Timmy had two doctor visits today so James's mom came to watch the kids, bless her. She showed up right at 9:30. Timmy slept through the night again last night (He's been randomly sleeping through the night off and on for the past month or so. Last night was night number 2 in a row, I believe. The nights he wakes me up even for a single feeding just blur them all together.) so I was fairly alert this morning, in spite of staying up to keep my sink shining like a beacon of freedom for the fourth night in a row. (Yes, attempting FlyLady again, although I'm not adding another babystep every day. If I have time beyond shining my sink, definitely, but I know I don't have time for everything right now so I'm content just to have my kitchen clean every night and getting up and fully dressed ready for the day, as I have time. =) )
On a sad note, Mom shared with me that Grandpa Brimhall, James's paternal grandfather, passed away this morning. He has been having a rough go for a while now so, while he will be greatly missed, his passing, I'm sure, brings much relief to those watching him be in so much pain. Thoughts and prayers going out to Grandma Brimhall. She and Grandpa Brimhall were born the same year and have been married for over 70 years. Amazing.
On a good note, Timmy's first appointment was with Dr. Brown, his pulmonologist. The weighed and measured Timmy to start and he came in at...drum roll please...10 lbs. 3 oz. Finally into the double digits! (Their scale is usually a couple ounces over what Candace's is but he is definitely a 10-pounder now. And believe me, he feels like it. He still fits the newborn diapers - size 1 go up under his rib cage - and most of his newborn clothes, although the pajamas and some outfits are getting a bit snug, mostly in length as he measured 23.25 inches today. Another 1.5 inches and he will have grown a full foot since birth. Newborn pants still fall off, so I'm claiming that he's officially a size 0-3 now.)
We got to see Jeanine again. We miss Val, but love Jeanine too. Timmy was ready for a nap so she let me nurse him while she listened to him. Both she and Dr. Brown said he sounds great. His lungs are still clear. Really the only thing we're watching at this point is size so that he can be big enough for decannulation. I told Dr. Brown that I hadn't had any luck getting the fortifier but that we got some more preemie formula from Dr. Peterson. He said that the fortifier is pretty much the same in that it all depends on the ratio to getting the bottles to the caloric density desired. Most breastmilk alone is 20-calorie. The preemie formula and fortifiers generally are formulated to boost it to 22-calories. (That being 1 scoop per every 2 ounces of milk.) We could boost it to 24 but he said that babies sometimes don't tolerate that well and with Timmy taking, on average, 3-4 fortified ounces every night he's getting about 2 extra calories per ounce for a total of 8 calories and, while that may not sound like a lot, sometimes that's all the extra babies need to get growing.
We also discussed that Timmy has slept through the night on occasion and I told them that they could yell at me if they wanted, but I took the nights and slept instead of waking Timmy to eat, as has been discussed prior. At this point, we are all in agreement that that is fine. Baby's do most of their growing when they're sleeping so that's not a bad thing either.
And speaking of sleep, the poor little guy didn't get much today. Every time he fell asleep, it was time for poking and prodding or off to another appointment. We ran by Target to pick up a birthday card and then headed home to get lunch for everyone, see how Grandma was doing, kiss the older kiddos, give a few pushes on the swing and then head off again for Timmy's 1:00 appointment with the ophalmologist, Dr. Miller.
There was a set of boy/girl twins in the waiting room. So cute! They're 11 months old. They're mom had those backpack leashes on them. Probably not a bad idea. Both ambulatory and in that curious stage.
Timmy's appointment with Dr. Miller went very well. A lot of infants born early end up with cross eyes or myopia (near-sightedness) and Timmy has neither. I wish I could have seen into Timmy's eyes as well, but he was cleared for vision problems. He was completely alert and looking around the entire time. Dr. Miller said he is a little far-sighted at this point, but everything is fine. Honestly, such a relief. Although his chances of having glasses later in life are pretty high with both parents being near-sighted (prior to the blessing of Lasik surgery ☺) one less thing for him to have issues with right now is such a relief. Hoping he'll luck out with perfect vision for the rest of his life.
After seeing Dr. Miller, we went over to UMC for another NICU visit. Out of the blue, I had a message on my Facebook wall the other day from Dr. Zukowski, one of the residents. Just saying hi and that she is on another rotation in the NICU right now. So I got on her wall to write back and noticed that today is her birthday so I asked if she would be in today and she was. Perfect timing all around that Grandma was willing to watch the kids and we were out and about already anyway.
UMC is somewhat of a madhouse right now since the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords on Saturday, January 8th.
She is doing remarkably well after being shot in the head. It is still a shock to everyone. And a tragedy that others did not survive. It is interesting to watch the city you live in making national and international headlines. One thing that I have felt from friends and others around is that while there is mudslinging out there and people trying to point blame at parties and such, it seems that most of us agree that really the fault lies with the shooter, not a political party. There are many of us who didn't vote for Giffords in the last election but not one of us would pick up a gun to go shoot someone just because we don't agree with everything she says. I wish her all the best and hope she does make a full recovery so that the rest of her life can be as normal as possible.
The hospital is surrounded by security and television vans, well wishers and other visitors. I took pictures of the lawn where there are tables set up and flowers as memorial to the victims of the shooting.
It's one thing to sit at home and possibly see it on the news and another to see it in person. It makes the whole thing so much more real.
I don't personally know anyone directly involved so I feel lucky that the events haven't hit that close to home. I also felt very lucky that Timmy is not in the NICU at this time and even more lucky that I'm not walking around pregnant with ruptured membranes praying I don't go into labor. Trying to get around so many people has got to be a patience-tester when all you want is to see your baby.
We weren't in a rush but fortunately caught Melissa at a good time as we were able to chat with her for a good half hour. We talked for about five minutes, I told her about Timmy's visits and had just gotten him out for her to hold when a group came in. The best day group possible - Karin, Laura, Lisa, Allison, Melissa (yes, we love Melissas!), Carol and Tori.
Timmy laughing it up with Dr. Z.
Timmy and Allison
Soooo wonderful to see so many familiar faces again. Definitely a lot of fond memories with each person. I'll never forget running into Melissa in the elevator before Timmy was born and then having her come talk to us in the delivery room after Timmy had been taken to the NICU. Karin was there to help us get adjusted and just made us feel so at home and so welcome to voice our concerns and desires for our baby. I will never forget her words while I was fearing that I wouldn't get my milk in again that "that's okay". Lisa and Allison...oh the fun nights in the NICU! I know Lisa knows what it's like to have a small baby and there's definitely a connection when people tell me they miss having little babies. It's something I fear and yet it's nice to hear that I'm not alone. I know there are women out there who are so glad to be done getting pregnant and who really don't miss the sleepless nights, but I have a hard time watching my babies get bigger. I love this phase of my life. I'm trying each day to enjoy it to the fullest because I know it won't last, but sometimes I wish it could.
Allison, I'll never forget her story (well, maybe the specifics) of dragging her daughter through the airport. I couldn't stop laughing. And Laura has to be the best discharge coordinator ever. I sincerely appreciate all her extra efforts in giving us as much of her time as she could so that we could get Timmy home as soon as we could. She could have taken her sweet time giving us intructions on trach care but she sat with us for something like 4 hours straight and let us get it done in one afternoon.
Great memories. It was definitely not so rose-colored at the time we were going through it, but, now that I know the story has a happy ending, I don't mind rereading it.
Today marked another momentous, bittersweet occasion - James's last day at El Rio. They threw him a surprise farewell party last Friday (pictures to come in another post). Such nice people to work with. I know James will miss them, but I know he's looked forward to having his own practice for a long time now. It will be nice for him to be able to work for himself now.
And, since I found the camera, a couple of sweet photos from today. Lately Callie has been wanting to hold Timmy again. Love these kiddos!
1 comment:
He is such a smiley boy!
Post a Comment