I love Mops & Pops

Today I want to share some photos of Mops (Grammie) & Pops.  They have been amazing for so many months now, including when I was still in Mama's tummy.  When Mama was on bedrest for 9 weeks, Mops & Pops took turns coming to take care of her (and me) whenever Daddy had to travel, and even when he was just at work since Mama couldn't be left by herself. They also bought me a present every Friday to celebrate my new gestational week.  Since I was born, they continue to help Mama at our house in Napa every week and they visit me a lot, even though they live 2 hours away.  They were sad that they couldn't hold me for several weeks while I was still getting stronger and on all sorts of monitors.  But, now they finally can!  I love seeing Mops & Pops and can't wait to have many fun experiences with them!

Oh...and I'm now 6lbs7oz.  I'm still off oxygen and breathing great.  I'm still having some trouble with bottle & breastfeeding, but everyone is being patient with me while I try to learn this really hard task!!! 

Daddy time

                                            Me with my milk face coma!

I'm still doing amazingly great without my oxygen.  In fact, I'm doing better without it than I was doing with it.  Mama & Daddy are a bit confused by this, but I'm just growing up & growing more lung tissue - quite the arduous task.  The only tube remaining is the one in my nose that the nurses use to put Mama's breastmilk into my tummy.  I'm a bit reluctant to give that one up since it's so nice to be able to sleep while I'm being fed.  It takes way too much energy to take a bottle or learn to breastfeed!

In other news, I'm over 6 pounds now!  6lbs2oz to be exact.  Mama can't believe that I already don't fit into some of the preemie clothes, and a little frustrated because she spent a lot of money on them to make me look so cute.  However, I think she's pretty silly for buying the clothes in the first place. I could have told her that I would only be able to wear them once or twice before I grew out of them. But, she just likes to shop & dress me up...something I think I'll just have to get used to!

Today I spent a lot of time with Daddy.  He gave me my bath, which I really enjoyed. And then he gave me my bottle.  Though this isn't my forte quite yet, I sure did enjoy the skin-skin care that we did once I passed out in a milk coma. He teaches me a lot of things everytime he holds me.  I'm trying to absorb it all, but he may need to repeat a few things when I'm a bit older!

No More O2.

I made an important decision today. Candidly, it was rather silly that the doctors and nurses insisted on sticking a nasal cannula in my nose with a constant flow of oxygen and nitrogen. So, I decided to kick the O2 habit and go for clean room air!

I have been breathing on my own for nearly 24 hours now, and I must say that I am pleasantly surprised by life without O2!
If you look closely, you may also noticed that I have grown a bit of wonderful baby fat around my face and neck!  Mama & Daddy tell me the next step is to eat all by myself, but I'm working on one day at a time!

Too fat for the chimney

I've gained a ton of weight in the past few days.  I'm 5lbs 8 oz today!  Technically, I was this weight a few days ago, but my doctors thought it was partially due to some extra fluid in my lungs and not completely due to my amazing muscle mass.  So, after some diuretics, I lost some weight and was breathing more comfortably.  But now I'm back to 5lbs 8oz of pure muscle! 

I'm feeling great the past two days, but Saturday was rough.  Despite my protests, the doctors & Mama & Daddy agreed that it was time for my vaccines last week.  This sounded like a terrible idea to me, but they tell me that the vaccines will prevent me from getting really sick later on.  At least I know that they won't cause autism because Mama rants constantly about how evil Jenny McArthy and the other proponents of the vaccine-leads-to-autism supporters are!   So, anyway, I felt crummy on Saturday - like I had the flu.  I didn't wake up all day and I kept forgetting to breathe too.  Mama & the nurses were nice and let me sleep all day long, and they gave me some extra oxygen to make me more comfortable.  Mama was so happy on Sunday when I was all better!  Back to my silly self as if nothing had ever happened. 

I'm still working on getting rid of my last bit of oxygen and learning to breastfeed.  It is so much easier to just get fed through my tube;  I don't really understand why I would want to work so hard at breastfeeding when I can relax and sleep with my tubefeeds! 

More cute photos coming soon...Mama & Daddy just can't keep the camera away from me!

Too cool for school

Mama has learned that she needs to undress me in order to keep me awake while I learn to breastfeed.  Otherwise, I just get too cozy and fall asleep within 5 minutes.  So, today, while she was getting ready, I was laying on my boppy pillow.  And when Mama looked down, this is what she saw!  I was just chillin' with my hands behind my head.  Mama says it is a good thing that I am so adorable, because otherwise she would be more frustrated then I refused to open my mouth to nurse 2 minutes later!

This is how big I am compared to Mama's water bottle - I've grown a lot!   I'm 5 pounds now!   I used to just be slightly longer than the bottle. I also am finally fitting into some preemie clothes for the first time.  I really have no idea why Mama and the nurses try to put clothes on me anyway...I'm happy in my diaper and a blanket.  But they insist on playing dress up.  I go along with it most of the time because I can tell it makes them happy....but seriously, it is a bit crazy to be dressed up and then have my outfits covered up by all the blankets!

Bath Day photos

 Just a bit surprised when my bum hit the water!  My startle reflexes sure work well - both arms flew way up! 

                  This isn't too bad!

       Sound asleep on Daddy!  
     Bathtime can be exhausting!

August 15 - 34 1/2 weeks

Hi everybody!

I'm 5 pounds today! Hooray for me. I just love Mama's milk - it helps me grow big and strong.

Today I had a Chest xray & a cardiac echo (ultrasound) to check up on my heart & lungs. Everything looked pretty good. A bit of extra fluid in my lungs which is part of being a preemie - so they're giving me a diuretic to get rid of it. My ductus arteriosus (a little blood vessel that connects my pulmonary artery to my aorta that is supposed to close when I'm born) is still open, but we kind of knew that already since they can still hear my little heart murmur. It's really common for we preemies to have this issue and we're hoping that it closes all by itself over the next few months.

August 14, 2011

Some really cute photos of me at 5 weeks old; 34 weeks corrected age.

August 12, 2011

Awakened from a deep slumber...






Stretching my arms


Full body stretching...

August 7th, 2011

My first real bath...I'm about 4 weeks old



I was asleep when they started my bath...

I was a bit puzzled...couldn't figure out what was going on...


But I woke up pretty quick!


I actually kind of liked it!


All Clean!

August 7th, 2011

Here are a few random photos!


2 weeks old - I love it when Mommy & I do skin-to-skin care


I'm so cute!



I can almost see over the top of my pacifier!


Tiny fingers!

August 7th, 2011

My first bottle! Daddy did a great job!


Yummy!



Burp!


It is so exhausting to take a bottle! But, I ate the whole thing!

August 7th, 2011

Here are some more photos of the past month! The ones of me being held by Mama & Daddy were the first times they were able to hold me. Then there is the one of me holding both of their fingers at once - that was so cool! And finally, there's the one of me wearing clothes for the first time - I'm about 3 weeks old there!

August 14, 2011

Mama & Daddy got a new camera lens so they can take awesome photos of me. Here are a few photos that they took today!

August 14, 2011

Many things have happened in the past several days. First of all, I got a new crib! I'm out of my spaceship bed and into a normal small crib. I kind of miss all the bells and whistles of my spaceship bed, but I do like the quiet of the new digs. Mostly, Mama & Daddy appreciate the additional room that they have to spread out when they come to visit me every day. I'm also off my caffeine - while I miss my morning espresso, Mama & Daddy are very happy that I am doing well without it. The caffeine was to help my central nervous system send appropriate signals to my lungs to remember to breathe. Preemies have a problem remembering to breathe, and I am no exception! Caffeine is routinely given to stimulate this pathway. I have been breathing well without my caffeine for 3 days now! I'm still on 1 Liter of oxygen/minute - Mama & Daddy are so happy that I have tolerated the decrease from 2 to 1 liters. The main thing I continue to work on is my breast and bottle feedings. I am definitely capable of taking full bottles, but I really like to sleep A LOT! I just can't seem to stay awake during my feeds...even though Mama is mean to me and tries to keep me awake! The doctors tell Mama & Daddy that this is normal and that eventually I will be more alert during my feeds. I do continue to grow big & strong - there must be something good in Mommy's magical milk! I am now 4 pounds 14 ounces and I can't wait to get to the next hurdle of 5 pounds in the very near future! I am developing quite the Buddha belly!
My Grandad & Boppy came to visit yesterday. So, now I have met all my grandparents.

Mama holding me. Granddad & Boppy think I'm pretty cool!


See my Buddah belly? This is me when I'm supposed to be nursing. Mama was so mean that she took off my clothes & blankets and held me upright so that I would wake up to nurse. But, I fooled her! I proved that I can sleep anytime under any conditions!

August 9th, 2011

Today was moving day! The NICU is set up with a large central area and then smaller pods with 4 rooms each along the periphery. Only the stable babies get to move to a pod...and you have to have seniority too. So, after 33 days in the NICU, Declan Hercules moved to where the stable babies are. In itself, that is awesome, but an added perk for Mom & Dad is that his room now has a huge window! Ah...natural sunlight! Declan's new room is even bigger than his original room - probably 11*11 feet, with hardwood floors and pretty paper on the walls. I told him not to expect that all his bedrooms are this nice. He's 4 pounds 5 ounces today, growing like a weed. He's now down to One liter of oxygen flow per minute (down from 2 Liters/minute) for the first time. This is the last step before removing his oxygen completely, which we hope he accomplishes in the next week or two. He's also feeding pretty well - knows how to take a full bottle and practicing breastfeeding. Only problem is that he tends to fall asleep after about 5 minutes of trying...so much effort for such a little guy!

August 7th, 2011

Well, this is the first update since Declan Hercules was born. It's been a crazy month! We've been driving back and forth from Napa to Walnut Creek every day to see our little man. He's doing so well. He was on cpap for 3 days before transitioning to nasal cannula. He's still requiring a bit of oxygen, but they have been slowly weaning down the concentration. He started getting breastmilk through his feeding tube at the start of week 2 - and now is taking 34cc every 3 hours. He started taking the breast & bottle one week ago and is progressing really well for a preemie who's just now reached 33 weeks. Every other feed is through the feeding tube, and every other feed is with the breast or bottle. All the nurses love him - he's quite a charmer with so many different facial expressions. He definitely has his own fan club! All his labs and his head ultrasound have been normal, which is a huge relief for his parents.
He hit four pounds yesterday, and today was 4 pounds 3 ounces. He's huge compared to what we started with!
He still probably has about a month left in the Neonatal ICU...learning to breathe without oxygen and perfecting eating by mouth. But, we are so looking forward to that day!

We are so blessed to have Declan Hercules in our lives and cannot wait to watch our little man grow up.

Thank you to all our friends and family who have been so incredibly supportive during the past many months. We cannot wait to make it up to you and for you all to meet Declan Hercules!

We promise more frequent updates!

Love, Joyce & Kurt