Saturday, March 27, 2010

New Parent Paranoia Last Week

This week we experienced our first taste of new parent paranoia! When I was rubbing the back of Anderson’s neck while feeding him, I felt a little lump. Dave checked it and felt it too! It moved a little bit and was about the size of a lentil bean. We got worried. I called the doctor the next morning and he was able to get in that day! Yeah!
Of course it was nothing. Apparently sometimes lymph nodes on the back of the head are more pronounced. The nurse practioner that examined him did check to make sure he was not sick with an earache or chest issues (which could cause the lymph node to be swollen) and everything was fine!

The fun part of taking him to the doctor is that he did get weighed and he is up to 9 pounds!! Probably within the next 1-2 weeks he will have doubled his weight!! Our growing boy!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Today's thoughts....

Here is my random question for today. If we have a good system down for pumping breast milk and feeding it to Anderson via a bottle, should I really be worrying about trying to get him to breast feed? I mean he is getting the milk. Your preemie fact for today is that they do not take to the breast right away, as much as they may want to. Some preterm babies may take up to a month after their original due date to latch on properly. What are the advantages to having him actually eat from the breast?

In other news..... today is a bath day. People always talk about how great babies smell. Hello - that's only after a bath. Anderson tends to spit up a fair amount. That means he smells like sour milk most of the time. Seriously. The good news is that he totally loves his baths. His baby tub has this little hammock thing. He just lounges with his legs hanging over the side with his feet in the water. It's very cute. He is pretty cute in the towels too!
3/7/10

Two Months

Where does the time go? Anderson is two months old - from his birth day, and two weeks old for his adjusted age. Why is this important? Developmentally we have to go by his adjusted age in order to make up for the months that he was early. For example, if babies smile at 2 months, he might not smile until 4 months from his birth date. I guess doctors do not want parents stressing over how their kids fall on developmental charts.

Here is the way this works out - which I find most interesting. Anderson went for his 2 month check-up on Monday. He got his 2 month old shots. BUT - when it came time to look at how he is falling on the size charts in comparison to other babies, he is listed as only 2 weeks old. In comparison to other 2 week olds, his weight (8lbs 2 ozs) puts him in the 50 percentile. His height (no surprise here - 21.5 inches) puts him in the 75 percentile!! Now, if you were to compare him to babies born at term at the same time he was, he would not even be on the chart! Talk about confusing!!

taken 2/7/10 
                                                              taken 3/5/10

Oh the difference a month makes! These two outfits are the same size, but you can see how much more he fills out the newer picture!! Anderson has a little belly and is starting to get some chub on his legs & arms! Yeah!!

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Home over a Month!

Anderson has been home for over a month! The time goes so quickly! He has actually been home longer then he was in the NICU!

1/8/10 in NICU Pod B

At 3:59am on Thursday, January 7, 2010 Anderson Edwin came out with a cry. I was surprised! I was not expecting to hear him cry! That was a great sign! Then from the exam table I heard, "The pipes are working." Yes, he peed on the table. Happy Birth Day!

Dave took lots of video of the process of Anderson being checked into the NICU. It is interesting to watch. Anderson received the very best care there. Since he weighed in at 4 pounds, 15 ounces and was 18 inches long at birth, many people - even the nurses - said he did not look like a pre-term baby. He has his fabulous genes to thank for his size, but size alone does not mean a fully developed baby.

Luckily it only took 3 weeks to bring him up to speed enough to go home with us! It was a long 3 weeks. The first week I could not drive because I was still on my heavy-duty pain killers. I had several wonderful people step-up to take me to the hospital every afternoon so I could be with Anderson. I wanted to be driving as soon as possible, so I stopped with those pain killers so I could have my freedom (finally after how many months?).

Thankfully my biggest pain after the C-Section was not from the surgery itself, though I did have some abdominal pain. My legs and feet were super swollen and it hurt a lot to walk. When I would be with Anderson the nurses would bring in a reclining chair to his curtained area so I could have my feet up! We would just sit together. Banner Desert believes in Kangaroo Care. This means that the parents should hold the baby as much as possible, and whenever possible, chest to chest (skin to skin). Anderson and I would just be reclined back, relaxing in the afternoons!



Anderson at 6 days

We only had one set back. The doctors prepare for the potential of needing to take a step back after so many steps forward. That was when I finally broke down. Anderson had a little blood in his stool one night and he was rushed back to the most intensive set of pods in the NICU (he had been in the I'm-practically-going-home pod). It was so scary to see him hooked up to everything again. Tubes in his nose and mouth. IV in his hand (which he did pull out, so they moved it to his foot). I just wanted to cry all day. The doctors were wonderful. Quickly they determined that the situation was not as severe as they thought, but he had to go 4 days without eating and was on antibiotics. Basically they figure he had a small tear in his intestinal tract because they were not fully developed yet. He was NOT a happy camper that week.

I learned that week how very lucky we were with Anderson. The other babies in Pod C were extreme pre-term. Most of them were over a month old, and still not as developed as Anderson. He was the only one in there (out of 6 babies) strong enough to even cry. Those parents all came everyday when they could. Most had returned to work. I was lucky to be able to sit with our baby all day, every day. Dave came after work and held him for awhile too! And we knew that our baby would be 'going out for pizza' soon. (That is what the nurses said instead of 'going home').


      

I really broke down the weekend befor Anderson came home. We went to go see Avatar to get out of the hospital for a little bit. I just started crying at the end of the movie. As we walked through the lobby of the theater I was just blubbering that I wanted our baby to come home. Thankfully he did come home that week - after being moved back to the practically home pods. What a wonderful baby!

Going out for Pizza 1/28/10 - 3 weeks old!