14-18 December

(Editor's - i.e., Dad's - note:   due to finals-week-slash-end-of-semester-hecticness, was not able to post any of the kids' updates this past week and just now getting back to it now that grades are posted and graduation's over.  To get back on track I've asked them to keep their notes on the 14th-18th brief and do more of a summary/digest version.  But never fear, there'll still be pictures from each day even if not as much text.  Then I expect we'll be back to the usual once-daily entries from here till the next crisis)

14 December

Well, Dad said to keep these brief so let me get right to it.

My crib had been laid flat yesterday, but I was having some brady and spitup issues overnight so they moved it back to a tilted position (I guess that helps digestion or something).  Weighed 5 lb. 10.8 oz.

Still working on feedings.  I took 22 ml, or about half my (52 ml) feeding via bottle at my 9 a.m. feeding, but that tired me out quite a bit - not such a big fan of the bottles, they're WAY more work than my feeding tube!  I half-woke for my noon feeding...

...and was even doing some rooting behavior...

...but what they don't seem to have figured out is that that means I want to eat, not necessarily that I want to feed myself.  Dad gave me a bottle and I gave it the old college try, but just was too sleepy and only took about 14 ml then let them gavage the rest.

After that second round of exertion I was pretty dead to the world and didn't even wake up when they changed my diaper and clothes - and you know that means I must've been tired!

On the bright side, that rest gave me time to catch up on some thinking.  I'm working on a unified field theory.  Or possibly a poop, can't really remember....

In not-so-fun news, I did have to get two more shots.  Boo!

Luckily they've said those should be my last shots for awhile which is something to be thankful for at least!

Mom came by in the evening and stayed the night with me and Rory.  She got to watch the nurse give me a bath - I didn't much enjoy it overall, mostly because I just wanted to sleep.  I did, however, enjoy getting my hair washed with warm water and fell right asleep afterwards!

15 December

Put on another ounce and a half, so now I'm up to 5 lb. 12.5 oz.  Go me!  Gonna catch my cousin soon (I'm assuming he's been holding steady since birth - if he's putting on weight himself, I may have a tougher time catching him.  But I'm thinking optimistically).

Interesting morning; since Mom was still here, one of the lactation consultants came by and helped Mom nurse both me and Rory at the same time - it was the first time we've done that, and really the first time we've had the chance to visit up close since we were born, since we've always been in separate cribs.  She's grown a lot since we were inside Mom!  I tried to say hi, but Rory was still half-asleep and didn't seem to acknowledge me so after a bit I gave up and just focused on my eating.  I like breastfeeding, it's a lot easier than the bottle (at least IMHO) since you don't take in so much air and then have to burp or spit up!

Other than that, it was a pretty lazy day, I slept through most of it:

Mom went home to change and stuff but came back with Dad in the afternoon.  I was having some bradies today so they decided to gavage my feedings in the evening rather than try me with a bottle or on the breast.  However, Dad did take me out and hold me while I was getting my 6 p.m. feeding so I got to visit with him:

I noticed Mom was taking some pictures while I was with Dad so I gave her a couple of my best cute poses:

With that taken care of (I knew I needed some good material for my blog!) I went back to sleep.

And nothing else of particular interest to report from the day, other than that I did not have any more bradies the rest of the night.  So let's hope I'm done with that nonsense!

16 December

At 5 lb. 15 oz. I'm now almost six pounds, and continuing to put on weight every day, as well as spit up less.  So I'm hoping they think I'm ready to go home soon, although according to the nurses I'm not feeding well enough yet (though I don't understand how that's possible since I'm putting on weight every day - yes, I know I'm getting several feedings a day through my tube, but I don't see why I can't just keep doing that).

Mom and Dad both came to visit in the afternoon, and I was not too happy about being woken up for my feeding.

But finally after some stretching (and my diaper change, which always does wonders for waking me), I agreed to wake up and eat.

In fact, since they were both there, I showed them a few of my latest expressions I've worked out:

Building a better repertoire, don't you think?

In any case, then it was time to eat.  I had a bottle and did okay.  Mom and Dad left for awhile, then came back in the evening to find me wide awake and ready to visit:

Unfortunately, before I could visit (or eat!) the nurse decided it was time for another bath (all I could think was:  didn't I just have one of these?  am I really that gross that I get dirty that quickly?)

At first it was okay, I liked the warm water at least:

But I did NOT like getting scrubbed!

Finally when that ordeal was over, the nurse put a hat on me, Dad wrapped me up, and I sat down with Mom to eat.

I don't know if it was some weird after-effect of the bath or what, but I did very well breastfeeding - I only had to take 52 ml but I took a full 60!  Mom and Dad were very proud of me (though I'm a little worried about getting expectations too high...).

It was nice to be awake for a visit with both of them!

Mom left a little while later, around 10:30 but Dad stayed the night with me and Rory.  Since he was going to be there and it's technically my room (well, mine and Rory's), I wanted to be a good host so stayed awake with him waiting for my next feeding.

He fed me a bottle at midnight, then decided to go to bed himself for a little while.  I figured at that point my hosting duties were done so called it a night myself.

17 December

Little to report; the usual eating and sleeping, Mom and Dad visited, no major developments.  But no day would be complete without a couple pictures, so here you go:

18 December

As is becoming the norm for Sundays, Mom and Dad came by in the morning after church to visit.  I was wide awake when they were ready for my 9 a.m. feeding, and I was Hungry with a capital "H"!  Unlike my sister, however, I can restrain myself when I know they're getting me ready for a feeding rather than screaming bloody murder if I don't get my food right away.  I guess that's because I'm older and more mature.

(Editor's note:  okay, technically Ben IS older than Rory - but about a minute.  I'm just saying, I'm not sure how much extra maturity he picked up in that minute, most of which was spent getting his breathing support on)

 

I had been up doing some serious thinking, but was ready to greet them and get my food!

Mom breastfed me and I did a great job, taking 62 ml, which is ten more than I needed to take.  And I didn't spit up the whole time.  How's that for being a good eater?

Mom put me back when I was done so she could breastfeed, but it was a nice day and I was already awake so I just stayed awake between then and my next feeding - plus with

I got breastfed again at my noon feeding, and didn't do quite as well, eating only 42 ml, but even though that's less than the 52 ml per feeding I'm supposed to be taking the nurse said it was okay since I was averaging enough over a couple of feedings.  So good to know I have a little bit of flexibility there.

After the second feeding and having been awake for almost four hours straight, I was ready for bed and passed right out as soon as they put me back in my crib.

And that's it - guess we're all caught up now!  I'll keep on Dad to be more prompt with posting these in the future, and I'll post again tomorrow...

13 December 2011

Weight holding steady at 5 lb. 8.1 oz.  I'm also doing better with my feedings in terms of not spitting as much up - sure, I sometimes spit up immediately after eating but I'm not doing many after, I think because I'm getting better at pushing out my poops without pushing food back up into my mouth.  So fingers crossed that that keeps up since it's a lot more comfortable sleeping when my face and blanket aren't getting covered with spitup every ten minutes! (and I guess it's better for helping me gain weight to keep my food in as well).  Check out how clean my mouth is:

Dad came to visit this morning, and I greeted him with a wave when it was time to do my temperature and diaper.

 

Little did I know that after my diaper change (during which I managed to NOT poop for a change), it was time for my first vaccination shot.  I was not real happy about that and cried for awhile even though I had my pacifier and Nurse Maria had put some sugar water on it to distract me (I can't believe they think I'm that easy to distract - "sure, a little sugar and he won't notice us sticking this giant needle into his leg."  Really?)


I did recover enough to take a bottle from Dad; I ate about 20 ml from the bottle and then was worn out (I think the shot had something to do with it) and had a little apnea episode, which I blame on the shot.  And then to add insult to injury (literally) the OT told Dad the best solution when I do that is to make me cry so I "exchange oxygen."  Millions of dollars of medical equipment, and their best solution for getting me oxygen is to make me cry?  Weak.

Anyhow, after all that I needed a rest so got swaddled up and went back to sleep while the rest of my feeding was gavaged.

You'd think all that would be enough for one day, but shortly after someone came to do my hearing exam.  However, once the nurse explained that the test worked best if I was asleep, and I didn't actually have to do anything, I was okay with it.  Sleep I can do.

So they hooked all this equipment up to me to measure my brain waves while they played a quiet (35 dB nHL) click into my ears.

I passed with flying colors very quickly - way faster than Rory did, probably because she's not as good at laying still as I am (Mom and Dad said she's more like Dad and I'm more like Mom that way).  Check out my diploma:

Not much exciting happened the rest of the day; I was mainly resting and recuperating from my shot.

They tried to wake me up for my 2 p.m. feeding but I pretended to stay asleep so they'd leave me alone and just pump the food in for me.

I had a couple more brady/apnea episodes in the afternoon, but was feeling better by around 5, so I did wake up to visit with Mom and do some breastfeeding for my next feeding.

And I think that's it.  Hopefully no more problems with my breathing for the rest of the night - they said I'm not allowed to go home if I'm still having those problems, so I'm working hard (when they're not sabotaging me with shots) to avoid any problems.  Wish me luck!

12 December 2011

5 lb. 6.3 oz. - hoping I can hit (and stay above) the 5.5 pound mark tomorrow.

Not a whole lot to report today; pretty tame after a busy weekend.  I had an eye doctor appointment earlier in the day which went fine although it tired me out a bit - not as stressful as last time, though, since I'm getting used to the exams!

I was recuperated enough to wake up for Mom's visit this afternoon.

Since I was awake, she tried breastfeeding me and I ate like a pro - they're not sure exactly how much I took since I threw up a bunch of it before they could weigh me (Mom had a nice outfit on, though, so I took pity on her and waited until the nurse was holding me to throw up) and even still had at least 38 ml left in me based on the weighing, so I probably took in around 45 (almost a whole feeding!) to start with

Immediately after Mom left I was a little sad (Dad was still there but he was visiting Rory at the time so that doesn't count) so I made myself have a little bradycardia episode to let her know I was sad she was leaving, but she didn't come back in and instead a nurse had to come and help me get my heartrate back up again.  After that I was pooped so went back to sleep!

Big day tomorrow - first vaccinations!  I'll let you know how those go, I'm not looking forward to it....

(okay, I know this is going to sound a little conspiracy theorist crazy, but I wonder if some of this stuff that's no fun - eye exams, shots, etc. - is just to get us annoyed enough with being at the hospital that we develop faster to be ready to go home.  I admit it's a long shot, but still it's wise to keep on your toes and not trust The Man (in this case the hospital workers), you know, better safe than sorry... I'll run this by Rory and see what she thinks....)