Lost and Found

I'm sure most people don't like to lose things. If you are a bit of a penny pincher by nature, I think this can make losing things a tad more painful. It was a GREAT relief to me when my sapphire bracelet that I lost in January was found a few weeks ago. In June we lost a Dunkin Donuts gift card that had about $35 left on it. We didn't actually pay for the card. I ordered it with thank you points from using my credit card, but it still felt like we threw away $35. Maybe it will show up some day as well. If I had registered it on Dunkin' Donuts website, they would have replaced it. I will certainly be registering all future gift cards on their site in case this happens again (although it's the first time I ever recall losing a gift card before). A few days ago I panicked when I went to put on my rings and watch. I take them off at night before I go to bed. My watch and wedding band were there, but my engagement ring and the ring I had been wearing on my right hand that week were missing. Ian was in the room at the time and spoke up quickly to let me know Nadia had them. I still was feeling panicked until Nadia handed the rings back to me. I talked with her about NEVER touching my rings again. She told me mine were much nicer than her rings. I told her I share many things with her, but I am not sharing my rings with her, especially my wedding rings!

When I came home from the hospital I discovered that she had claimed some coins while I was gone that used to be in a jar on the dryer. I decided to let her keep the coins as I had been intending for the past 14 months to start giving her an allowance. I helped her divide her coins into the three separate parts of her bank (tithe, spend, and save). This week she went into a goodie bag that she knew about (which I also thought was out of reach) and retrieved a few figurines that she hadn't earned yet (dwarfs and such). It seems we need to work on the concept of taking something that doesn't belong to her. I'm hoping that she's the one who took the money out of my wallet. I went to the bank on Wednesday, and when I went to put the money in my wallet from the check I cashed, I discovered there was not a single bill in my wallet. I hadn't used any cash for 8 days, but the last time I used cash (to pay the woman $10 for used baby clothes), I distinctly remember all I had were twenty dollar bills in my wallet because I had to get money from Paul to pay her $10. I can't say for certain the money was taken by Nadia, but I'm thinking if someone else had taken money from my wallet they also would have taken my credit cards. I'm hoping that the money will show up at some point in the future - in part because it feels uncomfortable to have things taken from my wallet without my knowledge (unless it was Paul taking some money from me and then I wouldn't care).

On Wednesday as I was in the elevator I realized I had left a bottle in the eye doctor's examination room. I decided not to go back for it even though it was filled with 30ml of "liquid gold" as they call it. I have a feeling the nurse or whomever discovered it probably wondered what it was because I had the daily dose of vitamins and iron mixed in so the milk was green. Yesterday as I was holding Oliver in one hand and trying to get Nadia a yogurt (the one she wanted was at the back of the shelf), I accidently knocked over a container and spilled 70ml of milk on my pants and the floor. Since I didn't pump as much as usual on Wednesday and spilled/lost 100ml of milk over the past two days and also have been giving Oliver more milk by bottle than I did before (I know offer him 30ml at each feeding instead of 20ml), I quickly went through the supply of fresh milk that I had in the refrigerator. I was feeling upset about this, and Paul reminded me we have LOTS of milk in the freezer. I thawed a little bit to use today in addition to what I am pumping. I'd like to get my body back to the point that I'm pumping out at least as much as he's consuming by bottle each day so that I know I'm producing enough once he goes off the bottle (I'm still hoping that will happen although I know there's no guarantee it will). It's really a challenge to pump  many times a day in addition to nursing 8+ times a day while taking care of three young children. I don't pump during the night because I need some sleep, especially as Oliver has been keeping me up quite a bit at night lately. Last night did go a little bit better although I was still up from 2:30-4:20am with him because he would cry every time I'd put him back in his crib. I did one test today to see how he'd do without the shield. It was very similar to what happened 3 weeks ago - he latched on but didn't last very long. The Pediatrician had suggested waiting until he's at least 38w (which he'll be next week) so we'll stick with the shield a bit longer.

At times my frugality clashes with another motivation, and I have to decide which I care more about. Last week when I was cleaning out Oliver's bedroom closet, I was going through our gift wrapping supplies. I used to save little bits of unused wrapping paper because sometimes I give a gift that is small in size. As I looked at the saved pieces I realized that some of them have been stored for more than 10 years. I decided that my dislike of clutter was going to win out over my distaste for wasting things. I pitched all the wrapping paper that wasn't on a roll. Paul calls me "the chucker" because I dislike clutter, but I also dislike waste. This got on my nerves at the three hospitals this summer. Hospitals are extremely environmentally unfriendly. So many things are "one use" only. Actually it doesn't matter if they were actually used or not. If they enter the patient's room, they are pitched when the patient is discharged even if they were never used. I didn't realize this at first about the food. Once a hostess walks into the room, the food must be thrown away if the patient doesn't consume it. I thought it was ridiculous at times because the hostess would enter the doorway and I'd be able to tell from a distance it wasn't my tray. Even though the tray had never left her hands or come withint 5 feet of me, it had to be tossed. There were a few nurses who didn't follow this rule and would take things I didn't want (and hadn't touched or opened) and put them in the refrigerator (ex. I only drink water so if they put any milk, juice, iced tea, etc. on my tray I would try to give that back so it wouldn't all be thrown out). I've had to do a fair amount of pitching of food here at home over the past 2 weeks because things had been sitting in the refrigerator or pantry for months during my absence. I learned a couple of days ago that Rice Krispies taste awful if they are stale. I almost ruined the garbage disposal getting rid of that cereal. A 1/4 size measuring cup had fallen into the disposal. Paul extricated it yesterday morning. Whew.

Another time when my sense of frugality doesn't win out is when it comes to paying for ice cream. Turkey Hill half gallons of ice cream were on sale for $1.99 at the grocery store, and I didn't buy any when I went on Wednesday night. I bought LOTS of grapes (99 cents a pound), but I steered clear of the ice cream because a few days ago I wasn't happy with the number I saw on the scale when I weighed myself. My usual plan is to only eat ice cream elsewhere (never at home). This is the FAR more expensive way to go about it, but this way I don't eat ice cream nearly as often. I serve myself too large a portion when I have a half gallon at home. I am looking forward to having ice cream at Knoebels tomorrow. I'm not completely eliminating ice cream from my diet, but I won't be able to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight if I have half gallons of ice cream in the freezer at home. When I felt discouraged, I reminded myself that I weigh 30+ pounds less than I did after giving birth to Ian. Yes, I have weight to lose, but not nearly as much as I did the last time.

Oliver's ROP Exam

On Sunday I asked Sarah if she would watch Nadia and Ian for me for a couple of hours today while I took Oliver to his eye doctor appointment. Early this morning she called to let me know that two of the children she babysits had colds today. I was thankful she warned me as I'm trying to keep these germs out of our house. I tried calling Sheri, but I couldn't get a hold of her. Paul called his dad who graciously agreed to meet me at a McD's near the hospital. He watched Nadia and Ian for 1.75 hours during Oliver's appointment. They put one set of drops in his eyes to dilate them, and then 5 minutes later they put in another set of drops. About 25 minutes later we were called back for his exam. It didn't last long, but Oliver screamed at the top of his lungs, which made it emotionally painful for me. They numbed his eyes and used clamps to keep his eyelids completely pulled back. The good news is they didn't see any scar tissue. He has to come back in six weeks, but there is little chance he will have ROP, which is very good news.

The bad news is that Oliver's day of lethargy on Monday seems to have goofed up his night time sleeping habits. He was awake most of the night the past two nights. On Tuesday I didn't cave until 6:15am as far as letting him sleep on me in our bed. This morning I caved at 4:30am since I had only gotten 2 hours of sleep until that point (the only decent stretch was from 10-11:30pm). I really don't want to start a habit of him sleeping on me during the night, but I need more than 2 hours of sleep at night. I made sure to keep him awake for longer stretches of time today. I am hoping that will translate to him sleeping more tonight as I am one very tired Momma. I didn't attempt a nap today, which was probably for the best as Ian only napped for 45 minutes today.

 

After going 7 days without driving the van, I drove it 2 days in a row. The car doesn't have the keyless entry feature the Prius has. I miss that. I am getting reaccustomed to needing to use a key to both unlock and drive the vehicle. I have a ways to go in learning to park the minivan. I'm very grateful though to have a vehicle in which I can transport all three kids at the same time, even during this time when Oliver rides in a car bed. I'm getting much better at switching the oxygen regulator from the large tanks (we use at home) to the small tanks I use when we're not at home. I'm also getting better at moving the large tank around the house so that Oliver doesn't have to stay in one spot all day long. Next Thursday I'll be turning his oxygen down one notch (to .025). Hopefully he'll be totally off the oxygen sometime next month!

33 Months Old!

Ian will turn three years old three months from today. Wow. It doesn't seem possible. I'm still adjusting to the notion that he's no longer our youngest child. He's not my baby any more. :-( I didn't write a post like this for him in July or August as I spent so little time with him I didn't know what to write about. Pondering that fact still chokes me up. The good news is that I have been home for 10 days and am able to write this month's summary.

1. His favorite song is "Joshua fought the battle of Jericho." He and Nadia sing this song many times a day, and it's the most often requested song during our bedtime devotions.

2. His favorite foods are Ritz crackers, animal crackers, Froot Loops, Oreo cookies (vanilla or chocolate), and toast with jelly.

3. The easiest food to get him to feed himself with a spoon is maple brown sugar cream of wheat. He'd prefer to eat a slice of toast as his meal three times a day. We've set a goal that he needs to finish each meal in 30 minutes. When he's eating something with a spoon (ex. applesauce, yogurt, etc.) then we alternate bites. I feed him a bite and then he feeds himself a bite. This involves a LOT of fussing and objecting on his part. He'd greatly prefer to be fed all the time.

4. He still prefers his EleCare to be served warm. He can now drink it from an open cup of any size (even an "adult" size cup).

5. His favorite book to read before going to sleep is How do dinosaurs play with their friends?.

6. Many, many times a day I hear the questions "Nadia (or Ian), do you want to marry me?"or "Ian, do you want to dance with me?," and usually the sibling agrees to get married or to dance. Their dancing involves a lot of falling down on the floor, which for whatever reason is great fun in their opinion. Nadia sometimes uses the "marriage" as a way of getting what she wants. For example she asked Ian, "If I am your wife, will you let me have the puppy" (a toy they both were wanting to play with).

7. They also frequently role play Moses and the Pharaoh. Several times a day I hear one of them saying "Let my people go" and the other child replies "No, I will NOT let your people go." If Nadia is playing the part of Moses then she follows this with a list of plagues.

8. Over the past 3 months there has been a dramatic increase in the amount of time the two spend playing constructively together. They still fight many times a day (over sharing toys, etc.), but now they really do seem to enjoy playing together more than they have in the past.

9. Ian will accept things from Nadia that he doesn't accept well from me. It's fine if Nadia pours water over his head to get the shampoo out. He doesn't cry if Nadia holds the banana for him to take bites of it. He loves it when she helps him in some way or another.

10. His naps have gotten much longer! I truly had given up hope this would ever happen, but it did! It's not a shocking thing for him to sleep for 90-120 minutes although  sometimes (like today) he still only naps for 45 minutes. It took a few days, but he's also pretty much gone back to not crying when we put him down for a nap or at bed time. We haven't had success yet with getting him to wake up in a good mood. He cries for an extended period of time after he wakes up from his nap.

11. He always wants Paul to put him to bed at night. Daddy is happy to oblige.

12. His favorite thing to watch on tv is the pirate treasure episode of Backyardigans. If we won't let him watch that (for the umpteenth time) then his next choices are usually either Cinderella or a Larry Boy dvd (particularly the Rumor Weed and Fib from Outer Space).

13. He loves pirates. He uses a wide variety of objects to role play a sword fight.

14. He sleeps for about 11 hours at night. Some days he wakes up dry. In the near future I want to try to train him to sleep in underwear at night. When he wakes up he often goes to Nadia's room first. I'm trying to get him to go to our room first because she's usually still asleep when he wakes up.

15. He loves to run and also tackle. We're trying to teach him to only tackle Daddy. In a couple of years hopefully Oliver and Ian will enjoy such activities together.

16. As seen in the picture above, Ian often has a small figurine (or two or three) in his hand. His favorites include Elmo and various characters from Winnie the Pooh (Tigger is his favorite).

17. He loves to wear costumes. If he was allowed, he'd wear a princess dress every day just like his big sister.

18. The five most often people/things for which he gives thanks in his bedtime prayers include: Mommy, Daddy, Uncle Maurice, cookies, and crackers.

19. Part of what has helped me speed up his meal time is the fact that he and Nadia are very competitive. They constantly yell "I win!" if one of them finishes eating first or gets up the stairs first, etc. They are equally excited about ties. They don't mind at all if they both win. Since both of them can be very slow at meal times, I have turned it into a race as to #1 whether they can beat the timer (take less than 30 minutes) and #2 whether they can finish before their sibling does.

20. He is obsessed with Knoebels. They haven't been there in 3 months. We're hoping to go one Saturday this month since we haven't been there as a family in 4 months.

21. He still loves crashing vehicles off the entertainment center.

22. He loves to hold Oliver.

23. He enjoys making roads and boats with Play-Doh.

24. He's getting a little better about not taking off his shoes in the car and in public places.

25. He loves blankets. He plays with a quilt my former handbell choir director made for Nadia all day long. He's also been known to take the comforter off our bed and drag it somewhere else in the house. I'm trying to break that habit as I don't like making my bed more than once a day.

26. Previously the only candy he had ever eaten was a lollipop. Now he has tried a few other types as well as fruit snacks. He also ate a strawberry cereal bar recently for the first time. Sometimes he asks to eat foods that he can't eat due to his allergies.

5 Weeks Old!

Last night Oliver perked back up. He started crying when he was hungry (hadn't done that for more than 24 hours), which meant all the feedings were no longer initiated by me. I got very little sleep last night because he either wanted to be held or be fed. He went back to nursing well, which was a HUGE relief. I finally fell asleep at 6:15am (after having been up for hours), and then Ian came in my room at 6:45 so I got very little sleep last night. Paul left for PSU around 4am. I stayed in bed until 7:45am with Ian and Oliver as I figured a little time being horizontal (even though I was awake) was better than nothing since Nadia was still asleep. I was very exhausted physically, but emotionally I felt a million times better than I did yesterday. I was so worried about Oliver ending up back in the hospital, of having to make more frequent trips to the Pediatrician for weight checks, of Oliver not wanting to nurse any more, etc. This morning I called the Pediatrician and cancelled Oliver's appointment since I could tell he was back to normal. Yesterday I hardly ever saw his eye balls. Today he had times of being awake. Yesterday he never pulled out his cannula. Today I had to put it back in many times. Yesterday he slept no matter what he was wearing or where he was placed. Today I had to work harder to get him to sleep in the pack 'n play (swaddle him and such). I continued with my plan though to get him to try to consume a bit more by bottle even though he nursed better today. I am really trying to get his weight up to 5 lbs by his next Pediatrician appointment. I weighed him today, and he weighed 5lb 7oz, which means he gained one ounce since I weighed him yesterday. YAY! I won't weigh him again for a few days as I don't want to stress myself out. I'm hoping that once he gets bigger and stronger (and his lungs are healthy) that he'll be able to nurse well enough that I won't need to also give him bottles, but the good news is that at least he's only drinking my milk all day as that's the only thing going in the bottles (aside from medicine and vitamins).

A woman from church who is retired (a great grandmother) and lives very close to us told me on Sunday that she'd help me out whenever I needed some help with any of the kids. I called her today to see if she'd go with me when I was taking Nadia to ballet/tap. She rode with us which enabled me to run into the hospital while she was in the car with the kids so I could sign a form to have my records sent to the insurance (still trying to get the insurance to pay some bills), and it also meant I was able to take Oliver and Ian to the playground while she took Nadia to her dance class. I have hardly spent ANY time outside over the past 3 1/2 months. It was heavenly to be outside for 45 minutes. The only tricky part was when Ian said he had to go to the bathroom, but the Lord provided and another mother helped lift Ian on to the porta potty as I wasn't sure how I could do that while holding Oliver and his oxygen tank, etc. Sheri said she really enjoyed watching Nadia's dance class. She is going to watch Nadia at her house when I take Oliver and Ian to Ian's feeding appointment next Tuesday. I am so grateful for her help! She said it's also a blessing for her as otherwise she's at home by herself most of the time.

The bottom line was that today was a MUCH better day than yesterday. Ian napped for 90 minutes, and I was able to sleep for one hour during his nap (until Nadia woke me up to tell me that the phone was ringing). Yesterday had many rough moments. I thought the tv was broken (thankfully last night Paul figured out it was a problem with the strip it was plugged into). When I went to the mailbox, Nadia gave Ian a cracker that had peanut butter and jelly on it. I almost had a stroke when I came back in the kitchen and realized what he was eating. It was his first time ever consuming any peanut butter. I don't have an epi-pen. I was immediately searching for Benadryl in case we needed that and was wondering if we were about to take a trip to the ER. He has a cold so he was coughing, and I wasn't sure if it was due to eating the peanut butter or not. Thankfully he stopped coughing a few minutes later and never showed any reaction to the peanut butter. Whew. I never used to worry about him eating something he was allergic to since he didn't want to eat ANYthing. Now that he's eating more foods I need to be more diligent in making sure he doesn't get his hands on something he shouldn't eat. Those are just a couple of examples of what made yesterday a rather stressful day for me. Thankfully today was a much better day!

Only Half an Ounce

When I told the doctor (on Sunday) that I had a scale at home that measured to half an ounce (10 grams), he said not to weigh Oliver more often than twice a week. It surprised me at first because they weigh the babies every day in the NICU. I wish I had weighed him last Sunday (the day he was discharged) so I would know how similar my scale is to their scales, but I didn't weigh him until Friday (the day he turned one month old). He was weighed last Monday by the home health nurse and last Tuesday at the Pediatrician's office so he was weighed 4 out of 7 days last week. I weighed him again this morning since it had been 3 days since I had weighed him. I was very discouraged when I saw that he had only gained 1/2 ounce over those three days (weighed 4lb 6oz today). In the late evening hours last night (meaning about 9-11:30pm) he didn't nurse very well although he didn't want to sleep. I would go to bed and about 20-30 minutes later Paul would come and get me (even though the Steelers were playing I viewed sleep as more important than football). The next surprising thing was that he went almost 4 hours without being fed, and I was the one who woke up and realized he had gone too long. Usually he wakes up on his own for his 3am feeding. I woke him up, and it took about 10 minutes to get him nursing (much longer than usual). Similarly, the next feeding was also at my initiative. He nursed pretty well at that feeding, but since then it's been a challenge to get him to nurse. He just wants to sleep. Usually he will only sleep in the pack n play if he's swaddled. Today he can sleep no matter what he's wearing (could just be a onesie). I have been wondering if I am being overly paranoid or if he's not feeling well. He's had plenty of wet and poopy diapers. He's not dehydrated. He has been taking his bottle just fine so this last time I gave him 40ml by bottle. They had said to give 20ml after nursing him, but 40ml would be his full amount if he wasn't nursing. The good news is that he took all 40ml, and of course I have plenty of milk in the refrigerator and freezer. We haven't used any of the frozen milk yet as I've still been pumping at least 3 times a day although today I probably should be pumping more than that since he's not nursing well today.

His lack of weight gain plus his lethargy with nursing today have me very discouraged. It feels like deja vu to my experience with Ian. Nadia didn't gain quite enough the first couple of days we were home, but from age 2 weeks to one month old she gained a full pound in that 2 week time span. Of course she also got off the shield during that time, and she wasn't nearly as premature (born at 36w4d). She chubbed up just fine on my milk. Since I feel confident the entire placenta was removed this time and I have been more diligent to keep pumping than I was with Ian, I had hoped that Oliver would gain weight a good pace, especially since we're giving him bottles throughout the day in addition to nursing. My goal has been that over the next few weeks we'd get him off the shield and off the bottles. As badly as I want to nurse him exclusively for many more months, obviously his well being is more important than my strong desire to nurse. If I have to switch to just giving him bottles I will do so, but it will involve a lot of tears on my part to make that choice. I'm hoping today was a fluke of some sort and that tomorrow he'll go back to nursing like he did over the past week. If you look at the week as a whole, he gained 4 ounces in 8 days. The doctors like to see babies gain one ounce a day, but the minimum they'll accept is half an ounce a day, which is the pace he's been at if you look at the week as a whole. As much as I enjoy getting a little extra sleep, I'm going to make sure he doesn't go more than 3 hours from start of a feeding to start of a feeding at night. Considering how hard it was to get Ian to sleep, it feels ironic to be waking Oliver up. Hopefully it won't be hard to get him back to sleeping longer stretches once he's gained enough weight that he can sleep longer.

I called the pediatrician's office as part of me was wondering if his sleepiness was due to not feeling well. He doesn't have any other symptoms, but I've of course been worried about him possibly getting sick since the rest of us had had a little bug over the past week. Nadia's was bad enough that she threw up ALL over her bed on Saturday night. It's been quite the week for laundry as I've had to do Ian's comforter and sheets twice (due to accidents while napping) and Nadia's once (due to vomiting). One time it was Daddy's fault (he forgot to take Ian to the bathroom before putting Ian down for his nap yesterday). I think his longer than usual naps have also been a contributing factor. I let him sleep for two hours on Friday and Saturday (I had woken him up after 90 imnutes on Thursday). He woke up earlier than usual (6:30am) yesterday so I decided maybe two hours was too long. Yesterday I asked Paul to wake Ian up after 90 minutes, and that seems to have been the right decision as he didn't wake up early this morning. He only napped for 45 minutes today. Nadia has been giving me a hard time about having a quiet time. This never happened (with me anyhow) until last week. I am not sure what all happened this summer. I know she actually napped every day the last week of July at my parents' house. I am pretty sure that some of the babysitters didn't have her have a quiet time or nap. I had thought about maybe having Nadia's "school" time during Oliver and Ian's afternoon nap, but Ian catches on to things very quickly so I think it would be good to do school at a time when he's awake as he'll probably learn some of what I am trying to teach Nadia. Yesterday he corrected her when she got one of her sight words wrong. I had no idea he had been learning some of the sight words. I've been working on 10 sight words with Nadia the last couple of days as well as also working on her rhyming skills. I had decided to use their nap time as my time to get housework, cooking, pumping, etc. done, but I can't get much done in just 45 minutes. I'm hoping today was a fluke as far as Ian's nap as I was really enjoying him taking a longer nap (especially when I also really wanted a nap). A Pediatrician called me back this evening and said I could bring him in tonight or tomorrow. I opted for tomorrow morning. I'm hoping to be able to cancel the appointment, but if he doesn't seem more himself between now and then, I think I should take him in even though I was hoping not to return there until the 21st, especially if they're going to be concerned that he didn't gain much weight since he was there last.

It's amazing how much a scale can stress me out. I can get depressed by how high the number is when I step on the scale, but it's 50 zillion times more upsetting to see the number hasn't gone up enough with a preemie. Today was the first day since our discharge that I struggled emotionally with the whole "why couldn't I have one full-term baby?" question, but I know that God is in control and for some reason totally beyond my comprehension, His plan was for me to have three preemies and for each baby to come earlier rather than later than the previous one. Some day down the road it won't bother me. Right now it's really stressful.

First trip to church

When we were in the demo room in the NICU, I awakened any time Oliver cried. Unless I have the monitor on, Oliver doesn't cry loud enough for me to hear him. We never went through this phase with Nadia and Ian. From the first day they were home from the NICU their cries were loud enough to wake me up. Thankfully Paul's hearing is better than mine, and Oliver's cry wakes Paul up even without a monitor. There was one time last night Paul didn't have to wake me up. It wasn't the first time his cry woke me up. I woke up a minute or two before he did because I was having the nightmare that I had so many times this summer (but haven't been having since August 7) that I was gushing blood. We did have a few firsts today. It was the first time all five of us rode in our new minivan together. It was the first time the van left the garage since we bought it on Monday night. It was also Oliver's first time at church. I hadn't been to church for almost four months. I would never have dreamed I'd ever go that long without attending church, but I never dreamed I'd spend so many weeks in a hospital! It is my prayer that some day Oliver and Ian will long to attend church like Nadia and I do. Many people at church have been praying for Oliver and I since May 30 so they were thrilled to get a little peek at Oliver in person today.

 

 

First Bath

Oliver's semi-weekly baths in the NICU were done with a washcloth. Today was the first time he had a bath in a small basin of water. I used the opportunity to take a few photos of him without any wires or a cannula. I put in my contacts today for the first time in a couple of months. My glasses came in handy this summer, but since my days of shedding many tears are behind me, it's time to get back to wearing contacts! As you can see below, Nadia still wears costumes All The Time! I've purchased her costumes at yard sales and at Walmart after Halloween was over and everything was 50% off. I'm on the lookout for a Belle dress for her for Christmas, as that's her favorite princess, and she doesn't have that yellow dress yet.

 

 

One Month Old

 
If my scale and the NICU scale are in agreement, then Oliver has gained an average of 21 grams a day the past 5 days. On Sunday the doctor said they'd like him to gain 30 grams a day. This morning he weighed 4lb 5.5oz on our scale. I don't think he lost weight over the past 3 days. The weight at the Pediatrician's office included a wet/poopy diaper (today's was with a dry diaper) as well as the belt and plastic sensors for the monitor (just the little sticky sensors today). Hopefully he'll keep gaining at a good pace so the Pediatrician will be pleased 2 weeks from today. In honor of Oliver turning one month, the Post Office delivered his birth certificate to our house. I feel badly that I haven't taken many pictures that past month. I took many today! He's wearing preemie size clothes and Pampers' preemie (size S) diapers. At the first hospital they used size XS, and those fit him better, but he was wearing size S at the second hospital (they don't use the size XS at all) so I bought a case of that size from Amazon. Here's a link to Ian and Nadia's one month old posts.

Oliver is doing well with nursing, and he usually drinks all 20ml by bottle when I offer him that. He seems to be a pretty easy going baby thus far. At home (where he doesn't experience things like having his blood drawn) he doesn't cry very much - just a couple of times a day when he's letting me know he's hungry. He pulls his cannula out of his nose umpteen times a day. He spends from about 6 or 7am until about 10 or 11pm in the family room, and the other hours he spends in his bedroom. Today I got out the gym I bought for him in May. I need to start working on tummy time with him although he does sleep on his belly some (something that will have to stop when he goes off the oxygen and monitor). Nadia and Ian love him very much. They both stop and talk to him throughout the day, and they both ask me to hold him many times a day. He does pretty well with sleeping as long as he's swaddled (with his arms free) although there's always one stretch in the night where he wants to be fed every time I put him in his bed.

He always gives me at least one three hour stretch of uninterrupted sleep a night, and sometimes he gives me two of those. I am handling the sleep deprivation better this time. I think that is partially due to the fact my sleep was interrupted almost every night this summer (by nurses taking my vitals and such). Even though Ian is doing an amazing job with his naps this week (he slept in his bed for 2 hours today!), I have been using that time to get work done rather than take a nap myself, which prove I am handling getting less sleep much better than I did when Nadia and Ian were newborns. Today I took everything out of Oliver's bedroom closet (and it was filled to the gills) and reorganized it (moved some things to other locations). When Paul came home at 7pm, I promptly went outside and mowed most of the lawn. I would have finished the project, but I had to stop when I could no longer see what I was doing. It felt great to be outside. I have spent almost NO time outside over the past 3 months. I can't wait to start going to the park once the Weego arrives in the mail. I have a bit of cabin fever although I vastly prefer being at home with my three blessings to being in the hospital!!!

Advice Appreciated

Oliver does well sleeping during the day in between feedings, and he does well at night from midnight until the morning (he nursed at 3am and 4am last night). In fact this morning I was trying to nurse him at 6:30am, and he was just too sleepy. I then regretted getting myself up at that hour because Ian and Nadia slept until 7:30, and Oliver wasn't doing well with nursing as he was still in sleep mode. The one time of day when Oliver wants to eat nonstop (and not sleep a wink) is between about 9pm and midnight. Last night I woke him up at 9:30pm for what I hoped would be his last feeding before midnight. I hoped to go to sleep after that 9:30 feeding. I didn't get to sleep until midnight because he just kept crying so I alternated between nursing, bottles, and burping him during that time span. This has now happened 3 nights in a row (started on Monday night). I am open to any suggestions as to what I might do differently so he would sleep a bit between 9pm and midnight as midnight is definitely past my bedtime, especially if I'm going to be getting up at 3am to nurse him.

I spoke with a lactation nurse today. My questions included: when to start trying to get him off the shield (38-40 weeks and he hit 36 weeks yesterday which means in about 2-4 weeks), how much do I need to keep pumping each day, and should I try to move him toward more of a 2 hour feeding schedule (in the NICU they had him on a 3, 6, 9, 12 feeding schedule). She said pumping two times a day was sufficient. Prior to talking with her I was thinking I'd pump 3 times a day (at least 6 ounces total). He's drinking less than that by bottle each day so I would be pumping more than enough to supplement without dipping into our supply in the freezer. I don't want to pump around the clock in addition to nursing around the clock. Also, we're almost out of room in the freezer. The milk is already taking up half of the freezer, and since my long term goal is to exclusively nurse without any bottles, there doesn't seem to be a point in building a huge stockpile. I just want to make sure I'm pumping enough to keep my supply where it needs to be especially as the shield can interfere with one's milk production. She said to nurse him on demand and wake him up if it's been three hours since he last nursed. I haven't been supplementing the bottles of my milk with the Enfacare like they did at the hospital because that was done to get the milk to 24 calories per ounce, but my milk has more calories than that by itself. I do add vitamins (with iron) to his bottle once a day, sodium chloride to his bottles 4 times a day, and diurol to his bottles 2 times a day. Paul had to drive to Geisinger yesterday evening to get the NaCl. I think it's crazy that it was so hard to get salt water and also that a little bottle of it cost $32.72. The pediatrician's office went the extra mile in trying to find a pharmacy that would make it for us (one that is closer). At first Walmart agreed to do so yesterday, but then they said they couldn't. Today the pediatrician's office found a local pharmacy (one that's not part of a chain) that will make it for us so we won't have to drive to Geisinger for the refills. Any input anyone has on the shield, pumping, nursing schedule, etc. would be appreciated!

 

Today I had Ian take his nap in his bed because I decided to use nap/quiet time as a chance for me to get caught up on making some phone calls. I had Nadia wake him up after he had slept for 90 minutes. Wow. This is such a big improvement! Maybe I should have let him sleep longer because he cried for the first 20 minutes he was awake after his nap. I found out the MFM clinic wasn't trying to address any of the medical bills from the other hospitals. I am very grateful for the success they had with the $2,500 laboratory bill from their hospital, but I was hoping they'd help with the others also because the OB office hasn't been helpful at all. I called the insurance today and pointed out that they paid for a certain procedure code once (the one the MFM office appealed) and not another time. The other time it was about $1,200 at the local hospital. The woman I spoke with said they'll review it within 10 days. I'd be thrilled if at least that bill was also covered. I'm not sure I'm going to have much success with appealing the other bills without some assistance from a doctor's office. I also scheduled several doctor appointments - a feeding clinic visit for Ian, Nadia's 4 year physical, Oliver's 2 month physical, etc.

We stayed at home all day yesterday. Today I ran to the grocery store after Paul returned from PSU. The only thing on our schedule today was an OT appointment for Ian. That will be winding down soon as he's not eligible for Early Intervention once he turns 3 years old in December. The kids enjoying Skyping with Alexis and Gabby this evening.

Staying at Home

My goals for today were to #1 stay home all day and enjoy my three kids and #2 take a nap. I am happy to say that both goals were achieved. Paul was at PSU today; it was my first day at home alone with the three munchkins. It's definitely more challenging with Oliver's health issues. If I need to go somewhere else in the house, I have to put him in the pack 'n play. I can't just carry him around the house. It was a good day even though I felt like I was reprimanding Ian over and over and over again (ex. don't grab, don't push, don't play with the miniblinds, don't touch Oliver, etc.). He definitely gets into trouble FAR more than Nadia ever has. Meal times are also huge battles. Meals were actually MUCH easier when I was feeding him. Meals now take 1-2 hours when we try to get him to feed himself. I let Ian nap with me because yesterday he only napped for 20 minutes in his bed. I was wanting a longer nap than that, and I knew he'd sleep for at least one hour if he napped on the couch with me. I did get some housework done today - boxed my maternity clothes and put them in the basement, a load of dishes, a load of laundry, put a lamp on Paul's desk as he said he needed more light, etc. I admit the kids watched more tv than usual (while I was pumping or nursing), but we also enjoyed things like playing Hungry Hippos, reading books, etc.

 

I didn't take any pictures yesterday. I was in such a rush when we left for the Pediatrician. I wish I had snapped a quick picture as I thought Oliver's outfit yesterday was really cute and also because Grandma held him for the first time, and I have no record of that. The outfit he's wearing today (see photo above) is also preemie size, but it's a different brand (George) and definitely runs bigger than Carter's preemie clothing. It fits him in terms of length, but you could fit two Olivers inside this outfit in terms of width. I put socks on him, but they never stay on. I don't own any preemie size socks. Yesterday a woman met us in the parking lot at the pediatrician's. I bought some clothing for Oliver from her - $10 total for 3 oufits, 1 PSU hat, and 2 pairs of overalls (the 3 outfits were preemie size). The nurses in the NICU used to remove Oliver's tabs and cannula when they gave him a bath. I've decided I'm giving him a bath on Friday so that I can take a few pictures of him (on the day he turns one month old) without the tabs or cannula. He'll do fine with a brief "room air trial." He gives himself room air trials All The Time because he yanks the cannula out of his nose All Day Long.