Catch Up!

Ok, I was a little tired the last couple of days and have some catching up to do. It's only been an extra day, but in Greydon land that's a long time.

It is "Fall Break" right now for two days at UVU and LHS, so I don't have to teach or learn for a whole long weekend, that is very nice. I will mention that to keep getting the grades that I am used to getting, reading four chapters of the Managerial Accounting Manual 5 minutes before taking the test doesn't quite cut it.


The biggest problem is that there are too many pictures I want to post now.... I can't take a break for that reason alone!

10-13


Hi!


Ok, let's start. During his last bath he ripped his feeding tube out. Which isn't so fun because they have to shove a tube back down his nose again, but in the mean time we got to see him for a little while without ANY tubes. In fact, since he was having a bath, it was the first time since his birth that he didn't have any sensors stuck to him, wires coming off of him, or tubes stuck into him, it was kind of fun.



We got his sensors back on and got one more pic before tubing his poor little nose.



He is looking so good and big, but I saw this pic while getting ready to post and he still looks so small next to Kristen's thumb.



But yesterday when we came in he looked like a little boy, it crushed me. The picture is too dark, but I couldn't resist trying to post it.



I know, I know you can't see anything, trust me, he was so peaceful and precious.

They want to start getting him used to and testing to see how he handles the car seat. This is normal procedure. Before a baby can get released he has to be able to handle sitting in a car seat for at least 90 minutes without de-satting or having any huge problems. If you live farther away than 90 minutes by car the baby has to pass the same test for as long as it would take you to drive home. We put an insert into his new car seat and it was still pretty big for him. It was cute to see him all strapped in and made me excited for having that same image happening in the back seat on the way to our home. He did ok in the carseat the first time. His numbers weren't great, his oxygen dropped a few times as he squirmed not being so sure about this new environment. They might want to do the test again because it was borderline, but maybe not.




Also on the same day they do a 12 hour recording of all of his oxygen numbers and then use it to determine if they want him to be on oxygen when he goes home. He has been off oxygen for a couple of days now, but they determined that since when he gets into a real deep sleep his numbers drop a little he will have oxygen at home for when he is asleep, just a trace. But I think when he is awake we will be able to leave him without.



Kristen decided to switch entirely to bottles for now. This might be a little more detail than I would normally blog, but it directly relates to a lot of different facets of what is going on right now.



When trying to eat the good ol' fashion way he would work really hard, look like everything was right, even according to the specialists, but than the weight would show he barely got any, a few times he worked so hard that his weight was less than when he started. Then we would switch to the bottle to finish, but he had tired himself out trying to eat the first time and would fall asleep.

So for now we are just bottle feeding. It is easier for him to get the milk and we can go back to learning how to do things the ol' fashioned way once he gets home. But we are now concentrating on just getting him home. Kristen is going through a range of emotions I can't relate to of course and this had to be her decision. I have to say I am all for it.

We first went to trying to let him eat from a bottle twice in a row. Normally he feeds every other feeding and gets gavaged (tube fed) for the other. The first time we tried to put two bottles back to back he kicked butt and ate like a bottle pro. The next step, after a little break, was to go to a "12 hour". For 12 hours he would be responsible for eating everything from a bottle. He even has to wake himself up because he is hungry. The waking up part made me a little nervous. But that was yesterday, and he woke up pretty much right on time every time without any "accidental" crib shaking. The second to the last feeding he ate 20 extra milliliters, which is huge. But that tired him out pretty good and he was a little groggy for the last feeding of the 12 hour, but he passed the 12 hour test!

Hmmm, good place to pause for a pic...



I convinced the nurses to help us cheat a little. After the 12 hour, the babies take a break, and then try a 24 hour. Since he was doing so well on the 12, I figured lets just keep going and call it the 24 test and be that much closer. It was looking good, but he got pooped out at the end of the 12, so it was better to go ahead and wait for the 24.

He is on the 24 hour now, Kristen is there with him while my Mom and I are finishing up here at the house because in a few days, if the next few tests go well, he might be coming home!

Mom has been a huge blessing. She is working her little tail off. The house is no longer just good enough, it is now sparkly. She does have a tendency to move things around when no one is looking. She is only 3 feet tall but can somehow move changing tables and recliners like no one's business. Everyday it's like a little surprise what will be where. I had to veto having the bassinet between my side of the bed and the alarm clock for fear of what would happen to our cute little guy as he tried to stand between me and a loud buzzing box at four in the morning. We might be putting some stuff back when her back is turned.... :) She's fun to give a hard time, but she has already helped more than I am willing to explain on more levels than I will address.... now I just have to figure out where she currently stashed the changing table. No, really, she just moved it again while I was typing this!

It is weird to think that some of the people who have been pivotal to our existence and our son's health may soon be much less prominent in our daily routines. We will miss them. Well, many of them, there are a few nurses who I won't be calling on Christmas, and a few others who will likely breath a sigh of relief as my back side exits their nursery for the last time.

This is one of our primary nurses, Bonnie, we will certainly be keeping in contact with Bonnie.




So cross your fingers, we should be days away, no longer counting by the week.

A quick word of warning. We have been told by licensed medical staff to not accept visitors at all for about a week after getting home. He has to get used to an entirely new environment, a whole new schedule, new sounds, new smells, everything. He needs to be really settled before people come to say hi. Plus going into the winter and RSV season as we are, we will be asking that anyone not feeling 100% perfect, or with kids who are a little sick at home wait until those situations are resolved entirely before coming over to visit. I'm not afraid to do a flying leap tackle move from the front porch. Also don't be shocked if you do come to visit when I start accosting you with handfuls of anti-bacterial wipes and bottles of sanitizer!