Bottle Feeding: Take 1

Today was eventful. I got to spend a lot of time with him. I also got to spend some time during one of his feedings skin on skin. Apparently the technical term is "Kangaroo Care". This is so that he will begin to associate his full tummy with me and my smell, etc. It's also just a great way to bond - to keep him warm.

They attempted his first bottle feed today and that didn't go very well. He doesn't have the suck/swallow reflex yet and so he had a little more than he knew what to do with. After that he remained tight lipped and didn't let the nipple back in, lol.

They've also upped his feedings to 30cc's. The first time they fed him that much he didn't do to well with it and had a lot left over. However, the 2nd time the amount left in his stomach afterwards was just about half and that is definitely good news.

They are hoping in the next day or two they will be able to remove his IV which is there now just to provide nutrition. As they increase the feedings into his stomach they are able to lower the amount of IV nutrition he needs/gets.

A few other pictures from today:

Good Day

Great news for today. Peanut is back up to 5lbs 3ozs and he's tolerating his feedings well. This means that the medication for the reflux is working and he's not having much of anything left in his stomach after he eats. They have now upped his feeding amount to 20cc's (it was 5 at first). They are also going to switch the reflux medication from IV to straight into his tummy.

I (mom) was extremely excited today because I got to hold him for a feeding. I actually got to hold him twice today which made me very happy.

His bilirubin has gone down so he's no longer under the bililights and as long as it stays down we'll call that one issue down. He's having fewer brady epidsodes and the last 2 that he had he recovered from completely on his own.

Hopefully he'll continue to do so well so that he can come home soon. (Although we're not sure when they are going to attempt bottle feeding and that is an obvious "must" first.

Baby Update #1

Peanut was born on Friday, April 25, 2008 at 8:57 am via c-section. He weighed 5lbs 4ozs and was 17" long. He has beautiful blue eyes and a head full of very blonde hair.

Peanut's issue is that he was born at only 32weeks 6days gestation so he is in NICU.

He does seem to be doing well but has started to develop the "typical" preemie issues one would expect to find at this gestation. He is being tube fed and does have reflux. This causes bradycardia (shallow breathing or forgetting to breathe) which is common for this age. They have started to give him medication for the reflux in hopes that it will help with the episodes as well as get him to start gaining weight.

He has two IVs right now, one in his head and the other in his foot. He is getting all of his nutrition through these two spots. They have two because they don't want to 'blow' either one. So when one looks like it's getting stressed they use the other IV site

As of this morning (Mon April 28) his bilirubin is also up so they are going to be putting him under the lights for the jaundice today. Unfortunately he has lost some weight and as of this morning he weighs 4lbs 15ozs

There is some good news. You should see this kid suck a pacifier! We can't believe he can keep that soothie in his mouth like that! So the hope is that since he's so good with the pacifier that he will take off once it's time to start feeding him with a bottle. The other "good" thing if you want to call it that is that these are the typical issues one would expect for a 32-33 weeker. We're not dealing with any life threatening complications and everything that is "wrong" is going to get better with time and hopefully a little quicker with medical intervention.

Last we heard they were planning on starting the bottle feeds closer to 34 weeks. We've been told that the suck/swallow reflex doesn't typically develop until then and if they try sooner, even if he can do it, it would likely mean he'd be working harder for his food and that could make his volume drop which could mean weight loss. So hopefully by the end of the week they'll be able to start trying bottle feeds so he can get rid of the feeding tube.

We're sad that Little Man can't meet his baby brother until he comes home but we also completely understand the policies for NICU. I'm being discharged this morning and it's completely bittersweet. We absolutely hate leaving Peanut behind but we know he's in great hands. At least Little Man can finally have his mommy back after 2 months of bed rest and complications.

We also have other great news about Little Man -- he's eating!! He's actually taking real bites from food and chewing them. Oh words can't begin to explain how happy we are about that!

BTW: We'll be keeping all of the pictures updated online so email me if you need the link.

Thank you to everyone that has been praying for our family and if you have any questions for us, please don't hesitate to ask!

New Baby Recap

It's been a really long time since the last post.

I realize many of our family and friends are curious (& concerned) about what's going on so this is where I'm going to put all of that info. That way the info will be accurate when you get it. It's just the nature of the grapevine to get at least something wrong after about the 3rd relay.

First a recap of how we got here & then the next post will be baby info!!

In Feb it was found that I have an incompetent cervix and I was put on bed rest. Things have been going well and after the first week of bed rest there had basically been no change in the cervix so we (Me & Hubby at least) assumed all was well.

In fact, on Fri, April 18 I had my weekly visit and ultrasound and it was still status quo.

Then on Monday, April 21 I wasn't feeling so well. I was a little crampy but didn't think it was a big deal. I eventually called the doctor's office because it was persistant, it didn't matter what position I was in it just wasn't going away. I also knew I'd rather be safe than sorry.

After about 45 minutes in triage the nurse finally checked me and was dumbfounded to find that I was already dilated "4 to 5". In literally a matter of minutes I was out of triage, in a labor & delivery room and had 3 nurses working on me. Just a couple of minutes later the doctor was there and checking me and giving the orders on what to give me to try to make labor stop.

I was only 32w 2d (a normal pregnancy is 38-40 weeks) and when the triage nurse told me how far along I was, I just started crying. "It's just too early, this can't be happening."

I'll spare you the details of the unpleasantries that come along with halting labor but the good news is that they were able to postpone delivery for a few days which gave us the opportunity to get the 2 rounds of steroid shots into his lungs. In fact, I was discharged for less than 24 hours due to an error.

Friday morning I woke up and realized I was having contractions. They gave me my scheduled pill for keeping contractions at bay and I realized that wasn't working either. I informed the nurse that they were really starting to hurt and I'd had a bit of show. It just so happened the doctor was there and came to check me.

After checking, she informed me I was already 7 to 8 cm and asked, "Where's dad?" Let me tell ya what, things happened REALLY fast after that!

Since there was no more keeping labor away Hubby headed to the hospital and baby was delivered at 8:57 am.

And the gender is...

We're having another boy!!!!!

We found out Jan 4 that we were having a boy and just realized I didn't post it!!

I last saw the doc on Fri (Feb 1) and my bp was okay and I had the full anatomy scan as well. Double good news, baby is looking great and because the bp was okay I've been cut loose for an entire 4 weeks! I'm over half way through this pregnancy and haven't gotten to wait 4 weeks until NOW!

WOOHOO!!

Feeding Reflection

I initially started this blog for a couple of reasons. One was so that our family & friends around the country can keep up with us. Secondly, I thought it would be kinda neat to document our experience with Little Man's feeding problems. It's not a very common problem but it's not all that rare either. We really need more people to devote themselves to this problem so that kids can stop sitting on waiting lists for months at a time.

Anyways, the great news is that last week Little Man had what may very well be his last or next to last therapy session for the feeding. He's still not all out chewing but he's close enough that he only needs to be monitored periodically to make sure he doesn't slip backwards at all. He can eat almost everything that we eat; he's still mostly grinding but the chewing is beginning to emerge. The kid can eat gummy bears!!!!!!!

I have to say it's been a very VERY long road to get here. Little Man is 28 months old today and he was 10 months old the first time we ever thought there might be a problem with his mouth. That's when his pedi sent us for an eval with the OT & Speech people. I'll never forget when the waiter at a Chili's complemented Little Man for being such a good and quiet child in the restaurant. I teared up when he left and looked at Hubby and said, "It's not because he wants to, it's because he doesn't know how to make these noises."

We've been through so much with him. I can't tell you the number of days I sat in sheer frustration ready to break down because nobody seemed to have solutions. Numerous doctors appointments, tests, evaluations, etc. Once we found someone that could help, it took almost a full 3 months to get him off the waiting list to start therapy.

I have to say I have more patience now than ever before and I realize now that I will stop at nothing to get my child whatever it is he needs. I feel like I should be on some sort of crusade
for all of the other children out there that have parents asking, "What's wrong with my child?" while surrounded by people telling them, "it's okay, they'll outgrow it." It's not just kids like Little Man either where there is an issue as a whole with oral-motor issues. For some kids it's sensory/textures. For others it's a medical issue that caused them to delay learning how to eat and now struggle with it and for others it's strictly behavioral.

So that's it with the feeding. He's babbling more than ever and he even occasionally calls me 'mama'. That never gets old. I'm sure that as we continue to work with his oral-motor issues his speech will continue to develop and the chewing will continue to get better. Our latest task is to teach Little Man how to blow (as in bubbles.) That is a concept that he's never gotten and we're having a time of getting him to figure this out. His OT recently brought us a couple of really awesome 'tools' to help but for now he's not interested, lol.

A new year

It's been a while since I've posted anything over here. Probably because nobody actually reads it. ;)

Christmas was great! Little Man was spoiled as usual and had an absolute blast playing with his two cousins that aren't all that much older than him. I think once he can talk, he'll have something to say about women drivers though (They each took him for a ride in the Barbie Jeep).

He's also babbling up a storm and doing even better with the eating. Sometimes he even puts his own food on his molars to bite it!!!

I saw the doc last week and the BP was up a tad. So we're back to the orginal dose of this new medication. As long as it's back down tomorrow she said she'd let me loose for possibly an entire month!! WOOHOOOOO!!!!

I have an ultrasound tomorrow so hopefully the tech will be able to sneak a peek at what the baby is -- boy or girl. It doesn't matter either way to us, we just want a healthy baby. Knowing the sex is a plus for preparing other things and picking out names.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

I realize it's been a while since I've graced your screens with some news and pics. (Although the pics are online in the photo album.) So here I am.

First, the sad news. Rocky, the family cat, is gone. He wasn't happy here. I really think it had mostly to do with the toddler that appeared to be permanently affixed to his tail. He was comfortable here, but not happy. When he was living with my parents, he could at least go out on the porch and here, he wasn't allowed out at all. We found a place that we believe will find him a suitable home and won't put him to sleep. In fact, while we were there an elderly gentleman brought in a kitten he'd rescued and nursed back to health and he inquired about Rocky. After talking to him, I hope he is the one to adopt Rocky b/c I think they'd be a good match. A couple of pics of our last night with Rocky.

He's a beautiful cat that is playful & loving so I know it won't take long for him to find a good home and I just bawled as we left him.

On a much happier note, yesterday was my dad's bday and after taking Rocky, we went to their house and spent the day there and then made him his favorite dinner & dessert. (which conveniently enough happens to be a couple of my own faves) It was YUMMY! LOL! The kids had a TON of fun.

They even let us take some pics of them together in their Christmas outfits. This is the first time EVER that they have both cooperated.

At the end of the night Sis & I attempted to let the kids decorate their very first (& probably last b/c it's such a royal pain) gingerbread house. Little Man was pretty much over it and didn't want to help b/c it was late but Diva really enjoyed herself. Here is the masterpiece, lol.

I can't believe Christmas is only a couple of weeks away. Could someone please tell Jack Frost that he's completely forgotten Southern Texas this year? It feels more like summer outside than winter, lol. Yesterday the avg temp here was 23 degrees above normal! In spite of that, I really don't miss the snow, hehehehe. We are really excited though about Little Man's first Christmas that he can really participate in. He's actually showing interest in the gifts under the tree.

Baby Update

This pregnancy has been very interesting to me so far because it's been so different from what I experienced with Little Man. I haven't felt pregnant and other than extreme fatigue I've had little to no symptoms. I'm extremely thankful for that though since I am still caring for a 2 year old. A cardiologist is now part of my prenatal team thanks to hypertension that has gone ape shit since becoming pregnant. I see the doc(s) again on Fri and I believe I'm having an ultrasound done before seeing the doc that day. More pics! It's been pretty cool to document this pregnancy in such a way also.

Hubby

Hubby & I have been married for 9 years now. WOW! lol. He is a project manager for weapons systems with a defense contractor. That's as much info as there is on his job since it's all top secret stuff. I myself, just don't ask questions. ;0)

A few things about Hubby

* He cannot sit still to save his life, but that means lots of things DO get done. :0)
* He loves motorcycles, although it used to be cars.
* He enjoys spending time at the shooting range.
* He is a fantastic father, very hands on.
* He loves music and enjoys trying to make me listen to stuff I don't like, lol

If you ask me he is forever attached to that blackberry. Fortunately, he really is my best friend and we work well as a team.