided that whatever happens happens! Which has been my attitude with Samuel pretty much the whole time. I clearly can't control what happens, if I could have he wouldn't have come out in January! This morning was our first attempt and lets just say, he was not really up for it. I think he was more awake about 10-15 minutes before we starting trying to nurse, by the time we started finally he was falling back asleep (our nurse got called away briefly and that threw us off, that's ok though because as we do it more I will feel more comfortable to take ownership of just going for it). We are about to try again this evening and he is usually very awake at this next feeding time, so we'll see if he's up for it this time.
In other news we took Samuel off his nasal canula last weekend! This means he is doing great with his new oxygen parameters. Ok, great might be a slight exaggeration, but he's doing good enough not to need it, he has his great moments with oxygen and then his not so great moments. Next weekend when he turns 34 weeks gestationally, so I won't be too surprise if he's back on a nasal canula within the week, but that is all a part of being in the NICU!
We thank God every day for the amazing progress and growth Samuel has been having!
05 March 2012
Eyes, Crib, Nasal Canula
So a lot has happened since the last time I wrote, and I am sorry for not updating sooner! Let me start with last Thursday, March 1st.
Thursday was a busy day for the little guy! It started with a visit from a friend of mine I met on Iowa Ambassadors of Music (I went on that the summer after high school, we toured Europe as a band and a choir for about 2 weeks), so she is from Iowa but currently lives in New Mexico. We got along really well on the trip, but this was the first time I'd seen her since then! Well, she arrived shortly after they had dilated Samuel's eyes for his eye exam with the opthamologist.
Eye exams are pretty standard procedure in the NICU with preemies. Preemies are at rist for something called Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP). Basically when this occurs the blood cells formed incorrectly. In fact that just went crazy forming vessels and can actually cause the retina to become somewhat detached. This is a very bad thing of course if it happens and can cause blindness. If they catch ROP in the early stages there is a procedure they can do to try to prevent blindness. So around 30/31 weeks gestation they get seen by an opthamologist who then sees the baby every 2 weeks until the due date (more frequently if he sees something of concern).
During his eye exam the doctor's special head gear he uses actually has mirrors on it that allowed me to see into Samuel's eye (of course I had to looking at exactly the right spot, so if he moved slightly I had to move more greatly to find Sam's eye again, but the work was worth it to see inside of Sam's eye!). The doctor's verdict was that he has immature eyes, which is completely normal for his gestational age. So for now, and hopefully until his due date, we'll be on the every other week routine. We are happy to know his eyes are developing normally!
That afternoon he took a bath. So he had a pretty busy day for a 5 week old baby who hasn't even reached his due date yet! Ben was somewhat annoyed because on Wednesday Sam didn't seem interested in sleep all day, then he had such a busy day on Thursday, that both nights he was fast asleep by the time Ben arrived at the NICU... Oh well, he'll see plenty wakeful moments with Sam soon enough I'm sure!
Friday he got moved into a crib! So that was very exciting! With him in a crib instead of the isolette, we have easier access to him and are allowed to pull him out to hold him at our discretion. We were asked, however, to let him sleep if he is sleeping, so that he gets the maximum amount of good sleep possible. He's been doing pretty well in the crib so far, though they heightened noise volume and amount of lights was an adjustment for him, it's not so muffled and dark as it was in the isolette!
The next big change was to his oxygen parameters. They set the parameters for his oxygen saturation levels (which is what we look at to see his apnea spells) based on his gestational age. So far they have pretty much been set at 85-92%. However at 32 weeks gestation (which was Saturday) they go up to 90-95% and I was told at 34 weeks it will change one last time to 96-100%. On Sunday we switched his parameters to the 32 week benchmark. It's very important that they monitor this because having too much or too little oxygen can cause eye problems in the future.
Yesterday, the first day with the new oxygen parameters, he did really well. In fact, when we kangarooed in the afternoon he seemed to want his paci, so I gave it to him. It was during his feeding (a time when he's tended to drop his oxygen levels) and he did not drop them at all while sucking on it. Which impressed me because he was sucking on it quite vigorously for about 40 minutes! He was sucking on it so hard the nurse could hear him on the other side of the room!
Today has been a different story with the new parameters. In fact all day he's been up and down with his oxygen. Every time the nurse went to grab a nasal canula to give him oxygen, he'd bring it up and keep it up for a while. Finally this evening we put him on a nasal canula (you see adults with these in public, the clear tube that hangs on their ears and sticks in their nose). This is very common when the parameters change. In fact most of the time his oxygen dropped, it would have been in the perfect place for his old parameters. It was great to see him so interested in his paci, this is a good sign for the oral feedings that will hopefully start little by little in the next 2 weeks.
We are pleased to know that Sam is progressing quite well and nothing that has happened as been out of the ordinary. Today he's been kind of fussy, so I kept picking him up to hold him for a bit, then putting him back down to pump. Before I'd finish pumping he'd be whining again and I would pick him up. Welcome to parenthood, right?
Thursday was a busy day for the little guy! It started with a visit from a friend of mine I met on Iowa Ambassadors of Music (I went on that the summer after high school, we toured Europe as a band and a choir for about 2 weeks), so she is from Iowa but currently lives in New Mexico. We got along really well on the trip, but this was the first time I'd seen her since then! Well, she arrived shortly after they had dilated Samuel's eyes for his eye exam with the opthamologist.
Eye exams are pretty standard procedure in the NICU with preemies. Preemies are at rist for something called Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP). Basically when this occurs the blood cells formed incorrectly. In fact that just went crazy forming vessels and can actually cause the retina to become somewhat detached. This is a very bad thing of course if it happens and can cause blindness. If they catch ROP in the early stages there is a procedure they can do to try to prevent blindness. So around 30/31 weeks gestation they get seen by an opthamologist who then sees the baby every 2 weeks until the due date (more frequently if he sees something of concern).
During his eye exam the doctor's special head gear he uses actually has mirrors on it that allowed me to see into Samuel's eye (of course I had to looking at exactly the right spot, so if he moved slightly I had to move more greatly to find Sam's eye again, but the work was worth it to see inside of Sam's eye!). The doctor's verdict was that he has immature eyes, which is completely normal for his gestational age. So for now, and hopefully until his due date, we'll be on the every other week routine. We are happy to know his eyes are developing normally!
That afternoon he took a bath. So he had a pretty busy day for a 5 week old baby who hasn't even reached his due date yet! Ben was somewhat annoyed because on Wednesday Sam didn't seem interested in sleep all day, then he had such a busy day on Thursday, that both nights he was fast asleep by the time Ben arrived at the NICU... Oh well, he'll see plenty wakeful moments with Sam soon enough I'm sure!
Friday he got moved into a crib! So that was very exciting! With him in a crib instead of the isolette, we have easier access to him and are allowed to pull him out to hold him at our discretion. We were asked, however, to let him sleep if he is sleeping, so that he gets the maximum amount of good sleep possible. He's been doing pretty well in the crib so far, though they heightened noise volume and amount of lights was an adjustment for him, it's not so muffled and dark as it was in the isolette!
The next big change was to his oxygen parameters. They set the parameters for his oxygen saturation levels (which is what we look at to see his apnea spells) based on his gestational age. So far they have pretty much been set at 85-92%. However at 32 weeks gestation (which was Saturday) they go up to 90-95% and I was told at 34 weeks it will change one last time to 96-100%. On Sunday we switched his parameters to the 32 week benchmark. It's very important that they monitor this because having too much or too little oxygen can cause eye problems in the future.
Yesterday, the first day with the new oxygen parameters, he did really well. In fact, when we kangarooed in the afternoon he seemed to want his paci, so I gave it to him. It was during his feeding (a time when he's tended to drop his oxygen levels) and he did not drop them at all while sucking on it. Which impressed me because he was sucking on it quite vigorously for about 40 minutes! He was sucking on it so hard the nurse could hear him on the other side of the room!
Today has been a different story with the new parameters. In fact all day he's been up and down with his oxygen. Every time the nurse went to grab a nasal canula to give him oxygen, he'd bring it up and keep it up for a while. Finally this evening we put him on a nasal canula (you see adults with these in public, the clear tube that hangs on their ears and sticks in their nose). This is very common when the parameters change. In fact most of the time his oxygen dropped, it would have been in the perfect place for his old parameters. It was great to see him so interested in his paci, this is a good sign for the oral feedings that will hopefully start little by little in the next 2 weeks.
We are pleased to know that Sam is progressing quite well and nothing that has happened as been out of the ordinary. Today he's been kind of fussy, so I kept picking him up to hold him for a bit, then putting him back down to pump. Before I'd finish pumping he'd be whining again and I would pick him up. Welcome to parenthood, right?
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