Thursday, April 28, 2005

George is four months old today!

Things are going well here at home. George has adjusted to his new surroundings, and has quite an appetite. Us parents are still adjusting to the fragmented sleep pattern, and are overjoyed to have our baby home. Both grandmothers (Carly and Gram) are helping tremendously.

I'll try to remember to take some pictures.

Tomorrow is George's first appointment with Dr. Caldwell, his pediatrician.

Monday, April 25, 2005 (Day 118)

George came home today!

It took us half a day to check out (due to George's extensive case history, and a large number of babies delivered today). We drove away at 6:30 P.M. with nary a dry eye in the place.

Nurse Lesa Bulman has been George's advocate since his birth, and was instrumental in getting him his nice private room:

Here's a picture of Nurse Ruby Park saying good-bye to George. Ruby is another one of George's primary nurses.

And here's George, ready for liftoff in his "Away We Go" outfit:

Allie and I can't express how happy we are to have George well enough to come home. The folks in the Seton NICU are wonderful, and we thank them all.

Sunday, April 24, 2005

Allie and I have settled on a split schedule for supporting George's overnight needs. I imagine all two-parent families do something similar. I don't see how a single parent could survive. Hat's off to them!

For the first time ever, Gran got to meet George. They had a great time. She got to hold him for about 45 minutes while we all visited:

Sounds like we might be able to come home tomorrow. Wow!

Saturday, April 23, 2005

Our first 24 hours alone with George have been exhilarating, amazing, and exhausting. The three of us stayed up all night, buoyed by adrenaline. Not a sustainable schedule, but a blast for the first day.

Nurse Kim Miklis has taken fantastic care of George over the last couple of months , going out of her way to keep him happy and clean:

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Great news: if all goes well this weekend, George gets to come home Tuesday!

The physical therapist stopped by yesterday and started George's evaluation. Overall she says he's in great shape, with a very good range of mobility for such a preemie. This weekend she'll teach us some exercises for him.

This weekend we'll be busy rooming in, so if you don't see updates for a while, please assume everything is going well.

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

George is on low-flow cannula, which means a trickle of 100% oxygen. This is great, since that is what he will come home on. His eyes have matured to the point that the 100% oxygen is not a threat to his vision.

We're very excited about rooming in this weekend. George is excited too. He's getting bored, and is ready for a change of scenery. He was very alert today, and we had a good hour and a half of playtime after dinner.

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Happy 16 weeks! George had a great day today. His feedings are up, and his oxygen is down to 0.5 liter/min. He's looking great as well:

Monday, April 18, 2005

Today was a fairly uneventful day for George. What a luxury! He's settling into a every-4-hours feeding schedule, and doing well with his oxygen set at 1 liter/min.

Saturday and Sunday, April 16 and 17, 2005

George had a good weekend. His cannula oxygen flow has decreased from 2 liters/minute to 1 liter/minute. His on-demand feedings are up to 775 cc per day. He played in his bouncy chair, looked out the window a lot, and got to spend a lot of time with Carly.

Hopefully in the next couple of days he'll switch to low-flow cannula.

Friday, April 15, 2005

Big day today...

George weighs 9.5 pounds, and is now on "ad-lib feedings," which means he can bottle feed as much as he wants, whenever he wants. Ideally he'll choose an every-4-hour eating schedule. Also, he is now taking two feedings of formula per day, to keep up calories and vitamins. All of the above is in preparation for coming home.

Speaking of coming home, the big news today is that we are scheduled to "room in" next Friday through Sunday (22nd through 24th). "Rooming in" is where the baby and the parents live together privately in a hospital room, simulating being at home, with the safety net of having nurses down the hall.

When we room in, we'll also be learning how to manage George's oxygen, monitors, and medications.

How soon after rooming in are babies discharged? Typically within a few days.

Thursday, April 14, 2005

George is doing extremely well after his surgery. His oxygen needs have dropped from the mid to high 30s to the mid to low 20s. This is simply outstanding.

The nurses are starting to drop hints about going home, and we are signing up for the classes you take before to take your baby home. Wow!

George is now off of aminophylline, one of his major medications.

We're thinking that he'll come home in roughly 14-28 days.

Wednesday, April 13, 2005 (Day 106)

Today is George's original due date! We celebrated by taking the family out to lunch. George had to take a raincheck. :-)

His first full day post-surgery was uneventful. In fact, he'd doing so well that he is now allowed to breathe via cannula full time. Way to go, George!

For the record:

• His due-date weight is 9 pounds 6 ounces
  (compared to his initial 1 pound 10 ounces)
  
  
• His length is 19.5 inches
  (compared to his initial 12.6 inches)

Over the next 2-3 weeks we expect to continue weaning George of his supplemental oxygen, in preparation for homecoming.

Look at those CHEEKS:

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

George had surgery today to correct his double hernia. Denied food from 5:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with surgery in the middle (noon), he was a true champion: patient, sweet, and adorable.

His recovery through this evening has been remarkable. His oxygen needs (30% on cannula) are no more than they were before surgery, and his appetite is good.

We are elated, and one step closer to bringing George home.

Big thanks today to everyone who helped, especially both grandmothers, Nurse Ruby Park, NNP Elaine Eike, Nurse Elaine O'Brien, Nurse Michelle Price, Nurse Kim Miklis, Dr. Josephs (pediatric surgeon), and Dr. Swanson (anesthesiologist).

Monday, April 11, 2005

George now weighs 9 pounds 1.6 ounces. :-)

He's really been working hard on his bottle feedings (successfully finishing most of each meal), and as a result getting a lot of sleep afterward.

His lab work looks very good, and his eye exam shows no worsening of his stage 2 ROP.

Overall, he's in very good shape for tomorrow's hernia surgery. The doctors have decided that if the spinal block doesn't work, they'll postpone the procedure rather than intubate him for anesthesia. Allie and I think this is an excellent plan.

Here's a photo from Sunday:

Sunday, April 10, 2005

George continues to get used to breast feeding. Today he lasted a whole 18 minutes. He's also doing more and more bottle feeding.

Other than feedings, he's resting up for his surgery Tuesday. He has really gotten used to being on my shoulder, and now spends lots of quality time there.

Saturday, April 9, 2005

George is doing well, taking more of his feedings by bottle, instead of gavage. He is also breast feeding a few minutes each day.

He's very much a normal newborn these days, loving to be held, and enjoying his swing and bouncy chair.

Friday, April 8, 2005

Dr. Josephs came by yesterday and briefed us on George's hernia surgery, scheduled for noon Tuesday. It sounds like a standard, straightforward procedure. Given George's respiratory history, they are going to do their best to avoid intubating him for the surgery, and instead use an epidural-style spinal block to stop the pain.

George's weight is up to 8 pounds 15 ounces, and his feedings are up to 75 cc every 3 hours. He's taking about half of the total via bottle, and he now has permission to try a bottle whenever he wants.

Go George!

Thursday, April 7, 2005

George is 100 days old! What a miracle.

Wednesday, April 6, 2005

George's feedings are now 68 cc: he was able to drink it all tonight, which was quite a lot of work. He was especially alert . We stared at each other for an hour.

He has started turning his head (not just his eyes) to look at things, obviously a sign of superior intelligence.

If his progress continues at its present rate, George may get full-time cannula on Friday. He really is tired of the CPAP headgear, so going to full-time cannula will be a great comfort to him.

His severe diaper rash is beginning to heal, which is a big relief to all.

Tuesday, April 5, 2005

Happy 14 weeks!

George's cannula progress is so good that, as of today, he gets to be on a 12-hour cycle of 8 cannula hours, followed by just 4 CPAP hours.

Monday, April 4, 2005

Last night's blood gas results (lab work) were taken at the end of his 6-hour cannula session, and the results were excellent. As a result, George continues to be weaned off various medications (potassium chloride, sodium chloride, lasix), a good sign he is making progress toward coming home in a few weeks.

We'll take another look at his blood gases Wednesday to see how he's progressing.

Saturday and Sunday, April 2 and 3, 2005

George is up to 8 pounds 7 ounces, and continues to make progress with his breathing. He's on cannula 6 hours out of every 12, which is great progress. He's completed his methadone treatments (which got him off of his fentanyl).

As far as bottle feedings go, he can finish an entire bottle (65 cc) while on CPAP. When on cannula, his limit is about 25 - 30 cc, since it's harder to breath on cannula.

Other big news tonight, George got to try breast feeding for the first time. He was a natural at it, and surprised everyone with how well he did. Often babies need a few tries to get the hang of breast feeding, and George did much better than average tonight.

He also got another eye exam, and no changes = good news.

Friday, April 1, 2005

George weighs 8 pounds!

His bottle feedings are more challenging when he's on the nasal cannula, since it takes more effort to breathe. He is still doing a great job, and we're proud of him.

A majority of his medications had their doses cut in half today, since he's progressing so well.

Aunt Ellen is in town and got to meet him for the first time today.