Quick Update Friday Part 2!

Martha came to visit today!! I was so glad she finally got down to see the baby. she brought her fancy camera and took a couple of pictures of us....I will share one, because it does NOT have me in it. Bless her, she must have tried a MILLION times to get a good shot of me and the baby, but I kept closing my eyes!!!! It got to be kind of funny!!!

She did get a cute shot of me holding the boy...

Ya can't really tell from the angle, but something is missing!!!!!! I'll share one of the pictures that I took while Hubby was holding him....Do you know what it is?

Can't really tell from this shot either - especially since the silly boy was covering his face...

What about now? Do ya see what is missing? Need to compare it to something? Here is a picture of him the day after he was born....

THERE ARE NO MORE TUBES!!!! THE FEEDING TUBE IS GONE!!!!!! ALL FEEDINGS ARE ON THE BOTTLE OR BOOBAGE, SO NO MORE TUBE!!!!!!

Can ya see how much bigger he has gotten too? He is a pound plus some over his birth weight!!!!!

Piglet!!!

Quick update -

Jennifer, one of our FAVORITE night nurses, called last night at 8:45 to check in. (She knows I call every morning at 6 am and didn't want me to freak out when I talked to yet another "new to Peanut" nurse because Jennifer was only there from 7 to 11 last night. The cool thing was that Jennifer and new nurse were both the charge nurse last night, so the only baby they had to take care of was our baby. I know Jennifer smooched on him alot!)

Jennifer was calling to give me his weight and etc....and last night he weighed

3 pounds 12.8 ounces!!!!

He is one pound over his birth weight!!! AWESOME!!! She said that for his 8pm feeding he took 40ml's/cc's of his bottle. Now remember, he only has to take 29 for it to count as taking his whole bottle!!!! She said he would have taken more but she was afraid his little belly would explode (not literally).

All good news!!!!! He has a visitor coming to see him this morning. My friend Martha is coming to see him today!!! I am very excited for her to finally see him!!! I need to post a picture of her three boys because she honestly has the most photogenic boys you have ever seen!! EVER!!! They look like they could be an ad, all the time!!!

It's a picture perfect day..

(slight exaggeration - weather is slightly iffy round these here parts...more thunderstorms so says the SEVERE weather people..cause lord knows we can't just call it the dang weather report....)

Back on track...

Today's weight is......3 pounds 11.8 ounces!!! AND he now gets to have all is feedings via bottle as long as he is tolerating them!!! (if he decides he doesn't want to take a feeding via bottle, they will then give it to him via his tube.) And he can have as much as he wants as long as he gets his minimum, which I think is 29 ml's!!

He is still doing his normal nursing bit - latches on, nurses for a few minutes and then sacks out. Again, in an effort to NOT tired him out, we only let him do this on for about 15 minutes and then give him his bottle. Nursing is hard work (for him, not me) and the idea is to NOT have him work so hard and burn calories...

The rest of today will be summed up in photos...some are from Sunday when my brother FINALLY got to meet Peanut. Chris surprised us all with a visit this weekend. My kids were thrilled. Side note about Chris...he is a germ-a-phobe- and was so afraid that he would give the baby some type of Monongahela crud, (he kept saying the army could be secretly injecting him with a "something"....he wanted to wear a mask. We kept waiting for him to try to sneak the foamie hand sanitizer out of the hospital...he must have foamed up a million times!!!!Loser. Anywho, Amanda took some pictures for us, since I forgot my camera....Thanks Amanda!!

Goober even put on rubber gloves.. I had to make him touch the baby's hands!!! (We had just come from church, which is why I have a skirt and look a little bit nicer than death warmed over)

And this is Chris and Amanda -

And Chris and Crash

This is Amanda's sister's little girl, Reese - I just think she is adorable.

And this is Amanda's baby, Panda. This dog is SPOILED ROTTEN!!! (Isn't she Amanda?)

And my brother tries to act all "billy bad butt" and pretend that he's too cool to spoil the dog...yeah...how do ya think that's working for him?

This was taken this morning, as you can see, Peanut was quite happy sleeping on his daddy....

And this was after his 11 am feeding. I nursed him for a bit, then he took the bottle, then I had to put him down for a few minutes so I could pump. (no more going without pumping like I did the other day...bad idea!!!) He was very awake here so I stood next to him pumping and we just talked and I held his hand...He's wearing a very cute little zip up footie outfit from my friend and fellow PTA'r, Carol P.

Neuro Doc came back by today to check him again, and decided to move the scan from the 8th to the 1st and then hopefully that will be the last that we see of him! Neuro doc is super nice so it's not personal - :)

Say your prayers.....

Crappy to Happy!

Weight today is 3 pounds 10.6 ounces.

Two nights ago he had a crappy night, yesterday, last night and today - he's been great. Hubby is still down with him, he went from work to the hospital to give him his 5 pm bottle. Peanut took the entire bottle and is now sacked out on Hubby...all is vitals are doing great. And when he is doing so great like that, you just don't want to put him down! So Hubby is going to stay down there tonight until he gets kicked out at 6:30 for shift change.

Oh and we got the scan results this morning. The head scan was done yesterday afternoon and the ventricles have gotten smaller and the clots are clearing up....so neuro doc said no more spinal taps are in sight for my boy!!! (Anything could change, and we know that.) But it's great news!!!! They will rescan him a week from this coming Monday!!!

I have to tell you that my friends from school (that would be school as in where the bebe's go to school, not me) have been so good to our family. They have made it so my time with Peanut is spent not worrying about "what's for dinner". I've said it before, but I cannot say it enough...it's such a blessing!! We truly feel very spoiled and very blessed to have such fabulous friends who are willing to help make things a little bit easier right now. And let me tell ya, there are some fabulous cooks 'round PSE!!!

We've had the most delectable Ribs and Stuffed Zucchini. Melt in your mouth London Broil with some of the best mashed taters I've ever had. Scrumptious Chicken Enchiladas. Homemade spaghetti. Oh so Yummy Pecan crusted chicken. Lasagna that tasted like it came from Italy! Friends have brought gift cards from local restaurants that they know we love. Uncle Pete brought over my kids favorite pizza with a dessert pizza and a big ole hunk'n salad! Another friend showed up on a Sunday evening with homemade coffee cake, bagels and fresh fruit for breakfast the next day. I thought that was a great idea..I'll definitely copy that the next time! Oh and we have had the tastiest Chicken Casserole and salad, the little bit of casserole that was left over was consumed by my brother, who also declared it "damn good" (he surprised us with a visit from Ft Benning.) Tonight we were treated to Salmon and a rice pilaf that was the best tasting rice that i've ever had. I will be asking for that recipe!

I truly am one of the luckiest people in the world! I will be forever indebted to my friends!

In other news.

I read today on MSN that Mike Tyson's 4 year old daughter has died after a horrible accident on/from a treadmill. As odd as that man is/was, my heart breaks for him and his family.

This is not the first that I have heard of small children being hurt on treadmills!!!! A couple of weeks ago I heard of one little boy who turned the treadmill on and was thrown into the wall, slammin his head into the wall of course and had a horrible brain hemorrhage.

These are not America's Funniest Home Video clips!!! It is serious and as much as I want to make a funny right now and say "that's why we don't have exercise equipment in our house", I can't. It scares me too death. Simple things around our house can be so dangerous to children!!!

Say a prayer for this family.

What's the word...

..that I am looking for? Oh that would be CRAPPY! And I'm not talking about a fish!

Peanut had a CRAPPY night last night!!! He could not keep his body temperature up, which is not a good thing! He got so cold, his 11 pm feeding had to be held. His nurse did try bundling him up, and adding a couple warm blankets, but still no improvement. SO, he had to go under the warming lamps. He had a couple brady's and desats. (Translation, not good, that's the heart rate dropping.)

I talked to nurse at 6 in the morning, so I already knew that he had a rough night. But when I got there this morning, seeing him under the warmers, back in just a diaper, it was very sad. (No clothes allowed when your body temp is being monitored.)

Now here is the irony of it all - by the time Hubby and I were with him at 8:30 this morning, his heart rate was too high - because HE WAS TOO HOT!!! So, they turned the warmers down. He got a little more comfortable, but still threw some desats our way.

It wasn't until he got picked up and placed on his mommy that he totally relaxed and was happy. His heart rate was normal, his oxygen level was fabulous...and there we sat for hours. (I checked his temp every 30 minutes and he was just fine, even a little too warm, Deb, his nurse practitioner even had me un-bundle him a little.)

At feeding time, he was so tired from the crazy night, that he latched on, but wouldn't nurse, which was fine, I gave him a bottle. These are one of those times that I go back to the old adage of "I don't care how you get fed, as long as you get fed, tube, bottle or boobage, all from the same source!!" (Bottle's a tad easier -and easier means less calories burned for him- than trying to nurse), he took all of the bottle, and back to sleep on me he went. The boy was very content. So content, that I didn't want to move him, which meant that I didn't get up to pump. (The boobs were DYING especially because I got NO relief 'cause he didn't nurse. BUT a little discomfort for me was worth his heart rate and oxygen level being great!!! I did drive home and run right to my pump!!)

Two steps forward, one step back. That's where we are right now. OH, the scan that he was supposed to have yesterday didn't happen until late this afternoon which means that we have no results. Trying not to be nasty about that one.

OH, last night, I went back down to see him. Hubby, my mom and I had taken an infant cpr class yesterday during "his time" and I felt very empty when I got home yesterday. Long story short (too late) I went back down for his 5 o'clock feeding to nurse him - and it had rained it's butt off...but guess what was outside his window? The most beautiful rainbow ever! It seems fitting that a rainbow could be seen in such glory from the window of the Children's Hospital.

Can you see it? It was just so beautiful!!!

So - here is the warmer that he is in (this is Hubby trying to change his stinky shooowie that he had)

And this is after getting a clean diaper (or as my kids used to say "pia-per")... He was stretching!!! What a face eh?

The Saga of the boob

That's SAGA not sagging by the way!

Little Peanut is doing great today! TODAY, he weighs 3 pounds 5.8 ounces. (Yesterday the nurse had inadvertantly written 15.3 ounces so I was shouting that from the rooftop, but it was just 5.3 ounces, which is still fabulous! You can see the "typo" in the picture )

He is up to 4 of his 8 feedings being by a bottle. Fabulous! AND he got to be on the boobage again today.

TODAYS SECRET - the answers to your boobage question

Several have asked about how yesterday's first introduction to the big ba-boob-ka's went. I peronsonally thought that it was just fine. I went in with very low expectiations since it was his first time. I thought there was no point in getting myself all worked up over something that full term babies sometimes have a problem with....

But he did great. He latched right on.

That shocked the stew out of me. That was my biggest concern, no pun intended.

MY BOOB LOOKS HUGE, his head is so tiny... how in the name of all that is good and holy was he going to get HIS MOUTH on my BOOB??? But he did just fine. He didn't gag (preemie babies have to learn to suck, swallow and breathe at the same time, so gagging is something that happens alot with them) and he nursed for about 4 minutes and then HE WENT TO SLEEP! The nurse said for me to let him just "hang out there" on my boob for a while, so I did. He slept for about 20 minutes with my boob in his tiny mouth. Every so ofter he would look up at me and smile, then go right back to sleep.

Today, we tried again (this is a process to learn) and the lactation gal Ruth came down "cause I asked her too" to make sure he was good to go - (same lady that got me started when I was in the hospital after having Peanut). And he did great again, latched right on, nursed for five minutes, slept, nursed for a few more minutes, slept.

These two test runs were "scheduled" test runs, as in they were coordinated around his feeding times. After talking with the Nurse Practioner today (she is fabulous, as are all of them) it was decided that (a) he didn't have to do every other feeding as a bottle, and (b) if he was awake and is rooting for the boobage, to let him have it, regardless of the time.

One of the things about being in the hospital is that everything is sooo regimented and she said, if he were home, you wouldn't necessarily be that way and since he is doing so well - lets give him more control of the time.

Works for me.

Soccer tryouts are over!!!!! Both Pootie and Crash are happy with their teams. (Crash ought to be, his daddy is the coach!) and Pootie is on a team with buddies. Hubby is happy and I am happy - cause I stayed out of the mess and honestly did NOT stress about the week.

Have a safe weekend - it's Memorial Day weekend. The kids have school on Monday and they came home today trying to convince me to let them stay home. They'll be there.

And for those that are now complainig about having to go to school on Monday - bet you were one of the ones all yippie skippie happy about that last snow day, weren't ya? SEE WHY I HATE SNOW!!!!!

Peanut has moved from his condo to a house!!! A real bassinet!! This is a huge deal people!!!!!!

AND he weighs

3 pounds 5.3 ounces

I'm going back down about 1 to be there for his 2 o'clock feeding that will start the introduction of the BOOB!!!!!! I'll let ya know how it goes!!!!

And this is Peanut going back to sleep after his 8 am bottle this morning....snug as a bug in a rug!!! How stinking cute is he?

Wonderful Wednesday

Little Peanut is just getting bigger and bigger! Today my baby weighs

3 pounds 4.4 ounces!!!

AND he got to take another feeding via the bottle!!!!! He loves it too. And since he is going sooo well with it, he gets another one later on today. AND he might even get to meet the boobages in the next couple of days. Such excitement!!!

So today's secret - and I've already shared this with my long time friend "CareBear"-

the lactation consultants from the hospital (Carolinas Medical Center Main, of course) have been amazing. Remember, I'm a first timer on the whole nursing thing, much less caring for a preemie nursing thing). And in a discussion with Denise (one of the consultants), I commented on how blasted tired I am all the time!!!! Denise shared with me that there is a hormone that is released when you are nursing/pumping that makes you sleepy.

Now, I believe I have well established that I am so not one to question God. Really, I'm not. But I'm thinking that a hormone that makes you tired is a design flaw. The whole falling asleep while nursing isn't as hysterical as falling asleep when you are hooked up to the milkers!!!! Can I tell you what a mess is made when you drop those little snappie bottle thingys in the middle of the night? Shouldn't it be that the hormone released wakes ya butt up? It just seems to make more sense to me.

BIG FAT MESS here people!!!

Maybe I will start of list of questions to ask God one day. Nothing really serious, just the kind of questions that make ya go ummmm...

Question 1- Tired hormone while nursing/pumping - is it really necessary. I mean, after all, Ya have a baby (ergo the nursing) and if you are like me, ya have a couple other kids running around.....do I really need anything else to make me tired?

Question 2-Is Grey hair really necessary? I'm pretty comfortable with my age (NOT) and really don't need to LOOK older to establish myself as a mature person. Can we work on a model that maybe has the option to not go grey (and let me just say going bald is not the alternative, I want to keep my luscious locks just as they have always been...might even do without the hair color...stop laughing, i know, that's never going to happen.)

Question 3-Can we work on the nervous system thing too? Levels of pain could be turned down slightly to avoid the need to curse like a sailor when I hit my toe on the thingy under my bed when I am making it up in the morning. Turning down the level of pain would eliminate the cursing thereby saving my little angels ears from such profanity.

I'm just saying....

And Question 4 for the day.....who do you get that Diet Dr Pepper to taste so good? (God would look at me like I have 4 heads and tell me it's not natural, he doesn't make it. DUH...but he gave some brilliant person the ability to concoct the chemicals in such a way to make them taste so dang good I figured it was worth it to ask. I'm all about giving credit where credit is due. And no, I haven't made a firm decision about whether or not I'd say DUH to God. Let me think on that one for a bit.)

Another First

Peanut weighs 3 pounds and 3.8 ounces.

AND

he got his first bottle.....he took the entire thing without any problem!!!!!! He was very happy!!!!! He took the entire feeding from the bottle. His nurse said that they don't always get such great results on the first try.

And here he is in his little condo all fat and happy!!! Isn't he the cutest!!!?????!!!!!! ( I turned on the overhead light to get a decent picture.)

TODAY'S SECRET...

I am still in shock over how big the boobages get when it's time to milk. Going from a mini A to a 36 D - I'm not sure I am one of the ladies who would want big boobages all the time. They get in the way! I go to reach for something and BAM - there they are. Right there! Ya kind of have to reach around them. And HELLO - while I can get back into some regular clothes....can't get into others because of these things!!! Totally causing wardrobe malfunctions.....again, I've never had this problem before (the other three were bottle babies so this really is all new to me.)

AND IN OTHER NEWS.....

Soccer tryouts are going on this week. We call this week Wacky Week around here. Such silliness goes on with these tryouts. I am trying to separate myself from all the nonsense - it's difficult, but I am trying! Crash's is all fine (he has a crazy coach again - that would be my hubby)- Pootie's is the one that is such a mess!!! It's when you get parents involved that things start to go in the toilet.

I can honestly say that this year I am trying to get my priorities in order - I have a baby in the hospital, soccer tryouts just don't seem to be the end all be all of our existence. Don't get me wrong, I really do care about where he lands, but I am not going to be one of the crying mom's in front of the powers that be.

Just not gonna do it.

Getting Bigger....

Hubby and I just got back from our Saturday morning visit with Peanut. We both commented that it is harder on the weekends to get to down there. I think part of it is because of the fact that we have to leave the three monkey's. We have to time the visit to not "rip off" time from them. During the week, they leave us, go to school, then we head to the hospital. It's just easier.

WE ARE NOT COMPLAINING!!!! We are making it work. If this is the biggest obstacle we've got right now - we are doing pretty good huh?

Today Peanut weighed (drum role please!!!!!!!)

3 pounds 2.8 ounces!!!!!!

Isn't that amazing!!! He is getting to be such a big boy!!! And he yakked on Hubby today. Way to go!!!

Here he is talking to his daddy.... (fyi- the tee-niy tube coming out of his nose, is his feeding tube, it is taped to his right cheek this week. The tiny tube coming out of his hat on the left side is the feeding tube, we just had it tucked behind his head while Hubby was holding him...it's nothing extra)

See how chubby his cheeks are getting? Just love to smooch on him!!!!!
This was on Thursday - I forgot to post it in a timely fashion....he has grown out of that baa-baa (our word for pacifier) and onto the next size up. Let me tell ya, he can work a baa-baa "jess fine".

And today's secret is......

My playlist. It has a WIDE range of songs styles, because I am all over the board on the music that I like. Hubby swears up and down that I have R-A-D-D, that would be Radio Attention Deficit Disorder. I do love old 80's music, that's probably some of my favorites. The cheesy stuff we listened to in junior high and early high school...loved it. Remember hearing one come on and going "oh that's our song". Chicago songs were realllllllyyyy good for that! Then ya have to have some country for good measure....and of course, I have to have my RDjr.

R.A.D.D.

What fun!!!!

Last night was our schools annual Art in the Park. It's kind of like a starving artist sale, different pieces of the kids art work available for purchase at whatever price the parent wants to pay, money goes to the fine arts department. Very cool.


Even cooler, it was my last official duty as PTA president to have the general pta population vote in the new executive committee.


What does that mean and why am I telling you? It means that while I am technically not done being pta president until June 30th, I am done being pta president!!! The new gal, who has been my president elect, is going to be fabulous. She is truly an amazing person.


Do you know what kind of box this is?

Maybe this is a better hint..
This gorgeous box was presented to me last night by the lovely ladies on the PTA. Wanna know what was inside? Isn't it beautiful? I swear my wrist/hand have never looked so lovely as it does with the gorgeous Tiffany & Co. bracelet draping around it!!! I was stunned. This was a gift from the entire PTA as a fair well to my tenure. Such amazing ladies. (Disclaimer: NO this was not paid for out of PTA funds! It as from the actual chairladies giving me a personal gift! Such a purchase would NEVER make it thru the audit comittee, promise!!!!!!)

Had to share that with you.

Now, here are a couple pictures of little Peanut yesterday. Doesn't he look adorable? Biggggg stretch here....

His brow is a tad furrowed in these because I had the big overhead light on.....bright light, bright light!!!

Wanna see pictures of the other bebe's when they were little babies? It's kind of cute...This is Pootie....see the resemblance (yeah i know the pictures are turned different). Jack was about 2 months old or a little more in this picture.



This is Crash. Two-ish months old here - sitting in swing that is not moving..he hated the swing!!!!



And Lola...have ya ever seen such cheeks? Are those the most beautiful eyes ever?
And here are some funny ones that I love!!!

This is Marky Mark - I mean Pootie. He was making a muscle!!!!!!
And the two boys.....they were so sweet back then!!!!
This was me and my boys on the day we brought Lola home from the hospital. And yep, I dressed them alike every day. (Talk about controlling, I wasn't even home and my hubby knew they had to be matching when I got home or I'd have a conniption!)


And when Lola was born, this is what Crash did - he just watched her...we never even put her in the pack and play because he had to be near her.
And again, the two boys...playing checkers in the park - it was actually a photo shoot. This is one of the pictures that covers my den wall.
And Lola at having her picture taken looking all sweet too.

And my boys in California many years ago...Crash was just ten months old!!!!! Pootie was 2 1/2!!! Won't tell ya how old Hubby was!!!!

REALLY QUICK UPDATE!!!

The scan report...

GREAT NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't have too many details right now....but the ventricles have gotten smaller so it seems that the taps are doing their job!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are so happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you to everyone for your continued prayers and support!!!!!!

Little shout out to my Mom, brother, Deborah, Trish, Jess and Betsy's daughter Ashley...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!! You are all wonderful people!!!!!! Ya getting old, but you are wonderful!!! :) And congrats to Ashley on her graduation from USC!!!

And a special hello to Mary Jean!!!! Thank you for reading my blog!!!! :)

Quick update Sunday

I didn't get to see my Peanut yesterday. I had a horrible headache that started on Friday afternoon and continued on thru Saturday afternoon. It was terrible not getting to see him all day. Hubby was wrapping up Crash's soccer season and was tied up with that all day, so Peanut didn't have his mommy or daddy until about 7:30pm last night when I "made" (not really) Hubby go down there for a couple of hours.

I did call several times and check on him, but it's not the same thing as holding him, smelling him and smooching on him!!! So my Mother's Day gift today was going down there by myself for about 4 hours and getting smooching time! I can still smell him; and nope, he didn't go shoowie on me. :)

Angie tapped him again this morning and got lots of fluid off, his head is still feeling soft (like a baby's head is supposed to feel) and the little baby skull pieces are feeling more normal on where they are...

Side note, Ang came and hung out with me while Peanut and I were chillin. We gabbed for abut 2 hours....we got on the subject of when we were in junior high and oh my....it was funny!!!! Peanut most definitley got an earful. He will be the only child of either of ours to hear those stories!!!!! Some of this was stuff that a child would throw back in your face were they ever able to find out the truth!!!!!

We talked about a couple of the crazy teachers we had (ya'll remember Miss Feaster? - she was so incredibley strict!!!) One of us (NOT ME-hehe) got in trouble with Miss Feaster for passing notes in class and I swear hearing the story again, I remembered the event like it was yesterday!!! This teacher was scarey!!!! To get in trouble with her could scar a preteen for life, right Ang?

Now we just need a good scan tomorrow. Please everyone say a prayer tomorrow morning for him!!!!

His weight is up - he now weighs 2 pounds 14 ounces!!! Little chunker!!!!

I hope all the momma's have had a wonderful day. My friend Marybeth had a wonderful quote up on her website today about motherhood. You should read her entire post for the day - it will make you feel good. This is my favorite part (Marybeth, I think Uncle Bob AND your son have become my favorite people in the whole world - Uncle Bob for saying and "12 yo son" for remembering it....I hope you don't mind me sharing his incredible wisdom!!!)

(Marybeth's Uncle Bob said this at his daughter's wedding-and her incredible son remembered it as they strolled thru the rose garden yesterday.....)
....some people look at roses and say 'It's too bad they have thorns.' But instead we can say, 'Isn't it great that thorns have roses.'

Marybeth then tied it to mother's day...and she said....
..."I guess that's what Mother's Day is all about... a day to see the roses. Motherhood is a tough job-- there will always be plenty of thorns. As a mom I can see the thorns or I can focus on the roses."

Is that wisdom or what? I also think it summed up for me, how I feel about our little baby. I can focus on the "why me's", and the negatives, or I can focus on my sweet little miracle.

What will you choose to focus on? The thorns or the roses?

Moving Day!!!

Our Little Peanut has been moved to the Neonatal Progressive Care Unit!

We kinda knew it was coming yesterday. There were little clues, like when Neo Doc said - "they are going to move him tomorrow".

We are pretty smart people ya know. Not alot gets by us. This is Hubby and the NICU nurse pushing the condo down the halls - headed to Progressive!!!!

And here we are - PROGRESSIVE!!!!!!!

This is his new setup. It is really nice - and there is a window opposite his cubby. (He doesn't do bright light - think Gremlins- but I sure do like seeing the outdoors!!!) It's almost like a room - just no door; but there is a curtain that we can close while we are kangarooing (so people aren't freaked out by the boobages and all).





And here he is all snuggled up after the move. HE is back in clothes as of late this afternoon. (It was easier with the taps to leave him in just his "bi-per"for the past couple of days.) And yes, those are his riblets - just happened to catch him in a weird moment that really shows them off. The tube coming out of his nose is his feeding tube. One of his favorites - NOT. Last night he pulled that bad boy completely out AGAIN (it goes all the way down to his stomach), it made him gag and he threw up all on himself and his bedding. Silly boy.



The taps have gone really well. The 2nd one was done on Tuesday night and they only got off 1.5cc's of spinal fluid, which is good because his head is super soft like it should be. So yesterday the Neuro Doc decided to not tap. Head stayed super soft yesterday and it was super soft today. So this morning they tapped him and they didn't get anything - which might be a good sign, meaning there might not be any pressure built back up. That would be great!!! They will keep a close watch on his head and it's "softness" and continue to measure the circumfrence.


All the doc's will talk and figure out what the game plan is...Ultrasound earlier than Monday? Tap tomorrow? Not to tap?


Other than that-all is good. The kids are still going kookoo about not being able to see him. Hubby and I ARE tired. Hubby feels guilty when he doesn't get to go by and visit at the times that he usually does. I try to reassure him that Peanut says it's ok.


Which - I need my movie tie in for the day and wouldn't ya know, I HAVE one!!!! When Hubby got down there this morning, they had moved Peanut from his pod 56 into pod 70 (still in the NICU). So he called to tell me that he was in a different place in the nursery. He said, "when you walk in the door, go to the left, not the right, and we are back in the corner."


And ya know what I had to say, right?

NOBODY PUTS BABY IN THE CORNER!!!!!!!

Waiting for the report

I appreciate everyone who has been saying prayers for Peanut, and all of us. It is such a reassuring peace to know that you are all thinking about us. We need it.


The CT report didn't come back exactly as we would have liked.


The ventricles have gotten bigger. Not great news. But the clot is getting smaller. Good News. The fluid has not backed up outside of the ventricles. Good News. There are no new bleeds. Good news.


So, his sweet neonatologist went ahead and called in neurology. It was decided that they would do a lumbar puncture/spinal tap and see if they could drain off some of this backed up fluid.


Not a pleasant thought - someone sticking my baby with a needle. But this will give him more time to get that clot absorbed and (hopefully) getting the fluid flowing like it should. TIME!!!! They will do the lp's in the evenings, each day, from last night until this coming Monday.


Our friend Angie, who is a nurse practioner, actually did his lp last night. She called us right after and said she got off 11 cc's of fluid. Good news. It looked old, as in no new bleeds. Good news. He did ok with it, got a little cold and dropped his temp and his 02, but his nurse said that is to be expected when his isolette is open and he is curled into a "C" to get the lp.


The neuro doc came by this morning with the neo doc and chatted with us. They are watching him like a hawk...which is reassuring.


The nurse practioner, Karen, today was a hoot. She chatted with me for a while. She had a premie 10 years ago. A little girl who was smaller than Ryan. Didn't have the IVH issue, but had other issues..and she is fine now. Karen is a huge proponent of kangaroo care (they all are) but it was so cool to talk to her about it. She's all "do it for hours", "everyday". "It's what he needs." I was concerned that with the lp's everyday that I wouldn't be able to hold him again for while. Not the case and that was a huge relief for me.

(here is today's secret)

She also told me that my pumped boobage supply had a "great color - lots of fat". (Right now, I am taking that a compliment ) I told her I was glad to hear it, I'd be willing to give up more fat, if they needed it - I had a huge supply right on my butt!!!! (little humor here people!) I could supply the whole dang nicu with fat! So, officially, Peanut is getting fed just pumped boobage. The iv drip food, triple mix, that he was getting has been stopped, he will get something else, I think it's a vitamin type thingy called neosomethingorother, but otherwise - it's all me. They did ask how my supply was.....I told them I had plenty at home already stockd in the freezer....what do you think? Can I keep this litlte man fed? This is our garage freezer - it's a full size freezer and this is one full shelf. I have more that has already gone to the hospital freezer......


Angie left a gift for him this morning when she left work. It is a puppy that is the same as Brown Bear. Brown Bear is this long legged once beautiful bear that she gave to Lola when she was born. Lola still sleeps with BB, every night. I am sure that little man will love his Puppy as much as Lola loves BB. This is Puppy, chilling out in Peanuts crib.






And this is what Brown Bear looked like almost 8 years ago.



And this is what he looks like now......and yes, his head is white. He had a new head put on years ago....Lola never missed a beat loving on him though - fur color doesn't matter to her!!!!




And for the sake of being sentimental - this bear is on a shelf in Lola's room - high up so she can't reach it, but it was my bear when I was little (younger, whatever.) He is missing an eyeball...not really sure whatever happened to it.

Still waiting

It's 2:20 on Monday afternoon, we have not heard back from the doctor's about Peanuts head CT from this morning. It could be more towards this evening before we hear anything - just the way things work in the NICU.

Mom and GramMabel came down this morning to see him. He is only allowed two visitors at a time, so after a while, they were booted (but they were getting ready to leave anyway.) The poor nurse (one of my favorites) felt horrible saying one had to leave - bless her heart (an honest bless her heart). She was trying to keep the curtain so no one would notice. It's ok. It's the rules, and I'm all about rules. I told her to not even give it a second thought. It wasn't a big deal. She even helped mom get GramMabel up and walked them to the elevators so I didn't have to come and go and re-scrub.

Peanut is having an ok day. He dropped his heart rate a couple of times and was running a lower O2 then he normally does. That has me a little on edge. There could be many different reasons for him doing this all of a sudden. One, could be that it's just Monday and he's having an off day. Two, with his feedings increasing as they are, his stomach is getting "fuller" and it's giving him less lung room (not sure if that's all technically correct, but that's the idea) and causing his to take shorter breaths...and three, any other reason that a premie can give. Sweet nurse called his Nurse Practioner and Tony (yep a guy) came up and watched him for a few minutes. He decided they would watch him for a little bit, see what he continued to do, and then maybe put him back on the nasal cannulas.

He does not look like he is having any trouble breathing and he was actually sleeping quite comfortably on me and then when we put him back in the issolette.

I'm on edge right now, so until they call, I'm not going to answer my phone. I might have another melt down. Crash and Lola just got home from school, so that will keep me sorta preoccupied.

Right now, sit and wait and pray.

Sunday evening...

Hubby and I went down to visit Peanut this afternoon. Both of said we just couldn't get down there fast enough. The drive felt like it took FOOOR---EVVV---ERRRRRR.

Once we got there - it was kangaroo time.....and that's all we did for 2 hours. I held the bebe and Hubby sat next to us.....and snapped two pictures.

Here is our sweet boy. Today he weighs 2 pounds, 11 ounces or 1.216 kg's. He is almost back to his birth weight!!!!!

Disclaimer of pictures. I am clean- had a shower - promise, but no makeup and I had my hair up in a clip - but have to take it down so I can sit comfortably (otherwise the clip jabs me in the head...) so glamour shot today I am not. You care, right? And have you ever seen such puffiness under the eyes (i photo shopped them out of the color one - hehe!)

Do I look happy or what? It is the best feeling to get to hold him!!!!! He is so sweet!!! And he likes when we smooch on his head too!

On a side note, the kids still cannot see him. Swine flu has kept the unit on the "no one under 18 allowed - unless you are a parent" lock down. Pootie was supposed to go this afternoon with us and then Crash and Lola were going tomorrow. None of them are happy about that news.

Oh and to just clear up definitions for ya, the swine flu has been deemed a pandemic because of how it is spread NOT because of the severity of the virus. Worldwide there are only 770ish some cases of it and 450ish of those are in Mexico. More people have died from the regular flu then the swine flu. Folks need to wash their hands!!!!!! EWWWWW - keep the hand sanitizer with ya - use it!!!! There was a great article in the Charlotte Disturber today about case 1 and how they think it spread. It was very interesting, told Hubby that it read sorta like a mild version of the movie (had to bring a movie into it) OUTBREAK. (I LOVE that movie, Dustin Hoffman did a great job in that! And can we talk about how ugly Patrick Dempsey looked in this flick with that virus? another ewwww)

And just in case you think that the hand washing just isn't enough.. you can always get your complete pandemic flu kit.

SERIOUSLY!!!!!!!!