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JACOB FAMILY JOURNEY

jjjacob22

September 2010

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7 MONTHS ALREADY!

Jun 10, 2010 10:52am (EST)

It's been a while since I've posted and now my little man is 7 months old! I can't believe that much time has passed already. The last time we weighed in was 5/27 and he was 14lbs 11oz. We started solids 3 weeks ago - he's doing great with his cereal and had his first veggie (sweet potato) on sunday.
Nathan is receiving OT/PT from Early Intervention through our ISD and will be going for outpatient to supplement during the summer months. When he was evaluated in April, they thought he was a little behind. Since then, we've seen him really come along with his motor skills. I'm hoping maybe we'll be able to be discharged by the end of the summer.
Nathan got his cranial reshaping helmet last thursday. It's been quite the ordeal to break it in. It is really hard to see my baby in a helmet. I absolutely hate it, we can't cuddle like we used to because it's in the way. He has to wear it 23 out of 24 hours. We've been allowing him to be out of it 3 hours in the evening to give our poor little guy a break. They say he will have to wear it for 2-3 months, but we're hoping that we see adequate results sooner. It is at our discretion to discharge it whenever we see fit.

Nathan has been successfully sleeping through the night for a few months now - what a blessing! We were worried with the helmet that we would have a setback - but so far so good

We are going to have our first overnight outing at my parents house during Fathers day weekend. My brother and his family will finally be able to meet Nathan

I've only taken Nathan out in public (besides doctor appts) 2x. It still makes me nervous, but I know that the summertime is going to be the safest as far as germs to get out a little. Come winter we'll be back on lockdown again.

Here are a few pics of our little guy....

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Posted by jjjacob22 | Comments: (4) | Permalink

TWELVE POUNDS :)

Apr 16, 2010 02:21pm (EST)

It's been a while since I updated...boy has life gotten busy!! Nathan is doing really well. Last weigh in at the pediatrician was 11lbs 11oz. The childrens special health nurse was here yesterday and weighed him in at 12lbs! He is still getting breastmilk fortified with Neosure. I introduced straight Neosure for his last feeding of the night and he did just fine with it. I'm slowly using up my freezer stash and am down to pumping 4x/day. I have nursed him when the timing works out well - he takes right to it without any problems. Still have to give him a couple ounces in a bottle afterwards though.

We went to a physical therapist yesterday because Nathan has quite a flat spot on the right side of his head. He really favors that side - most likely from being on the vent for so long in the NICU. She gave me some stretches to do. We have been working hard on trying to position him to the left to relieve the pressure, but its hard to do at nighttime when he's sleeping. He always migrates back to that spot. I'm hoping we can correct this without having to put him in a helmet.

We still have the apnea monitor, but only hook it up in the car and at night. Haven't had any episodes in a while....maybe we'll be rid of it soon. We do have to go in for another synagis shot this month - RSV season is still going strong here in Michigan.

Luckily, over the past week, Nathan has changed his nighttime sleeping patterns and has slept for at least 5-6 hours each night! We are very excited about it

My mother-in-law has been taking care of Nathan for 3 days during the week, which has worked out wonderfully for us - and I continue to work the weekends for now. I'll probably continue that schedule until Nathan doesn't have so many appointments.

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BACK TO WORK

Mar 12, 2010 11:54pm (EST)

I headed back to work this past week. It was very difficult to leave Nathan and I missed him so much during the day!! I wish I could just strap him to me and take him along... It seems like there isn't very much time when I get home before I have to go to bed and get ready for the next day.

Early Intervention came on Thursday to evaluate Nathan. He did really well!! He was right on track for his adjusted age and was able to perform some skills at his actual age

PT/OT/SLP will also be coming to evaluate him for services.

Nathan is surely close to 10lbs now! The last time he was weighed he was at 9lbs even. I'm looking forward to our next pedi appt to see where he's at - that will be on the 25th. I'm hoping we can back off on the Neosure at that time.

Nathan is responding more to our voices, turning his head and eyes to see who is talking to him. He's grasping objects a bit better and his head control is getting much better too! He's now eating approx 3oz each feeding. I really can't believe how fast he's growing and changing

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GETTING BIGGER...

Mar 03, 2010 11:30am (EST)

We had our appt with the DAC last week. Pretty uneventful - I was expecting an assessment, but they won't do that until May. Nathan weighed 7lbs 13oz that day (2/25). Yesterday I took him to get his 2nd Synagis shot and he weighed a whopping 8lbs 6oz!! I can't believe he gained 9oz that quickly! At this rate we'll be at 10lbs in no time. Talk about trying to catch up - Nathan is an eating machine

He's definitley been keeping us jumping at home - maybe he's going through a growth spurt?? Some of his newborn clothes are even fitting a little snug! We're also going to have to graduate him up to size 1 diapers.

I'm going back to work on Monday...not looking forward to leaving my little man

Stephen will stay at home with him for a few weeks, then my Mom will be coming for a few weeks. After that we are hoping that it will work out to have my Mother-in-law watch him. Nathan is still on the monitor for at least another month. There were 3 true episodes that they detected when the did the download at the DAC. Now we turn off the monitor during feeding times and if he's awake and we are in the room with him.

We will have our early intervention evaluation tomorrow morning, and childrens special health services will be out friday. I'm hoping that Nathan will be able to receive PT and OT services right off the bat. His head is still a little misshapen in the back from always turning it to the right side. I know that his shoulder muscles are tight and probably contributing to the problem. We do as much as we can for positioning, but he always turns his head back to the right side.

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GROWING!

Feb 24, 2010 01:03pm (EST)

We had another appointment with the pedi yesterday and Nathan is now up to 7lbs 12oz!! He gained 12oz in 8 days! He's outgrown all preemie clothes and is in newborn size now

We've had the monitor go off a few times for bradys and twice it went off for apnea - we have our appt with the Developmental clinic tomorrow, so hopefully they'll be able to tell us if they were true apneas when they download the monitor. I'm really hoping to be done with it - but if they were true episodes I'll deal with the hassle for peace of mind. His little circumcision is still quite pink - the pedi said I should continue putting vaseline on it and massage the skin back - I have to watch out because Nathan pees on me everytime!

I can safely say that sleep is a thing of my past. I am up constantly with Nathan! We've had a few nights where he's slept almost 4 hours, but the majority of the time he's up to eat every 3 hours like clockwork. Last night he ate 115ml at one feeding! He normally averages 2 1/2 oz (75ml). The last time I nursed him was on the 15th - I decided to stop and exclusively pump because I was exhausted with nursing him, having to give him a bottle because he was still hungry, and then pumping afterwards. By the time I got everything done, I had an hour and it was time to start all over again. I can also keep track better as to the amount of food Nathan is taking in.

Nathan seems to be really active during the evening hours. Funny - my parents said I did the same thing to them

At least both of us are home at that time so we can take turns trying to get everything done.

His hair has turned a strawberry blonde color

I found out today that Stephen's aunt and uncle on his Dad's side had red hair. I wonder if it will stay that way....

I'm going to change the name of this blog to Jacob Family Journey - since we're out of the NICU!

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Posted by jjjacob22 | Comments: (3) | Permalink

SEVEN POUNDS!

Feb 16, 2010 02:29am (EST)

We had our last visit from the visiting nurses today and Nathan weighed in at 7 lbs!! It's unbelievable how far my little man has come

He's also eating over 2oz now - a new development in the past day or so. He is doing much better at nursing, however he is hungry again so soon afterwards that it makes those feedings marathon sessions of breast and bottle - totally exhausting. I think I'll still try to put him to breast a few times a day, but if this keeps up when I go back to work, then I'll have to just pump and give him a bottle every time. He doesn't seem to be having any problems with the Neosure mixed with his breastmilk and it definitely satisfies him longer.

Nathan had his opthamologist appt last Friday, his eyes are perfect

We don't have to go back for another year. It was nerve racking sitting in the waiting room though - a few ladies were hovering over him while I was trying to grab his paperwork from the desk. And then some lady with an obvious cold came up to us and wouldn't leave us alone. UGH.

We finally decided on a bottle to use - the NUK bottles are working out great, so I think we'll stick with those. Nathan is also outgrowing many of his preemie outfits and will start breaking into his newborn size clothes. He does go through outfits during the day though! Spit up is bound to happen a few times.

The apnea monitor went off today while Nathan was sleeping - for the first time the apnea light lit up. Nathan looked ok when I checked him, but I immediately touched him to make sure he took a breath. Not sure if he was breathing, I didn't wait to check and the alarm was still beeping - but we've had so many issues with the leads, who knows if it was a false alarm. Usually the lead alarm will go off - not the apnea alarm. He didn't look dusky at all. Scary. I was hoping to be rid of the monitor when we go to the developmental assessment clinic next week.

We also have another pediatrician appt next week for a follow up. Luckily no shots next week, the next round is the end of March.

I've attached a few photos - in one of them it looks like Nathan is trying to knock me out

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Posted by jjjacob22 | Comments: (5) | Permalink

DUE DATE

Feb 10, 2010 04:03pm (EST)

Today was my original due date. I thought a lot today about what might have been if I would have carried Nathan to term. I am so grateful that he is here with us and is doing well. It's unbelievable how far he's come in the past 14 weeks.

We had another pediatrician appt yesterday, Nathan got his 2nd Hep B shot. He weighed in at 6lbs 10oz. He's definitely not gaining weight as fast as in the NICU - but the pedi said he is doing great. We have our opthamologist appt on friday (rescheduled it due to snow). The VNA is coming out again tomorrow to check on him. I really see those visits as pointless as they don't really do anything while their here. Maybe this will be their last one.

Nathan hasn't been nursing as well the past 3-4 days. I'm not quite sure why. I have a theory that it may be the nipples that we are using - Stephen ordered a bunch that were just like the NICU. I liked the drop-ins, and Nathan seemed to be doing ok with those, but it sometimes took a little longer for him to finish. I'm thinking of exclusively pumping - that way all of his feedings can be fortified with neosure. This way I won't be so frustrated and neither will Nathan. I don't really know what to do - I wish Nathan would feed better from breast. I've always had to give him a bottle with at least 20cc after nursing anyway.

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3 MONTHS OLD!

Feb 06, 2010 08:27pm (EST)

Nathan is 3 months old today! Only 4 more days to go before his original due date of 2/10. This week has been hard... we're both sleep deprived and trying to figure out what will work best for Nathan. He finally seems to be eating better, but still isn't taking in what he did at the NICU. At our first pedi appt, he gained an ounce and was at 6lbs 5oz. Today the VNA came and weighed him and he is at 6lbs 7oz. The nurse told us that they look for a gain of 3oz in a week - way different than the oz per night that they looked for in the NICU. So we'll see how he does next Tuesday. We had to take him in again on Fridayfor a hip ultrasound per the pedi. Didn't make a whole lot of sense to us because he was C-section, but whatever. His hips look perfectly normal to the doctor that did the ultrasound. Nathan's circumcision has healed up really nicely too - so now we can give him a bath! And his diaper rash is almost gone - we switched from using the Coopers butt paste that was prescribed to the Desitin which worked so much better. He still doesn't like his diaper changed and screams his head off - we think he must be associating it with all the pokes and procedures of the NICU.

Stephen goes back to work on Monday and I'll be solo with Nathan. He has doctors appointments on tues and wed and VNA coming on thurs. It's going to be a busy week!

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FEB 1-2

Feb 02, 2010 09:37pm (EST)

Well, Stephen and I are both utterly exhausted.... It is so hard to try to care for Nathan and get everything else done around the house - before you know it Nathan is up again and it's time for another round. I'm trying to alternate breast and bottle because Nathan is supposed to get Neosure in the breastmilk to add nutrients and calories. I feel like I'm spending all my time either nursing or pumping. Today he nursed for 10 minutes on each side, so I didn't pump immediately after like I have been. We are also battling it out on the right bottle for Nathan. So far, I think that the Playtex drop-ins latex nipple is the best one - but we aren't crazy about not being able to figure out how much is left in the bottle because the liner collapses. I can ignore that, but Stephen can't stand it. Stephen ordered a box of the NICU nipples because that's what he's used to feeding Nathan with and they screw right onto our storage bottles. I figure those would be ok to feed Nathan the small amount of milk with his poly-vitamin.

We had our first pediatrician appt today. Making sure that Nathan is ready to go with his diaper and feeding before you get out the door is a real task!! And then we forgot the diaper bag

Of course Nathan pooped at the dr's office and we had to ask for a diaper. He has to go back next week already for his 2nd Hep b immunization and a check-up.

Nathan is doing great with nursing

We get all comfy on the couch with my boppy pillow and he goes to town

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Posted by jjjacob22 | Comments: (4) | Permalink

JAN 31ST - HOME SWEET HOME!!!

Jan 31, 2010 07:59pm (EST)

After 86 days in the NICU - our baby is finally home with us

Yesterday was one of the most stressful for me - staying 24 hours and doing all of his care with all of the bells and whistles of the NICU. After 4pm, the NNP asked if I wanted to moved down to a nursery all by myself, without a nurse, and they would put a cot down there for me to sleep in. We took Nathan off the NICU monitors and attached him to our home monitor. The monitor didn't go off once during the night. Nathan kept me up all night though - he didn't sleep between his feeding times after 11pm. I got a total of 2 hours sleep - and that was broken up.... They told me that I would get less sleep after we got Nathan home - I guess now I believe them!

This morning Nathan was ready to eat an hour before his assessment time, so I went ahead and fed him. We were ready to hit the door by 9am. Our nurse filmed us leaving and saying goodbye to our primaries - both Stephen and I were tearful. When I got home and took a shower - I was sobbing. This has been the toughest thing we've ever had to go through. We are both so happy to have our precious boy healthy and home with us at long last. What a ride.

Nathan is already off his NICU schedule....LOL Guess we'll have to find our own rhythm here at home. He's been awake more than ever - probably due to the silence...he's so used to all the noise of the NICU 24 hours a day.

I'll keep posting on our progress here at home... Thanks to everyone who reads for your kind words and encouragement. We really appreciate it!! I'll be posting homecoming pics soon.

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