I Found My Hands!

Okay... so this is the greatest thing ever. I'm sitting on my Mummy's lap the other day and I'm chewing on something that I always chew on these days and suddenly I see it moving... little fingers moving around and I'm thinking... what the devil is THAT?? So I start staring and I realize that there are two of them... HANDS! WOW... this is fantastic! It lasts a few seconds before I am distracted by yet something else and my Mummy thinks it's a fluke.

BUT GUESS WHAT???? Just today after we read a book, and I was relaxing in my usual manner (in Mummy's lap with the boppy, chewing my fists) and I start again... first the fingers are moving and I am so captivated by that - and then I realize again that I can move the hands either independantly or together. THIS IS THE BEST! And my fingers... they move all around too and I am loving watching this happen. I watch my hands and fingers moving around for about two minutes today... then I realize that I'm hungry, and I look at my Mummy to feed me and she is smiling away! I love her.

In other news... I went to see my Pedi doctor yesterday, Dr. Hollister, and he is really happy with me. (And who isn't??) I gained some weight in the last couple of weeks, and now I weigh 12 lbs 8.5 ozs. I am HUGE here people.... maybe even gigantic! I have outgrown clothes... my Mummy is happy and sad all at the same time! My Dr. John (that's what he lets me call him! I'm really special) thinks that I am looking great, and that I am gaining weight well. Then he gave me some yummy sugar water... mmmmm... then he stuck me in the legs with something that HURT me. That made me mad - and I turned all red in my face and my mouth just popped open! No sound came out though... until Mummy picked me up. Then I screamed until it started to seem better... and when Daddy held me, everything was good again! I love him!

A woman named Kelly came to our house this morning to see us. I guess she was really here to see me. Mummy says she is with Easter Seals and that she is going to help me catch up... with what?? With Bruin and Bucky? I don't even roll over never mind chase those two around the house...hummmm... But I guess Kelly is going to help me learn to do things like roll over and grab toys, which actually sounds like good fun. Today was kind of hard on me, especially after yesterday with the poking needles into my legs. So I tolerated Kelly holding me and I tolerated her laying me on the floor and letting me watch a toy, but when she rolled me on my side - everything went all wrong! Then my Mummy needed to cuddle me and I just wanted Kelly to go away. :-( She was really nice though. She talked really softly, and she left pretty fast after I was upset. I guess I will see her again next week, and I will try to better next week.

I saw my NICU nurses on Monday too this week. They are all doing so good, and I also saw Dr. F who took such good care of me when I was in the NICU. And I had a good cuddle with My Melina, and with Jenn too, and they were really excited to see how big I am (Superman-Like... I'm telling you) but they couldn't visit long cuz they had other little boys and girls to take care of now. But I love seeing them. :-)

Well, I guess that's all for now. I love you all!!!

I'm Getting Bigger All The Time!

Hi Everybody! Do you remember me? I have been very, very busy here, I have to tell you. I have had a lot of visitors, and I have been growing and growing! Let me tell you what has been happening here at home.

My Nana came up for 2+ weeks of fine visiting and cuddling. She was great to have here and she cuddled and coo'd to me everyday!! She took good care of my Mummy too, helped finish my room (as you already know), and played with Bruin and Bucky. Cellar was happy to see her cuz she likes to sit with Nana and pat at her head to get Nana to pet her. Cellar is a silly cat.

Right after my Nana left to go home, my Jayesh Kaka came from the UK. Now, let me explain to you that Kaka is Uncle in Gujarati, my Daddy's native language, and Kaki is Auntie. So anyway... my Jayesh Kaka came and he brought me all kinds of stuff from he and my Anupa Kaki and from the UK. We had a great visit, and he was very fun to be with. He talked to me a lot and I loved being cuddled by him! He was here for nearly a week and I saw him every day. I went out to dinner for the very first time with my Jayesh Kaka, Mummy & Daddy and I had a great time... OK, so I slept most of the time what can I say?? I'm just little. But they all went to great lengths to make sure that it was a 'safe' place for me to be with no smoking and nobody was to touch me. I'm glad they love me so much! I hope that he will come back and visit me soon, and that I will get to meet my Anupa Kaki too!

THEN... after my Jayesh Kaka left, my Uncle Sanjay came to town. WOW... I must be really popular! My Uncle Sanjay is always really surprised at how BIG I am. Someday I might be big like him, you never know! So he was here for a few days, and we all had a good time. Uncle Sanjay, Mummy & Daddy laugh A LOT. And he lets me sleep on his big chest, which I really like. I can hear his heart beat and it makes me feel calm. While my Uncle Sanjay was here visiting, my Auntie Tracy came by one day too!!! It was great - I got to have all kinds of cuddling with her, and she is silly and makes me smile!

So I spend a bit of time going to the doctors, everybody is trying to make sure that things are going well for me and that I am growing and doing what I need to be doing. I guess that I am doing a pretty good job, and so are Daddy & Mummy cuz I am now 23 1/4 inches long and I weigh in at 12 lbs, 4.5 ozs. The doctors and nurses say that I am really long! I think I will be tall. I have had meetings with the early intervention people and they are going to work with me to get me caught up to my actual age. It's hard when you are born this early because I spend all that time for the first 3 months really still developing and it doesn't count at actual growing in the outside world. So my actual age is a bit over 4 1/2 months, but my "adjusted age" or the age since my due date, is only 9 weeks. Either way I am behind a bit, honestly, since I have the feeding tube and I still forget to breathe. But I am strong and healthy and I know that I will be able to get things right in the next year. OH, and I hear that my eyes are turning hazel - green/brown!

Mummy and Daddy sold their Toyota and bought an older Volvo... I have no idea what any of that means, but they say they did it to make it easier for Mummy to stay home with me, so that works for me. I smile a lot at my Mummy especially when she come to get me up, and when we are sitting and 'talking'. I don't know if she understands any of what I am saying to her, but she seems to keep up. I hope she is taking notes for my memoirs..... this is very vital information that I am giving her everyday. I should ask her.....

Check out my 'Crib'

Hello all, my Mummy, Daddy and Nana have finished putting the finishing touches to my room. Here are some pictures of it.
I have a nice dark crib and as you can see it looks like there is a little space left for me to sleep in! :) I like all my new friends that surround me, I like to look around at them when I'm in my crib. I've tried talking to them but they don't seem to respond, maybe it's because I can't actually say any words yet. My Daddy says that he'll be worried if I do start hearing them talk back to me.
Hopefully you can tell that I have a Safari theme going on in my room. My Daddy has been on Safari in Kenya, so he took some of the pictures, enlarged them and put them up around my room. I can't wait to go on Safari, he says we can go one day, once I'm a little bit bigger.

That fine dresser that you can see was hand painted by my Mummy, Daddy and my Auntie Tracy, they also put on cool looking animal drawer pulls!!!

I also have a nice comfy rocking chair in there, thats where my Mummy rocks me to sleep when I'm cranky :)

And finally the icing on the cake, my toy chest. This is very special, my Auntie Tracy thought of the idea and then created and hand painted the whole thing!!! She's very clever!!

Happy New Year

Happy 2006! I have sucessfully made it through my first New Year. Of course I was asleep long before midnight, and awake early in the morning hours of the New Year for a little bite to eat.

Things are going well in my new home. I like it here a lot, being with Mummy & Daddy everyday. I like to be awake for a few hours at a time and I love to look around and check things out here. Mummy & Daddy take me for walks around the house so that I can stare at everything around. I like lights the best. I can sit for quite a while with my head up - my neck is really strong and sturdy. I have a little time at night - sometimes an hour... sometimes three hours - that I like to test my lungs and vocal cords. Yeah...OK, so I like to yell and scream. Mummy calls it my Crank-A-lankin time... she laughs at me sometimes, and she says that I make sounds like a cat. Hmmmm... no wonder Cellar stares at me.

My Nana is here visiting me for a while. I like that she holds and cuddles me and her voice is nice and soft to listen to. She and Mummy take turns cuddling me while Daddy is at work during the day - it's so good to be me.

I think that maybe I am getting this bottle eating thing a little better than before. I did good today, but we will have to see how tomorrow goes. I am still taking some caffeine and I have a monitor to make sure that I don't forget to breathe. Sometimes the monitor goes off on it's own and it screeches really loud...it makes everybody crazy - I sleep through it mostly. I have gotten 4 new monitors in the last week...Mummy hates the monitor...

I still miss the girls that took such good care of me in the NICU. I miss their voices and their faces. I hear that I will get to see next month when I go back to the hospital for some shot. I would rather just go see them and skip the shot.

More soon

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

Happy Thanksgiving!

And a gobble-gobble-go

And a gobble-gobble-gee

This is the First

Thanksgiving for me!

This is what I understand so far about this day. I woke up earlier and I had some food via a bottle with the Nuk nipple that I like so much. I had my pants changed. I went back to sleep and slept through to noon when Mummy and Daddy magically appeared in the room. In fact Mummy was holding me when I woke up - NICE! We all had a great visit while I was awake which was for quite a long time. I tried out by Baby Papasan and I LOVED IT! Mummy told my nurse I will be having 'turkey' tomorrow. Not sure what that is...or how I will get it...but good for me!

I weigh 7 pounds today! I'll let you absorb that. I am getting stronger every day and all I need to do is to get control of eating from my bottle and of breathing without forgetting... yeah I still do that sometimes. I am getting a little better with the bottle and my nurses and doctor say that one day it will be like *snap* (trying to snap small chubby fingers.... failing... rats...) and I will eat like crazy from that bottle of mine. The bigger I get the better I should be at remembering to breathe all the time, so that should correct itself in short order too.

I'll have Mummy & Daddy post new pics soon!

6 POUNDS, 12 OUNCES AND COUNTING

It's getting harder and harder to recall when I weighed in at only 2 lbs, 10.5 ozs! I'm so big now that I wear a proper size 1 diaper... no more preemie diapers for me. Know what I did this past week? I outgrew an outfit - my first one. Mummy says she is keeping it so she can show me when I get older...not so sure I'll care about that really... but it makes her happy. Know what else I did this week?? C'mon guess! OK, I'll tell you. Just the other day - Sunday the 20th - I drank a whole bottle! The entire 58 cc's (nearly 2 ounces), I drank the whole thing from my bottle. Everybody was really excited and calling each other, and a one of my nurses helped me pen a little note to Mummy & Daddy about my big acomplishment! Then I slept nearly the entire day.... what can you expect from me?

In other news, I no longer need any oxygen to help me breathe. I am doing that all on my own now and I occasionally still have some problems with remembering but overall I am doing really well. The only tube on my face now is my feeding tube and that will stay until I can eat all of my feedings by myself. :-)

I stay awake longer and longer now, sometimes for over an hour at a time. I like to play and have fun with my Moosey, my mobile and my nurses - and I have begun to realize that a little squaking and growling may net me a cuddle! NICE.... I love to cuddle. I still love my baths, and one of my favorite times of the day is when Mummy & Daddy visit me. I hear their voices and I start growling a little bit, then I like to do a good stretch and a yawn... I know it is only a matter of a little time before I get scooped up!

I hear that my room is nearly finished at home, and I'm excited to see it. I guess there are only a few things left to do and that's that. It sounds cool with safari pictures on the walls and a big fluffy rocking chair in the corner... mmmmm... rocking with Mummy or Daddy. YIPPEE!

When Indian-Irish Eyes Are Smiling

I like to smile. I like to look around. I like to follow things with my eyes now. I LOVE my Moosey!

I've been having a lot of fun growing and learning things in the last couple of weeks. I weigh in at 5 lbs, 10 ozs, and that's down a little bit from a few days ago. Everybody has been so good to me, and my doctor is trying hard to get me off my oxygen supply so they have been giving me a little something to get the excess water out of my little body. Makes it easier to breath that way, ya know. There is no need to worry about the weight loss though, OK?

I am so much more tolerant these days of voices, and noises. And my eye doctor came for another visit the other day and I dealt with him pretty well this time out. I was awake that night and looking all around for my Mummy & Daddy. They were R-E-A-L-L-Y impressed with that. I was nursing and playing and having a good time despite my eyes having been peeled open and clamped that way for that exam. The peepers are doing well too! No change at all in the status of them, and the 'eye guy' still thinks that I will outgrow the current situation with no problems. I'm a pretty lucky little boy all in all. I get to have a bottle 4 times a day now and I'm really trying my best to get used to drinking from that. You know...eat, swallow, breath... very hard for a little one like me. But now the most I will take is 19cc's and my feedings are a whopping 52cc's. Nearly the same amount as a full term new born baby. Gooooo Ethan! (I was cheering for myself... sorry)

Halloween has come and gone. I don't know much about that holiday except that one of my nurses was wearing earrings that were one a spider and one a web... scary!! And Mummy & Daddy put these really bright bibs on me and took my pictures. My first Halloween costumes! One says Baby's First Boo and the other Baby’s First Halloween.

My doctor isn’t so sure that I will go home on my due date, December 1. She seems to think that I am doing things at my very own pace, as is my way, and am likely to go home closer to the middle of December. I think that Mummy & Daddy are a little sad about that and so am I, but I need to grow, grow, grow.

Well, more later.

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. :-)