Today was my first day with Tyler all on my own. I'd had him on my own here and there when Eric would run errands but hadn't had him all day until today. And we both survived; yay!
I was very apprehensive and overwhelmed by the thought of having him all on my own for the day. With his feeding schedule and my pumping schedule, I was worried about getting everything done on time and how I'd react if he got super-fussy while I was pumping or something. Poor Eric had to deal with me worrying about this (again), but I eventually got over it and made a plan of doing one "thing" each day - either one load of laundry, vacuum one floor of the house, etc. Normally I'd be doing ALL the laundry on one day, or vacuuming the WHOLE house on one day, but with everything else that's just not possible, so the new plan is one thing at a time. I still have to figure out how to fit my meals in there, but Eric went to the store to get lots of quick-to-fix stuff so I am set there.
So the day went ok. First feeding went great - ate like a champ then snoozed. Second feeding was tougher, then the later feedings in the day went fine. Kay (MIL) came over and held the little one for a while too so that helped. :)
I decided that if (when!) I make it to Thursday, I am getting myself a pedicure since Eric will be home. :)
Eric got home and fixed dinner while I showered, and he took care of the evening feedings. And then we started all over again today.
Got the taxes done on Sunday - hooray! Next up is to pull our credit reports; I try to do that every few months and have fallen out of the habit.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Pediatrician Report!
We had our checkup at the pediatrician yesterday and Tyler got a clean bill of health. He now weighs 5 lbs 13 oz, up 12 oz from last Thursday (6 days). He's eating well and this shows that its all working. The doctor checked hm out from head to toe and all is well so we go back in a month for his 2-month appointment, which will include shots (boooo!). After that poiont we can take him out to the mall and such so I'm hoping we can take him to work to meet everyone, which will be fun!
We've upped his feedings to 70 ml per feeding and will continue advancing that over the next few weeks until he's around 90 ml per feeding. We talked to the doctor about how to introduce formula and although we're not ready to do that, we probably will over the next month or so. We also got the greenlight to let him sleep at night until he wakes up to eat, rather than waking him up every 3 hours to eat. He seems to get hungry every 3 hours anyway, so I'm not sure that will gain us any more sleep, but we'll see.
Not much else is going on here. Eric goes back to work on Sunday so we're trying to figure out how that will work with Tyler's feeding schedule - he's been a huge help but with having to work 10 hours/day he may not be up for the late night feedings on the nights before he works the next day.
We've upped his feedings to 70 ml per feeding and will continue advancing that over the next few weeks until he's around 90 ml per feeding. We talked to the doctor about how to introduce formula and although we're not ready to do that, we probably will over the next month or so. We also got the greenlight to let him sleep at night until he wakes up to eat, rather than waking him up every 3 hours to eat. He seems to get hungry every 3 hours anyway, so I'm not sure that will gain us any more sleep, but we'll see.
Not much else is going on here. Eric goes back to work on Sunday so we're trying to figure out how that will work with Tyler's feeding schedule - he's been a huge help but with having to work 10 hours/day he may not be up for the late night feedings on the nights before he works the next day.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
the last week or so in bullets...
Not a whole lot to report yet...Tyler is doing great.
- Continuing to eat like a champ, and sleep (and pee and poop).
- He's geting too big for his preemie diapers, so we got some newborn sized diapers and will start using those in the next few days.
- The cats and dog have sniffed him and apparently approved.
- I'm continuing to pump and we're feeding him using a bottle, which is working out great. We added Tri-Vi-Sol per the doctor's recommendation.
- Tyler's very fussy/burpy and has recently started spitting up, which is completely normal but messy!
- everything in his room finally has a place (yay!) and we rocked in the glider the other day for the first time. That chair is comfy!
- baby monitor came in today - yay!
- Amanda & Rob came over last weekend and we cooked out - fun! They also brought Tyler a cute little outfit for Easter (which is next weekend! eek!).
- Continuing to eat like a champ, and sleep (and pee and poop).
- He's geting too big for his preemie diapers, so we got some newborn sized diapers and will start using those in the next few days.
- The cats and dog have sniffed him and apparently approved.
- I'm continuing to pump and we're feeding him using a bottle, which is working out great. We added Tri-Vi-Sol per the doctor's recommendation.
- Tyler's very fussy/burpy and has recently started spitting up, which is completely normal but messy!
- everything in his room finally has a place (yay!) and we rocked in the glider the other day for the first time. That chair is comfy!
- baby monitor came in today - yay!
- Amanda & Rob came over last weekend and we cooked out - fun! They also brought Tyler a cute little outfit for Easter (which is next weekend! eek!).
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Weight check!
We went to the pediatrician today for a weight check - Tyler weighed in at 5 lbs 1 oz today - that is up 5 oz from Monday's weight of 4 lbs 12 oz - whoo hoo!!! The doctor said everything else looks good - not jaundiced, HB was good, circ is healing up well. Time to start him on Vit D supplements too (which is normal for a newborn).
We ordered a baby monitor yesterday - thanks to Mom and Dad saying "just order it, we'll send the money!". We'd planned on buying the Angelcare Deluxe monitor, and just couldn't find it in stock anywhere. Should be here in a couple of weeks!
He seems to be holding his head up a little too, which is nice. Between Monday's car ride and today's you could tell a difference in how he sits and holds his head up in the car seat.
A couple of my online friends from the April due dates board are delivering or will be soon. So exciting!
We ordered a baby monitor yesterday - thanks to Mom and Dad saying "just order it, we'll send the money!". We'd planned on buying the Angelcare Deluxe monitor, and just couldn't find it in stock anywhere. Should be here in a couple of weeks!
He seems to be holding his head up a little too, which is nice. Between Monday's car ride and today's you could tell a difference in how he sits and holds his head up in the car seat.
A couple of my online friends from the April due dates board are delivering or will be soon. So exciting!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Catching up!
Tyler is continuing to do well at home and we're thrilled to have him home. It is quite an adjustment having a baby in the house, that is for sure! :)
The cats and dog are inquisitive and very gentle when approaching him. They have all checked him out and gotten a good sniff of his baby cuteness. They also have checked out the Pack & Play and the bassinet (but not gotten into either). So far so good.
Tyler's been eating well every 3 hours. Initially we were using the single use bottles the hospital provided, but once we ran out we started using the Dr. Brown ones we got from our registry. His intake of breastmilk went down and Eric and I realized that the decrease seemed to be when we started using those, so we put them away for the time being (I am sure we'll get them out again soon!), and got some inexpensive bottles from Target that seem to work just fine. He's back up to his previous eating levels and even surpassing them. He was up to 4 lbs 12 oz as of Monday's pediatrician appt, and we go in again on Thursday for another weight check.
Yep, 1st pediatrician appt was on Monday. We're very pleased with the pediatrician's practice we've chosen. We chose them because they were on our insurance, close by, and the neonatologists (although they could not endorse anyone) use them. We found this out when Dr. Bastick (neonatologist) came by to visit with us and discuss how a 32-week preemie will do. I'd asked if there's anything special to look for in a pediatrician since we'd have a preemie, and we got to discussing who we were considering. Like I said, they can't endorse/recommend anyone but she did say that several of the neonatologists use the practice we were considering (Raleigh Children & Adolescent Medicine). I figure if you can take care of a neonatologist's kid, that is good enough for me! We met with Dr. Gessner and he answered all of our questions without any weird doctor-speak. He's healthy, gaining weight, and progressing.
Eric's parents, his brother and family and Jill have all been over to meet (and hold) him.
The cats and dog are inquisitive and very gentle when approaching him. They have all checked him out and gotten a good sniff of his baby cuteness. They also have checked out the Pack & Play and the bassinet (but not gotten into either). So far so good.
Tyler's been eating well every 3 hours. Initially we were using the single use bottles the hospital provided, but once we ran out we started using the Dr. Brown ones we got from our registry. His intake of breastmilk went down and Eric and I realized that the decrease seemed to be when we started using those, so we put them away for the time being (I am sure we'll get them out again soon!), and got some inexpensive bottles from Target that seem to work just fine. He's back up to his previous eating levels and even surpassing them. He was up to 4 lbs 12 oz as of Monday's pediatrician appt, and we go in again on Thursday for another weight check.
Yep, 1st pediatrician appt was on Monday. We're very pleased with the pediatrician's practice we've chosen. We chose them because they were on our insurance, close by, and the neonatologists (although they could not endorse anyone) use them. We found this out when Dr. Bastick (neonatologist) came by to visit with us and discuss how a 32-week preemie will do. I'd asked if there's anything special to look for in a pediatrician since we'd have a preemie, and we got to discussing who we were considering. Like I said, they can't endorse/recommend anyone but she did say that several of the neonatologists use the practice we were considering (Raleigh Children & Adolescent Medicine). I figure if you can take care of a neonatologist's kid, that is good enough for me! We met with Dr. Gessner and he answered all of our questions without any weird doctor-speak. He's healthy, gaining weight, and progressing.
Eric's parents, his brother and family and Jill have all been over to meet (and hold) him.
And in news unrelated to baby, we bought a new TV today. We have a cutout above the fireplace for a TV and when Eric moved in he put his 37" TV there. Well, over the last few months it's developed a red stripe. We've kinda gotten used to it, and it didn't get much use while I was on bedrest and Eric spent most of his time at the hospital. Now that we're both home, it is kind of annoying, plus it's gotten worse (the stripe had doubled in size!). And, like it or not, we spend a lot of time watching TV. So Eric spent some time searching for the right one to buy. Ended up with a 40" Sony Bravia that we got a great price on (gotta love Best Buy!), and it looks nice! Hooray for new TVs!
Saturday, March 13, 2010
They Said the Magic Word!
So Wednesday started out as usual...Got up, ate breakfast, pumped a few times, then headed to WakeMed to see my boy. I got there just before rounds (as usual), and Dr. Kicklighter says something about thinking about discharging Tyler soon. Whoa...I still had the 2-3 week timeframe in my head, and we hadn't even hit two weeks yet. Then he says they'll order the circumcision (which is done by the OB) and Hepatits B shot and if all goes well they'll discharge him on Friday! (he also said that at the time we were the only patients in that section of the NICU covered by private insurance, which surprised me!).
My mind started into overdrive about all the things we needed to get/do before bringing him home and I called Eric to let him know - he was at work and would need to let them know since he was planning to take some time off when Tyler comes home. He was as surprised as I was about the Friday time frame. Plus I was trying to not get my hopes up just in case something went wrong (been there done that while I was on bedrest!).
Wednesday evening's visit and Thursday's both went well. We took the carseat up there for them to do the carseat test (they put him in the carseat for an hour and monitor to ensure that none of his vitals change). We also took an Infant CPR class. And Friday morning we headed to WakeMed for (hopefully) the last time for a long time. Dr. Rush from my OB's practice did the circumcision at 10 am (just before we got there) and he tolerated it well. We were there from 11-3 on Friday, doing a couple of feedings, meeting the pediatrician (so far we like them a lot!), Dr. Rush came by to say good luck and congrats (which was sweet of her; she is the one that admitted me on 12/17, and discharged me on 3/2), and watching a video on baby care.
Then we packed everything up, and headed downstairs. Tyler got to see the world outside the NICU, breathe some fresh air, get his first car ride, and was introduced to his first home (with a stop at Subway - lunch for mom and dad! Tyler and I waited in the car).
He's settled in at home nicely. He does pretty much the same thing he did at the NICU - sleep, eat, poop/pea. The cats are intrigued and a little inquisitive, the dog is slightly less interested. He likes his pack and play as well as the bassinet that Nick and Kristen loaned us. We were up every 3 hours last night with feedings/changings so we took a little catnap today. Gotta get used to those, I guess.
Monday we go to the pediatrician for a check up. I have been working on breastfeeding with him but can't figure out if he gets enough out of it. When we were at the hospital they could weigh him before and after to determine how much he'd taken and the most at one time was 16 ml. His feeding schedule has a minimum of 35 ml, so that means he's taking a bottle after breastfeeding, and it ends up being a 2 hour ordeal to breastfeed, fix a bottle, pump, and clean everything. So, Eric and I have decided I'm going to pump and we'll bottle feed him with my breastmilk. If my supply doesn't keep up with his feeding amounts we'll supplement but hopefully if I keep up with my pumping it will work out. This way we can tell exactly how much he is getting and he is getting the best nutrition early on.
And, we got an non-itemized bill for my 2 days in L&D when we got to WakeMed, plus my 74 days in antepartum/postpartum (so it does not include the delivery or NICU time)....the grand total for that was $94k. Phew! Very glad to seee the "This is not a bill" on the statement. And even more thankful for insurance; I am sure we'll have some insurance battles to get this all settled out, but at least the majority should be taken care of.
It's kind of hard to believe that after everything we went thru, starting last May when I met with Dr. Meyer at Carolina Conceptions, to now, that he is here and healthy.
My mind started into overdrive about all the things we needed to get/do before bringing him home and I called Eric to let him know - he was at work and would need to let them know since he was planning to take some time off when Tyler comes home. He was as surprised as I was about the Friday time frame. Plus I was trying to not get my hopes up just in case something went wrong (been there done that while I was on bedrest!).
Wednesday evening's visit and Thursday's both went well. We took the carseat up there for them to do the carseat test (they put him in the carseat for an hour and monitor to ensure that none of his vitals change). We also took an Infant CPR class. And Friday morning we headed to WakeMed for (hopefully) the last time for a long time. Dr. Rush from my OB's practice did the circumcision at 10 am (just before we got there) and he tolerated it well. We were there from 11-3 on Friday, doing a couple of feedings, meeting the pediatrician (so far we like them a lot!), Dr. Rush came by to say good luck and congrats (which was sweet of her; she is the one that admitted me on 12/17, and discharged me on 3/2), and watching a video on baby care.
Then we packed everything up, and headed downstairs. Tyler got to see the world outside the NICU, breathe some fresh air, get his first car ride, and was introduced to his first home (with a stop at Subway - lunch for mom and dad! Tyler and I waited in the car).
He's settled in at home nicely. He does pretty much the same thing he did at the NICU - sleep, eat, poop/pea. The cats are intrigued and a little inquisitive, the dog is slightly less interested. He likes his pack and play as well as the bassinet that Nick and Kristen loaned us. We were up every 3 hours last night with feedings/changings so we took a little catnap today. Gotta get used to those, I guess.
Monday we go to the pediatrician for a check up. I have been working on breastfeeding with him but can't figure out if he gets enough out of it. When we were at the hospital they could weigh him before and after to determine how much he'd taken and the most at one time was 16 ml. His feeding schedule has a minimum of 35 ml, so that means he's taking a bottle after breastfeeding, and it ends up being a 2 hour ordeal to breastfeed, fix a bottle, pump, and clean everything. So, Eric and I have decided I'm going to pump and we'll bottle feed him with my breastmilk. If my supply doesn't keep up with his feeding amounts we'll supplement but hopefully if I keep up with my pumping it will work out. This way we can tell exactly how much he is getting and he is getting the best nutrition early on.
And, we got an non-itemized bill for my 2 days in L&D when we got to WakeMed, plus my 74 days in antepartum/postpartum (so it does not include the delivery or NICU time)....the grand total for that was $94k. Phew! Very glad to seee the "This is not a bill" on the statement. And even more thankful for insurance; I am sure we'll have some insurance battles to get this all settled out, but at least the majority should be taken care of.
It's kind of hard to believe that after everything we went thru, starting last May when I met with Dr. Meyer at Carolina Conceptions, to now, that he is here and healthy.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
beautiful weather + rockstar parking + Happy Baby = a great day!!
Tuesday, 3/9:
The morning routine started out the same as yesterday. Eric called the NICU before heading to work today, and got a good report from the nurse on Tyler's night. He's been eating really well, and one of his overnight feedings was 50 ml! Go Tyler!
I woke up when Eric left for work, and pumped. Then I did some internet surfing, ate some cereal, got some errand-type stuff done (catching up on the budget, etc), and by then it was time to pump again. I did so, then showered and got ready to head out.
My feet were swollen yesterday so I made a concerted effort to drink more water today. I think by the time I'd left the house (10:30 am), I'd already had 60 oz, hooray!
When I got to Tyler's bedside he was snoozing. A couple of minutes later the doctors came around on their rounds and I got to hear the latest & greatest news on him. His bilirubin level went down again, so that is good news. No As (apnea episodes) or Bs (bradys) overnight (hoooray!) and his temperature was good. He ate well, too. I asked about the heart murmur and Dr. Kicklighter listened to his heart and said he didn't hear it, and the nurse practitioner who had heard it before did the same with the same result. So the plan is to continue feeding and let him grow. Also, they are going to move him to an open crib and see how he does. Good news all around!
We did more breastfeeding, and it went really well. Probably the best session we've had so far. The lactation consultant weighed him before and after so we know how much he got. His schedule is to eat a minimum of 35 mls per feeding, and he got 16 mls during our session, and a bottle of 20 ml. He was very alert when he went back in his isolette, so I bet he would have taken a little more. I hated leaving while he was awake so I just hung out for a bit til he closed his eyes, then headed home.
My feet have been swollen so I have been trying to relax this afternoon with my feet up. I had lunch, pumped, and have been chilling out and watching TV (DVRd shows) for most of the afternoon. I did vacuum the 3rd floor. Normally I'd do the whole house at once but I think I'm gonna do it over 5 days - 3rd floor, stairs, 2nd floor, stairs, and 1st floor.
I also threw a load of Tyler-clothes in the washer since he peed on his preemie clothes today!
The morning routine started out the same as yesterday. Eric called the NICU before heading to work today, and got a good report from the nurse on Tyler's night. He's been eating really well, and one of his overnight feedings was 50 ml! Go Tyler!
I woke up when Eric left for work, and pumped. Then I did some internet surfing, ate some cereal, got some errand-type stuff done (catching up on the budget, etc), and by then it was time to pump again. I did so, then showered and got ready to head out.
My feet were swollen yesterday so I made a concerted effort to drink more water today. I think by the time I'd left the house (10:30 am), I'd already had 60 oz, hooray!
When I got to Tyler's bedside he was snoozing. A couple of minutes later the doctors came around on their rounds and I got to hear the latest & greatest news on him. His bilirubin level went down again, so that is good news. No As (apnea episodes) or Bs (bradys) overnight (hoooray!) and his temperature was good. He ate well, too. I asked about the heart murmur and Dr. Kicklighter listened to his heart and said he didn't hear it, and the nurse practitioner who had heard it before did the same with the same result. So the plan is to continue feeding and let him grow. Also, they are going to move him to an open crib and see how he does. Good news all around!
We did more breastfeeding, and it went really well. Probably the best session we've had so far. The lactation consultant weighed him before and after so we know how much he got. His schedule is to eat a minimum of 35 mls per feeding, and he got 16 mls during our session, and a bottle of 20 ml. He was very alert when he went back in his isolette, so I bet he would have taken a little more. I hated leaving while he was awake so I just hung out for a bit til he closed his eyes, then headed home.
My feet have been swollen so I have been trying to relax this afternoon with my feet up. I had lunch, pumped, and have been chilling out and watching TV (DVRd shows) for most of the afternoon. I did vacuum the 3rd floor. Normally I'd do the whole house at once but I think I'm gonna do it over 5 days - 3rd floor, stairs, 2nd floor, stairs, and 1st floor.
I also threw a load of Tyler-clothes in the washer since he peed on his preemie clothes today!
Week One in the NICU
Friday, March 5th:
Tyler is doing well! He is apparently a hard stick for the IV, so they've had to move that around a lot (leg, to arm, etc). They were thinking about going with a central line thru the belly button, but have instead ramped up his feedings so that we can take the IV out. We like this better as with the central line they would have to Xray him to verify placement, and any re-placement. And personally, we're hoping that the breastmilk will help build his strength!
He's up to 15ml of breastmilk every 3 hours now and will go to 20ml within the next few feedings. I'm trying to keep up but we did authorize the use of donor milk if needed.
He's keeping his temp well in an open bed. He was in an isolette for a day or so and I didn't like that much, hard to get to him.
He's keeping his temp well in an open bed. He was in an isolette for a day or so and I didn't like that much, hard to get to him.
Tyler had jaundice so they had to put the bili lights on him and his temp shot way up due to what the doc called the "greenhouse effect", so they moved him back to the open bed like he had in the beginning. The jaundice is much better now, so he's off the lights completely, thank goodness.
They heard a slight heart murmur which is very common and are thinking it's benign and will resolve itself. Apparently another very normal thing in preemies - not to worry about.
So the big thing now is working on consistent breastfeeding/latching on. We've tried 4 times and 2 went really well and 2 were struggles. So hopefully that will kick in soon.
They heard a slight heart murmur which is very common and are thinking it's benign and will resolve itself. Apparently another very normal thing in preemies - not to worry about.
So the big thing now is working on consistent breastfeeding/latching on. We've tried 4 times and 2 went really well and 2 were struggles. So hopefully that will kick in soon.
We've figured out that unlike pregnancy where things are week-to-week, life in the NICU is more day-to-day. Things even change during the day. We've been there the last 3 days when the docs are rounding so we get lots of good info. Plus, the docs seem to have a sense of when we get there and always come by to talk to us. It's awesome. Except for a couple of the nurses (who do a good job but aren't as informative sometimes) we've been really pleased with his care there. And even one of those nurses has warmed up to us...the other one is still kinda poopy but she's never been assigned to Tyler, just in the same room so she covers him when his nurse goes to lunch, etc. And they are great about giving us info over the phone - you can call anytime and they will update you.
Another New Blog...
I'm starting a new blog for the next chapter in our lives...one with a new baby! Tyler John was born on 2/28/10 and is spending some time in the NICU at WakeMed hospital in Raleigh. This blog will document his time there and then the adventure of bringing him home and starting a new chapter of our lives....
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