Dear Samuel,
Today, you came home. Of course, I made a video:
Today, you came home. Of course, I made a video:
Love,
Mom and Dad
Showing posts with label Home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Home. Show all posts
Friday, March 13, 2015
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Testing...1....2
Dear Samuel,
What a difference a few days makes.....
Sorry that it's been a few days but we've had a lot going on! Your mom and I have been working on getting things ready for you to come HOME! Ever since reality has set in, we have been scrambling to get things ready at home. I think we are in a good place now but it's been a busy few days trying to get our live in order.
Last Friday, you were taken off of oxygen and have not looked back. I think it's safe to say that we shouldn't be needing it any longer! Then last night we removed your NG tube.
Your medical team thought it would be a good idea for mom to spend the night with you to help see if feedings would become easier with one person, instead of multiple nurses (And to prep for home). So she spent the night with you last night and you did pretty well (Mom is pretty tired today though). You also had a "hearing test" last night and passed with flying colors.
During the day today was another busy one! First, we had your "workout" with the Occupational Therapist. According to her, you are in the 50th percentile of all babies (not just premies) for muscle tone/movement/etc. (I'm not exactly sure how to explain it...I was just excited).
Next, we had your Car Seat Test where you sat in your car seat for an hour and a half to see if you had any de-sats. While you did have a few de-sats, they weren't bad enough for a failing grade (You must get that from me and not your mom.....You get the passing with flying colors from her).
Then you had your "procedure", for lack of a better term, which wiped you out for the rest of the day. You did really well during and after......you're one tough little guy.
Tomorrow, is the last "test day". You have an eye exam scheduled.
Pretty much, if that goes well we will be DISCHARGING on Friday. Yes, we will be coming HOME! We are beyond excited...and nervous....and anxious....and a lot of other emotions. There is so much more to say about this whole thing coming to a close, but we will save it for other posts. Hopefully my next post will have our whole family under one roof.
Love,
Mom and Dad
What a difference a few days makes.....
Last Friday, you were taken off of oxygen and have not looked back. I think it's safe to say that we shouldn't be needing it any longer! Then last night we removed your NG tube.
Your medical team thought it would be a good idea for mom to spend the night with you to help see if feedings would become easier with one person, instead of multiple nurses (And to prep for home). So she spent the night with you last night and you did pretty well (Mom is pretty tired today though). You also had a "hearing test" last night and passed with flying colors.
During the day today was another busy one! First, we had your "workout" with the Occupational Therapist. According to her, you are in the 50th percentile of all babies (not just premies) for muscle tone/movement/etc. (I'm not exactly sure how to explain it...I was just excited).
Next, we had your Car Seat Test where you sat in your car seat for an hour and a half to see if you had any de-sats. While you did have a few de-sats, they weren't bad enough for a failing grade (You must get that from me and not your mom.....You get the passing with flying colors from her).
Then you had your "procedure", for lack of a better term, which wiped you out for the rest of the day. You did really well during and after......you're one tough little guy.
Tomorrow, is the last "test day". You have an eye exam scheduled.
Pretty much, if that goes well we will be DISCHARGING on Friday. Yes, we will be coming HOME! We are beyond excited...and nervous....and anxious....and a lot of other emotions. There is so much more to say about this whole thing coming to a close, but we will save it for other posts. Hopefully my next post will have our whole family under one roof.
Love,
Mom and Dad
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Reality setting in.....
Dear Samuel,
2 steps forward; 1 small step back.
Since coming off of O2 on Saturday, you had to go back on to a VERY small amount on Sunday afternoon. You have been off and on again throughout the week (mostly during feedings). However, when you are "on" O2, it's not the same as you were before. The O2 you were on up until Saturday was 1 liter of pressure but now you are all the way down to 0.02 liters of pressure. I believe one nurse said that you could actually blow air at you and you would get more O2 (which really isn't true but you get what we mean).
Feedings have been continuing to trend in the right direction. I believe the number that was thrown around today was that you are taking about 70% of your feedings by mouth. Tonight, when mom was down to see you, you took a "Full Feeding" while nursing. You've really had no learning curve whatsoever to taking feedings by mouth (Proving the doctors wrong, yet again).
Reality set in over the weekend for your mom and I, pal. On Sunday, your nurse told us that during rounds that your doctor started to talk about the possibility of you coming home. This weekend. Now, I don't think it's going to move that fast (because you are back on oxygen) but it still reinforced that we will be bringing home a baby. It's almost surreal; because we have gotten into our "new normal" routine and haven't really had time to get ready to bring a baby home! We figured we would have plenty of time to get ready! It was only the beginning of December......the Best laid plans, right?
Your mom had a cool "pay it forward" experience today too. I won't steal her thunder though, I'll let her explain:
2 steps forward; 1 small step back.
Since coming off of O2 on Saturday, you had to go back on to a VERY small amount on Sunday afternoon. You have been off and on again throughout the week (mostly during feedings). However, when you are "on" O2, it's not the same as you were before. The O2 you were on up until Saturday was 1 liter of pressure but now you are all the way down to 0.02 liters of pressure. I believe one nurse said that you could actually blow air at you and you would get more O2 (which really isn't true but you get what we mean).
Feedings have been continuing to trend in the right direction. I believe the number that was thrown around today was that you are taking about 70% of your feedings by mouth. Tonight, when mom was down to see you, you took a "Full Feeding" while nursing. You've really had no learning curve whatsoever to taking feedings by mouth (Proving the doctors wrong, yet again).
Your mom had a cool "pay it forward" experience today too. I won't steal her thunder though, I'll let her explain:
Experienced a wonderful display of the good that is still present in the world. I am a part of a contest group on Fb, mainly for cloth diapers and baby items. A few weeks back a mommy noticed my profile pic and asked about Sammy. Last night I entered a contest for a baby carrier valued at $150 but lost. Woke up to find that the woman that won gifted it to me and bought one for another mommy with a sick infant, PLUS another woman sent money to the admin of the page to send me the newborn insert as well so that we can use it sooner. Needless to say I cried for a few minutes. I most definitely will find a way to pay it forward!!!!!
After all of the kindness shown to us the past few months, we plan on incorporating "Paying it Forward" into our lives as well. As parents, we hope that we can teach you how great it feels to Pay it Forward because let me tell you....We won't ever forget those who paid it forward for us.
Love,
Mom and Dad
Thursday, February 26, 2015
The Best part of my day
Dear Samuel,
Somewhere between the hours of 5 p.m. and midnight, is the best part of my day. It's the time when your mom and I get to spend with you everyday. It's never for very long but we try to make the most of the time we have. There's just not enough hours in the day.......
For me, your hospital room has transformed from the time you were born until now. It's really weird to think about a place that we never wanted to be in, has almost become a place of solace and relaxation. Granted, it's still not home but since you have been progressing so well your room has become our home away from home. Last night, you and I feel asleep in the chair watching TV. No Alarms. No Nurses. Just you and me. Just like home.
Trust me, we're ready for the real thing and you are almost ready too. Soon enough.
Somewhere between the hours of 5 p.m. and midnight, is the best part of my day. It's the time when your mom and I get to spend with you everyday. It's never for very long but we try to make the most of the time we have. There's just not enough hours in the day.......
For me, your hospital room has transformed from the time you were born until now. It's really weird to think about a place that we never wanted to be in, has almost become a place of solace and relaxation. Granted, it's still not home but since you have been progressing so well your room has become our home away from home. Last night, you and I feel asleep in the chair watching TV. No Alarms. No Nurses. Just you and me. Just like home.
Trust me, we're ready for the real thing and you are almost ready too. Soon enough.
As of last night you are up to 4 pounds 6.4 ounces! Before you know it, you will be 5 pounds!
Today, they have been playing with your O2 needs as well. You spent a good portion of the day on 0.5 liters instead of 1. You also spent some of the day on 21% O2.....Room air.
The past few days you have been taking more and more feedings by mouth instead of your NG tube. Feedings are up to 37 ccs and you took 2 of those FULL feedings today by mouth.
Oh, and you peed on me today.....You would think this was my first rodeo and that I would have figured this whole thing out by now. Not so much.
Already looking forward to what tomorrow will bring when we come see you. I can already tell you, it'll be the best part of my day.
Love you,
Mom and Dad
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Home (For some of us)
Dear Samuel,
It was a big day for Momma today. The doctor told her she could go home today....which is bittersweet. We are able to sleep in our own bed tonight and see your big brother Isaac. BUT we have to leave you at the hospital. I think we are beginning to realize just how hard this is going to be.....
Not much change for you today. They let you take it easy today because of your day yesterday. Your weight came back up a little to 1 pound 5.9 ounces...so almost back to your birth weight. During "Rounds" this morning your doctor decided to tweak some of your vent settings which seemed to do the trick with stabilizing some of your O2 stats.
They also decided to up your feedings of breast milk to 3 cc's every 3 hours, which is great! You still haven't had a "BM" but they are encouraged that they can hear digestion in your stomach.
We were able to do some more "hand hugging" today and you grabbed momma's finger with your tiny little hand. I'm glad I thought to grab my phone to catch this precious moment:
It was a big day for Momma today. The doctor told her she could go home today....which is bittersweet. We are able to sleep in our own bed tonight and see your big brother Isaac. BUT we have to leave you at the hospital. I think we are beginning to realize just how hard this is going to be.....
Not much change for you today. They let you take it easy today because of your day yesterday. Your weight came back up a little to 1 pound 5.9 ounces...so almost back to your birth weight. During "Rounds" this morning your doctor decided to tweak some of your vent settings which seemed to do the trick with stabilizing some of your O2 stats.
They also decided to up your feedings of breast milk to 3 cc's every 3 hours, which is great! You still haven't had a "BM" but they are encouraged that they can hear digestion in your stomach.
We were able to do some more "hand hugging" today and you grabbed momma's finger with your tiny little hand. I'm glad I thought to grab my phone to catch this precious moment:
We came back down to see you tonight and not much change (which we like). The only thing is was that your Blood sugar is a bit high. They started you on some Insulin this morning, which is supposed to bring your blood sugar back down, but it's only kept climbing.
Otherwise, you looked really peaceful today and it looked like you were getting a lot of rest.
Looking forward to sleeping in our bed tonight, but always thinking of you buddy. Sleep tight.
Love,
Mom and Dad
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
