May 29, 2013:
RJ seems to be enjoying being free from his NG tube. Yesterday I jumped the gun a lil and took off his oxygen tubing too!! He slept fantastic last night in between feedings!! We also gave him a bath right before bed, so I think a combo of a free face and warm bath totally relaxed him. :) Last night before RJ's bath, Robert was holding his lil naked body. He's so adorable with no clothes on:) RJ was using his hand to feel Robert's chest hair. It was adorable. Robert was helping me feed RJ as some point last evening, and said RJ actually had tears in his eyes from getting frustrated. That's a first. He's quite the impatient child when it comes to getting his food when he wants it. He doesn't seem to remember that it's a process to warm up his milk and sometimes the nipple so it meets his standards. Silly boy. It's been wonderful not having to lug the extra cord or oxygen tank around in the past 24 hrs. I can't wait till the apnea monitor is off as well. We aren't going to know what to do with a "tube/cord free baby"!! RJ is up around the 7 lb mark now. I have a feeling he's going to have a long torso and be a skinny lil guy.
This weekend my mom and lil sister were a big help. Mom and I were able to get errands done while Emily stayed in the truck w/ RJ to keep an eye on him and feed him at times. It was perfect. Mom helped me get our front flower beds/trees looking spiffy again and helped keep up w/ the laundry. We also organized RJ's clothes and had to bag up all the preemie outfits. He's outgrown them!! We moved the newborn clothes into position for use. We were on a mission to find a few more pants this weekend and it was such a difficult task. We finally accomplished our goal and now he's set till the next phase of growth happens. :)
Oh I wanted to mention that the other day Robert was holding RJ and caught a photo of him actually smiling with his eyes open!! RJ's been smiling in his sleep for quite some time, even at the NICU, but now when he was awake. I have yet to see it in person. :)
Tomorrow we head to the Peds Clinic for RJ's 4 month shots and check up. Then Friday we see Peds Surgery about his pooping. He seemed to be doing great there for a lil while and now it's been almost 4 days since he's pooped. We had a big spit up yesterday, so I'm thinking he's stopped up again. Oh mercy. I will be glad when he's fully functioning in that department and we don't have to stick those applicators up his lil butt anymore.
I just finished feeding the lil guy about an hr ago and I am hearing much grunting from his bassinet across the room. Every once in awhile I'll see arms stretching. I've talked to a few other mother's who have boys, and it seems they grunt way more than girls. Boys are noisy from the get go.
Welp, I'll have to update you all on our visits sometime this weekend. Thanks again for all the prayers, support, and love!! We couldn't do it without them!!
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Friday, May 24, 2013
May 24, 2013:
It's still mind boggling how we could have been blessed with such a beautiful lil miracle. He's so stinkin cute and gets cuter every day. I could just stare at him for hours. It was so precious this morning at one of the early feedings, I put my finger in his lil hand and he held on for dear life. It was so heartwarming. Even though it's hard to wake up when my alarm goes off, somehow I wake up and I'm alert enough to feed the hungry lil guy.
Wednesday was a great success at the Grad clinic. He now weighs 6lb 11oz which is about 6.7lbs. He's just one ounce bigger than me when I was born! Wow... He is about 19 inches long, which is about 6 inches longer than when he was born. He's making great progress even if he's on the lower end of weight gain. Dr. Desai was pleased with his progress. We did a room air sat reading and it was 99%. We are starting to wean his oxygen. When he's awake during the day we take it off and then put it on while he's either sleeping or in the carseat. This coming Wednesday we get to take the oxygen off completely and see how he does for a wk, then the following Wednesday they will come to our house and get a download from the apnea monitor for the Dr. to review. They will make the final decision based on any events that the machine recorded as to if he can be off both the oxygen and apnea monitor completely!! Less than 2 wks we will find out!! Dr. Desai said to pull the NG tube as well!! We are doing demand feeding and if he doesn't take all bottle at one feeding, just give him the rest at the next. It's been working out pretty well. He's feeding every 2-3 hrs now. He's also continuing to do great w/ the pooping, not needing any suppositories in a few wks!! We will continue w/ the Beneprotein for another month and the Neosure we will keep till he is 1 year corrected age ( which means April 24th 2014). I clarified how long to stay out of crowds and Dr. Desai said 3 months from discharge, so that would be around the end of July and definitely stay away from lil children, or at least them touching him and if they are sick. We will follow up at the Grad clinic again in a month to assess his progress.
He is currently grunting and stretching right now next to me on the couch. He is one noisy lil man. He is also full of air, cause he keeps releasing stinky gas. Mercy!! Who knew a lil baby could have such stinky gas!! Anyways, he has fully awaken now. Time for the next feeding. We hope you all have a super happy Sabbath!!
Thanks again for all the prayers, love, and support.
It's still mind boggling how we could have been blessed with such a beautiful lil miracle. He's so stinkin cute and gets cuter every day. I could just stare at him for hours. It was so precious this morning at one of the early feedings, I put my finger in his lil hand and he held on for dear life. It was so heartwarming. Even though it's hard to wake up when my alarm goes off, somehow I wake up and I'm alert enough to feed the hungry lil guy.
Wednesday was a great success at the Grad clinic. He now weighs 6lb 11oz which is about 6.7lbs. He's just one ounce bigger than me when I was born! Wow... He is about 19 inches long, which is about 6 inches longer than when he was born. He's making great progress even if he's on the lower end of weight gain. Dr. Desai was pleased with his progress. We did a room air sat reading and it was 99%. We are starting to wean his oxygen. When he's awake during the day we take it off and then put it on while he's either sleeping or in the carseat. This coming Wednesday we get to take the oxygen off completely and see how he does for a wk, then the following Wednesday they will come to our house and get a download from the apnea monitor for the Dr. to review. They will make the final decision based on any events that the machine recorded as to if he can be off both the oxygen and apnea monitor completely!! Less than 2 wks we will find out!! Dr. Desai said to pull the NG tube as well!! We are doing demand feeding and if he doesn't take all bottle at one feeding, just give him the rest at the next. It's been working out pretty well. He's feeding every 2-3 hrs now. He's also continuing to do great w/ the pooping, not needing any suppositories in a few wks!! We will continue w/ the Beneprotein for another month and the Neosure we will keep till he is 1 year corrected age ( which means April 24th 2014). I clarified how long to stay out of crowds and Dr. Desai said 3 months from discharge, so that would be around the end of July and definitely stay away from lil children, or at least them touching him and if they are sick. We will follow up at the Grad clinic again in a month to assess his progress.
He is currently grunting and stretching right now next to me on the couch. He is one noisy lil man. He is also full of air, cause he keeps releasing stinky gas. Mercy!! Who knew a lil baby could have such stinky gas!! Anyways, he has fully awaken now. Time for the next feeding. We hope you all have a super happy Sabbath!!
Thanks again for all the prayers, love, and support.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
May 21, 2013:
I'm having a hard time figuring out RJ's routine. He can't make up his mind how often he wants to feed or how much. Plus he can't make up his mind how much he wants to sleep. Today he's barely slept since waking up. He's taken lil cat naps here and there. It's been fun seeing his eyes all wide open I have to admit. He is pooping more too on his own!! I discovered today that I fed him a lil milk and then he wouldn't take any more. While sitting on the couch he was just looking up at the big open windows grunting and furrowing his eye brows. Turns out he was working on a poo. :) He did that twice today!! I'm so proud of him in that department!!
We were able to get our hands on an O2 sat monitor and have been checking RJ's sats without the oxygen. Today we kept him off over 2 hrs and he was maintaining mid to upper 90's!! Tomorrow we have our grad clinic appt. We will be meeting all the different ancillary staff departments and getting acquainted with everyone. I've made a list of questions of which includes seeing about removing the oxygen. We weighed him Monday night and he was about 6.4 lbs. He had been around 6.8 lbs, but had some poo's since then. Regardless he is gaining weight and looking bigger every day. He's looking more and more filled out and it's adorable!!
My mom and lil sis Emily are coming this weekend!! It'll be fun to have family around and extra help since poor Robert has to work the whole weekend. :( This month is almost over and his next rotation will be less stressful and less time consuming.
Welp, I hear the lil guy grunting. I'm hoping he will sleep a lil longer, but ya never know. Thanks again for all the prayers, support, and love!!
I'm having a hard time figuring out RJ's routine. He can't make up his mind how often he wants to feed or how much. Plus he can't make up his mind how much he wants to sleep. Today he's barely slept since waking up. He's taken lil cat naps here and there. It's been fun seeing his eyes all wide open I have to admit. He is pooping more too on his own!! I discovered today that I fed him a lil milk and then he wouldn't take any more. While sitting on the couch he was just looking up at the big open windows grunting and furrowing his eye brows. Turns out he was working on a poo. :) He did that twice today!! I'm so proud of him in that department!!
We were able to get our hands on an O2 sat monitor and have been checking RJ's sats without the oxygen. Today we kept him off over 2 hrs and he was maintaining mid to upper 90's!! Tomorrow we have our grad clinic appt. We will be meeting all the different ancillary staff departments and getting acquainted with everyone. I've made a list of questions of which includes seeing about removing the oxygen. We weighed him Monday night and he was about 6.4 lbs. He had been around 6.8 lbs, but had some poo's since then. Regardless he is gaining weight and looking bigger every day. He's looking more and more filled out and it's adorable!!
My mom and lil sis Emily are coming this weekend!! It'll be fun to have family around and extra help since poor Robert has to work the whole weekend. :( This month is almost over and his next rotation will be less stressful and less time consuming.
Welp, I hear the lil guy grunting. I'm hoping he will sleep a lil longer, but ya never know. Thanks again for all the prayers, support, and love!!
Saturday, May 18, 2013
May 18, 2013:
I can't believe our lil man is 4 months old already!! He's getting so big. We weighed him on our home scale last night and he's about 6.8 lbs!! I guess his power feeds over the past couple weeks have been helping. :) Big news for yesterday is that RJ pooped on his own for the first time since arriving home!! No glycerin suppository was needed!! I guess the dilation is finally working. We went to the eye doctor yesterday and his eyes look the same. Don't have to go back for 2 weeks. We are still waiting for his vessels to grow properly.
Robert got lucky and was able to come for the eye appt yesterday and have the rest of the day off!! It was great having help getting the lil man back into the vehicle again. Today we are spending some nice relaxing family time together. :)
Not much else has happened since I last wrote. RJ seems to be feeding every 2.5hrs versus 3. Then last night he decided to feed 3 times in the span of 1.5hrs. Such a silly boy. He's starting to cry when he's hungry which is a new thing. I just wish he would take his entire bottles so we could get the NG tube out.
Tomorrow daddy and RJ are going to spend some quality time together and mommy (me) is going to get out and treat myself to a pedicure w/ some of my birthday money. :) I might even slip to Target or something to look around. Friday I made a mad dash to the grocery store while RJ stayed home w/ daddy. Whew... we are stocked up for a lil while now. :)
Anyways, I hope you all have had a very happy Sabbath!! Thanks again for all the love, prayers, and support!! Keep em' coming!!
I can't believe our lil man is 4 months old already!! He's getting so big. We weighed him on our home scale last night and he's about 6.8 lbs!! I guess his power feeds over the past couple weeks have been helping. :) Big news for yesterday is that RJ pooped on his own for the first time since arriving home!! No glycerin suppository was needed!! I guess the dilation is finally working. We went to the eye doctor yesterday and his eyes look the same. Don't have to go back for 2 weeks. We are still waiting for his vessels to grow properly.
Robert got lucky and was able to come for the eye appt yesterday and have the rest of the day off!! It was great having help getting the lil man back into the vehicle again. Today we are spending some nice relaxing family time together. :)
Not much else has happened since I last wrote. RJ seems to be feeding every 2.5hrs versus 3. Then last night he decided to feed 3 times in the span of 1.5hrs. Such a silly boy. He's starting to cry when he's hungry which is a new thing. I just wish he would take his entire bottles so we could get the NG tube out.
Tomorrow daddy and RJ are going to spend some quality time together and mommy (me) is going to get out and treat myself to a pedicure w/ some of my birthday money. :) I might even slip to Target or something to look around. Friday I made a mad dash to the grocery store while RJ stayed home w/ daddy. Whew... we are stocked up for a lil while now. :)
Anyways, I hope you all have had a very happy Sabbath!! Thanks again for all the love, prayers, and support!! Keep em' coming!!
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
May 15, 2013:
Today was tricky taking RJ to one of my doctors appointments. The appt was at 2pm, which is in the middle of his feeding time, so I figured that should work pretty good. Usually he sleeps in between feedings. The problem came when the doctor didn't come into my exam room until around 2:30pm. By that time RJ was starting to wake up a lil in his car seat and started to get fussy. We hadn't gotten very far into the visit before we had to stop so I could feed the lil man. Oh, by the way I was at the GYN office, so my doc was totally understanding and said they do that kind of thing all the time. They just work around the babies. :) So figures RJ would want to nurse longer than usual. I figured it would be a quick 15-20 min feeding, but no he decided to feed for about 30. Then because I was out of my elemant and routine, I forgot to check his diaper before starting his feeds, so had to wake him up and do it after. Oh bother.. I ended up holding RJ through the whole exam, and 2 hrs later we were back in the car. Whew.... It was great to get home.
Well, RJ is almost 4 months old and I think he's starting a growth spirt or something. He's started "snacking" in between his normal q3hr feeding times. He's also been getting fussy 30 min or so before the next scheduled feed, so I give it to him early. I'm excited that he's actually showing signs of being hungry. It sure helps me know what he needs. It's so cute when he starts sucking on his lil hand. That's my signal to step it up and get him his food. :)
I was hoping that the rectal dilators were going to make him poop more regularly, but not so yet. I had to give him another glycerin suppository yesterday afternoon to get success. Two weeks from Friday we go back to assess the progress of his lil rectum.
Oh RJ really doesn't like things on his face which include the nasal cannula and NG tube. He was made at me yesterday on a few occasions becuase I wasn't moving fast enough on his time schedule and he pulled out his tube. I finally replaced it and added a lil more tegaderm. I'm hoping when we go to the graduate clinic next Wednesday, that they will say no more oxygen needed. Sure would be nice to get rid of some tubes around here.
We were lucky in that daddy got to come home early today!! We even went for a short walk before needing to return to feed the lil guy. It was nice to be able to spend some time earlier in the evening w/ our hubby/daddy.
I started trying to have RJ lay on his activity mat some each day. He's not the biggest fan right now. He only lasts a few minutes before he starts crying. I should have thought quicker tonight about taking a video because by the time I got it set up on my phone, he'd started crying. Guess I'll have to try again tomorrow.
I know I'm jumping all over the place, but on Monday I was in the process of giving RJ his Nystatin. I put the medicine on a q-tip and rub it on the roof of his mouth. Well, RJ has a VERY sensative gag reflex. I should have stopped when he started to gag the first time. I was just really wanting to paint that spot good. Well, you've probably already guessed what happened next. Needless to say we had to take our bath earlier than expected. It was quite the event. He managed to get milk on himself, my pants, the couch, and the floor. Oh bother...
Robert is finishing up his last progress note while I'm down in the living room blogging w/ RJ sitting sound asleep in my lap. He looks so precious. How did I get so lucky. :)
My eyes are getting heavy and I'm wishing for my bed right now. Soon enough I'll get there. First RJ needs to eat again and I need to gather up all our stuff for the night. Thankfully we don't have any doctors appointments tomorrow and we can relax.
Thanks again for all the love, support, and prayers family and friends. Keep em' coming!!
Today was tricky taking RJ to one of my doctors appointments. The appt was at 2pm, which is in the middle of his feeding time, so I figured that should work pretty good. Usually he sleeps in between feedings. The problem came when the doctor didn't come into my exam room until around 2:30pm. By that time RJ was starting to wake up a lil in his car seat and started to get fussy. We hadn't gotten very far into the visit before we had to stop so I could feed the lil man. Oh, by the way I was at the GYN office, so my doc was totally understanding and said they do that kind of thing all the time. They just work around the babies. :) So figures RJ would want to nurse longer than usual. I figured it would be a quick 15-20 min feeding, but no he decided to feed for about 30. Then because I was out of my elemant and routine, I forgot to check his diaper before starting his feeds, so had to wake him up and do it after. Oh bother.. I ended up holding RJ through the whole exam, and 2 hrs later we were back in the car. Whew.... It was great to get home.
Well, RJ is almost 4 months old and I think he's starting a growth spirt or something. He's started "snacking" in between his normal q3hr feeding times. He's also been getting fussy 30 min or so before the next scheduled feed, so I give it to him early. I'm excited that he's actually showing signs of being hungry. It sure helps me know what he needs. It's so cute when he starts sucking on his lil hand. That's my signal to step it up and get him his food. :)
I was hoping that the rectal dilators were going to make him poop more regularly, but not so yet. I had to give him another glycerin suppository yesterday afternoon to get success. Two weeks from Friday we go back to assess the progress of his lil rectum.
Oh RJ really doesn't like things on his face which include the nasal cannula and NG tube. He was made at me yesterday on a few occasions becuase I wasn't moving fast enough on his time schedule and he pulled out his tube. I finally replaced it and added a lil more tegaderm. I'm hoping when we go to the graduate clinic next Wednesday, that they will say no more oxygen needed. Sure would be nice to get rid of some tubes around here.
We were lucky in that daddy got to come home early today!! We even went for a short walk before needing to return to feed the lil guy. It was nice to be able to spend some time earlier in the evening w/ our hubby/daddy.
I started trying to have RJ lay on his activity mat some each day. He's not the biggest fan right now. He only lasts a few minutes before he starts crying. I should have thought quicker tonight about taking a video because by the time I got it set up on my phone, he'd started crying. Guess I'll have to try again tomorrow.
I know I'm jumping all over the place, but on Monday I was in the process of giving RJ his Nystatin. I put the medicine on a q-tip and rub it on the roof of his mouth. Well, RJ has a VERY sensative gag reflex. I should have stopped when he started to gag the first time. I was just really wanting to paint that spot good. Well, you've probably already guessed what happened next. Needless to say we had to take our bath earlier than expected. It was quite the event. He managed to get milk on himself, my pants, the couch, and the floor. Oh bother...
Robert is finishing up his last progress note while I'm down in the living room blogging w/ RJ sitting sound asleep in my lap. He looks so precious. How did I get so lucky. :)
My eyes are getting heavy and I'm wishing for my bed right now. Soon enough I'll get there. First RJ needs to eat again and I need to gather up all our stuff for the night. Thankfully we don't have any doctors appointments tomorrow and we can relax.
Thanks again for all the love, support, and prayers family and friends. Keep em' coming!!
Saturday, May 11, 2013
May 11, 2013:
Happy Mother's Day weekend to all the mother's out there reading my blog!! I can't believe that I've joined the rankings. Since I was a little girl I dreamed of having my own baby and now I do. He's so precious. I love it when he just looks up at me with those gray/blue eyes and stares. I love stealing dozens and dozens of kisses from him throughout the day. One of my most favorite things is when we are stuggling and he keeps scooting up my chest to get his lil head right under my chin. That's they way I used to snuggle him in the NICU when his head was smaller and fit a little better under my chin. :) We have a special lil bond for sure.
The weather this week has been fantastic and we were able to take stroller/walks 4 days this wk!! He does great and sleeps most of the way. He knows mommy needs to get back in shape again. :) I had to juggle the timing of the rain each day, but made it without getting wet and even got a lil sun tan. :)
This week we were talking to another NICU mom about schedules and feedings. I've been doing the q3hr feeding schedule since coming home from the NICU, since that is what schedule they had him on there. So Wednesday night I decided to stretch it out to 4 hrs and see if he would feed better. It didn't quite work right. We were all off schedule on Thursday and it was confusing for me. He didn't seem to like it as much either. I was slowly able to get us back on the same time schedule throughout yesterday and last night. Unfortunately I think it messed with his sleep schedule, b/c last night I felt like I was awake the whole time!! He was wanting to feed before 3 hrs and then wasn't going to sleep. I had to hold him at times and it was just a mess. I'm hoping over the next few days he will get back to the q3hr schedule and we can both sleep better.
Friday was the only day we had doctors visits. They ended up rescheduling our Pedicatric clinic appt, so we had that right after the Peds Surgery appt. So, turns out our lil man, who is little in all respects, also has a lil rectum. :( That's why he's been constipated and not pooping unless given a glycerin suppository. There just isn't enough room to get the junk out!! So, the doctor stuck his finger up RJ's rectum and instantly poop came out. He then showed me 2 different applicators that have to be inserted into RJ's rectum twice a day to help dilate the opening and allow him to poop on his own. I'm hoping that within the 3 wk time period before we have our f/u appt, RJ will be pooping like a champ. Our Peds clinic appt went well. We met w/ the Nurse Practitioner b/c our doctor was still out recovering from foot surgery. The NP was awesome and gave RJ a glowing report. He is gaining about 15 grams a day which is on the low range, but still acceptable. We 've been giving him Nystatin for the roof of his mouth where he has a lil Thrush. She recommened using a q-tip instead of my finger to paint the area. That has worked much better. We will f//u the end of the month for his 4 month shots. :(
So, last night we were gonna give RJ a bath. I did the rectal dilation for the first time at home and then promply put him in the bath. The warm water just helped to get things moving and he started pooping in the water. Poop and water make for an extra stinky mess. It was totally grossing Robert out. He kept having to leave the bathroom. Good thing he decided to become a doctor and not a nurse. He wouldn't have survived. :) So, we had to rewash RJ in a yellow basin after all that mess. We got him all dried off and lotioned up and snuggled into bed. He was being quiet and I thought this was the perfect opportunity to quickly take my shower. Well, when I came out to check on him, turns out he had spit up. Not sure if the pooping episode was that traumitizing or what. So, I had to change his bedding and clothes and wipe him down w/ wipes for a second bath in less than 2hrs. Thankfully we had no more spits ups last night, just not good sleeping.
I'm hoping that the vomiting episodes this week, which has required laundry almost every day, will subside now that we are helping him to poop better. I'm hoping that he's not developing reflux, which would then require a small dose of Zantac. Oh bother, it's always something.
Today we are having a relaxing Sabbath. We even watched a sermon online and then promply fell asleep snuggling. It's still so mind boggling to me that we have a son. What a special gift from God. We are truly blessed.
Thanks again for all your prayers, love, and support. We couldn't do it without them!! Happy Sabbath to all!!
Happy Mother's Day weekend to all the mother's out there reading my blog!! I can't believe that I've joined the rankings. Since I was a little girl I dreamed of having my own baby and now I do. He's so precious. I love it when he just looks up at me with those gray/blue eyes and stares. I love stealing dozens and dozens of kisses from him throughout the day. One of my most favorite things is when we are stuggling and he keeps scooting up my chest to get his lil head right under my chin. That's they way I used to snuggle him in the NICU when his head was smaller and fit a little better under my chin. :) We have a special lil bond for sure.
The weather this week has been fantastic and we were able to take stroller/walks 4 days this wk!! He does great and sleeps most of the way. He knows mommy needs to get back in shape again. :) I had to juggle the timing of the rain each day, but made it without getting wet and even got a lil sun tan. :)
This week we were talking to another NICU mom about schedules and feedings. I've been doing the q3hr feeding schedule since coming home from the NICU, since that is what schedule they had him on there. So Wednesday night I decided to stretch it out to 4 hrs and see if he would feed better. It didn't quite work right. We were all off schedule on Thursday and it was confusing for me. He didn't seem to like it as much either. I was slowly able to get us back on the same time schedule throughout yesterday and last night. Unfortunately I think it messed with his sleep schedule, b/c last night I felt like I was awake the whole time!! He was wanting to feed before 3 hrs and then wasn't going to sleep. I had to hold him at times and it was just a mess. I'm hoping over the next few days he will get back to the q3hr schedule and we can both sleep better.
Friday was the only day we had doctors visits. They ended up rescheduling our Pedicatric clinic appt, so we had that right after the Peds Surgery appt. So, turns out our lil man, who is little in all respects, also has a lil rectum. :( That's why he's been constipated and not pooping unless given a glycerin suppository. There just isn't enough room to get the junk out!! So, the doctor stuck his finger up RJ's rectum and instantly poop came out. He then showed me 2 different applicators that have to be inserted into RJ's rectum twice a day to help dilate the opening and allow him to poop on his own. I'm hoping that within the 3 wk time period before we have our f/u appt, RJ will be pooping like a champ. Our Peds clinic appt went well. We met w/ the Nurse Practitioner b/c our doctor was still out recovering from foot surgery. The NP was awesome and gave RJ a glowing report. He is gaining about 15 grams a day which is on the low range, but still acceptable. We 've been giving him Nystatin for the roof of his mouth where he has a lil Thrush. She recommened using a q-tip instead of my finger to paint the area. That has worked much better. We will f//u the end of the month for his 4 month shots. :(
So, last night we were gonna give RJ a bath. I did the rectal dilation for the first time at home and then promply put him in the bath. The warm water just helped to get things moving and he started pooping in the water. Poop and water make for an extra stinky mess. It was totally grossing Robert out. He kept having to leave the bathroom. Good thing he decided to become a doctor and not a nurse. He wouldn't have survived. :) So, we had to rewash RJ in a yellow basin after all that mess. We got him all dried off and lotioned up and snuggled into bed. He was being quiet and I thought this was the perfect opportunity to quickly take my shower. Well, when I came out to check on him, turns out he had spit up. Not sure if the pooping episode was that traumitizing or what. So, I had to change his bedding and clothes and wipe him down w/ wipes for a second bath in less than 2hrs. Thankfully we had no more spits ups last night, just not good sleeping.
I'm hoping that the vomiting episodes this week, which has required laundry almost every day, will subside now that we are helping him to poop better. I'm hoping that he's not developing reflux, which would then require a small dose of Zantac. Oh bother, it's always something.
Today we are having a relaxing Sabbath. We even watched a sermon online and then promply fell asleep snuggling. It's still so mind boggling to me that we have a son. What a special gift from God. We are truly blessed.
Thanks again for all your prayers, love, and support. We couldn't do it without them!! Happy Sabbath to all!!
Monday, May 6, 2013
May 6, 2013:
It's been almost a week since I wrote last. I was just thinking last night how I needed to blog again and then I got a couple FB messages from friends saying they missed the blogs. I didnt' realize how "addicted" some people were and how much it helped them feel involved and a part of our lil miracles growing up. :)
It was great having Robert here last week. I was able to get RJ signed up for WIC to help out w/ formula for awhile and I was even able to qualify for a few months to help w/ food. You never know what resources are out there until something like this happens. Using his WIC card saved us about $40 in some groceries yesterday when I went. If we are paying into the system, it's nice to know that at some point we can use it when necessary. I believe I only qualify for 3 months, but RJ might qualify for longer. Hey, a can of the Neosure costs around $17 which is part of his supplimentation. Right now we can get 4 cans for free per month. Any savings helps right?
I went to my Internal Med doc on Thursday to f/u on my med increase. They were happy w/ my home bp log and said I don't have to come back for 6 months. So, things are good on that front. Then on Friday, which was my birthday, we took RJ to the eye doctor for his check up. It is such an awful process where they force their eyes open w/ this metal clip thing to look inside. Poor lil guy was traumatized, but I was able to console him afterwards. His eyes are looking good and currently the way they are he could have 20/20 vision. They vessels havent grown to the front of the eye yet, but that's ok said the doc. The part we don't want is for the vessels to grow all funky, and thankfully they have not. We will see him again in 2 wks.
Robert had to go back to work today and is in the Neuro ICU for this week and then Cardiac ICU the rest of the month. It will be a toughy, but such is life. So far RJ and I have survived our morning together. He slept pretty good last night and we had our snuggle time this morning where we both slept great. He was wide awake when we came downstairs around 10am and then I was going to put him in his swing like I always do. This morning he was not very cooperative. I usually take the opportunity to eat my breakfast, make his bottles, and get a few things done around the house until the noon feeding. I had to come over to him multiple times to try and calm him down, letting him know that mommy was eating breakfast and he needed to have his alone time in his swing. He would settle down for a couple minutes and then start crying again. I repositioned him and at one point picked him up. As soon as I did that he stopped crying. That's when I confirmed my suspision, that he was just crying to get mommy's attention and be picked up. He's a smart one for sure learning early how crying can work to his advantage. I did finish eating before going to pick him up. I don't want to have a lil spoiled brat on our hands this early in the game. :) He's sleeping pretty good right now after his noon bottle, so I should be able to leave him in his swing for a lil while so I can be productive. :)
This week we get to stay around the house and hopefully take some walks. Sabbath Robert and I took RJ for his first stroller walk around the neighborhood. It was a gorgeous day and we kept him bundled up. Yesterday was super cold and rainy and today is cold, so maybe we can walk later this week. Yesterday I had to venture out in the rain to quickly go grocery shopping while Robert was here w/ RJ. Sure is much more tricky to get errands done since I'm not supposed to take him out in public for awhile longer. Next wk will be super tricky as we have doctors appointments Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Yikes!! I might have to call on some friend assistance.
Anyways, I don't think there's much more to report at the moment. Still waiting for the lil guy to poop on his own. Had to give him a glycerin suppository again over the weekend. He is taking his bottles quicker, just not always drinking the whole thing, so having to still use the NG tube. Man, we will have to have a big celebration the day he is free from his NG tube, oxygen, and apnea monitor!!! Can't wait for that day!!
Well, thanks again friends and family for your love, support, and prayers, Keep them coming!!
It's been almost a week since I wrote last. I was just thinking last night how I needed to blog again and then I got a couple FB messages from friends saying they missed the blogs. I didnt' realize how "addicted" some people were and how much it helped them feel involved and a part of our lil miracles growing up. :)
It was great having Robert here last week. I was able to get RJ signed up for WIC to help out w/ formula for awhile and I was even able to qualify for a few months to help w/ food. You never know what resources are out there until something like this happens. Using his WIC card saved us about $40 in some groceries yesterday when I went. If we are paying into the system, it's nice to know that at some point we can use it when necessary. I believe I only qualify for 3 months, but RJ might qualify for longer. Hey, a can of the Neosure costs around $17 which is part of his supplimentation. Right now we can get 4 cans for free per month. Any savings helps right?
I went to my Internal Med doc on Thursday to f/u on my med increase. They were happy w/ my home bp log and said I don't have to come back for 6 months. So, things are good on that front. Then on Friday, which was my birthday, we took RJ to the eye doctor for his check up. It is such an awful process where they force their eyes open w/ this metal clip thing to look inside. Poor lil guy was traumatized, but I was able to console him afterwards. His eyes are looking good and currently the way they are he could have 20/20 vision. They vessels havent grown to the front of the eye yet, but that's ok said the doc. The part we don't want is for the vessels to grow all funky, and thankfully they have not. We will see him again in 2 wks.
Robert had to go back to work today and is in the Neuro ICU for this week and then Cardiac ICU the rest of the month. It will be a toughy, but such is life. So far RJ and I have survived our morning together. He slept pretty good last night and we had our snuggle time this morning where we both slept great. He was wide awake when we came downstairs around 10am and then I was going to put him in his swing like I always do. This morning he was not very cooperative. I usually take the opportunity to eat my breakfast, make his bottles, and get a few things done around the house until the noon feeding. I had to come over to him multiple times to try and calm him down, letting him know that mommy was eating breakfast and he needed to have his alone time in his swing. He would settle down for a couple minutes and then start crying again. I repositioned him and at one point picked him up. As soon as I did that he stopped crying. That's when I confirmed my suspision, that he was just crying to get mommy's attention and be picked up. He's a smart one for sure learning early how crying can work to his advantage. I did finish eating before going to pick him up. I don't want to have a lil spoiled brat on our hands this early in the game. :) He's sleeping pretty good right now after his noon bottle, so I should be able to leave him in his swing for a lil while so I can be productive. :)
This week we get to stay around the house and hopefully take some walks. Sabbath Robert and I took RJ for his first stroller walk around the neighborhood. It was a gorgeous day and we kept him bundled up. Yesterday was super cold and rainy and today is cold, so maybe we can walk later this week. Yesterday I had to venture out in the rain to quickly go grocery shopping while Robert was here w/ RJ. Sure is much more tricky to get errands done since I'm not supposed to take him out in public for awhile longer. Next wk will be super tricky as we have doctors appointments Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Yikes!! I might have to call on some friend assistance.
Anyways, I don't think there's much more to report at the moment. Still waiting for the lil guy to poop on his own. Had to give him a glycerin suppository again over the weekend. He is taking his bottles quicker, just not always drinking the whole thing, so having to still use the NG tube. Man, we will have to have a big celebration the day he is free from his NG tube, oxygen, and apnea monitor!!! Can't wait for that day!!
Well, thanks again friends and family for your love, support, and prayers, Keep them coming!!
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