Friday, June 30, 2006

Friday afternoon June 30th

The boys both had eye exams today and both did fine. Well, sort of fine. Neither of them like it very well and they both apparently threw a fit. Allan got so mad that he threw up on them. Well done. I've been saying all along that he has hidden depths of fiestiness. It just takes the right provocation to get him going. Alissa said something that didn't suit him today when we were changing him and he stuck his lower lip out and cried. I swear it was just because she hurt his feelings. Poor little fellow. Looks like I've got a pouter. (Doesn't get that from MY side of the family. I'll take full responsibility for the temper, but not the pouting!)
Griffith did fine with his eye exam, too. He threw a temper tantrum, but every one expects that from him. Once they left him alone, he settled down and slept . He ate a good lunch, burped like a trucker and fell asleep snuggled up against my chin. It is going to be hard to put them down when they come home.

Friday - excellent boys.

We still have two very excellent boys.
Allan who is sweet and thoughtful in addition to being terribly pretty slipped out somehow and made bourbon brownies for his nurse Sarah. I'm going to have to keep an eye on them. Apparently after I leave at night the two of them hang out "after hours." I'm pretty sure she is setting a precedent that I can't keep up. He was up to 4 pounds 14 ounces last night. We very nearly have a five pound baby! He is doing well weaning and we hope to have him on the cannula by early next week.
Griffith, also sweet, thoughtful and incredibly pretty, is doing well with his bottle feeding. He needs a little encouragement every once in a while and sometimes he gets so sleepy that he can hardly finish, but he works really hard at it. And burps like a full-grown man. Honestly, people have stopped in the hall outside the nursery to look and see who that was. I'm pretty sure that they think it is me. I have to confess that I don't know what he weighed. Dad was doing that while I was holding Allan (to make up for the photo neglect). If Jay told me what he weighed, then I forgot it. His nurse Cheryl has been gone for two weeks but is back today. We're pretty sure that she is going to be very impressed with all of his accomplishments. His nurses are also doing a pretty good job of spoiling him. This twenty-four hour per day constant doting is going to be hard to duplicate.

Thursday, June 29, 2006

On a roll ?

I don't want to cause a commotion, but the boys may be on a roll. They were both excellent this morning and at lunch.
Allan was wide awake and checking out the world this morning. He was asleep when I got there, but woke up when we started to change his diaper. He's done well with the decreased pressure so far. They are leaving him alone for today and will try to turn it down a little more tomorrow. Baby steps.
Griffith was a real sweetheart at lunch. His nurse, Amy, had him out this morning snuggling and he really liked it. Smiled all over himself apparently. Since getting off of the ventilator and the C-pap, he has been the most contented little fellow you can imagine. He still has his momma's frown lines between his eyes, but less reason to exhibit them. For now. I'm sure they'll reappear as soon as someone crosses him.

Very good boys

That's what we have a pair of. Both boys had a good night.
They increased Griffith's feeds and he seems to be tolerating that very well. He's picking up speed on the eating. Caitlyn reported that it only took him 15 minutes to finish his bottle last night. He is continuing to poo, too, so we are hoping that he has put his belly issues behind him. I was looking at a picture of Simon (Jay's brother) yesterday and I think Griffth may resemble him. When I mentioned it to Jay, he said that he had thought the same thing, but was afraid to mention it because he "wasn't sure that Simon was good-looking." (Sorry Simon.) As I pointed out to Jay, MY BABY is QUITE good-looking so you can take that for what it is worth.....
Allan has done well with the decreased pressure and I got to hold him for about an hour last night. He's the most cherubic little fellow you can imagine with tiny blonde eyelashes that curl up so sweetly. Other than (a very cute) Winston Churchill, I'm not sure who he resembles. Just Allan, I suppose.

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Wednesday afternoon

Sorry for the late post -- I had to make a run to Babies R Us this morning. Did better this time. No hyperventilating about baby wipes.
The boys are doing very well today. Griffith seems to be getting over his stomach issues -- he's eating like a little rock star and pooing in a way that seems to satisfy the doctors. The threat of another barium enema apparently was all the encouragement he needed. We had a great time at lunch today and when I left he and Jenny were hanging out. Rumor has it that the two of them have been dancing in the NICU. No one on whether he's leading or not....
Allan is also having a very good day. They have gone down on his pressure and his O2 if he tolerates it, then they'll go down again in a few days and, with some luck, he may be on the nasal cannula next week. I sure so. I do like seeing his pretty little face.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Tuesday afternoon

New pictures. Yes, yes, I know, they are of Griffith again. I promise I will devote an entire photo shoot to Allan just as soon as we can see his pretty little face again.
The boys were doing fine at lunch today. Not much to report, really. Griffith is still having some stomach issues and we are all anxious to get that sorted out so that we can start the countdown to coming home again.

Griffith kicking up a fuss.

Griffith in green


This is Griffith in his outfit that Bailey got for him in Florida. The alligator is supposed to match his disposition, but you can see that he is smiling.

Griffith smiling


See, he does smile. If you leave him alone.

Tuesday morning -- June 27th

A pretty quiet night from both of the boys. Dad got to feed, change and hold Griffith ("got to" Isn't that funny? I wonder how long we'll think of it that way once they get home?). Griffith really seems to be getting the hang of the feeding thing. He slurps down his bottle like a pro. He even seems to enjoy being burped. He rears back his head and look around. Bright-eyed nosy thing. He got to wear his alligator sleeper that Bailey got for him (a match for his personality?), but we didn't get a good picture of it. We'll have to try again. It is all about the photo opportunities, after all.
Allan had a great night. Nurse Sarah was on and she spoils him rotten. I thought I was going to have to wrestle her to get to hold him last night. As I was leaving, she said she was going to get him back out when he woke up. When Jay went in this morning, she was sitting there with him. I am suspicious that she held him all night. Which is fine as long as she is planning on coming home with him. Allan is a very big boy -- he weighed 4 pounds 13 ounces last night. He is much bigger than Griffith now who was only 4 pounds 7 ounces. Of course, he was off his feed for a week. Now that his stomach is getting sorted out, I'm sure he'll catch up with his brother fast.

Monday, June 26, 2006

Monday afternoon -- June 26

The boys were great at lunch today. Allan had been a little sweetheart all morning. He woke up for a little while when I was changing him and we held hands for a few minutes. Tonight is my turn to hold him while Dad feeds Griffith so we'll get a little lovin' in later today.
Griffith had spent most of the morning sleeping. I got to feed him at lunch time and he did great. He did manage to spit up all over me (welcome to motherhood) but that was my fault (again, welcome to motherhood). I thought he was through burping because he had let a big one go, but there was more air down there and I must have pushed it out when I lowered him because he let a second grown-up sized burp fly and a stream of milk with it. We then had to discuss that that stuff didn't grow on trees and it was not to be spit out unnecessarily. We'll see if that helps.

Monday - June 26th - weekend review

Before any of you start with me, yes, I recognize that Sweet Little Allan did not get equal billing with the photos this time. (My secret is out -- I really do love Griffith more. I'm just glad I won't have to pretend.) In my defense, Allan really hasn't been doing anything -- he's been laying around, sleeping a whole lot and, apparently eating -- he was 4 pounds 11 ounces last night. Plus, the C-pap covers up his pretty little face so photos aren't nearly as much fun. They are working on weaning his pressure down with the C-pap and then he'll graduate to the cannula. At any rate, I will try to rectify the situation with Allan and his photos this week. Nurse Jennifer is back from vacation and I'm sure that she'll make sure that he gets plenty of attention.
Griffith seems to be feeling better. He started back with the bottle-feeding on Saturday (he hadn't eaten since the previous Saturday) and has been as happy as a little clam with that. He really has the hang of it. In his haste to suck it down before someone takes it away, he forgets to swallow sometimes, but no more so than any little one. He can burp like a fraternity boy, too. Dad has yet to get one of them out of him, but I think that's because he's afraid he's going to break him when he pats him on the back. When he's through eating, he lies there and grins like the Cheshire Cat. He's been very alert the past couple of days, too. He loves to be held up so that he can check out the scenery in the NICU. He's tired of lying in bed all the time. No ETA on him going home yet. I'm sure they'll give this eating stuff a few days to make sure that he's going to do it and gain weight.

Griffith and his paci

Pretty little Griffith

Griff in his toboggan

Allan on the C-pap

Griffith - bib photo

Griffith --Ready for dinner