Allan is sitting on the verge of 8 pounds. He is at 7 pounds 15 ounces and will probably tip the scales tonight at 8 tonight. He's cute as he can be -- all dark-hair, big eyes, long lashes and rosy cheeks. He's still not overly interested in the bottle, though. It isn't that he doesn't know how to operate it - about once a day he will suck a whole bottle down with no problem. The rest of the time, though, he really isn't all that interested. He may do half or a quarter or none at all. One of his favorite feed times is (unfortunately) the 3 a.m. slot. And usually for Caitlyn. You may remember Caitlyn. She's the one who got Griffith on the night shift. (Thanks, Caitlyn! There is such a thing as karma. Remember where you heard that.) I told her that the other night when Griffith was doing his up-all-night routine I started to give her a call. If I had had a second set of hands I would have. Anyway, they are still talking about Allan coming home late next week, but unless someone has a "come to Jesus" with him about his eating, it isn't going to happen that soon. Still he will be coming home sooner rather than later.
Griffith is doing very well at home. We've had a lot of firsts. Today we took our first ride in the stroller. We thought he would be all eyes, but he mostly slept. Yesterday we watched our first episodes of The X-Files (he thinks Mulder is funny) and Project Runway (neither one of us thought that Bonnie should have been voted out - it should have been Keith.) Grandma and Grampy head back on Monday so he's been spending quite a lot of time with them, too. Every one keeps asking how he's sleeping. The short answer is that he sleeps a lot better than Jay and I do. He really loves the vibrate function on the bassinet, but someone needs to explain to me why the vibration cuts off after 15 minutes. That is just long enough for Griffith to begin to relax and drift off -- only to be jarred awake when it stops. And we feel his pain. It isn't as if the vibrating hurts him (does it?) because, God knows, I just hit the button again when he cries. He has also taken to peeing out of his diaper in the night and soaking his gown and blankets, etc. He finds this beyond annoying. I think he secretly believes that one of us is responsible for this negative turn of events. Other than that, he sleeps great. Just great.
Okay, my CD drive is stuck and Gateway is sending me a new one. The upshot of it is though that I erased the pictures on the compactflash card and can't get the ones on the CD on the site. Sorry about that but I should have more photos soon.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Alissa and Allan
Alissa with Allan. She started off as Griffith's girlfriend, but sweet Allan won her over. Although no one is keeping score, I'm sure.
The source of the problem
Caitlyn with Allan. Caitlyn is the one who is going to come over every night to play with Griffith at 3 a..m.
Thursday August 10th.
Allan is faring very well on his diet. He has lost weight (25 grams total) for the past two days. He's still quite a big fellow but now that he is on the lower calorie breast milk he should slim down a bit. We are working on his bottle-feeding every day because that is the only thing holding him back at the moment. He has the whole suck, swallow, breath thing down, but it just takes so much energy that he gets tuckered out before he eats much more than an ounce. It really is all a matter of building up enough strength to eat enough eight times a day. Once he gets that down, Dr. DeSai is kicking him to the curb.
Griffith had another big day. We went to the pediatrician this morning. He was wide awake for his ride to the doctor's office -- he literally stared out the window and didn't make a peep unless the car stopped. Then he would cry. His exam went very well -- he has gained about 4 ounces since Monday. He is now 5 pounds 3 ounces and 19 inches long. Compared to all kids his age (literal age, not adjusted) he is in the 3rd percentile, meaning that he is as big or bigger than 3 % of the kids his age. He's got some growing to do.
Grandma and Grampy made it back in yesterday from their trip and are getting in lots of hold time with both boys.
Griffith had another big day. We went to the pediatrician this morning. He was wide awake for his ride to the doctor's office -- he literally stared out the window and didn't make a peep unless the car stopped. Then he would cry. His exam went very well -- he has gained about 4 ounces since Monday. He is now 5 pounds 3 ounces and 19 inches long. Compared to all kids his age (literal age, not adjusted) he is in the 3rd percentile, meaning that he is as big or bigger than 3 % of the kids his age. He's got some growing to do.
Grandma and Grampy made it back in yesterday from their trip and are getting in lots of hold time with both boys.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Message from Griffith
Hi, everybody! I'm helping Momma blog today so don't be surprised if this message cuts off in the middle. Sometimes I hit the wrong buttons and sometimes I just lose interest and make Momma stop. I just wanted you to know that, so far, I like the outside world pretty well. I do miss all of my nurses and friends at the hospital, especially the ones who worked at night. Momma and Dad aren't nearly as energetic and fun at 3 a.m. as Sarah, Caitlyn and Krista. Mom and Dad keep trying to get me to go to sleep, but I keep trying to get them to pick me up. So far I'm winning but it takes some work to get them to cooperate. My new nursery is pretty bright but I haven't spent much time in there. Mom and Dad keep me in a bassinet next to their bed at night. The rest of the time one or the other is usually holding me. I do have some cool new stuff -- my swing is very cool -- it plays under the sea music and rocks me back and forth. And I really like all of the ceiling fans here. Maybe you should put some of them in the NICU. I could watch them for hours. Mom and I sat on the porch for a little while today and she tried to show me the rain storm, but I was too tired and not able to keep my eyes open. I'm sure I'll be suitably impressed later. I have my first pediatrician visit tomorrow morning. So that will be my first big trip out in to the real world. I'll give you a full report tomorrow. Time to take a nap.
Settling in
Yesterday went very well. We are all beginning to settle in. Griffith was having a bit of a tummy ache. In order to make sure that he is getting enough minerals, etc., they put him on 4 bottles of formula a day. The rest are breast milk fortified with formula. He isn't a big fan of the pure formula and it does seem to make him a little gassy. We've been giving him Mylicon drops, though and that seems to help some. Or did until 3 o'clock this morning. We did very well sticking to his hospital schedule of 3, 6, 9, and 12 feedings. He didn't give us much choice -- when he's ready to eat, he lets you know. We had a big night last night. When Dad went to visit Allan, wE played in the swing, we sang, we danced, we did exercises. I sang every song I know and made up verses to others and created some to describe whatever we happened to be doing at the moment. I need to pull out the 4H songbook and brush up on some lyrics,though because Bottle of Wine, Fruit of the Vine is probably not an appropriate lullabye. Griff also discovered t.v., both good (Jon Stewart and Keith Olbeman) and bad (Bring It On).
Allan had a good day, too. They've taken him down on the fortifier so that he isn't getting so many extra calories and (although they claim it is unrelated) given him an exercise routine. My. Poor.Baby. The exercises aren't for weight loss -- they are for flexibility, but the timing couldn't be more perfect, following so quickly on the heels of the diet. There was an unnecessary comment made about his weight and flexibility -- he's doing fine with his arms but needs to work on the flexibility of his legs. You know he really can't move them as freely because he is so fat. All right now, people, back off of my baby. It isn't as if he is making poor nutritional choices or raiding the frig in the middle of the night. You all decided it would be a grand idea to pump him full of the baby equivalent of milk shakes eight times a day -- you can not now blame him for being husky! Anyway, he was still doing well with his lower oxygen and the regular wall cannula. Now he needs to work on bottle-feeding. He'll do it some but not all he needs and not every time. It is just easier to have someone put it in your belly than suck it out of a bottle. No parole until he's doing that.
Another big day awaits us...Dad and Griff are still snoozing after the 6 o'clock. I'll get ready to go visit Allan while they hang out here to wait for the dryer repair guy (couldn't have happened at a better time). Grandma and Grampy arrive back sometime this afternoon so there will be a bunch of loving to be had.
Allan had a good day, too. They've taken him down on the fortifier so that he isn't getting so many extra calories and (although they claim it is unrelated) given him an exercise routine. My. Poor.Baby. The exercises aren't for weight loss -- they are for flexibility, but the timing couldn't be more perfect, following so quickly on the heels of the diet. There was an unnecessary comment made about his weight and flexibility -- he's doing fine with his arms but needs to work on the flexibility of his legs. You know he really can't move them as freely because he is so fat. All right now, people, back off of my baby. It isn't as if he is making poor nutritional choices or raiding the frig in the middle of the night. You all decided it would be a grand idea to pump him full of the baby equivalent of milk shakes eight times a day -- you can not now blame him for being husky! Anyway, he was still doing well with his lower oxygen and the regular wall cannula. Now he needs to work on bottle-feeding. He'll do it some but not all he needs and not every time. It is just easier to have someone put it in your belly than suck it out of a bottle. No parole until he's doing that.
Another big day awaits us...Dad and Griff are still snoozing after the 6 o'clock. I'll get ready to go visit Allan while they hang out here to wait for the dryer repair guy (couldn't have happened at a better time). Grandma and Grampy arrive back sometime this afternoon so there will be a bunch of loving to be had.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
It was a very big day
Griffith's "transfer" went very smoothly and we seem to have made it through the night. One down and however many thousands left to go. Yesterday was kind of a long day for all of us and it will be nice to settle in to a routine. The question is who sets the routine, but I think we already have a pretty good idea of the answer.
It took until the middle of the afternoon until we were discharged so we didn't get home until about 3:30. (This was partly due to the fact that we hit the Sonic drive-through on the way home! ) Griffith really wasn't all that interested - he did not want an order of Ched 'r' peppers with that, thank you very much. Once he ate and got settled, we all took naps. Then it was time to feed him (and ourselves) again. Griffith was doing great. Of course, he hadn't been put down from 3:30 until 7:00. Griffith seems to like our swing and hung out in it while we were eating. Of course, we didn't have it adjusted correctly and, at the beginning, he was swinging a little higher and faster than strictly necessary. He probably thought he was on The Whip at the county fair! Once we got that straightened out, Dad headed back to the hospital to visit with Allan and we settled in here. We are supposed to stick to the hospital feeding schedule so we are on a 3, 6, 9, 12 treadmill. Griffith is in a bassinet by the bed and I would love to report that, between feedings, he was quiet as a lamb but, Lord, he's a noisy little thing -- sucking on the pacifier, rooting around for it,wriggling, groaning, stretching. He was a bit of a night owl. Three o'clock and he was ready to play. I suppose we'll get used to it, but right now we are all ears. He sneezed around 2 and we both bolted upright. He likes the bassinet. It has a vibrate mode and he's all in to the thousand fingers massage.
Allan had a good day yesterday, too. He is off the high-flow cannula and on to the regular wall cannula which is a big step for going home. He seems to be doing very well. Now we just have to convince him that bottle-feeding is something he wants to do full-time. Dr. DeSai examined him yesterday because he had had a big weight gain the day before and she wanted to make sure that he wasn't getting too much fluid. He's not. She pronounced him "fat" and is taking him off of the special high-calorie formula. That's right, she's putting my baby, my one pound nine ounce baby, on a diet. He is doing well, but is probably a couple of weeks from going home. Fortunately he isn't lonely -- he is now roommates with Makenze, Griffith's former girlfriend. Little hussy is determined to get herself one of my boys.
We aren't sure what today holds. We are just going to play it by ear and, every time Griffith howls, one of us will jump to figure out what caused it and, more importantly, how to make it stop.
It took until the middle of the afternoon until we were discharged so we didn't get home until about 3:30. (This was partly due to the fact that we hit the Sonic drive-through on the way home! ) Griffith really wasn't all that interested - he did not want an order of Ched 'r' peppers with that, thank you very much. Once he ate and got settled, we all took naps. Then it was time to feed him (and ourselves) again. Griffith was doing great. Of course, he hadn't been put down from 3:30 until 7:00. Griffith seems to like our swing and hung out in it while we were eating. Of course, we didn't have it adjusted correctly and, at the beginning, he was swinging a little higher and faster than strictly necessary. He probably thought he was on The Whip at the county fair! Once we got that straightened out, Dad headed back to the hospital to visit with Allan and we settled in here. We are supposed to stick to the hospital feeding schedule so we are on a 3, 6, 9, 12 treadmill. Griffith is in a bassinet by the bed and I would love to report that, between feedings, he was quiet as a lamb but, Lord, he's a noisy little thing -- sucking on the pacifier, rooting around for it,wriggling, groaning, stretching. He was a bit of a night owl. Three o'clock and he was ready to play. I suppose we'll get used to it, but right now we are all ears. He sneezed around 2 and we both bolted upright. He likes the bassinet. It has a vibrate mode and he's all in to the thousand fingers massage.
Allan had a good day yesterday, too. He is off the high-flow cannula and on to the regular wall cannula which is a big step for going home. He seems to be doing very well. Now we just have to convince him that bottle-feeding is something he wants to do full-time. Dr. DeSai examined him yesterday because he had had a big weight gain the day before and she wanted to make sure that he wasn't getting too much fluid. He's not. She pronounced him "fat" and is taking him off of the special high-calorie formula. That's right, she's putting my baby, my one pound nine ounce baby, on a diet. He is doing well, but is probably a couple of weeks from going home. Fortunately he isn't lonely -- he is now roommates with Makenze, Griffith's former girlfriend. Little hussy is determined to get herself one of my boys.
We aren't sure what today holds. We are just going to play it by ear and, every time Griffith howls, one of us will jump to figure out what caused it and, more importantly, how to make it stop.
Monday, August 07, 2006
Geri and her boys
She's sorry to see Griffith go, but will be keeping her noon and six dates with Allan for a while.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
So far so good
We've just come from the boys and things are still looking good. As you can see from the photos, we had a big night in the NICU. Both boys got baths and we took photos and got ready for what we are calling Griffith's "transfer." The word "home" seems to be a bit of a jinx so we aren't telling him where he's going exactly. We had a big time. They both got cleaned up and, as you can see, we took a bunch of photos. We also took the "official" photo of the two of them which was hilarious. They stick your kid in a trough with a camera above it and take photos. Which would work fine if we had two kids who were the size of Griffith or one kid the size of Allan. As it was we had to cram Griff in beside Allan which didn't bother Allan at all -- he seemed to think it was nice to have someone to prop him up -- but irritated Griffith immensely. Then, of course, we had to get them to: 1) open both eyes at the same time; 2) put their arms down so you could see their faces; and 3) not look as if you had just been goosed (Allan) or as if someone had just pinched you (Griffith). It was all a great deal of fun. For us anyway.
So tomorrow Griffith gets his final inspection from the docs. They check the oil, kick the tires, fill up the tank and say bon voyage. We aren't real sure when we'll get out, but some time tomorrow afternoon is a good bet. It is going to be hard to leave Allan, but it isn't as if he isn't in good hands -- without Griffith there to distract the nurses, Allan is going to be the center of attention in Nursery 9. As he should be. There are no guarantees on his release, but we are hopeful that he will get home within a couple of weeks. We figure that they want to make sure that we don't break Griffith and then they'll send Allan home.
We are really excited about getting Griffith home and we know that a lot of you are excited, too. We are very grateful for all of the love, encouragement and prayers and we will continue to need all of them. Griffith is doing great and has come a long, long, LONG way. We can't wait to introduce him to every one, but coming home is going to be an enormous, stressful change for him (not to mention us) and it is really important that he has a chance to adjust. As they keep telling us at the hospital, he doesn't have a lot of reserve -- just being held and passed around takes a lot more out of him than it would a full-term baby. Plus his immune system isn't as robust as that of a full-term baby and we have to make sure that he doesn't get exposed to any more germs than already reside in our (very clean, nearly spotlesss) home. So, for the time being we aren't receiving visitors. We will be keeping up the blog and will let you know when we are all able to party like (very small) rock stars.
So tomorrow Griffith gets his final inspection from the docs. They check the oil, kick the tires, fill up the tank and say bon voyage. We aren't real sure when we'll get out, but some time tomorrow afternoon is a good bet. It is going to be hard to leave Allan, but it isn't as if he isn't in good hands -- without Griffith there to distract the nurses, Allan is going to be the center of attention in Nursery 9. As he should be. There are no guarantees on his release, but we are hopeful that he will get home within a couple of weeks. We figure that they want to make sure that we don't break Griffith and then they'll send Allan home.
We are really excited about getting Griffith home and we know that a lot of you are excited, too. We are very grateful for all of the love, encouragement and prayers and we will continue to need all of them. Griffith is doing great and has come a long, long, LONG way. We can't wait to introduce him to every one, but coming home is going to be an enormous, stressful change for him (not to mention us) and it is really important that he has a chance to adjust. As they keep telling us at the hospital, he doesn't have a lot of reserve -- just being held and passed around takes a lot more out of him than it would a full-term baby. Plus his immune system isn't as robust as that of a full-term baby and we have to make sure that he doesn't get exposed to any more germs than already reside in our (very clean, nearly spotlesss) home. So, for the time being we aren't receiving visitors. We will be keeping up the blog and will let you know when we are all able to party like (very small) rock stars.
Cheryl and her boys
Cheryl may be the only person Griffith will listen to and obey. I am going to have to get her on tape saying "No." "Stop." "Put that down." I'm going to need all the help that I can get.
Griffith and Sarah
This is Sarah who has decided that keeping my baby up all night is a good idea. She won't think it is nearly as funny when I start calling her at 3 a.m. so that the two of them can chat.
Jennifer and the boys
Jennifer with Griffith and Allan after their baths. Griffith seems to be trying to get away while Allan is afraid to look away.....
Jennifer and Allan
Jennifer helped out with Allan's bath tonight. The woman is obsessed with our baby and water. As long as she is under constant supervision, though, it should be okay.
100% little and loud
reads the shirt that Grampy and Grandma brought with them. You can see that it fits perfectly!
Allan and Rosa
Rosa is off right now, but came back in to see the boys and to say farewell to Griffith.
We are set for an on-time departure
Well, it looks like Griffith is going to be shown the door of the NICU tomorrow. They've had enough of his demanding ways. Time for him to hit the bricks. Nevermind that they are the ones who spoiled him to begin with. He's our problem now. He passed his hearing screen (again), got checked out in his carseat (he looks so impossibly small in there!), and Jay and I finally watched the shaken baby video. Much to the relief of the doctors and nurses, we have now ruled shaking out as a means of discipline. (That's what they make closets for, right?) Griffith must have been excited about the prospect of getting out because he was awake ALL NIGHT last night. Every time Sarah would put him down, he would howl. As soon as she picked him up, he would stop. She finally stuck him in his swing and that's how he greeted Cheryl this morning. She was going to have to give him a talking to today and get him back in to his day/night routine. I was kind of surprised that he didn't sleep better. He spent most of yesterday up and helping Jenny play solitaire. Not knowing his colors or numbers yet was a bit of a handicap, but he really enjoy watched the cards move across the screen. I told her that they needed to investigate on-line poker. Little slacker has been here nearly four months and hasn't contributed to the household finances at all. Going to have to earn his way somehow.
Allan has been doing great as well. He is back on the nasal cannula and doing very well with it. They've stopped his diuretics and, so far, he really hasn't gained any significant fluid. Plus you can just tell that he is feeling better -- he's more alert and wide-eyed now that he isn't having to work so hard to breath. They have continued feeding him the extra calorie formula in his milk so he is now 7 pounds 3 ounces. He has outgrown all the "preemie" clothes, as well as the "newborn." He is now solidly in the 0-3 months. He and his brother have done very well with the cobedding. As far as I know, Griffith hasn't smacked his brother since that initial incident. We have noticed that Allan has picked up how to howl from Griffith and Griffith has learned how to stick out his lower lip and pout like Allan. This wasn't exactly what we had in mind when they told us that this would aid in their development.
Allan has been doing great as well. He is back on the nasal cannula and doing very well with it. They've stopped his diuretics and, so far, he really hasn't gained any significant fluid. Plus you can just tell that he is feeling better -- he's more alert and wide-eyed now that he isn't having to work so hard to breath. They have continued feeding him the extra calorie formula in his milk so he is now 7 pounds 3 ounces. He has outgrown all the "preemie" clothes, as well as the "newborn." He is now solidly in the 0-3 months. He and his brother have done very well with the cobedding. As far as I know, Griffith hasn't smacked his brother since that initial incident. We have noticed that Allan has picked up how to howl from Griffith and Griffith has learned how to stick out his lower lip and pout like Allan. This wasn't exactly what we had in mind when they told us that this would aid in their development.
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