January 20, 2009 -

New video of Eion WALKING! Yay!

He'd been doing this sidestep thing for a week or so, then on Monday the 12th he walked 3 steps. Then the next day it was 6 steps with a standing pause in between. This was taken on the 18th. Today, he's all over the place. He dances around the living room and then walks down the hall toward the kitchen. If he goes slow and steady he does fine, it's when he gets excited, like in the video, that he stumbles more.

Also added a short video of the new baby hiccuping during the ultrasound to video, and here are some (unfortunately very grainy) pictures I grabbed from our video.

January 05, 2009 -

After much patient waiting from family and friends, the pictures section is up to date again. There are pictures added to the main album of just Eion, as well as a separate album for all the cake smashing goodness at his birthday party.

I have also set up something that we can try to use, if people want to.

Our families are spread far and wide and are varied in their internet usage. A big way to communicate nowadays is via bulletin boards or online forums. Think of it as the first name suggests. It's a big electronic bulletin board. You post a message on it and everyone who has access to it can see it and can respond to it. Some of the uses I see are all those newsletters that we all write. Instead of having to make sure you have everyone's correct e-mail address, as long as they are registered to use the bulletin board, they will see it. This can also be a place for just sharing random news without, again, having to compose a big lengthy e-mail message and without having to get all those e-mail addresses together again.

Here is the link for what I have set up. You *will* have to register to see the board and post. It's made this way so some random stranger can't come in and see all our private business. All registration requests come to me and MUST be approved by me before you can access the board, another safety feature.

http://warmwinds.proboards.com

When you click on that link you will see a message that says:

Error: You must login to access this forum.
Please login below, or register for an account.

Click on the register link to sign up. It's free and doesn't ask for much information. Remember, any information you fill in will ONLY be available to other approved family/family friend members.

There is one slight catch. I may not recognize every registration that comes across. If you don't get an approval message in a few days, please drop me an e-mail so I know who the registration is from :-)

Again, *this is free*. If it doesn't work out it will not have cost anyone any money, so let's try it!

October 12, 2008 -

Even though his birthday isn't until Wednesday, we had Eion's 1st Birthday party today. Here's a link to some quick pictures. There should be more with their own page, etc. soon. Batteries in the camera were dying but others took a bunch of pictures too :-)

http://picasaweb.google.com/lboosmommy/EionFirstBirthday#

October 3, 2008 -

Eion's surgery went well. They did discover that one side had already turned towards a hernia, so getting in there now was a very good thing. He was not a happy camper the rest of the day, but was back up crawling and being an adorable nuisance the next day.

We're planning many things at the moment: his first birthday party on the 12th, a trip to Anchorage for the NICU reunion on the 18th, as well we still have to schedule his 12 month appointment, his first haircut, and one year portraits.

Whew!

September 1, 2008 -

Eion's surgery is scheduled for September 17th, with a pre-op appointment for more details, etc. on September 12th.

For those that may have not heard, Eion has Communicating Hydroceles on both testicles. In short, it's a sac of excess fluid. In his case, there is an opening at the top so the fluid goes back into the abdomen sometimes. Usually they try to wait until after a year to do any surgery, but because he has 2 and they're open they're going ahead sooner. They're actually fairly common and usually fix themselves, however, it is more common in preemies for them to not fix themselves.

Here is some more information:

From http://www.urologychannel.com/hydrocele/index.shtml:

Hydroceles are caused by the accumulation of fluid in the scrotum, surrounding one, or less often both, of the testes. In most cases, the condition is congenital, or present at birth.

Before birth, the testicles develop in the abdomen. A few weeks before the baby is born, they descend connected to a tube (called the processus vaginalis) to the scrotum. When this movement is complete, the tube usually closes. When it doesn't, fluid from the abdomen can collect in the scrotum, causing a communicating hydrocele. This condition is called "communicating" because the pathway between the abdomen and scrotum is wide open. This type of hydrocele is typically bigger in the evening and smaller, or absent, in the morning as the fluid often returns to the abdomen due to hours of being recumbent.

It *should* be an outpatient procedure so we'll have him home soon after. They're planning on prescribing Tylenol with Codeine to manage his pain. They recommend rest for a few days, but realize that getting an at-that-time 11 month old to rest is near impossible :-)

Okay, now that that's taken care of, there are, of course, more new pictures :-)

August 16, 2008 -

Lots of pictures and videos added. Pictures from the fair, pictures in a family heirloom, pictures making a mess eating, pictures playing, and more bath pictures. Videos of making a mess eating, and videos of *standing up*. Albeit with help, but hey, he got there all by himself :-)

July 4, 2008 -

We went to the parade in North Pole today! Eion was fascinated by all the cars, etc. going by. We were talking about it and we've never just been sitting around somewhere where cars drove by, so it was totally new. The mayor walked by and asked the crowd what their favourite part was. Brandon, in his normal snarkyiness, said that his favourite part was the guy asking what people's favourite part was. He laughed and then introduced himself, shook Brandon's hand, shook Eion's hand and then took a picture of us :-)

There are more pictures from the 'session' that I made the collage above from on the picture page. Enjoy!

July 1, 2008 -

Since there hasn't been much new news in a while I figured I'd revisit some old questions:

From January 13th, Eion was 3 months old:

4. How does your baby sleep at night? How many hours do you get.. What tricks have you found to get that good night sleep ? Eion sleeps pretty well from 11pm-6am, with the dream feed at 2am. He only takes 2oz then, but it helps and doesn't take long. A couple of fussy times here and there, some nights being worse than others, of course. We do play music. It's a instrumental lullaby CD on repeat shuffle. Play it all night. He still sleeps the Boppy too, but more often than not he winds up on his back now instead of his side, so I think we'll try to take the Boppy out again next week. Mostly I think it's just that he's older and you'll all get there too ;-)

Now at 8 months: He sleeps very very well. He starts fussing around 7 or 7:30 and goes to bed then. He continues to fuss a bit some, but not for very long. 95% of the time he is *out* by 8pm. He then sleeps until about 7:30am. Sometimes he fusses a bit during the night, but not usually.
We no longer have the music going at night. We bought a small aquarium and some fish so the aquarium took the power outlet that the computer :-) Seemed as good a time as any to stop the all night music. A few weeks ago we found a crib thing that plays music for a few minutes and does a light thing on the ceiling for free. So, that plays at bedtime. Our bedtime routine has gotten very short. Diaper, PJs, Paci, Bear, Bed, Music. Anything longer he usually won't stand for. Doesn't want to be rocked, etc. Sometimes he's okay with it for a while and I treasure those moments, but if he resists then I just put him down in his crib and walk away, knowing he'll be out before long. It's usually when he's *really* tired that he doesn't want to be held any more.

6. Breastfeeding, bottle feeding, combo? How many ounces does your baby eat? Bottle, still 3 1/2 oz every hours. Sometimes he wants an extra oz, but it's rare still.

Now at 8 months: Well, we have solids going, but still lots of formula. Around 7:30 when he wakes up he gets 8oz of formula. Around 11:00 when he wakes up from his morning nap he gets 6oz and some oatmeal with fruit, or the new thing, fruit whole-milk yogurt. 2:00-ish is 'lunch' of 6oz formula and something, lol. That can be any of the many foods he's tried including peas, carrots, squash, green beans, sweet potatoes, turkey and sweet potatoes, corn and sweet potatoes, etc. We just today started on some of the stage 3 foods. They're chunkier. Like, Macaroni and Cheese Dinner that has small pasta circles in a sauce with carrot bits. He's doing *excellent* with solid foods. In fact, it's almost impossible for *me* to eat anything without him watching me like a hawk hoping he'll get some. And sometimes he does. With the family history of nut allergies we are avoiding that, but, no one is allergic to eggs so he's had scrambled eggs and LOVES them. He wouldn't stop fussing for some the other day (in between his bites of mine) until they were gone. He's also had bites and tastes of various other things and we've had no reactions at all. If it's smooshy at all or kind of melts in his mouth, it's all good. Gerber Sweet Potato Puffs are a wonderful thing.

He is also a pro at sitting up on his own now. Still topples occasionally, but usually that's when he's reached too far for something. If it's a forward or sideways topple he's good since he's reached whatever he was going for. Not so happy when it's a backward topple...

Still no crawling, but that's okay! He scooches around in a circle and is *all over* his crib at night, so we're far from worried. Babies aren't 'expected' to crawl well until 10 months, and with his prematurity he technically has until he's a full year old. Which is a shockingly short time away now that I think about it... wow.

I was reading over some of the old posts from the NICU and got all teary at being so proud when he finished a 'whole' half an ounce of breastmilk. Now he downs 8oz like it's no one's business. Insane.

Also, I forgot to post his 8 month stats when we went to the WIC office. At 8 months he was 17lbs, 26.25 inches long. So, another inch and another few pounds! It still puts him in the 10th percentile, but weight-for-height he's right smack in the middle. So, proportionally he's fine. And, again, preemies are given leeway up to 2 years old to 'catch up' before doctors really start worrying. Plenty of time. :-)

June 24, 2008 -

More pictures. Bathtime, playtime, food time!

June 5, 2008 -

Added a couple pictures of Eion playing with a new sitting-up type toy. And a video of him laughing with Sissy :-)

I just want to say that we LOVE Airmen's Attic. It's a free 'thrift store' on base that has clothing, toys, household items, etc. Almost every new toy we have gotten for Eion has been from there. It makes it very nice as we didn't have to spend any extra money on things as his development progresses, and when we are done with them, we will simply bring them back for someone else!

May 25, 2008 -

Our walk was a success! We made our goal at almost the 11th hour. A very kind co-worker of Brandon's donated the last $20 we needed on Thursday night.

The weather for our 4 mile walk was beautiful. Overcast so no hot sun beating down on us, but not too cold either. Eion, of course, slept a lot of the way and Sissy just wanted to play with EVERYONE in the beginning. But she calmed down as the walk progressed. Our walk started out in the parking lot of Pioneer Park before taking us past our old apartment in Fairbanks and along the Chena River and finally ending back inside Pioneer Park. We walked past the dog park which got Sissy all excited. We later took her there for a romp with about a dozen of the city's fellow canine residents, which she thoroughly enjoyed as always.

Again, thank you *so* much to those that helped make our first of hopefully many years a great success!

If you missed out and want to still donate to this wonderful cause, they *do* still take donations after the walk, just click on the banner below.

May 03, 2008 -

Okay, appeal time. March for Babies is May 24th for us. Our goal is, we feel, a small one. Only $10 for every day Eion spent in the NICU. We're over halfway to that goal, and, with only 3 weeks left, we would really like to make it. It's very easy to donate online! Simply click on the banner above (or here). That will take you to our donation page where you can make a donation online using a credit card, debit card, PayPal account, or even cash or check (we'll just have to get cash or check donations from you via non-electronic means at a later time :-) ). If you are in our local area, it's even easier, just give us a call or let us know when you see us and we'll enter your pledge for donation. Then we'll just need to gather those donations by walk day, May 24th. Please please please help make our first March for Babies a good one :-)

And a *HUGE* THANK YOU to those that have already donated!

April 28, 2008 -

More pictures! I've split the pictures into two groups. One that is pictures of just Eion, one that is pictures of Eion with family and friends. I've also added the links to the picture albums where you can download them as that was a request from many. Also added a video of Daddy making Eion laugh. Enjoy!

March 10, 2008 -

New video added (finally) and I updated the bouncy chair one. I also changed some of the formatting on the pages to make it easier for me. You shouldn't notice any changes, but if something looks odd, let me know, I probably still need to fix that bit of code.

March 08, 2008 -

New pictures and a new album viewer! If you have any problems seeing the pictures, let me know.

February 23, 2008 -

For those that missed them, I copied over the updates that we had written up while in the NICU. Great for seeing how much he's progressed. It's incredible when I really think about it.... wow. Scroll down or click here to read them.

February 20, 2008 -

Yeah, so the weekly questions didn't work for long, lol.

More pictures have been added. They are at the end of the slideshow so if you click on the small double arrows on the right on the bottom of the slideshow (look like this: >>) you can go more directly to the new pictures.

Eion had his 4 month checkup and vaccinations yesterday! He is getting *so* big.

He's also right on track with development stuff. No delays at all so far. Yay! He's rolled over, on the floor, from belly to back once, but he does it all the time when leaning up against me. He also stands on our laps a *lot* and is starting to really bat at the toys on the bouncy chair, etc. in earnest. Very cool stuff.

I have a video of him playing with his kick gym, but it's really dark... I'll try to get another one here soon. He *loves* that thing. He'll happily kick away making the thingies spin for a good 15-30 minutes, if not longer.

January 13, 2008 -

BabyCenter Plus Size December Mom's Q&A for the week:

1. How are you feeling? Doing good.

2. How often are you taking baby out a week? lol, well... it's -20 on a regular basis, so not much. Too much to warm up he car really good, get him strapped in, blanket over, cover over... yeah... I can't wait until it warms up and we can go for walks :-)

3. Weight loss what's your Plan and Goals.. Have you started yet? What are your food downfalls... sweets, pizza, candy, chips etc... What are you doing for exercise? Plan is to go back on Atkins. Started yesterday and I was having a problem, I couldn't remember what I snacked on. Then I remembered PORK RINDS. I know, I know, but I like them and they are allowed and I lost 25 pounds before getting pregnant last time. Goal right now is 250, then 200, then 150. With BIG celebrations at each one ;-). My downfall is sweets. Fortunately they are some really yummy snack bars that Atkins makes. And Sugar-Free Jello with a little whipped cream. Hubby volunteered to do baby watch so I can go to the gym. Of course when I go back to work that will only work on the weekends since we're doing the split-shift thing to avoid daycare.

4. How does your baby sleep at night? How many hours do you get.. What tricks have you found to get that good night sleep ? Eion sleeps pretty well from 11pm-6am, with the dream feed at 2am. He only takes 2oz then, but it helps and doesn't take long. A couple of fussy times here and there, some nights being worse than others, of course. We do play music. It's a instrumental lullaby CD on repeat shuffle. Play it all night. He still sleeps the Boppy too, but more often than not he winds up on his back now instead of his side, so I think we'll try to take the Boppy out again next week. Mostly I think it's just that he's older and you'll all get there too ;-)

5. When do you go back to work and how are you feeling about that? I go back on the 22nd. I'm looking forward to it, not looking forward to trying to get up in the morning and STAY up (sometimes I get a nap right now, that won't happen anymore.... lol)

6. Breastfeeding, bottle feeding, combo? How many ounces does your baby eat? Bottle, still 3 1/2 oz every hours. Sometimes he wants an extra oz, but it's rare still.

7. Have you started tummy time? Yep. Doing the tummy-to-tummy thing still as he likes it.

Any other new mom concerns ????? Now that he is developing things like vocalization, object recognition, etc. I just hope he develops well. We'll really start to see how/if his prematurity has affected things. Not that it matters, just want him to do well.

January 5, 2008 -

BabyCenter Plus Size December Mom's Q&A for the week:

1. How are you feeling? Hah! Aunt Flo returned... ouch. (TMI alert). This one has been so heavy and has made me so hungry and tired, it's weird. The other day I slept through DH's 6am feeding, it was so cool I got, like, 6 solid hours of sleep.

2. How has the baby changed already? Any special moments yet? Eion has decided he'd rather eat snuggled in a cradle hold instead of sitting up now. I'm cool with that as it gives me the snuggly time I was missing since BFing is over. His eyes are slowly changing colour, but I can't decided where they're going yet. DH swears they're turning brown (my colour) but I don't see it.

3. Weight loss what's your Plan and Goals.. Have you started yet? Now that we're not quite so poor again, the next grocery trip will include foods for me to go back on Atkins. Going to start with Induction again of course. I had gone from 311 to 286 in about 3 months last time before getting pregnant, so hopefully it will work as well this time. I just have to remember how I ate.... lol First goal is 250. After that we'll see.

4. How does your baby sleep at night? How many hours do you get.. Do you have a bed time routine..? It depends. Generally, DS gets a bottle at 10pm and then goes off to bed. Sometimes he stays pretty asleep with just a little fussing until I dream-feed him at 2am. I'm generally up until that point taking advantage of the quiet time. That will have to change when I go back to work so I'm going to have to start changing that soon. Then he does pretty good again until the 6am feeding which DH does before going to work. A couple fussy sessions. Then 6am-10am is either really great or really terrible. Sometimes he sleeps the whole time, sometimes he only sleeps some of it. I've gotten better at being able to sleep through the fussy times and only waking up if he really cries. He does sleep with music on a shuffled repeat. It's this album. Baby Genius- Sweet Dreams Lullabies

5. Do you have your baby on a schedule and what is your schedule like for the day? Basically it's 6, 10, 2, 6, 10, 2. If he's awake we play :-), except at night. No nighttime playing of course. As for scheduled nap times, I'm usually so grateful for the quiet time I let him sleep whenever he seems sleepy, but try not to let him sleep too much so I don't shoot myself in the foot for nighttime. If he's asleep during the day I'll let his feeding go for up to an hour. Again, being preemie we're still trying to get him to catch up so can't skip too much.

6. Breastfeeding, bottle feeding, combo? How many ounces does your baby eat!!! Just bottles now and we're both much happier for it. He's been 3oz every 3hrs, but was fighting that, so we extended to every 4 hours. He's increasing his amounts now to match that so it's generally 3 1/2 oz every 4 hours. Sometimes he only takes 3, sometimes he wants 4, *rarely* he only takes 2 - 2 1/2.

7. Have you started tummy time? Yes! We kind of have a modified tummy time thing going on. If he really resists being on his tummy on the floor, I hold him against me, tummy to tummy, in the recliner reclined. He bobs around developing those muscles and is happier with his beauuuuutiful mummy to look at. lol

December 25, 2007 -

BabyCenter Plus Size December Mom's Q&A for the week:

1. How are you feeling? Meh. Fibro and Arthritis are rearing their heads again now. My knees are in such bad shape that it's kind of dangerous for me to carry Eion up or down the stairs... hopefully I'll be able to make an appointment soon. Gonna see if I can try the new Lyrica for fibro, but that will probably put a stop to any more tries at BFing... but more about that below.

2. How has the baby changed already? Any special moments yet? We have discovered that when he smiles he looks like my Grandpa Hap, who passed away a number of years ago. He's outgrowing some of his 0-3, others fit him fine, others are still too big. Sizing is so crazy. The tye-dye onesie we got when he was in the NICU doesn't fit him anymore. It was 'just born' size 5-8lbs so not surprising that it doesn't fit anymore. He's having a lot more awake times during the day which is cool to watch.

3. Breastfeeding or Bottle Feeding? Any Thoughts , suggestions for FTM? Bottles at this point. I can't figure out how to juggle feeding him and changing him, etc. AND pumping, and he refuses to latch on, even with the SNS, so I have a feeling we're done. Plus, there is a new drug on the market that may help with my fibromyalgia which is kicking my butt again. It's not known whether it crosses breastmilk, so if I try it, I will not be even pumping anymore. But, it's something I need to do to take care of me so I can take care of him.

4. How are feeling about the holidays and having a new born?? Totally crazy. We had no time / money for gifts for each other, with my other grandpa passing away recently everyone's been busy on my side of the family. They all apologized for not getting pressies for Eion sent off yet. Of course, hubby's family is feeling all smug since they did get theirs off. We did get Christmas cards sent off, barely, and I made mini-scrapbooks for some of the family, some of whom got theirs on time, others didn't. I digital scrapbook, so once I had each page done, I just printed them out. The pre-lit tree is up with only two ornaments on it. Eion's 2 'baby's first christmas' ornaments. We never got around to hanging lights... a lot of 'normal' things went by the wayside, but we did get a big Christmas dinner made, if only for the 2 (and 1/2) of us.

5. How many visitors have you had since you had baby.. Has it been busy? Just a few friends here and there. Had my shower the other week, hubby's 'Holiday' party for work. We took Eion and he snoozed away in the mei-tai all evening.

6. Any other New Mom Concerns? I really don't want to give up BFing, but if he's not latching and I can't pump enough, then I guess that's that. He's happy and healthy on formula, so be it!

November 28, 2007 -

Mommy fixed this thing up a little so that everyone can see my pretty pictures and even send me e-mail! Of course, Mommy will have to read it to me since I don't read yet, but that's okay.

Mommy and Daddy have received so many wonderful things from family and friends! And, I don't know where Target is, but Mommy says they have Baby Registry there. Imagine, a list just for me! It can be found by clicking here.

THE FOLLOWING ENTRIES ARE COPIED OVER FROM THE PAGE WE HAD GOING WHILE EION WAS IN THE NICU:

November 27, 2007 -

Eion now weighs 7lb 2oz! A week ago we went to the doctor and he only weighed 6lb 5oz. He hadn't been taking much breastfeeding. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, I'm having problems with my milk supply and so we're formula feeding a lot. I'm still pumping what I can and he gets that everyday, and he kind of nurses occasionally. I guess doing the formula thing has helped a lot.

BTW, the problems with the formula were apparently just an adjustment / stress thing as he's doing fine with it now. We started adding it back in slowly (1/3 formula 2/3 breastmilk kind if thing). He's got a tiny bit of constipation maybe, but again, that should clear up soon. He's also hit that 6 week mark where many babies don't poop as much anyway.

He's settling down at night a lot more and we're doing better with the idea of co-sleeping if he's really fussy. I realize this may cause some problems in the future, but with his premature status, he needs as much sleep as he can get and if that's what we have to do sometimes, so be it! He's also taking less time to calm himself if we just let him cry, it only takes about a minute if all he is is just fussy. Obviously, checking to see if he's hungry/wet/cold first :-)

For those keeping track of his feedings, he's eating about 2oz every 3 hours for a total of 16oz a day. With this last good weight gain we did get the go ahead to skip a feeding at night if he sleeps through it. This is great as he often gets settled around 3am and then I'm supposed to wake him up and try to feed him. So not fun lol

That's all for now! We plan on taking him to Santa Claus House soon for a picture with Santa, we'll post it when we get it!

November 14, 2008 -

As many of you already know, WE ARE HOME!

We are discovering a few challenges, of course. For one, he sleeps all day but is awake a lot at night. 3am-4am is a particularly bad time. He wants to be held and screams bloody murder if he isn't. We're not sure why that hour in particular... For now for our own sanity, I just cuddle with him in the bed for that hour. Don't worry, I'm totally safe about it. He is on TOP of the covers wrapped snuggly in his own blanket. He still fusses, but I am able a bit more quickly to get him to settle down. Then 4am hits and he's fine. It's really bizarre.

We also are discovering that the forum la we are supposed to add to his milk is maybe causing digestion problems. He has been MAJORLY gassy since switching over to that from what the hospital gave him. Unfortunately, we can't give him what they gave him at the hospital. This is what they gave us to go home on. To troubleshoot the issue we stopped adding it to his milk (it increased the calorie content of each oz by about 4 calories). The gassiness has cleared up so we're going to talk to his doctor about what we can do. It's just that that was causing MAJOR discomfort for him. He would literally scream and then pass a huge fart (TMI? sorry...). Poor baby...

Other than that we're just trying to get into the groove of things!

Obviously, expect less in the way of updates from now on, but still check in occasionally as we'll post what changes there are and some pics now and then :-)

November 09, 2008 -

So, I totally suck at updates apparently. Mostly because it's just more of the same :-)

He's eating really well. Even the few times he's only gotten a little from breastfeeding, he's finished up his minimum from a bottle. He pulled out his tube again the other day and they just left it out for a few feedings. Then they had to put it back in, but took it out again this morning. Doctor said 'no more!'

Instead of a minimum per feeding 8x a day, he's on a minimum per 12 hours. So instead of the minimum of 50ml (just under 2oz) every 3 (corrected from a mis-type of 8) hours, he's now on a minimum of 200ml per 12 hours. So if he eats 60 at one and only 40 at the next , it's all good. They're also more flexible on how often. If he's showing hunger signs after only 2 hours, or not for 4 hours, that's fine.

He now weighs 5lbs 13oz! Well... I said I suck at updates.... And there are a few preemie size things that don't fit him. lol Fortunately they were the cheapo sleepers we bought here. He's mostly too *long* for them. Too cool. He now weighs more than his Auntie Jenn did when she was born full-term :-)

BIG NEWS of course is that we are rooming in with him tonight and if everything goes well (ie he takes enough feeds and doesn't have any big apnea issues) we can go home TOMORROW! Yay! *Maybe* keep us until Sunday.

So, there you have it!

October 29, 2008 -

Things continue to go well!

Bottle feedings are going well and breast feedings are getting better and better. He is still taking more from a bottle than breast, but that's to be expected. The fact that he is getting some from breast is encouraging for breastfeeding later. Either way, he's getting mommy's milk, and that's what's important.

He's got some icky diaper rash ( icky disposable diapers.... lol ). Hopefully that will continue to clear up.

He's on caffeine to help with the continued occasional apnea episodes. Doesn't happen all that often and the addition of caffeine is far from unexpected.

He now weighs 4 lbs 15 oz. One more ounce for an even 5 pounds. According to the weight ranges on preemie clothes, he won't fit them anymore, but we all know that's not really how it goes :-)

That's all for now!

October 25, 2008 -

Feedings have increased again! He's now taking 42ml per feeding (for comparison, there are 30ml to 1oz). That's got a fortifier in it to make it 24 calories per ounce. Breastmilk naturally is at 20 per ounce. He needs the fortifier since he can't have enough in his belly to get to the calories he needs to be able to gain weight enough. But, he is now off of his IV completely and *only* receiving feedings by tube or the occasional by mouth. Generally, Brandon gets up and goes over for the 9am feeding from a bottle, then we both go over at 6pm for breastfeeding and the change of shift. It's a great time to really hear how he's doing as we hear what the day nurse turns over to the night nurse. He's not getting much yet still by mouth, but he is getting the idea and that's what's important :-) Technically, he's ahead on that anyway. Many don't start until 34 weeks, but he's been rooting and showing interest. The biggest problem he's been having (other than falling asleep...) is still remembering to breathe while suckling and swallowing. But, that should get better pretty quickly.

He has also been moved to an open crib, and tonight was even moved to the overflow annex. This room is technically outside of the NICU, but still part of it. It's basically two former patient rooms that are connected that are used when they have too many babies in the NICU itself. They move the ones who need the least watching over there :-) They still, of course, have nurses watching them 24/7.

He's holding his temp good on room temperature air in a sleeper and swaddled with a hat :-). Kind of baby-burrito-ish... lol

His bilirubin did go down, then back up, but has started to go down again without needing the lights. They think that at this point it will continue to go down on it's own and they will continue to monitor it.

The VERY EARLY estimate for going home is another week, maybe two. Remember, this is just a guess still and is reliant on him really learning how to eat within that next week or two. All the other things (jaundice going away again, temp control, weigh gain) are in line with that. It's the eating that would hold him back at the moment.

We gave him a bath for the first time the other day. Don't really have too many pics from that, the new one on the white towel, however, was taken after his bath :-)

October 21, 2008 -

Feedings are going *great*. Last night he was still only getting 15ml. This morning they had increased him to 26ml. They are increasing again tonight to 30ml (for comparison, there are 30ml to 1oz).

When we gave him the bottle today he drank 18 of those 26ml before falling asleep. Wow.

They are testing his bilirubin tonight, hopefully it has gone down. We've been very good and left him under the lights more so it should be good. That and the increase in feedings and therefore increase in poopies should help too.

He's doing better at maintaining his body temperature. Sorry for the celsius, but they've lowered his air temperature to 30 degrees and he's still maintaining at 37+ (37 is 98.6) so that's very good. They will gradually lower the warmer temperature to 28 air temp and see how he does.

He's getting very little nutritive through his IV, most of his nutrition is coming from breastmilk. The will be adding a fortifier to it tonight that increases the caloric content a tiny bit without having to increase the volume they are feeding him.

After losing about 3oz, he has now regained his birth weight! Yay! Now he just has to gain more :-)

After the disposable camera fiasco, we broke down yesterday and bought an inexpensive digital camera. Our one at home has been having some problems, so it wasn't a *totally* unexpected expense, and we got the least expensive one they had pretty much. Still, it's great and will make things much better. No guessing if a pic will come out and quicker uploads for y'all :-)

So, enjoy the new pictures!

October 20, 2008 -

Last night we introduced the bottle a bit. He got down about 5 of the 15ml he's eating before he fell asleep (for comparison, there are 30ml to 1oz). We're talking PASSED OUT. Changed his diaper, tickled his feet, nothing. He would not wake up lol. So we tried again today. Got about 5ml down again. Didn't fall asleep this time, just kind of lost interest.

If you see a new bed in any new pictures, don't worry. It is one of the incubator type isoletes, but only because the temperature monitor on his other one kept blinking out and being annoying. The only other bed with a warmer, which he still needs, that they could find was one of the isoletes. In a way it's better as the phototherapy light can be aimed straight down over him instead of at an angle now.

His bilirubin levels keep going up a little (the stuff that causes the jaundice). Hopefully with more exposure to the light and the lovely poopies he's getting now that will start to go down.

He's only lost about half an ounce in the last few days compared to the 2 ounces he lost in the first few days so that's good.

Last night I had him on my chest and he was moving his head *way* up off my chest a lot. Those neck muscles are starting to strengthen a lot. Very cool.

I'm going to look at getting one of those cheapo kids digital cameras. Might be better in the long run than to keep getting disposable cameras... Biggest problem is that we're not supposed to use the flash much and those disposable cameras that come with a flash do not like it when you turn off their flash. Unfortunately the few pictures here are the best of the bunch. Sorry... Hopefully we'll have some more better ones soon :-)

October 19, 2008 -

Eion is off his oxygen! He still had a few apnea episodes yesterday, but the nurse noticed NONE last night. They discovered that for some reason he would have apnea after getting really fussy. He'd cry, forget to breathe, and then remember. But, as I said, none last night.

He is getting mommy's milk through his tube and handling it pretty well. They've got him under the lights for the jaundice. So far his levels are still going up, so we may have to limit our time holding him even more... not fun, but it's what is needed to fix this :-) He's also off antibiotics, and all that's in his IV now is the extra nutrition mix.

Yesterday when I was holding him we let him try the breast for a bit. He's kind of getting the idea a little at a time, baby steps :-), but the WHOLE time I held him he had his beautiful eyes open and was *very* alert. So cool. When he's got the pacifier (used to strengthen the suck reflex) he's got a STRONG hold on it, so that is also very encouraging.

We only have a few pictures left on the camera. I'll try to remember to use them today so we can get them developed onto a CD this weekend.

An odd thing to be proud of, but apparently he had a really good poopy diaper last night :-)

Since I've been discharged, we haven't been there as much. It's not a great place to spend all day and I need to be able to pump (which I can do there, but again, not as comfortable). So we spend most of the day on base and then are getting over there just before his 6pm feeding and staying as late as we can before we fall asleep :-) It will give us the shift change time when we can hear all about how he's done during the day.

Oh yeah, Mommy borrowed all the neat graphics for this page from this really cute website:

http://welcome.to/PoohsPage