24-27 December 2011

You'll notice it's been a few days since my last post; you can blame my sister for that, since she's apparently been monopolizing Dad's time at home and hasn't given him a chance to post even though I've been continuing to provide material every day.  I guess that's just the way it'll be now that Rory's home (and can't imagine it'll get much easier once I join her!) :'-(

Speaking of which, unfortunately I still haven't made it home and the doctors aren't sure when I'll be able to leave.  I'm putting on weight and haven't had any bradies in a few days, but still having problems with getting through all my feedings - Mom thinks if I could just make it one entire day where I took all (or even most) of my total food via bottle they might let me go, but so far no dice.

Anyhow, that meant I spent most of Christmas Eve alone in the hospital, but Dad did come and visit.  I was sleepy and a little standoffish (I was annoyed I had to be on my own):

... but then I woke up and we had a nice little visit.  He fed me and I took my whole feeding via bottle - so that's one at least! 

The next day was CHRISTMAS!  Mom came to visit today and as a present I showed her a bunch of expressions:

Then I put my Christmas out fit on one more time.  I don't particularly like it but Mom likes to see me wear it.

Monday after Christmas Dad came back and fed me again.  I didn't take my whole feeding but he held me while the rest of my feeding was gavaged.

I woke up to say goodbye when he put me back....

...then went back to sleep.

On Tuesday Mom and Dad both came to visit, though not quite together (Dad said they were each taking turns watching Rory in the lounge while the other one visited with me).  I was pretty much asleep the whole time.

So that's it for me for the week.  Hopefully more postings in the upcoming week, and hopefully I'll be home soon.  Keep your fingers crossed for me!

p.s. - Had meant to post pictures of my new digs since I moved into a single, but forgot to do so the other day.  Here you go:

(that's me in the middle, obviously)

23 December 2011

Well, what I had thought was Rory being moved to another room yesterday was apparently her getting to go home.  According to the doctor she was ready to leave but I'm still not until I can take all of my feedings more regularly.  Boo!

So now I'm attacking my feedings with double urgency, and the doctor said I'm doing better - took over 91% of my total food via bottle or breast today, only needing less than 10% of it gavaged.  She said if I can
get that number up a little higher maybe I can go home during this next week.  Fingers crossed...

Mom came by in the morning and found me sleeping for once - probably because Rory wasn't keeping me awake with her screaming (there's at least one advantage to being here alone now!).  I was also in a new room since they moved me out of the twin room into a single for the rest of my stay here.

Since I was sleeping so well, I wasn't too happy when Mom set off the flash on her camera and woke me up with the brightness!

When I woke up Mom breastfed me, and I did pretty well taking 38 ml that way and then another 5 via bottle.  So I still needed some gavaging, but not too much.  Hopefully can do a couple full feedings myself later in the day.

After that I went back to sleep.

.... and then when it was time to wake up we went through the same routine again, with Mom wanting me to get up and me wanting to stay asleep.  I have a feeling this could be a scenario that continues playing out again and again for years to come....

Now I need to get some rest so I have energy to eat - I want to go home soon too!  Wish me luck!

22 December 2011

Had a shot to help keep me from getting colds.  Enough said.

Saw the surgeon, he couldn't feel my hernia so said for now they'll just keep an eye on it and if it comes back out before Tuesday and he can see it they'll go ahead and fix it, otherwise they'll schedule a follow-up in a few weeks to see how it's doing then.  I guess that's good news that it's not a serious problem, but all the same I don't like the idea of having to get surgery!

Mom and Dad came for awhile today and fed me a couple times but by 6 they were busy getting Rory ready to move somewhere - I guess they're giving us separate rooms - so the nurse had to feed me:

I didn't see Mom and Dad again tonight so they may have stayed with Rory.  I assume I'll get the update tomorrow...

21 December 2011

A quiet day here in Special Care.  Last night I had a bad brady which was stupid - I thought we were over that at this point - and reset my going-home clock.  I mean, I still need to get better at my feedings, but in any case I'm here at least another five days now regardless.

Got to breastfeed a few times with Mom this morning since she was here overnight.  Dad came by in the morning and bottlefed me another.

I'm finding I'm more alert during the days now (though unlike some people I can be alert without being obnoxiously loud and waking up my roommates (that would be me, if you were wondering.  See?

I was also alert after some of my feedings (though I just passed out after some others) and even showed Dad my acting skills in case he or any of his students are going to be making any zombie movies:

Braaaaaiiinnnnnsss...

And I think that's it, nothing else major on my end.  Possibly some news tomorrow, when I'm seeing the surgeon about my hernia.

20 December 2011

I did two good feeds this morning, the first breastfeeding with Mom and the other with Dad from the bottle (though when he picked me up for that one I tried briefly to do more breastfeeding before I figured out that it was Dad, not Mom.  I still can't see very well so sometimes it's a bit confusing!

We also took some holiday photos in the hospital room; Mom said she was hoping we could take them at home but since it looks like we'll still be here through Christmas at least, they decided to do them now.  Here's my Christmas outfit (don't ask about the hat, not sure what the deal with that was):

I was fidgety when they were first getting my outfit on, but once I realized we were doing pictures I figured I'd flex my muscles to show how strong I've gotten now that I'm over two months old:

And then they took some of all of us together.  I wasn't sure what to do at first so raised my hand to ask Mom..

...then once she explained it I looked at the camera for the next one (though everyone else seems to have screwed up this take).  Hopefully another take was better, if not then maybe they can Photoshop me in with some people who can look at the camera (Rory), keep their eyes open (Mom), and not look like a psycho (Dad).  We'll see.

Now to bed.  Good night all!  And Mom I'll be seeing you later ;-)
(she's staying at the hospital with us tonight!)

19 December

Mom came by first thing in the morning to breastfeed me, and - no surprise if you've been keeping up - I did better with that than I do with my bottle.  Took my whole feeding and even a little extra!

Did not do so well at my next feeding at noon.  Dad tried giving me a bottle, which would've worked fine except:
(a) I was still asleep

and (b) the nurse had put those disgusting vitamins in it, which I had NO interest in eating since they make the milk taste gross.  We worked on it for awhile and by the end I took about 3/4 of my 52 ml feeding, but it was a grind to get there! (and would not even have gotten that far had Dad not given up on the vitamin milk at one point and switched me to the regular milk which I at least took some of)

Ironically, I woke up more after that feeding and didn't go back to sleep in between that and my next one.  Mom and Dad were watching me a bit so I gave them a wave:

...and then went back to my usual thoughtful musings for the rest of the break before my 3 p.m. feeding.

Mom and Dad both left in the afternoon (after Mom breastfed me at 3) but Dad came back for my 6 p.m. feeding to find me once again wide awake.  However, my sister decided that her 5:30 feeding would be a great time to take forEVER to finish her bottle, and though I was trying to wait for Dad, I was getting so antsy that finally the nurse fed me.  Sorry Dad, can't wait (and blame Rory for taking too long, not my problem that I need to eat)!

That did, however, give Dad a chance to get some good pictures of me eating and burping after he was finished with Rory.

After my feeding was over, I did get a chance to visit with Dad which was nice.  I stayed awake for awhile...

... then got nice and comfy and fell asleep (and I think Dad wanted to fall asleep too once we sat down!)

When he was ready to leave he put me back in my crib but I didn't even wake up - out like a light!  Gotta get ready for tomorrow, it's another big day of eating!