Not over it yet

I can't get over how great this past weekend was. David and I were both off Friday so got to spend time together at the park with the baby, enjoying the gorgeous weather. If every day was like that... We went to my grandparents' house to celebrate my Dad's birthday, and even though we didn't do anything major the rest of the weekend, it was so nice to be able to get outside. I love watching Adam notice so many new things outside, and I just wish I knew what was going on inside his little head! Anyway, I wanted to post Jessica's slideshow of some new pictures.

http://jessicacampbellphoto.com/adam2/

We're Rollin' Now

Sorry to send my few blog followers into a tizzy by not posting in so long! Our little man can now roll over! I have been hot on his tail the past few weeks, always with the video camera in hand, to catch the much anticipated first roll. Of course, most of you already know that kids and babies do not perform on demand, and apparently Adam is no different.

Papa (Carson) drove up this morning to drop off a couch that was given to us (thanks, Leah!) and since I was close to leaving for church, David ran out to pull my car out of the driveway. Adam was playing in the living room under his little jungle gym. When I walked down, he was on his belly, and off-center of the jungle gym. Knowing David would not have left him on his belly because Adam usually protests, I had to confirm, and of course, Adam decided that this morning, the one minute he was left alone, would be the perfect time to try this rolling-over thing. So I put him on his back and he quickly replayed for us what we had missed! So I wonder, which way did your babies roll first, front to back or back to front?

Happy Easter!

What a beautiful day to celebrate our risen Lord! We have had a fun weekend, traveling to Corbin to spend time with the Strunks and to celebrate Sarah & John's wedding shower, Leah coming to town and John's birthday. Adam was a good traveler!

We made it back late so we could go to church today. We got up and ready for the 8:30 service - quite an accomplishment! It was Adam's first day in the main church service, and he was really good. He slept a little, played a little, and LOVED looking at all the big tv screens! We have noticed at home that he is always straining to see the tv if it is on, so of course the four big jumbo-screens were like a party to him.

We had Easter dinner at my mom's and then came home to dye our Easter eggs. You can see how much Adam enjoyed that!

Speaking of Easter eggs, David and I have dyed eggs every year we have been together, but the kit we bought this time was a real dud. One tablet didn't dissolve at all, there was no purple dye (tragedy), and several colors were sub-par. I looked carefully when buying this year because last year's kit did not contain a wax crayon (also a tragedy, and I am scarred by this, you can tell). So I got the box that contained a crayon, lots of colors, and thought we were good to go. Not so much. By the way, who wants a BROWN egg? We were not impressed. David thinks we bought a "neon colors" box three years ago, so I'll have to look for that one next year.

Adam is 5 months old!

Adam and Aunt Sarah at her bridal shower a few weeks ago.

Is it Big Blue Madness Yet?

Look who's big enough for his UK outfit now? Adam needs it to be basketball season (or football will do) so he can wear his cute little clothes! Wait...are there still games going on? I only remember because I'm mentally spending the money David might win in his bracket challenge. He was the only one to pick the final four in our group of ~165 people! Yea! Hopefully I didn't just jinx him. Once that's over, I guess we'll have to cheer for the baseball team... But this happy fella, isn't he adorable?

The Five Non-Negotiables

After a week of stuffy noses around here, I think everyone has recuperated. The antibiotics did the trick for Adam; within about 24 hours of taking his first dose, he was breathing better and acting way more like himself.

I am still amazed at how God worked it out that David would be off this week. I know that babies get sick, and as parents, you do what you have to do to take care of them. But I have barely built up one sick day since being back to work, so I have been praying that we could wait until I had enough time built up before he was sick enough that he couldn't go to daycare. Way back in the fall, before Adam was born, we planned that David would have this week off, which would be right before I would go back to work (if Adam had been born somewhere around his due date in January). We thought we could spend a week home together or take a trip together while I was still off work (if we were feeling brave and adventurous). As it turned out, I was back to work but David was able to be home to wait on Adam hand and foot while he was sick. I am so thankful for that; if I couldn't be there, I am so glad Adam was with David.

Now, I have been wanting to post our non-negotiables for some time now. We have just finished the 5th week of Revolutionary Parenting, a class we are attending at church through our Sunday school class. We have been talking about life transformation, and thinking ahead to what we want our children to look like character-wise when they leave our home. Seeing these end points, we decided on our 5 non-negotiable qualities that we want our children to possess. Sure, there are other things, too, but we have learned that if you choose a few, you are more likely to focus daily on instilling them in your children.

We have been tweaking and developing these over the weeks. Ours are:

1. Love God - learn about God, believe in Him, accept grace and walk with Him throughout life

2. Be well mannered - be respectful to others, follow the Golden Rule, have integrity and selflessness in their relationships

3. Love of learning - Knowlege and wisdom create the best combination for education; education can take you far but learning should be a lifelong goal

4. Be wise with money - Understand the value of money and the importance of hard work, the blessing of genorosity, and to learn responsibility by being a steward of what God has given you

5. Strong sense of self - know that they are loved & adored, and therefore confident to be true to themselves & comfortable in their own skin

Under the Weather

Adam has his first cold right now. He started getting sick on Sunday afternoon and it seemed to progress really quickly! It seems to mainly be a head cold and cough, but it is so hard to hear him sound so rattly and have trouble breathing due to all the head congestion. It greatly affects sleeping and eating, which is what babies do best! David happens to be on vacation this week, so he is taking care of him, but he doesn't feel that great himself. We took Adam to the doctor's office yesterday morning and they told us what we expected - we were already doing all we could do. Last night he had a fever, though, so we'll call them again today. So say a little prayer for my boys- that Adam's head clears up and the infection gets better and that David gets better too.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

First Percentile, Here We Come!!

We made the growth charts today! Adam had his appointment today for his RSV shot, and the doctor decided to go ahead and make it his four month checkup as well. So we were back to four shots and 2 heel sticks again. The good news was that his hemoglobin had improved! He weighed 11 lbs, 2 ounches, which was in the 1st percentile on the "regular" baby growth chart! Yea! He was 23 1/2 inches long, which was the 8th percentile, and his head circumference was in the 3rd percentile! I just cannot believe how long he has gotten - seven inches is a lot to grow. Its like he has grown the whole length of his leg since he was born!

Happy 4 Month Birthday Adam!

Adam

Mommy and Daddy are so happy to have you. We can't believe you are already 4 months old, it seems like just yesterday you were still in the hospital. You are growing up so fast. You're the most important thing in our lives and we love you like nothing else.

Love

Mommy and Daddy

Family Matters

This weekend turned out to be a busy one at our house! I feel like I have hardly been able to sit down to relax, even though I had an extended weekend. David's mom kept Adam last week on Thursday, and when I got home we took him for a walk at the park. Friday turned out to be a day that both David and I were off, so we ran some errands and got some things done for the weekend that I would normally do on Saturday.

My mom and I took Adam on his first long trip on Saturday, back to my hometown. Adam is fortunate to have four living great-grandparents and he had met all but one so we went to introduce Adam to Papaw Earl. Adam did great in the car on our way there, but had kind of a rough trip back (more on that later). We really enjoyed our day - even though we had gotten together as a family since then, I realized it had been since June of 2007 since I had been there! It was a great visit and we had such a nice day, and Adam felt so comfortable that he easily was fast asleep on Papaw's belly.

By the time we were driving back I think Adam was worn out, had gotten warm earlier from the 73 degree weather (the warmest day since Adam was born), and was ready to be held again rather than sit in the car seat, so he cried for a solid hour despite my mom's best efforts to soothe him. There wasn't a safe spot to even pull over so we just had to keep going. Eventually he wore himself out! Later, David and I found that he had little red bumps all over his chest and some on his back, so this definitely could have been contributing. I am not sure if they were from the heat earlier in the day when he was overdressed, or from the new outfit he wore that I had not yet washed prior to him wearing it. Either way, we gave him a bath and just watched him last night and it was gone by the morning! Poor little guy!

Today we had our second week of our parenting class, and I hope to get to share some of what we learned later because it was really good.

Here is a picture of Adam and my cousin's little boy, Shawn, who is almost four. He LOVED holding Adam. He asked for him about ten times, and anytime Adam was looking around while being held by someone else, Shawn said in his quiet little voice "he's looking for me". They were too cute.

Hurry up, Spring!

I just had to take a minute to share this picture that my mom and I were able to get today! He's been smiling when you talk to him but most of the time he becomes too distracted by the sight of the camera to keep it going. Today we caught a little one! His smiles will warm your heart, I'm telling you! Currently he is soundly sleeping on the couch beside me and I just knew that as soon as I started to write he would wake up. So I'm typing quickly!

Thank you to everyone who has been praying about my return to work. Adam and I have both adjusted well! It is so fun to be driving on my way to pick him up; I always cannot wait to get my hands on him and kiss his little face!

We have had such a nice weekend at home as a family. We have had some quality time together and have also gotten some things accomplished, too. We went to Sunday School this morning, where we are starting a 6-week class called "Revolutionary Parenting". What wonderful timing! Today was mainly the introduction, but I think it is going to be so good, and our room was packed out!

We are READY for some spring weather! I have included a picture of Adam on our second walk outside. We just have not had many nice weather days where the wind wouldn't blow you over, but we have taken advantage of those we have, though the way he's bundled, you'd never know. I think this day was a little windier than I first thought. After needing to keep Adam inside for so long, I am anxious to be able to do more things outside. Warm weather - hurry up!

Back to Work

So its been pretty busy around here lately! Adam has had lots of "firsts", including his first day at church, his first time out to a restaurant, and his first day of daycare. In addition he has learned several new things that I have yet to mention...he continues to hold his head up more and more, he can make noises (which is SUPER cute, by the way), he smiles more, loves to kick his legs, can now smack his lips, arches his back, and is starting to enjoy his mobile on the playy-yard and crib. He is a lot of fun. Oh yeah, and he can occasionally get really upset, too!

(Maybe it was because his sock fell off?)

So, work...it was (is) difficult to be away from him all day, for sure, but it also felt good to be back at work. My mom kept him two days last week and he did Daddy Daycare the other day. I didn't realize how much easier it really would make it to get somewhat used to leaving him with family before going to daycare. It wasn't really even my idea, but I am so glad that's how it worked out. His first day at daycare was yesterday, and he reportedly did really well and only cried when he wanted his bottle, which I think is wonderful. Everyone seemed to love having him there so it really made it easier for me. But who wouldn't want to spend the day with my cute boy, right?

3 Month Birthday and First Real Smile

Adam is 3 months old today! This morning we went to the doctor for his monthly shot to help protect him against RSV. Not all babies get this shot, but it is recommended for Adam due to his prematurity, and this is his third shot. He was a trooper and just cried a little bit and I was so happy to be there to comfort him.

We weighed him at the visit and he is up to 9 lbs, 10 oz! He was a complete wiggleworm on the scale so it made it difficult to tell because the number was jumping around. The pediatrician was very pleased with his weight gain, and said that if you adjust for his age and put him on the regular growth chart, he is in the 80th percentile!

While we were waiting in the patient room, I was holding Adam, talking to him, and allowing him to hold his head up when he smiled at me! Three times! Since I was talking to him, smiling, and asking him to smile, I really think that it was purposeful. The funny thing is that the doctor had JUST asked if he smiles purposefully and I answered "no". She said it would likely happen in the next 2-3 weeks but instead it happened in the next five minutes. I think I am counting this one as the official first because I was able to get him to reproduce it while he was looking at me. (I am very particular about all the record-keeping - surprise - and I have wondered how I would know when it was his first smile). It made me cry, as did the shot, but thankfully I was behind closed doors for both (until I just posted it on the internet). We thank the Lord for our sweet baby, for how far he has come, and for how he has blessed our family.

Reaching for the Stars

I left Adam in his crib for a little bit while I was putting some stuff away in his room and found him like this. I have no idea why he sleeps this way, but he does it often. It cracks me up!

Also, here are two more pictures from the ice storm. I had not been on our lower back patio to see this until David was working outside. I could not believe how wide this icicle was. It's no wonder why people are injured from falling ice if they're anything like this. It has melted off now, of course, but I wanted the warm weather folks to see this.

Baby Bobble Head

Well, our ice storm topped off with a snow storm was only partially melted when we got a couple more inches of snow yesterday! I had to go out to the dentist and found that the side roads were really bad! I slid through a stop sign and had to go super slow down the hills in our neighborhood.

We had another baby shower last weekend in Corbin and Adam was able to attend! We still had to be careful about being around a large group of people (per doctor's orders) but it was fun to have him out a bit. He also had his first visit to David's parents' house in Corbin, even though it was short. When the weather gets better we plan on taking him back. Once again, everyone was so generous and Adam received so many nice gifts!

One recent gift we received was a baby bathtub. I love giving Adam a bath, and now we have several options for how to do it. I have included a recent picture. I think Adam is starting to enjoy it more, too because he seems to just chill and watch everything that's going on in the mirror. I've been putting the tub on the bathroom countertop, but I've learned to move our toothbrush holder far away! I just love this picture.

Adam is also starting to hold his head up longer. It is so cute! I love that when he loses control he completely over-adjusts and can throw his body weight. This definitely keeps us on our toes when we are holding him.

A Cold, Winter Day

It is beautiful outside this morning! Most people know that I LOVE serious weather, be it snow, ice, rain, hail, etc. I once considered being a meteorologist, knowing this, plus thinking that your wardrobe is paid for (I don't think this is true), but then realized that I don't really like being in front of people so this wouldn't work. Bill Meck thanks me for this realization. Anyway, I am very thankful to be tucked away in my house with heat and electricity and with my little Adam to snuggle! I like all the excitement that comes with weather. Everyone catches up with the news, family members call, people feel the need to run to the store, and it gives everyone something to talk about. If you're working, its a nice distraction, if you're in school, you have the chance of missing a day and sleeping in, and when its snow, you can even play outside! I like that sometimes it forces you to slow down, think if that trip outside is REALLY necessary, cook something warm, and stay inside together. Today is one of those days.

This morning I was amazed by all of the ice on the trees so I took some pictures. Later, my mom called to tell me to look at the size of the snowflakes outside - huge! When the snow stopped, I became even more worried about the trees outside. I already thought the ice was weighing them down, and now with more snow on top, we have lost several big limbs and I hope that the trees perk back up when everything melts.

One thing we knew when we bought our house is that the positive of having a sloped back yard is that it will be perfect for sledding, especially the right side of our house. Well, some of our neighbors must have thought the same thing! There were kids outside doing full body rolls down the hill this morning (this only lasted a few minutes; I don't think their mom allowed them to be over here). Later, some bigger kids were over sledding down the same hill. I was watching from the window and thinking that 1) we need to get a sled sometime in the future, you know, to be ready for a good snow and 2) Adam is going to have so much fun in our back yard...if we can keep him out of the creek.

Hope you are home, warm, cozy, and with people you love!

Congrats, Jessica!

I have exciting news to share! My friend, Jessica, who has taken all of our beautiful photos of Adam, was selected as one of the local photographers to have some of her pictures displayed in the rooms on the maternity floor at Central Baptist. Each one will be posted with a nameplate and her business information. This is great for her as she would like to do photography full time rather than essentially work TWO full time jobs and this is one way to gain some family / child photography business to add to her crazy-busy wedding schedule. She has chosen this picture of Adam as one to be on display! I went with her to the reception that was held on Wednesday evening to see the pictures of all the beautiful babies and it was a treat. I am so proud of her! So all of you who are expecting babies soon and will deliver at CB, keep an eye out for Adam's picture.

Around the House

**In my excitement to post the link for the photos I forgot to mention that we were able to stop using the home apnea monitor as of yesterday so Adam is now "cord-free" and David and I can stop using phrases like, "Did you plug him in?" and "I've already checked his leads". Last night was our first night without the monitor. I thought this might be an anxiety-ridden night but honestly, I was so tired and it felt like I was up every 15 minutes anyway. So I guess I made it just fine! (Okay, I admit, we hooked up the Angelcare monitor's sensor pad so I was pretty comfortable in the first place). Anyway, this was all good news, and will make traveling...heck, even traveling from one room to another...much easier. Okay, now back to the original post...

Today was my due date for Adam! Can you believe it? I can't imagine the last almost-ten weeks without him!

Here is a link to a slideshow of pictures Jessica took around our house, while we were just going about our normal routine. http://www.jessicacampbellphotography.com/babyadam/ Enjoy!

Two Months Old

Yesterday marked Adam's two month birthday. In honor of that, we took him to the pediatrician for his two month checkup. We really liked the pediatrician, and we received some great news. Wait...are you sitting down?...Adam weighed 7 lbs, 3 ounces! Isn't that awesome? Even we were surprised by how much he had gained. I expected 6 1/2 lbs or so.

Everything went well and all reports were good. He was still anemic, but I think we still expect this for right now. So we will continue his iron supplement. The bad part was that the little guy had to have four shots, an oral vaccine, and a heel stick! This is so difficult to watch! By the end, I felt like he was covered in band-aids. He was pretty tired the rest of the day but we were also giving him tylenol so that could have also made him sleepy. He seems to be back to himself today thankfully. We discussed that he is going to hate leaving the protection of home if he continues to get a shot every time he leaves the house! We are learning, though that babies are pretty resilient and also have a pretty short memory.

The other big piece of news is that we can now let him wake us up for feeding times at night. Previously, we were still adhering to the schedule he was used to from the NICU of every three hours, and we were told to continue this to help him gain weight. We will be happy to have the opportunity to get a little more sleep! Last night, though, he still woke us up every 3 hours, so we'll see. We are very thankful for the great checkup (minus the shots, for sure) and are definitely enjoying him at this stage.

Christmas pics...late

There have been several times recently where I wanted to post updates about our little miracle but I either don't get a chance that day or I forget what I was going to write about. Sleep deprivation will definitely do that to you. The other day I thought I was really ahead of the game by getting some things together that needed to be mailed and putting them by the door for David to take to the mailbox. That evening when he came home from work he told me that I had put the stamp in the wrong corner on one of them. Really!?! Isn't this second nature since we learned this in first grade? I am telling you, without sleep, all of those brain connections are NOT working.

Adam will be two months old tomorrow - isn't that hard to believe? I cannot believe how much he has changed, yet in some ways if I look back on the early pictures from the hospital, I see him making faces and doing things that he still does - I just didn't recognize them at first until we have gotten to know each other better. He has outgrown his first outfit, too - I realized this yesterday after trying to squeeze him in it one last time and finding that his legs could not stretch out. There are a couple others also close to being outgrown but I must admit I'm having trouble letting go of his first preemie clothes.

We are at a point now where the spoiling has begun. We knew that this was coming as a first grandchild, but now Adam thinks that he must be held to fall asleep, and sometimes just for being awake. We have a week of Christmas and family being around to thank for this, though we know we are not innocent, either. I think of many times when he was in the hospital and all I wanted to do was to be able to pick him up, hold him next to me and give him kisses as much as I wanted. I guess we are now making up for that as best we can.

I am posting a few pictures from Christmas that my friend Jessica took. I waited to post these because they were surprise pictures for our moms and then have been slow about putting them up here. There are more to come, but here's a few.

By the way, many people have asked me about Jessica's work. She is available for baby or family sessions (or more!) and I think her prices are a steal for the work that she does. You can check out more of her work at http://www.jessicacampbellphotography.blogspot.com/ and find her contact info there if you are interested.

Question for Moms

Adam was given instructions for 3 formula feedings each day of Neosure that is made to help preemies catch up. We are very close to graduating from the little bottle that we brought home from the hospital to a bigger bottle and I wondered what kind of bottles we should buy. Did anyone have a certain kind that you really liked?

A Day in the Life of Adam

I eat (wherever, however, and by whomever will feed me)

I sleep

Well, sometimes I don't really sleep

I cuddle

I wiggle all over the place when I'm getting my diaper changed

And I take baths

And then I do it all over again!

What a Privilege!

So today marks two weeks since we were able to bring the baby home. I think that during this time we have been able to develop somewhat of a routine, and Adam seems pretty content with his new digs. Definitely, being a parent is not easy, and I can attest that is true for infants. 'Round the clock feedings, diaper changing, and especially lack of sleep can add up to busy days and red eyes! However, there is also no greater privilege than to have a precious little life in your hands. Knowing that you are responsible for him is sometimes overwhelming, but so is seeing him sleep peacefully to awaken and look up into your eyes. We are so blessed!

Today we are preparing for Christmas and getting to spend time with our family. I am making sure presents are wrapped and everything is ready and Adam is...well, sleeping. But sleeping peacefully and dreaming sweet baby dreams.

Merry Christmas! May your homes be filled with happiness and love and may we all remember one little baby who came long ago to change our world. He is the reason for it all.

Baby's Room

Awhile ago I promised to post pictures of the nursery when it was put together. Here you go! The thing hanging in the first picture is a propeller plane light pull for the fan that I found online.

First Trip to the Doctor, Take 2

Adam’s first trip to the pediatrician was scheduled for 10:30 on Friday. After our first day at home on Thursday, we were seriously wondering how we were going to make it out of the house in time for the appointment. I felt like we needed to start getting ready on Thursday evening! So we did, kinda. We packed a diaper bag and tried to prepare as much as we could, choosing outfits, blankets, food, paperwork, etc. to make it easier on Friday morning. By 9:50 AM, we were ready to go, and feeling pretty proud of ourselves. We placed Adam in the carseat and David went out to warm up the car, but he came back in with bad news. Our car wouldn’t start. So of course I said, “Are you sure?”. Yep. The problem with this is the baby’s seat is installed in the car and David drives a pickup truck. I called the doctor’s office to find out if we could change the appointment time and David pushed our car out so we could try to jump it (once we located the jumper cables). On the phone, I was told 1) we were already checked in and 2) that we really needed to get the baby to the office today. (Gee, thanks!) We are delinquent parents already.

We were able to start the car, so David went to get the battery tested and I was able to get an appointment for 1:45 PM. It ended up that our battery was nearly dead. So we fed Adam again and went through all the motions a second time and we managed to make it by our appointment. From all this, we learned that it takes a lot more time and planning to leave the house than it used to.

At the appointment, the pediatrician examined Adam and everything went well. He weighed 4 lbs, 15 oz on their scale, so that is nearly a four ounce gain since we left the hospital!

Home at Last, Part II

(Yep, that's my reflection in the door...great photographer that I am!)

After Adam’s tube was out on Friday, we started hearing the word “home” several times from the nurses at the NICU. Sunday morning, I was determined to be there when the doctor came to do Adam’s assessment. It was then that the doctor said Adam was doing well and even though he was not yet 35 weeks, it had been 5 days since the caffeine was stopped and Adam had not had a heart rate drop. After talking it over, we were told that if he continued to gain weight and did not have any events, we could take him home on Tuesday, Dec. 9th, which would be his one month birthday and 7 days since his last event. The doctor asked if I was okay with taking him home and I told him I would take him right then if he would let me!

All of the going home preparations began on Sunday. He received two shots on Sunday, which I hated, then he had his car seat challenge. We brought in his seat and the base, and he was strapped into the seat for one hour with his monitors on. He passed this, too. He also had an eye exam which was worse than 5 shots if you ask me. I cried and cried, and then came home and cried more. His eyes were dilated, then numbed, then this metal thing was used to hold each eye open for the exam. They were puffy, red, and even more light sensitive than normal, and he held his eyes as squinted as he possibly could for about 10 minutes! It was pitiful, and I don’t want to think about it anymore (though we have to do this again in a couple of weeks)…

(Here's Uncle Scotty installing the carseat late Monday night in the hospital parking garage!)

On Monday, everything was still on track and more preparations were made. On Tuesday I came in ready to take him home. I fed him, then his pictures were taken and I put him in his “going home” outfit. We were practically out the door, just waiting for the doctor to come by when Adam got a little choked and had a heart rate drop. This made my heart drop too! Fortunately, the doctor there on Tuesday said that she would feel more comfortable sending him home on an apnea monitor (we could have been told that he had to restart his 7 day count). So we completed an infant CPR class and monitor training, then David and I spent the night with Adam in a room on the pediatrics unit to do “Care by Parent”. This was basically to help us feel comfortable with Adam and the monitor. This was fine, except the nurses came in to take his blood pressure, which he hates, even more frequently than it was taken in the NICU!

Finally, once we saw the doctor, received our instructions and had our questions answered, we were able to leave with him around noon on Wednesday. It was WONDERFUL to get to bring him home!

Home at last

Sorry for the lack of posts. Things have been wild the last couple of days. The doctors surprised us early this week by saying he was ready to go home on Tuesday, but after a slight setback we got him home on Wednesday afternoon.

Thank you all for praying for us and supporting us in getting our little man home.

A more in depth story of what happened on our way out of the hospital will follow.

Lisa and David

Finally Tubeless

Big surprise on Friday night, when we went to see our little man the nurse said that they took out his NG tube. As he keeps growing and eating more we knew this would eventually happen, but we didn't expect it so soon. Everyone please keep praying that he eats well and keeps putting on weight so he doesn't have to get a new tube put in.

Now that he doesn't have a NG tube the only thing he has left is to not have any more heart rate drops and to keep putting on weight. Once the doctors are satisfied with those two things we will get to bring in our car seat for a test to make sure he can tolerate being in the car seat for an hour. If he passes that test we will be ready to take him home. Barring set backs he should be home in time for Christmas.

Thank you all for your continued prayer and support.

Lisa and David (aka Mommy and Daddy)

New Roommate

The past two days have been good ones for the baby, as in "no news is good news", right? Adam keeps growing well, up to 4 lbs, 5.8 oz on Wednesday and 4 lbs, 6.3 oz today. The doctors stopped his caffeine on Tuesday, so now we are hoping for no heart rate drops. Monday Adam was started on a medication to help stimulate red blood cell production, and his dose of iron was increased, as he was a little anemic. The new medication might help prevent him from needing a blood transfusion. I kinda felt like this came out of nowhere but after researching, anemia is very common in premature babies for several reasons. I am just praying that the medication works and he does not need a transfusion. While I'm at it, I also hope that it works in a timely manner and does not keep him in the hospital longer. He is still doing well at eating, and now can eat by mouth as tolerated, meaning he still has the NG tube in case he needs it. Feedings are up to 36 ml each time, though he still tires pretty easily on some feedings. Temperature control has not been a big issue in his new crib, either. Today Adam is 34 weeks (gestational age).

Adam has a new roommate too - one little girl was able to go home, and his new roommate was born the day after Adam and was nearly his exact size and length. She is doing great eating from the bottle (she can gobble it up in 5 minutes!) but she still has a way to go to make 4 lbs. So its a good example for me to see how babies progress differently. Gotta run - can't wait to see his sweet face!

Bath #3, Baby Does #2

Yesterday evening David and I gave Adam his third tub bath (well, at least the 3rd one that we've given him). First he got sponge baths in his isolette, then we were able to do a tub bath but David was already scheduled to work. The last time, I did the bath in a separate room all by myself, and while its nice to have him alone for a little while, away from all the nurses and monitors, the bath was stressful. I was so glad to have David there to help me last night.

The evening nurse had everything all gathered up for us when we got there and we took him over to a bed with a heater over it in a procedures room. We went ahead and weighed him so he didn't have to get undressed again at midnight, and he weighed 4 lbs, 4 oz! Many times, the nurses all have different thoughts on how to give the baby a bath, but this time we were able to figure it out ourselves. We got the water just right, David got Adam undressed, and we placed him in the tub. David was holding and I was just starting to wash him when he tooted and made a bubble. We immediately doubled over with laughter and then realized he had left us a floater in the tub! The baby was just sitting there looking at us and we were laughing but trying to figure out what to do next.

I started emptying the tub and David took Adam out and quickly wrapped him up so he wouldn't get cold. By the time I had the tub clean, we looked and he had peed all in his blanket! What lessons we learned! The rest of the bath was great and we had him all cleaned up and were dressing him when we realized he had managed to pull out his NG tube! So it was very eventful!

However, we were able to get a picture of Adam with nothing on his face!

Warning: Next bath Thursday!

Three Weeks Old

Adam is still doing great, and today he is 3 weeks and 1 day old! He continues to get better at eating, but is still getting food through his tube about every other feeding. His weight today is up to 4 lbs, 2.8 oz (it was 4 lbs, 2 oz on Sunday). The nurse who took care of him last night had not taken care of him in about two weeks and she told me over the phone that he ate his bottle well at 3 AM and that she can tell a big difference in how alert he is. She described him as "playful" during his feeding time.

The next step is for Adam to start growing out of his heart rate drops. Around 34 weeks gestational age (this coming Thursday for Adam) the doctors will likely stop his caffeine and see how he does. Hopefully, he will not have more without the medication. We want him to get rid of them altogether!

Four Pounds of Sweetness

Guess who's up to 4 lbs, 0.8oz today? Despite an eventful day on Friday still learning to eat and getting a bath, Adam gained 1.7 oz! He is doing just super.

Today my mom came over to help keep us functioning at our house. She's doing laundry and cooking a pot of chicken and noodles that smells just yummy. Moms are good for getting things taken care of, aren't they? With all the running back and forth from the hospital, you definitely figure out what is priority and what is not, and many things have just been let go, which is okay until you can't find clean clothes (that fit) and things start to feel chaotic. She is much appreciated (and thanks David, for sounding the alarm while you had to work). Smart men know that when they can't fix it, its time to call the mother-in-law. :o)

Running back and forth to the hospital is starting to wear on us, so we would definitely appreciate your continued prayers for Adam as well as for us, that our rest is multiplied. Thank you!

Turkey Day

Happy Thanksgiving yesterday! David and I went in to find our boy decked out for the holiday. And to beat it all, our little turkey was sleeping with this grin on his face. I guess he thought it was funny to sleep with a turkey on his head!

Adam had another great day and the doctors called him "boring". This is a great thing! We love when they can't think of much to change for him. One doctor said we were just "feeding and feathering" him right now. He is doing better and better eating (as long as he is awake) and is getting more volume in his feedings now. Three feedings each day are formula feedings for extra calories, and sometimes these don't agree with him (especially the multivitamin with iron), but we need this to help him grow bigger. We can really tell a difference in his face and in his belly that he is a growing boy!

His weight at midnight, early Friday morning was 3 lbs, 15.1 oz (1 oz weight gain from Thursday's 3 lbs, 14.1 oz). Grow baby, grow!

Big Boy Bed

Monday and Tuesday were both good growing days for Adam. On Tuesday, Adam's weight was up to 3 lbs, 11.9 oz. David and I had several errands and appointments to make in between feeding times, and by the end of the day, we were worn out. Adam, however, slept peacefully :o).

On Tuesday, Adam was moved to an open crib. His nurses kept the isolette beside his new bed so that he could be moved to it if his temperature was not maintained. So far, however, Adam has done well, and his temperature has been within range. He is very bundled now - he has a onesie, an outfit, a warmed blanket bundled and a small fleece blanket on top, with a hat on to top it off. He is so cute! He had several feeding times where he was very alert and is getting better at eating. Please continue to pray for this. He needs to maintain his temperature and keep gaining weight in the new crib and he needs to learn to eat better so the NG tube can be taken out.


I think Adam was a little confused by this new bed!

I went back to work on Tuesday for a few hours in the afternoon. This is the plan for until Adam comes home. I wasn't looking forward to it because I would rather be with Adam, but I have to remind myself why I am doing it. Hopefully, this will allow me more time with him when he does come home.

The baby's weight early Wednesday morning was 3 lbs, 13.3 oz! Can you believe how great he is growing?

Tonight my family is having Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' house, and I am looking forward to all of the good food! I am sure many people will be traveling today, so have a Happy Thanksgiving! We have much for which to be thankful.

"Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land." - Psalm 95:1-5