Day 9

Gibson has been doing really well with is feedings today! He took 2 bottles in full for his 9am and noon and then took over half at 3 and took almost all of it at 6. It seems to sort of depend on who is feeding him/who is nurse is. I fed him at 3 and I think that if he had had a little break and could then try again he would have taken more, but the nurse wanted to only give him 15 minutes, so she gavaged the rest. Their logic is they don't want to tire them out--but other nurses will let him try for a bit longer. We had the same thing at DeVos with Layla--just a matter of opinion I guess. When I fed him at 6pm, he took a brief break while drinking, but then I got him to drink some more and eventually he only left about 5mL which is practically the whole thing:). She would have probably gavaged the remaining 5mL, but he had pulled his feeding tube out while I was eating dinner and she didn't want to stick it back in him (not a pleasant process) for only 5mL. So that was nice! He appreciated that:). I'm sure it'll go back in at his midnight feeding though. His bili count was up to 13 today, but they didn't put him on the lights just yet. They'll check tomorrow and see once. If he does have to go back on the lights, he'll go on the blanket, not the bed, which is nice since he can still be comfy and swaddled in the blanket and therefore sleep good.

The nurses have been commenting on how much he poops--Layla got the same comments when she was in the hospital--I could be changing lots of dirty diapers coming up!! At least everything is working good:). And two of the new babies that just came into the nursery left today, so it is somewhat quiet again:).

Happy One Week

Gibson is one week old today!! The special care nursery had a busy day today. Yesterday morning one little boy went home and then left only Gibson and two others--a pretty typical number of babies for them to have. But then last night 1 new one came and today 3 new babies came (well, 2 that we saw--they were waiting for another one when we left) filling up all 7 beds. Tonight as they were waiting for the last one I would hear them talk about how there was a 34 weeker in labor and then they'd talk about how she was still in labor and then about how she was pushing. It made me really glad to be past the delivery part:). The nursery now is quite different though as it is really loud especially since when babies first arrive lots of visitors arrive as well! I think only one of the new ones was a preemie, so maybe some of them will be leaving soon. For their sake of course and for ours:).

Gibson is still gaining weight and is still off the bili lights. His bili count went up, but not enough to put him back on the lights so they will check his level again tomorrow. He took one feeding in full this morning from a bottle! That was a first. Now he just needs to learn to do that all the time:).

Wearing clothes again...preemie sleepers were too short so he's in newborn with plenty of room to grow into them!

Day 7

Just a quick update with no pictures...surprisingly we didn't take any today! :) Gibs is now off his bili lights and will be able to stay off of them if his bili count stays about where it's at or lower. So we can again see his eyes:). He's been having LOTS of poops which is a good sign that he's getting rid of the bili and it hopefully won't go back up.

I could also again do some Kangaroo Care with him today san the bili blanket. It's amazing how he really does love it and his vitals all even out during it and he goes into a very deep sleep. I've been reading a book on Kanga Care during my time there and it is amazing how Kanga Care has helped all varieties of premies (23 weeks to 36 weeks) do really well (along with medical care of course). Gibson doesn't have medical complications like earlier premies, but it's still good for him for many reasons; one of which is that since he's in the hospital and not at home he might associate touching as a negative experience do to all his blood draws/tubes being stuck in him/etc., Kanga Care helps him associate touch as a positive experience. Because of all the benefits it gives premies, Kanga Care has proven to lessen premies' stays in the hospital.

Tonight he was more awake for his feeding too so hopefully that means that he's gaining energy and will have more awake time for feedings. He was also cueing to eat which is good too. He still only took by bottle 17mL out of 52 though, so he's got a ways to go before he eats the whole thing! Hopefully not too much longer though! He also had a major spit up again today--but just one bad one so that's good. I just called to check on him and he was up 20 grams to 5 lbs 3 oz.

We had our Christmas party with Joe's side of the family on Sunday (it was scheduled for the day Gibs was born). Layla (and Gibs and Joe and I) got lots of nice gifts--unfortunately I forgot my camera:(. Layla will enjoy her new baby doll, a McDonald's cash register, a Disney Princess Tent and many more items I am missing!! It has been a very different Christmas season this year, but very nice nonetheless!! It is weird that it is all over with now!

Day 6

Gibs had a good day again. He gained 10 grams last night, so that was good (he was actually 5 lbs 1 oz yesterday--so he's still close to that). He didn't spit up much through the night or day today which was good too! He did however have a big spit up late this afternoon after being gavaged. He was laying on his back and the poor little guy had spit up ALL over his face and chest. So he once again needed a bath. The upped his feedings now to 52 mL and added human milk fortifier to it partly for extra calories but mainly b/c his protein was a bit low today. They said that 52 mL will be the max they'll put him at (8 mL less than 2 oz). He has been having a lot of his feedings gavaged completely. He still is just so tired. The feedings that he does drink part of it he only drinks about 10 mL. It seems ot kind of depend on the nurse if they try to get him to drink from the bottle or not--some like to give him a chance to try drinking but some don't try if he's sleeping b/c they want him to associate feeding as a positive experience and don't want to pressure him to eat. Right now I'm fine with having them gavage it all if it's for the best for him--but eventually I'll want them to try hard so that we can get him home!

The speech therapist came tonight right before we were leaving for the day to evaluate his sucking. He was sleeping pretty sound so they didn't try a bottle, she therefore was only able to evaluate his non-nutrient suck (paci/her finger). She said his non-nutrient was suck was normal. She'll be back on Wednesday and hopefully then he'll be wanting to drink and she'll then feed him a bottle to evaluate how he is with his suck, swallow and breath coordination and whether we should change to a different nipple type or not (the nipple on the bottle:D). She was very imformative. For instance, I didn't realize that preemies don't have their cheek muscles developed yet--that's part of why they often have issues feeding--they're sucking with their lips, not their cheeks like full termers. She knows what she's talking about, she's a speech therapist, but also has been a mom of preemies 3 times to 5 different babies!! She had a daughter at like 35ish weeks, then had triplets at 29 weeks 19 months later and then a year later had a 35ish (I can't remember exactly) weeker!!! Wow, compared to that my 19 monther and a baby should be a piece of cake!! :) Gibs' bili count was down today to 11.5 and it needs to be less than 10 before they'll take him off of the lights, so hopefully tomorrow it will have gone down enough that he can be off of them and we can see his eyes again:). Because he's so close to being at a low enough level they let him switch to a bili blanket instead of the bili bed (the bili bed is more effective/quicker) so that we could hold him and so that he was more comfy wrapped up in that. Hopefully as his bili count keeps decreasing he'll have more energy to drink his bottles!

Snuggled tight in his bili blanket with Dad...

Enjoying Kangaroo Care with Mom in his bili blanket...

Holding Daddy's finger after he settled down after the big spit up episode...

Day 5

Gibson had a pretty good day today. He is still on the bili lights to we couldn't hold him very much, but his counts are still coming down, so hopefully he can come off those lights and we can hold him again soon! We are missing being able to do Kanga Care with him. His weight went down 10 grams last night so he's still right around 5 bls 2 oz. He's had some more struggles with his feedings--he's been spitting up quite a bit. They found quite a bit of air in his belly so they have now switched him to the Dr. Browns bottles which help with air. The nurse tonight said that if he continues to have issues spitting up they will have to lower the amount he gets at each feeding (50mL) and he will then have to work his way back up again. He might also need his IV back in. That is discouraging for us as it is a step backward. He seemed to be on such a fast track compared to Layla--having his IV out much quicker, switching to an open crib after a couple of days rather than a couple of weeks, taking as much in a feeding now that took Layla a couple of months to get up to--it's hard to now to see him have set backs that will prevent him from coming home any time soon. Don't get me wrong, I'm so happy he's healthy and doing well and I now it could be so much worse, but we just want our little guy home! It just always feels like part of our family is missing--when we're at the hospital with him we miss Layla and feel bad that once again she's dumped off at a baby-sitter (not that she minds--she has lots of fun at Grandma and Grandpa's, cousin Gavin's and Grampy and Gigi's) and when we're home with her (which hasn't been too much--we've been busy with running errands and such) we wish he could be home with us too!! Hopefully next weekend he'll be close to coming home! There are currently three other babies in the special care nursery with him--he is the youngest--one is close to coming home (he was born a week before Gibson) and the other two I don't think are quite ready either. So they are all in the same boat as him. It's encouraging to see the one getting close to going home!

He loves his tummy and it helps with his digesting issues. He was sleeping like his sis today with his knees tucked in and his little buns in the air:).

He spit up twice today all over this glow worm bed so he enjoyed another bath today. The nurse today ran the back of his head under the water to wash his hair and he just loved it. He looked very relaxed:).

Feeding with mommy yesterday...it's funny how nurses comment that they can tell we've dealt with feeding a preemie before. It's nice to get reminders from the nurses on different techniques to try to get them to drink successfully, but it's amazing how much of it really does come back too! Seems like just yesterday we working on feeding with Layla:).

Burp time!

Layla and Joe having snack time while I pumped (their pump room is also a kitchen).

Layla checking out the strange glowing baby...

Day 4

Today was another good day for our little guy. There were a few changes that took place and I will try to do my best to explain them. First, when we arrived at the hospital we noticed our little boy was glowing blue and wearing a Zorro mask. Apparently his bili count was high enough that the Drs thought he should be put on phototherapy and so they put him on a bed that lights up blue against him. This is quite different from our experience with Layla who had bright lights above her when she was in her isolette receiving her phototherapy. So far he seems to be doing alright with it because when they checked his count this evening he had started coming down already. Hopefully this continues and he will be able to be off these lights soon, because we are not able to hold him (except breifly during feedings) when he is having his phototherapy. We were just starting to learn about kangaroo care and how great it is for his development (for those of you who dont know what kanga care is, it is the process of laying skin to skin with your baby); however, now we have to wait to do this and are eager to get started again.

As far his feeding goes he is up to 50mL and digesting it very well. He is having a problem nippling all of it because he gets so tired; so they generally have to gavage the rest through his feeding tube. He also has trouble understanding that he needs to breath while eating. Right now he just starts eating and chows down ... then he desats (oxygen levels get to low) and he stops and gasps for air. So we are now trying to work on that with him.

Last need he weighed in at 5lbs 3.5oz so we are eager to see if he gained at all today ... they weigh him at midnight each night.

As soon as I find my camera cord I will post some pictures. Please continue to pray that he learns the process of suck, swallow and breath in order to develop his feeding process so he may come home as soon as possible.

First Visits/Day 3

Happy New Year! Today certainly did not feel like a holiday to us! We came home from the hospital yesterday late afternoon. We gave him his 4pm bottle and then went to pick up Layla and came home! Last night he weighed 5 lbs 4 oz and last night they also took him off of his IV since he now is drinking enough milk. He is also in an open crib now. It took Layla a couple of weeks to get to an open crib so he's making good progress--it's amazing what a difference a few weeks can make in a preemie! He is now up to about 40mL per feeding and they will add 3 oz/feeding every other feeding until he reaches 48. He's been struggling with his feedings a bit--he takes it in too fast and forgets to breath so he desats and then tires out and has to have the rest of his feeding gavashed/tube fed. We're probably going to switch to different bottles soon so maybe that will help him not get so much milk all at once. Hopefully that will help him with his feeding issues! We'll be switching to Dr. Brown's which is what Layla had at DeVos.

His first visitor on his birthday was his sissy of course:). She was staying at Em and Mike's so Em and Gavin brought her to see him that morning. Here's Joe, Gavin and Layla chillin' in the hospital room watching Elmo...

Auntie Em and Gibs...

She totally doesn't understand that this little baby will be coming home with us...all she said was "baby", "hi", and of course "pipe":). Uh-oh, she's eyeing his already...and the baby's pipe in the bed next to him.

Only kids under 12 are allowed in if they're siblings so Gavin had to peak through the window...

Lindsey and Darrell visiting...

Joe's mom, sister and me on his birthday...

Joe's dad has a slight cold, so he has just peaked through the window. Joyce has also been fighting a cold so she also just looked through the window. Unfortunately we didn't get a pic of my dad and Joyce visiting.

Steve and Heidi waiting their turn to see him in the hallway...

This is from today...sporting his new camo outfit...

Layla stopped by with Joe's family today (they were baby-sitting so we could spend the afternoon and evening with him)...we asked her if she wanted Gibson to come home with her and she said "no" :). We could be in trouble!