5 Pounds - And A Pinch To Grow An Inch!!

Well, let me tell you that I have been v.v.v.v.v. busy G-R-O-W-I-N-G!  Let me give you a little breakdown since the last time you heard from me:
Monday 4 lbs, 11.5 ozs
Tuesday 4 lbs, 13 ozs
Wednesday 4 lbs, 14 ozs
Thursday 5 POUNDS!!
My doctor has pared back my calorie intake so that I won't get to be a real fatty-bo-batty!  I eat 42cc's per feeding now and I don't have to take it with the automatic pump anymore either cuz I stand it just fine to let gravity put my meals in my belly.  Kind of like taking it from a bottle - which I still try once a day.  I have good days and off days with that.  The most I take from my bottle is 11 cc's and the least is about 3.  I'm trying though.

I had my appointment with the eye guy, I do hate what he does to me, this time it seemed to go easier on me a little bit and I was only grouchy for a day really.  My eyes look just the same and he seems confident that I will be able to outgrow the potential problems with them.  He was also pleased at how well I am doing overall - he was happy for me.  Nice man.

There is nothing else really new with me.  I spend my days growing and I love my visits with my Mummy, Daddy and any other realitives and friends who care to come around.  Just remember to be careful if you have a cold and no visits if you have a fever, oh and only 3 people around my bed at a time.  I, personally, would like to have a party - I mean I have the whole room - but they say no.  Damn.... OH - I MEAN DARN!    

Check Out My new Digs!

OK, I know that I haven't written in a while. I've been real busy growing and stuff like that. So let me catch you up now, and I hope you like my new pics.

As of last night I weighed in at a whopping 4 lbs, 9.5 ozs. I have been growing like crazy putting on as much as 2 ounces in a day. Everybody is really happy about that especially Mummy & Daddy cuz they say I am getting little rolls of fat on my arms and legs, and Daddy loves my big Buddha belly!

I am wearing clothes every day now that I am sleeping in my big boy crib. My crib is all grown up and it is purple....no girlie pink crib for me. No way. The crib is nice too cuz it makes it really, super easy for Mummy & Daddy to kiss me and touch me and scoop me up for a cuddle. :-D

I saw the therapist this week and she thinks that I am doing pretty good for my young age. You see, us little guys we develop differently than a full term baby does so they like to see what we are up do in our development. She seemed to like that fact that I love my Moosey so much that I will follow him with my eyes if you move him from one side of my head to the other. In fact I love him even more than that... and I will move my head just to keep looking at him. He's a great moose.

Mummy & Daddy have become real pro's at bathing me and I do love to have my bath. They bathe me 2 times a week and they aren't scared of doing it at all. The very best part, still, is having my hair washed. ;-)

I'm still learning to drink from a bottle and I get to try that out once a day. My normal feeding is 38 cc's, and I tend to drink 10-11 cc's of milk from my bottle. Not bad for a beginner, I think. I like the bottle, but I still get really tired trying to drink from that and breath and keep myself warm. It's a lot of work being little.

I have a follow up appointment with that eye doctor this week. I don't like when he comes around and checks my eyes, and it makes me grouchy for a couple of days. But, apparently, he NEEDS to look to see what is going on in my big beautiful eyes. So be it. I had my last brain scan the other week they may do another one before I go home, but all the 3 or 4 that they did came back clean and my brain is looking just okey dokey like a full term baby. YIPPEE.

Well, that's about all for now. I will write more when I get a chance.

What Have You Put On My Body???

Please let me just tell you that yesterday life got really good and interesting for me. First of all my Mummy & Daddy came in bright and early in the morning, which I'm not quite used to but I found I really liked. :-D Then everything got really confusing for me... my nurse put some kind of cloth all over my body... hmmm... Mummy & Daddy call it 'clothes'. What are these clothes and what the heck do they do? OH... I see they keep you warm. Excuse me (tapping on door of isolette) can you turn the heat down in here? Thank you!

So now that I wear clothes and that I have been doing better maintaining my own body heat, they have changed me to another kind of isolette that is used for babies that are less sick (YIPPEE) and they are starting to chat about moving me into a crib. WOW

Next in line, my Doctor F has come back from her vaca and she has moved me onto that Vapo-Therm that Mummy & Daddy have been jawing about for days now, and I LOVE it. It gives me moist air at a higher pressure than a regular nasal canula, but it looks just like a regular nasal canula. Now when Mummy & Daddy come in they can just scoop me up and cuddle me! We are ALL excited about that!!

I had my very first bottle too. I didn't quite know what to do with that at first, but I figured it out pretty quickly and I was drinking off that for a little bit last night. I have to tell you that tho I really liked it, I got TIRED! I was knackered after about 5 minutes or so and my nice nurse finished my feeding thru my tube. :-) I get to have one bottle a day now, so I MUST be getting bigger.

Today I'm doing so well on the Vapo-Therm that they have turned down the pressure and the oxygen level is about the same as I was getting with my CPAP now. This is going really well for me, and I'm v.v.v. happy.

So... I Hear There is Sunshine Today!!!

Today is a great day for me! I hope that you are sitting down...cuz I weighed in tonight at 4 POUNDS & 1.5 OUNCES. I am HUGE.....

My cousins came for a visit yesterday and that was great fun. They had colds tho and so they were wearing some sort of masks... I wonder if this is a halloween thingy.... hmmmmmm. Then today was v.v.v. busy for me too. My Nana came to visit me and she got to hold me, which I really liked and I think she did too. Then later on my Aunties Tracy & Pam came round to see me too! I am feeling v.v.v. special today. To try to top all of that my nurse asked the doctor today if I could be on the nasal canula for 3 hours at a time for 2 times a day. This is fantastic, cuz I really, really, REALLY hate that CPAP. ;-)

Stay tuned because I am growing sooo fast!!

CPAP *and* Nasal Canula??

I have done very well on my CPAP, and everybody including Dr. Beal is very happy. Dr. Beal didn't originally agree with the thought but has come around and is happy with how I am doing. I have less problems with my breathing and less desats now so it is very exciting.

Mummy held me last night which I loved, but I was kind of fussy with the CPAP in my nose and I pooed my pants so I went back to my incubator after about an hour and some change. Which is actually a pretty good cuddle if you ask me... then Mummy changed my pants. OH THANK YOU. I hate have pooey pants. ;-)

Tonight they put my on a nasal canula when Daddy held me... I am so excited about that because I'm so much more comfy than I was last night. They have decided to let me have that everythime I get held now. OH...and my Auntie Tinkerchelle cameto see me too... what a night!

PS: That's my "Moosey" that I am cuddling!

I Am One Month Old... WOW

Yesterday was a completely normal day for me - OK well, maybe with more desats than usual but I'm getting tired of this tube down my throat... maybe I should pull it out again. Hmmmm

Yeah, today is my One Month birthday. Mummy & Daddy were happy to see that my weight is 3 lbs, 9 oz today. I feel like I am getting plenty big and everybody seems happy with the growth that I have had. I think maybe I am strong like Batman now..... My goal? Superman....

I also decided that today was the day that I would pull that tube out again and I managed to extubate myself. WOO HOO. My neonatal RN then decided to give me a whirl on the CPAP again and not reintubate me. That made me really happy... Mummy & Daddy too! Before they did that tho, they gave me my first real tubby. That was a whirlwind of water, and soap and my hair getting washed... NICE. I LOVE HAVING MY HAIR WASHED!!!! I settled in OK on the CPAP, tho I hate that too, but I breath better on it than I did the ventilator believe it or not.

They will watch me really closely for the next couple of days to see what I do...I am going to try to behave myself so that they will let me keep going without that tube. :-)

Check Me Out, World!

Well, I had a very busy day yesterday. I pulled out my feeding tube, and then I pulled my ventilator tube out of place!! I sent my Mummy into a fit of crying and Daddy had to comfort her. But when the nice nurse came into to check things out they took all that stuff off my face and Mummy & Daddy got to see me for the very first time without all that. The nurses took some pictures for them to share with all of you. Nice eh? Am I not just the cutest thing???? They did have to put all my tubes and stuff back in tho cuz I still get that breathing thing all messed up.

Today I had my first eye exam. That put me right out of sorts I have to tell you. They were all looking around and holding my eyes open... putting drops in and just making my life a misery! I ended up feeling pretty cranky for the rest of the day, and got to visit with Mummy & Daddy but no cuddle time for me with Daddy today cuz it was just too much stimulation for me. I did manage to poo all over my bedding tho when Daddy was changing my diaper, so the nurse took me out of my isolette - FREEDOM... WOO HOO!! - and Mummy held me while Daddy held my ventilator hoses for me. That was nice... I love staring at my Daddy & Mummy when they are holding me. But that was it for the night. I hope that tomorrow I get to have my cuddle time with my Daddy... I love him!!!

Roses are red... Violets are blue...I'm getting a bum... Just like you!

I WEIGH 3 LBS, 8 OZS.... I'll let that sink in a little bit..... I AM HUGE!

There isn't a whole lot that changes for me day to day, but I am getting bigger and bigger and I took a huge leap from that 3 lbs and nearly 5 ozs to where I am now. I do love to do a couple of things...one of them is that I love to pick up my head and try to turn it. I think that my nurses think this is a very fun thing to do cuz they get all kinds of excited and they come right over and touch my head! OK.. so they really hold it in place...but I think that's just their way of telling me what a good job I am doing.... right?

Mummy & Daddy brought me a new friend on Friday, it is Moosey my very first Moose. He's really cute and he likes to sleep in my snuggly with me. He's really good at keeping me from slipping down into the bottom of my snuggly too! I love him. :-)

I've been trying hard to do better with my breathing, and I have less 'episodes' that require my nurses to intervene, but I still have them. Hopefully over the next few weeks I can try to shake this ventilator again and get back to something more manageable. My nurses say that I have been doing so well that Mummy & Daddy can start doing Kangaroo holding 2 times a day... OH GOODY. I would LOVE to have both Mummy & Daddy hold me each day!!

My Nanna was here this weekend, and she came to see me. She hasn't seen me in nearly 2 1/2 weeks and she was SO SURPRISED when she saw how big I am. I it was nice to see her and hear her.

More soon!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNTIE TRACY!

First things first today.... I need to wish my Auntie Tracy a Happy Happy Birthday! I know that Mummy wanted me to stay inside until today and then we would share a birthday which I admit was sooo tempting for me...but I had to come out early and meet everybody. I hope you understand! But back to you... I hope you have the very bestest and funnest birthday ever on the planet!

In my world, I am growing like a weed! My Mummy said yesterday that I have a double chin now and Daddy says that my arms and legs are getting beefy!! I feel great. Still on the ventilator, cuz the breathing thing really has me stumped, but other than that they are feeding me more and more and giving me more calories too! I weighed in last night at 3 lbs and nearly 5 ozs!! Maybe I can hit that 5 ozs today!!

In the next week they have me scheduled for another brain scan, and for my very first eye exam. You see... little babies like me sometimes can have troubles with scar tissue in their eyes and they need to start looking out for that. You already know that they like to check my brain a lot...before it was to look for bleeds, but now it is to look for pockets in the brain. Hopefully they will just see how BIG my brain is and how smart I am going to be. :-)

That's all for now... I have to go and get ready for my visit with Mum & Dad.

I'm A BIG Boy these days!

Hi All - It's been many days since my last post - since Thursday the 29th, so I'll try to catch you up on all of my happenings! Last week my Uncle Sanjay was here from NY and I had a good week with him... he visited me every day and took pictures of my and let me hold his hand... well, erm, his fingers as his hands are HUGE!

Thursday - Today, my Mummy gave me my first bath... what a nice thing that was! It was a sponge bath of course, but I really needed it and I loved it. Especially when she was washing my hair, I love to have my head rubbed now! I feel all happy and clean and so tonight I am sure that I will have cuddle time with Mummy like promised and that will be great for both of us!

Friday - I've been behaving myself so well during the days that I get to have DaddyKangaroo Care tonight. I'm really happy about that! I haven't gained any more weight, but I have really begun to poo like a champ! The doctors and nurses are quite impressed with me ;-) They have still been increasing my feedings and my calories, and I am tolerating that just fine. I am a product of my parents after all, and I love the food.

Saturday - My blood gases are lower than they have ever been and they have decided to lower the amount of help that the ventilator is giving me to see how that goes for me. My Mummy and Daddy are thrilled to hear this, but time will only tell if it is a good thing or not for me. I'm feeling happy and good today though, and that means that I get to have time with my Mummy tonight. Still no more weight gain today, but it's not something to worry about.

Sunday - I'm holding my own with this ventilator, but it is harder than it was before and I am starting to get more tired - I suppose I will know better how I feel about this whole adjustment they made later on today or maybe tomorrow. I gained some weight and now I am 2 lbs 15.5 ozs....just 1/2 oz from the big 3 lb mark. We can hardly believe it. I am happy that Mummy and Daddy came early this morning and were reading their paper and stuff like that here. I like to hear their voices in my room and my oxygen saturation level is ALWAYS higher when they are here with me. :-D

Monday - I am 3 weeks old today & I DID IT... I DID IT..... I weigh 3 lbs, 1.5 ozs today! FINALLY all that eating is paying off. They have moved my feedings up to 27 cc's and 24 calories per feeding, still every 3 hours! I EAT A LOT!! Although I am eating good and gaining weight, I don't feel much like being touched today. This morning it was good with me, but by afternoon I had pretty much had enough of it all. I felt bad that Mummy didn't get to cuddle me, but sometimes a little boy just needs some time to rest and grow... I know she understands cuz she loves me so much!

Tuesday - Today I weigh a HUGE 3 lbs 3 ozs, and I AM A BIG BOY!!!! My Mummy and Daddy are very happpy with this gain, as are my nurses and doctors. I have to admit that I'm not very tolerant of being touched again today. It happens sometimes - maybe it is just the pooey weather we're having this morning and I'll be happier later on today, only time will tell on that. The Dr's and nurses changed my ventilator settings again, it was just too low for me right now, and I had several issues yesterday and last night with not wanting to breath and having some bad de-saturation. So better safe than sorry, and they upped my settings again. It's OK though cuz I'm still pretty small and young. I'm developmentally still only equal to 31 weeks and 5 days so I have time.

More later.