Photos

I asked Mummy & Daddy to post some photos for you all. They start while I am still in hospital and end with me being at my home. My home...that's where I live with Mummy & Daddy. :-)

Christmas is a GREAT Day

Everybody keeps saying Merry Christmas.... Merry Christmas...and I didn't understand why it was supposed to be so Merry. But now I do!!!

Yesterday was Christmas, and Mummy & Daddy were with me in the NICU. We were having a good time, cuz they stayed with me Christmas eve too and took care of me all afternoon and night. It was fantastic! Then just when Mummy & Daddy thought I would come home with them on Monday or Tuesday everything changed. The nurses made calls and next thing you know I was going home with my Mummy & Daddy right there on Christmas day. Mummy said it was the only thing she truly wanted for Christmas. I couldn't believe I was leaving WITH them this time!!! WOW

Mummy & Daddy packed up all my stuff, and Melissa and Melody helped them get everything out to the car. Mummy kept crying when she was saying goodbye, but I'm pretty sure she was happy not sad. She thanked Melissa for being there when I was born, for helping save me, and for giving her little boy to her. I love my Mummy! Daddy was so thankful too, and he said he owed a lifetime debt to then for saving my little life. I love my Daddy too!

My first night home was a little rough, but we all tried our best and did OK. Today was much better, and I had a lot of company! More than I have ever seen in one place!!! I slept in my swing a lot, and my cousin Christopher held me for a little bit. Mummy & Daddy said I was a little angel, and everybody was gushing about how cute I am. (batting long curling lashes)

I hope everybody at the Elliot NICU knows how much I love them too. They were so good to me, and they made me all OK to come home with my Mummy & Daddy, and Bruin, Bucky and Cellar too. I miss hearing them and seeing them today, but Mummy & Daddy promise I will see them again. I hope so.

It's different here... very quite. But I like it so far. I hope you will keep checking my site so that you can know about how big I can grow. FYI - I am nearly 1/2 way to Superman size. ;-)

Love you all and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Where is My Melina??

OK...right now I am in Lebanon NH at Hitchcock Dartmouth Medical Center. I got here Tuesday night and yesterday was a CRAZY day for me.

It started good as far as I could tell, excpet that my Melina wasn't there and I had some other nurse... hmmmm... when she smiled Mum says she looks like Richard Gere, whoever he is. Anyway... the day was going good as I said, Mummy & Daddy came around and STAYED... and they held and cuddled me and I loved it. I was kind of hungry but it seemed OK since I had them to hold me. The last time I ate was 5 AM and I got a little cranky but really not too bad. Around 5PM I went for a little ride on my bed. That was fun cuz I got to look around and check things out. People were talking to me...but nobody that I knew and that made me a little nervous. I was in a room with them all, and then I took a nice nap. But when I woke up everything was horrible. I felt something that I didn't know what it was...it really hurt, and I was MAD, MAD, MAD. So I started screaming and crying and believe me when I say that Mummy & Daddy could hear me when I got back to the door of the nursrey even through my oxygen mask! I felt pretty frantic, and I was still really mad, but I could finally hear my Mummy's voice and my Daddy was holding my head. Mummy and Daddy kept talking to me and making nice noises and I was staring at my Mummy when I finally started to calm down. I got to hold Mummy's finger, and she kept kissing my cheek and whispering in my ear until she could hold and cuddle me. Once I was being held by my Mummy I felt much better, and Daddy sat by me and they talked to me some more. I love them!!! I was getting pretty sleepy so they put me to bed, and I slept for hours.

Today: OK... still no Melina or Melissa or Maureen or Jenn or Sally and I wonder why things are so different here. I want to go back to where I know everybody - but Mummy & Daddy told me to behave myself so I'm trying. At 5 this morning (yes, 24 hours with no food...HELLO...I'm little here) I got to have some some fluids in my belly. The put it through a tube that was put in through my belly wall yesterday, and it was nice to feel something in there even though it made my tummy feel a little crampy. But I am being good and calm..I napped for a bit and woke up when they were giving me actual food in my tummy. YUMMY! I gave my nurse a big smile, and she told Mummy she loves me. YEAH! Things are going really good for me today now that I can have food. The doctors came and checked me out, and they say that my g-tube looks great, my hernia incision looks clean and that circumcision is doing good. Yeah...I KNOW what that is now. Thanks..... I can go back to the Elliott tomorrow, and I am looking forward to that. I wonder who will come and get me.

So more soon.
Love you all!

The latest in my world....

Hi everybody, as always thanks for all your prayers! Apparently this eating thing is a little more tricky than that though. It seems that I breathe when I should swallow, and that makes the whole thing work out all wrong! Mummy & Daddy say that I am going to have a ride in an ambulance...sounds like a good time, but I'll have to let you know since I've never done that before... and that ambulance is going to take me to Dartmouth Hitchcock Hospital in Lebanon NH for something called surgery. Hmmmm...not sure how I feel about all that. But I guess they are going to put a g-tube in my tummy, fix my hernia, and do a little something else that is totally normal... So tell me... what IS a circumcision????

I hope my Auntie Tracy can stay with my brothers, Bruin & Bucky, and my sister Cellar. Bucky had surgery just the other day...I bet HE didn't have this circumcision thing!! He did have a big ole growth taken out of his bulbeous chin though. It was the size of a golf ball!! (how big is a golf ball??) Mummy & Daddy say he is doing fine now. :0)

I weigh 9lbs 5ozs now, and I am plenty big. Mummy says that I look HUGE! I wonder if I'm Superman size yet... I'll have to ask. I saw Santa last night in the NICU. He came with his nice wife and they took picutres with me, and with Mummy and me. They gave me lots of cool stuff in my stocking and it was lots of fun. I didn't even cry! He was a nice, that Santa!

Well, I should be home for the New Year. It's looking plenty good for that to happen, and I'm really happy about it. I can't wait to be with Mummy & Daddy all the time, but I admit that I will miss my nurses at the NICU... I think that I can still visit them. It will be better that way instead of being with them all the time and only visiting with Mummy & Daddy. Mummy will stay home with me and take wonderful care of me all day long while Daddy is at work. When Daddy comes home at night, we can cuddle and play. Oh - this is going to be the very best!!

I will have Daddy & Mummy post the picutures of me and Santa soon. Thanks again for all the good thoughts, and prayers. I should be back down to the Elliot NICU Thursday or Friday.

Love you all!

Hey everybody... I could use a favor.

Hi All - before I ask for my favor, I have to thank you all. Thank you for being so concerned, and for caring about me, my Mummy & my Daddy so much. Thank you for all your prayers that have brought me to where I am today. I am big (20 1/16"), and heavy (8lbs, 5ozs), and strong!

So if you wouldn't mind if I ask for a specific thing to pray for? See... I'm still having a terrible time bottle feeding. I'm 12 weeks old yesterday, and my adjusted gestional age is 40 weeks 5 days today. I should be eating a little better, ok... a lot better, out of my bottles by now. My doctor and nurses are talking about putting a GI tube in my belly. Not down my throat, or in my nose, but directly through the wall of my tummy into my belly for me to be able to go home and be able to eat. When they talk about this, my Mummy starts to cry. She and Daddy say that I have been through enough (aren't all little babies like me?? I don't know any different, so I think I'm doing great) and they don't want me to have to go through that too. So I was wondering... if when you say your prayers can you ask that I get some help from the powers that be to eat from my bottles so they don't have to put that GI tube in my tummy? Besides... I'd rather cuddle with Daddy or Mummy when I eat rather than lay in bed.

Thanks to everybody again. I love you all!

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures...

My Mummy & Daddy take a LOT of pictures... I don't mind it so much now I think I've gotten used to the flash going off in my eyes. Good thing I have my Daddy's eyes! :0)

Dec 1, 2005 - The day I was due to meet the world!

Today I was supposed to make my grand entrance. As we know by now, I don't like to live on the schedule of others - that's why I was born on September 12th.

Today I weigh 8 pounds! Go ahead... take a minute... maybe sit down. I gained about a pound in about a weeks time. Mummy & Daddy can't believe how big I am now. Imagine if I was born today?? All 8 pounds of me?

In my world, things are going pretty well. My doctors and nurses have taken me off my caffeine but that doesn't seem to be working out so well... time will tell. I have been doing better with taking my bottle, but still no olympic gold medalist in that area. I'm trying though and Mummy & Daddy are proud of me. :0) I still have the feeding tube in my nose, but that continues to the the only thing on my face. I haven't had to go back on oxygen or anything like that... and I feel good! Strong.... Nearly the Superman that I aspire to be. Actually right now I feel very incedible Hulk like! I have busted out of my preemie otufits! Yeah... I'm HUGE.

Mummy & Daddy are going to post some pictures for you to see too. I hope you like them... I'm pretty cute, huh??? hee,hee,hee