Breaking the Mold

Dear Samuel,

Today we had your 5 month doctor's appointment.....Has it really been 5 months??

The overarching theme from the appointment was the title of this blog "Breaking the Mold". Essentially, our doctor (who, by the way, see every baby that comes out of the NICU) told us/you that you are Breaking the Mold when it comes to premies that were born this small. Talk about proud parent moments!

Your doctor thought it would be fun to put your growth chart up against babies that were born at "full term" to see how you compared. While you are still in the 0 percentile, the way you are trending is what is most impressive. Your growth for all categories (head circumference, length and weight) are doing the hockey stick on the graphs. Long story, short.....if you continue to trend the way you are you will be on the full term baby growth chart when you around 1 year old (approximately). Which, in itself, is incredibly impressive (especially since you are really only being breastfeed and mom forgets to supplement with the Enfacare).

Once again, you have defied the odds. Beat the impossible. Broken the Mold.

You are now up to 8 pounds and 8.2 ounces (8.5 pounds). Based on that weight and your previous weight, you are gaining 34 grams per day. The goal was 20-30. #BooYa

What an incredible journey we have been on......We're ready for the next chapter if you are.

Love,
Mom and Dad

Due Date

Dear Samuel, 

Today, March 23, 2015, was your original due date. It seems crazy to think that today was the day we should have met you for the first time. That today was that day. What's weird is that the past 3 months have been kind of a blur and all too real at the same time. It just goes to show that things in life don't always work out as you plan....that someone else is in control....and even if that plan isn't what we wanted or didn't work out, in the end it's God's plan. And His plan is perfect. 

Look at how much you have grown in the past 3 months. Your mom and I have had the privilege of getting a "sneak peak", as it were. In reality, December 6, 2014, is your birthday; but in theory, today is that day. 

Photo by Kevin Schultz. Thanks bud. 

We are so happy to have you home. It feels like we have added hours in our days now that we aren't driving back and forth to the hospital. Did you know there are 24 hours in one day? Before, it only felt like 18 or so. Although, I think you got some of those hours messed up. Sleepy time should be from the hours of 8:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. and not 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. They must have forgot to tell you that in the NICU.

Other than not sleeping very well, life at home has been great. You are handling your brother's random outbursts of Thomas/Frozen songs well. He still hasn't grasped the concept of inside voices yet.

Overall, life has returned to a state of "normalcy" and I can't tell you how happy we are to have some. Even though we still have a long road ahead of us, I feel the worst of our journey is over. We can't wait to start the next leg of the journey that is life with you.

Happy Birthday, well sort of.

Love,
Mom and Dad

Milestone Weekend

Dear Samuel,

What a great weekend!

We reached another milestone over the weekend....Your feeding tube was moved from your mouth to an "NG" tube down your nose. This, is supposed to be, much more comfortable for you. If it were me, and I had to choose I would definitely choose nose over mouth. Check it out:

Your oxygen needs have been dropping too. You were down to 0.5 liters of wall air and were sitting at 21% (or "Room Air" aka what the rest of us are breathing right now) for most of the day yesterday. The doctors and nurses were toying with the idea of doing a test with taking you off of oxygen to see how you would do. We never got to that point, but still an encouraging sign that they would even consider it! You still struggle with feedings a bit, so they have to bump you up to 1 liter of wall air around 25%-30% O2. 

Now that your NG tube is in, You and Momma have started practicing with nursing and also taking a nook. Today was the first practice and you did really well! 

You dropped about 30 grams today (Sunday) but your weight is still doing really well. You're at 2 pounds 9 ounces. 

Overall, everyone in the NICU is amazed at how far you have come and how well you are doing. You are ahead of schedule for A LOT of things (Most of them listed above) for your gestational age. Needless to say, you amaze us everyday too. Keep fighting buddy! 

Love, 

Mom and Dad

Opposite Day and Misadventures in Mini Hot Tubs

Dear Samuel,

Each day throughout this journey, you continue to impress us.

Today was another good day. Your weight is now up to 2 pounds 9.6 ounces. It's actually the same as your weigh-in from Thursday night, but is up 40 grams from the last post. You keep heading in the right direction for weight....pretty soon you are going to be a chunker!

Your "high flow" oxygen was taken down to 1 Liter per hour (the lowest setting for this particular device) and are around 30% O2. The next step down from that would be what's called "wall air"; which essentially is just a lower flow of oxygenated air OR removing all ventilation/air altogether. If that were to be the case, it would be a HUGE milestone for us AND an earlier than expected one at that.

Momma gave you your first real bath on Thursday. She said you were wrapped in a towel and submerged into a "mini hot tub" (as I call it)....and each arm and leg were taken out separately to be washed. This process is called a swaddle bath and apparently you either REALLY liked it or REALLY didn't. Let's just say that your leg's and bottom had to get washed twice because there was some not so nice stuff ALL over the place, according to Mom.

Tonight when we came down to see you, you were backwards in your isolete. Maybe it was opposite day in the NICU or something, but it threw us for a loop.

I got to hold you for a little bit tonight, before they started your feeding. It was the perfect way to end my day.....

Love, 

Mom and Dad

Christmas Day

Dear Samuel,

Not much news to report today.....which are days that we like.

The only real news from today was that, yet another IV had to come out. The good news is, that you only have 24 hours left to have one in anyways (Antibiotics need to run their course, even though the infection is gone). As I'm typing, you do NOT have anything poking you! They are going to try again at 2:00 a.m. and if they are unsuccessful with placing the IV, they may forego putting one in.

Otherwise, your mom and I came down twice to see you today and did a little photoshoot.

To all of the readers of Sammy's blog.....Merry Christmas from the Parr's! (Hopefully this counts as our Christmas cards. We sort of got sidetracked this year and didn't get to send any out this year).

You keep impressing us AND the NICU staff, buddy. This is going to be our first and last Christmas in the hospital. Your mom and I can't wait until next year already.

Love,
Mom and Dad