Daphne and Elliott's first meeting

Daphne behaved very well when we came home from the hospital.  We could tell she knew he was a human baby and she doesn't approach him at all except to sniff him.  Still, we keep watch on both of them and don't leave him anywhere that she would be able to reach him.

1st day home

first full day home :

photos of him in his pack and play crib, napping, "having dinner" with the family.

he has already been showing a trend for preferring to be held or be near the action.  we didn't get a lot of sleep last night because he keeps fussing and grunting, not crying, just making loud grunty noises and thrashing around until his swaddle comes undone.  arg.

(Mom - these were all taken with the new digital camera!)

We also had our first pediatrician appointment today with Dr. McGahey and Elliott is 5 lbs 8 oz, 19" long, and Dr. McGahey has opted not to give him another bili test because it is unlikely it would rise again as it normally peaks and lowers around this time.  We go back in 2 weeks again.

more hiccups

A slightly "old" video from last week during his first week at NICU

 

End of week 2

Some more recent camera phone pics

This foot wrap looks more intense than it really is...they just had to put a warm cloth on his leg before taking blood for his newborn screen test.

Week 2

He (we) are going on our 2nd week here at the NICU

Updates change daily but as of this morning, some new changes are :

• He may be home before the weekend!!
• The temperature in his isolette is down to 27.5*C - it needs to be at 27*C and then they can take him out in a crib for 48 hours.  If he maintains a high temperature he will get discharged after this.  I came to NICU today and they put a crib by his bed in preparation for taking him out!  They also will put 2 layers of clothing/blankets on him and slowly remove one extra item to see if he tolerates the room temperature without them.
• He has passed his birth weight of 5 lbs.  He is 5 lbs and some grams.
• His bili levels have not risen above his allowed level (I think it is 12, he is around 9.1)
• He has been feeding well.  I supplement him every feeding to make sure he gets around 40+ mL.  I do not supplement him with formula but I believe they do at night when I am not here to provide extra for this.

 His eyes are still grey but he opens them every morning for quite a while.  He's always wide awake at 7:30 am when I get there!  He gets pretty sleepy the rest of the day because I am constantly feeding him.

Here are some photos from when my parents visited on Sunday

I also purchased us a VERY belated anniversary dinner groupon to a restaraunt in Novi called No. VI 
It will be nice to go have a good dinner later on after we've been home for a while...I'm sure I can talk my mom into coming to watch him while we go?   : )

visitors and catch-ups

We got home around midnight the night before, came for his 11 o'clock feeding, went to brunch at Commonwealth in Birmingham right around the corner (best $40 breakfast around!), and came back to hang out with my friends who came to visit and see the baby.

Brunch has never tasted so good, the sun and heat has never felt so nice, the flowers have never seemed so bright, and it was extremely relaxing just to sit and have a latte at noon on a Saturday like a normal couple.  I was at the hospital for 16 hours yesterday and this week really makes you realize how much of summer and weekends you take for granted!!

We were able to skip his 5 o'clock and go back home from 3:30-7:30 and GET THINGS DONE!  Yeah!
I vacuumed and mopped the whole house, did a few loads of laundry, cleaned out the fridge.
Jared mowed the lawn, cleaned up after the dog, and we both washed the dog.

 It was nice being able to have "free" babysitters for a while and catch up on things - a house can really go into a state of disarray when you aren't there for a whole week.
...And you weren't expecting to deliver a baby that particular week.  !!

I should also mention that today was the first time he had a major blowout ON me while I was changing him.  I should have listened to my instinct that had been telling me "wait for a while, he probably still has to poop".......................................

open eyes

He was looking happy and awake this morning when I got here at 8 am.  He had a good feed and has been good all day!

• he no longer has his IV
• he is off his bili light
• they are slowly lowering his isolette but it will take several days
• he has gained a little more weight and is now 4lb15oz
• they are upping his feeding amounts as he grows
• he is latching immediately and had a 25 minute breakfast!
• I am tired! : )

feeding

He has been doing a great job feeding lately.  Lately, as in the last 48 hours.  I'll take it!  He is overall awake more and it helps being confined to his bedside because then I can see when he fusses immediately and feed him.  He fed every 2 hours this morning for 15 min each, and has fed for 15-45 minutes for the last 5 feedings.  These recent times have been a very quick and immediate latch too, which is nice not having to sit around for a half hour trying to coax him into it.

I met with a NICU lactation consultant today just to make sure I was doing everything right, which of course I was not, but they were just little adjustments to how often I pump regardless of feeding (8 times a day PLUS regular feedings...), and that I should be pumping both sides simultaneously always if possible.  These things will help increase quantity faster because she says the end goal is 1 oz per hour because this will give me a good supply, and it is very difficult to live on the cusp of having enough at all times.  There were a few other tweaks and she gave me some free supplies and is meeting with me again on Friday to follow up.  She is having me keep a quantity/time log too.

Baby is back under the bili light because his levels are back up to 10.4 but that doesn't surprise me. 

They are lowering his IV fluids and that helped make him hungrier, and the neonatologist said he will soon be off IV altogether hopefully.  I'm not sure how much he weighed today but he was gaining tiny amounts of weight recently.  He must be gaining some because he had his first 2 bowel movements today!  Super fun to clean!

We did some skin-to-skin on Tuesday because he was off the bili light and because I was hoping that would help his feedings, and he just likes to cuddle after eating.

Here are some photos from Tuesday morning and night.

Passed out after lunch