Hiya Folks,
So Spencer weighs exactly 5lbs as of tonight, Tuesday! He is definitely starting to look more and more like what a newborn should look like - chubbier and not nearly as skinny and small. His temperament still appears to be very mellow and easy-going ... he doesn't cry or fuss too much at all, but instead is pretty relaxed. Who knows how he'll be when we take him home, but for now, this is wonderful to see! : )
Last week, I mentioned he had "graduated" to a cot (rather than the incubator). Well ... having done so has contributed to, truthfully, this not being the best week for him. Now that he's out in the open with all the noise and stimuli happening around him, he hasn't been able to get off the nasal prongs yet. Adding to that, while he was at 2 cc of oxygen while still in the incubator, he's now gone up to needing between 8 and 10 cc! At first, I thought this was a huge setback - here he was nearly off the oxygen and then up it goes again, 4-5 times what he was getting before! The nurses made me feel better though, saying that in time, he'll get used to being part of the outside world and besides, the difference between 2 and 10 cc of oxygen is actually super minimal. So, that made me feel better. Still though, the "NICU adage" that the babies take '2 steps forward, 1 step back' I suppose has rung true here. I hope to be writing next week that Spencer is finally breathing room air, all on his own. Again, I know that the lungs are the last to develop .... so I suppose that is another bit of reassurance.
Another setback this week has been that the apnea spells (shallow breathing) have started up again. He went 13 days (Sept 10-23) without one and then suddenly, 2 days after being in the cot, they've started up again. He's had about 1 a day since Saturday, the 26th. Now, apnea spells are not unusual for these little guys as I've said before (in fact it's one of the criteria for going home, not to have one for 7 days straight), but it seems strange that Spencer went from not having them for 13 days back to having them again, so the doctors are trying to figure out why. Is it the stress of moving to the cot? A different reason altogether? 3 days ago, he was tested to see if he might have an illness or infection - those tests came back negative, so that wasn't it (thank goodness .. luckily Spencer still yet has to get either!) The doctor today is wondering if it could be reflux - inflammation of the trachea from the increase in volume of milk Spencer has been getting. He's been gaining weight fast this week, so his feeds have been going up fairly quickly - perhaps his trachea isn't used to the amount and has become inflamed, thus making it harder to breathe properly, the doctor thought? Today, he prescribed a twice a day dose of antacid. We'll see if that helps. The other possibility is that his hemoglobin may be low, in which case they could prescribe more iron to compensate. Spencer gets bloodwork done once a week (on Wednesdays) so tomorrow, they will see if that's the case. So .. it's a trial and error thing for now, and hopefully they'll get to the bottom of these apneas soon.
Yesterday, the cardiologist checked Spencer for his PDA valve - this is the valve in the heart that for full-term babies closes as soon as they're born, but for preemies, stays open. Sometimes, the opening is quite large, in which case the babies are prescribed medication to help it close and if that doesn't work, are sent to Children's Hospital to close it through heart surgery. Thankfully for us, Spencer's valve opening after he was born was so minimal that the cardiologist was just going to "keep an eye on it" and re-assess once he was 35 weeks old. Well, she came by yesterday for an ultrasound and found that in the weeks since she'd checked him, it had closed on its own! Phew, that was a relief. A stroke of good news in this seemingly rough week Spencer's been having!!
As for the feeding, Spencer is still "in training" with the breastfeeding. We try him once a day, as any more at this early stage would likely be too much for him and would tire him out. To find out how much he's getting, the nurses weigh him before the feed and then weigh him after, as the amount he'd taken would show up on the scale since it hadn't been digested yet. The past 2 days, Spencer has taken 10 cc before getting too tired and stopping. His full feed is 44 cc and one of the criteria for going home is that he needs to take the full amount of feed (at this point, 44 cc) every 3 hours for a period of 48 hours. So .... you can see that we'll still be "hospitaling it" for a little while yet, until he gets the hang of it and is able to get the amount he needs for the amount of time (48 hours) they require him to get it.
Speaking of "hospitaling it", it's so strange how the emotions of it all go from peak to valley in the matter of one day. Yesterday was a really hard day for me. I was so worried and emotional over these apnea spells starting up again that it was all I could do to keep from bursting. In the afternoon, I was holding Spencer and I just couldn't take it anymore - the tears started flowing and flowing and wouldn't stop. The nurses were fantastic - I felt like a huge fool, but they see it all the time so were so great in helping me pull myself together. Today though, I feel ok again. Yesterday, I didn't know how on god's green earth I was going to get through the month or so it'll be until we can bring him home and then today, I feel like though of course it's painfully tough, we still WILL get through it. It's amazing how some days, it's all I can do to put one foot in front of the other and other days, I feel so incredibly blessed to have this beautiful little boy to call Drew and my own that I'm walking on air. Going through this experience has hands down been the hardest 7 1/2 weeks of my entire life, but we WILL get through it and one day, look back at it all as a memory. Part of what's getting me through is realizing that I'm not the first person to give birth prematurely and certainly won't be the last and darn it, if those mothers can get through it, then so can I!! Again, it's all about that magic word that at the moment, I hate so much ... T-I-M-E.
Well folks, that's it for this week. Thanks for reading and please keep your fingers crossed that they find the reason for the apneas soon!
Love and Hugs,
Tara, Drew & Spencer xoxo
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Spencer - 34 Weeks (Gestational Age)
Hello,
Thanks everyone, for keeping up with the blog - hope you're enjoying hearing about our little one progress! Spencer is still doing well. He's up to 4lbs 4 1/2 oz now, so as of last night, is officially in a cot. Yahoo, no more incubator! Last night was the first time we got to dress him in clothes, too (the incubator is nice and warm, so up until this point, he's just been in a diaper). It was so funny, Drew was snapping away with the camera as I dressed him in his very first outfit, an ENORMOUS smile on my face! Yet another example of how the simple pleasures are not taken for granted, being the parents of a preemie!! I can't even explain how incredible it is to be able to kiss him as much as we want, now that he's not living in a "box". What a difference from 5 weeks ago, when we had to wait until 8pm to do so.
Other big things this week - his feed schedule changed from every 2 hours to every 3 hours .. doing this is to prepare them for what it will be like once they're at home. He also had his follow-up eye exam .. no ROP detected again, his eyes are healthy! Phew. His hearing test was done today, as well. Although he does startle at a noise in the room so we figured his ears were ok, I was still a little nervous about this one, as it detects even the slightest hearing impairment. Spencer's nurse was prepping me before the technician did the test, saying it's completely common for babies to fail the test the first time (due to fluid in their ears) and then pass it a week or so later, so not to be worried if this were to happen. Well ... it didn't! Both of his ears passed, his ears are fine. Oh my goodness, what a relief!
Still no infections, thank goodness - he seems to be an all-around healthy boy who just needs time to fully develop. The biggest obstacle has been mastering the breathing, though it too is coming along as he grows and develops .. he's been on 2-3 cc of oxygen for the majority of the week (down from 5 cc last week) which, I'm told by the nurses, is really just a whiff of air - not too much at all. I think that by the next blog post, he'll be off the prongs altogether.
Well, those are all the updates - stay tuned for next week and again, thanks for reading!
Love,
Tara, Drew & Spencer xo
Thanks everyone, for keeping up with the blog - hope you're enjoying hearing about our little one progress! Spencer is still doing well. He's up to 4lbs 4 1/2 oz now, so as of last night, is officially in a cot. Yahoo, no more incubator! Last night was the first time we got to dress him in clothes, too (the incubator is nice and warm, so up until this point, he's just been in a diaper). It was so funny, Drew was snapping away with the camera as I dressed him in his very first outfit, an ENORMOUS smile on my face! Yet another example of how the simple pleasures are not taken for granted, being the parents of a preemie!! I can't even explain how incredible it is to be able to kiss him as much as we want, now that he's not living in a "box". What a difference from 5 weeks ago, when we had to wait until 8pm to do so.
Other big things this week - his feed schedule changed from every 2 hours to every 3 hours .. doing this is to prepare them for what it will be like once they're at home. He also had his follow-up eye exam .. no ROP detected again, his eyes are healthy! Phew. His hearing test was done today, as well. Although he does startle at a noise in the room so we figured his ears were ok, I was still a little nervous about this one, as it detects even the slightest hearing impairment. Spencer's nurse was prepping me before the technician did the test, saying it's completely common for babies to fail the test the first time (due to fluid in their ears) and then pass it a week or so later, so not to be worried if this were to happen. Well ... it didn't! Both of his ears passed, his ears are fine. Oh my goodness, what a relief!
Still no infections, thank goodness - he seems to be an all-around healthy boy who just needs time to fully develop. The biggest obstacle has been mastering the breathing, though it too is coming along as he grows and develops .. he's been on 2-3 cc of oxygen for the majority of the week (down from 5 cc last week) which, I'm told by the nurses, is really just a whiff of air - not too much at all. I think that by the next blog post, he'll be off the prongs altogether.
Well, those are all the updates - stay tuned for next week and again, thanks for reading!
Love,
Tara, Drew & Spencer xo
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Spencer - 33 Weeks (Gestational Age)
Hello again!
Well, Spencer's made some great strides this week. Still no infection or any real issues to speak of, which we're so pleased about and ... last Wednesday (the 9th, Drew's birthday), he "graduated" from CPAP to Low Flow nasal prongs, which only give him the tiniest bit of oxygen! He's on 5 cc right now and once he gets down to 0, he won't need any breathing help at all. So, he's getting there. As I said before, the breathing/lung development is the biggest thing for these little preemies.
Weight-wise, as of tonight (Tuesday), he's up to 3 pounds 10 1/2 ounces. 5 1/2 more ounces and he's out of the incubator and into a cot! Also, at 3 lbs 12 ounces, they go from being fed every 2 hours to being fed every 3 hours, so that'll be the next thing for Spencer.
The other positive thing that happened this week is he got his eye exam done ... and no ROP (retinopathy of prematurity) was detected! He'll get a follow-up exam in 2 weeks, but so far, his eyes are fine. Drew stayed with Spencer as he was getting the exam done - I was told by other parents to avoid it if at all possible, as the process scares the babies, which in turn scares the parents .. their eyes get opened super wide with this special eye opening tool .. one person even said it looks like a medieval torture device ... that was enough for me, I wanted no part of it! At the same time, I was glad Drew was there to comfort Spencer. He said Spencer did very well and didn't struggle or squirm too much. Poor little guy though - about 1/2 an hour afterwards, he threw up. His nurse said it would have been the stress, as Spencer had never thrown up before (and hasn't since, either). I felt so sad for him. : ( These little babies go through so much in their first few weeks of life - the poking, the prodding ... it doesn't seem fair. If I could go through it all for him, I would in a heartbeat!!!!!
Finally, the very latest thing that's happened (just started yesterday) is that I'm starting to introduce breastfeeding to Spencer. The preemies get the coordination to suck, swallow and breathe all at the same time between 34-36 weeks, so it's still a little early for him, but the nurses say I can start training him now. So far, so good .. he latched on for a few seconds his first few tries! It's a learning process, but I think he'll be fine, once he gets the hang of it.
Oh ya and one very last thing - a new mom came in from Children's Hospital with a baby who is now 35 1/2 weeks, but was born at 23 1/2 weeks at 1 lb 6 ounces .. she had (or has) the same thing I do, a shortened cervix and her stitch only lasted a week and a half (I guess I should consider myself lucky that mine lasted 6 weeks?) ... her daughter, Erica, is huge now though! I couldn't believe how big she was, looking at her in comparison to Spencer. Hanako, the mom, told me that generally, the preemies will go through a growth spurt at around 34 or so weeks (that's just next week for Spencer!) and for her daughter, it meant gaining 100 grams (3 1/2 ounces) a day! Sounds pretty fantastic, I can't wait for Spencer to go through his. Every ounce he gains makes him bigger, stronger and closer to the NICU door! : D
Well, that's all for this week. I've been meaning to post more pictures - I'll do that soon.
Thanks for reading and please keep us in your thoughts!
Love,
Tara, Drew & Spencer xoxo
Well, Spencer's made some great strides this week. Still no infection or any real issues to speak of, which we're so pleased about and ... last Wednesday (the 9th, Drew's birthday), he "graduated" from CPAP to Low Flow nasal prongs, which only give him the tiniest bit of oxygen! He's on 5 cc right now and once he gets down to 0, he won't need any breathing help at all. So, he's getting there. As I said before, the breathing/lung development is the biggest thing for these little preemies.
Weight-wise, as of tonight (Tuesday), he's up to 3 pounds 10 1/2 ounces. 5 1/2 more ounces and he's out of the incubator and into a cot! Also, at 3 lbs 12 ounces, they go from being fed every 2 hours to being fed every 3 hours, so that'll be the next thing for Spencer.
The other positive thing that happened this week is he got his eye exam done ... and no ROP (retinopathy of prematurity) was detected! He'll get a follow-up exam in 2 weeks, but so far, his eyes are fine. Drew stayed with Spencer as he was getting the exam done - I was told by other parents to avoid it if at all possible, as the process scares the babies, which in turn scares the parents .. their eyes get opened super wide with this special eye opening tool .. one person even said it looks like a medieval torture device ... that was enough for me, I wanted no part of it! At the same time, I was glad Drew was there to comfort Spencer. He said Spencer did very well and didn't struggle or squirm too much. Poor little guy though - about 1/2 an hour afterwards, he threw up. His nurse said it would have been the stress, as Spencer had never thrown up before (and hasn't since, either). I felt so sad for him. : ( These little babies go through so much in their first few weeks of life - the poking, the prodding ... it doesn't seem fair. If I could go through it all for him, I would in a heartbeat!!!!!
Finally, the very latest thing that's happened (just started yesterday) is that I'm starting to introduce breastfeeding to Spencer. The preemies get the coordination to suck, swallow and breathe all at the same time between 34-36 weeks, so it's still a little early for him, but the nurses say I can start training him now. So far, so good .. he latched on for a few seconds his first few tries! It's a learning process, but I think he'll be fine, once he gets the hang of it.
Oh ya and one very last thing - a new mom came in from Children's Hospital with a baby who is now 35 1/2 weeks, but was born at 23 1/2 weeks at 1 lb 6 ounces .. she had (or has) the same thing I do, a shortened cervix and her stitch only lasted a week and a half (I guess I should consider myself lucky that mine lasted 6 weeks?) ... her daughter, Erica, is huge now though! I couldn't believe how big she was, looking at her in comparison to Spencer. Hanako, the mom, told me that generally, the preemies will go through a growth spurt at around 34 or so weeks (that's just next week for Spencer!) and for her daughter, it meant gaining 100 grams (3 1/2 ounces) a day! Sounds pretty fantastic, I can't wait for Spencer to go through his. Every ounce he gains makes him bigger, stronger and closer to the NICU door! : D
Well, that's all for this week. I've been meaning to post more pictures - I'll do that soon.
Thanks for reading and please keep us in your thoughts!
Love,
Tara, Drew & Spencer xoxo
Monday, September 7, 2009
Happy 1 Month, Spencer! (32 Weeks Gestation)
Hi Everyone,
Well, another good week for Spencer. He's now up to 3lbs 5 oz (1, 510 grams) as of tonight (Monday). When he gets to 1, 800 grams, he graduates to an open crib instead of an isolette, so that's an exciting milestone. 1, 800 grams is just under 4lbs, so that's not too far away! The babies gain an average of 30 grams per night, so we're looking at about 10 or so days until he's there. The other exciting thing that happens once they graduate to a crib is that the grandparents can hold them then (right now, it's only the nurses, Drew and I who can touch or hold Spencer), so that'll be nice for Grandma & Grandpa P. and Grandma & Grandpa S.! And then of course, once he 'breaks free', others can hold him, too ...
We've steered clear of any infections again this week, thank goodness. It's reassuring to know that our little boy isn't in the hospital because he's sick, but instead is in there because he's small and needs time to develop/mature. That's not to say he won't pick something up while he's there - of course that can happen - but here at 31 days, nothing has come up, so we're praying every day that he'll keep following along that course! Speaking of developing/maturing, his lungs are still in that process (in utero, the lungs are one of the last organs to develop). He's still on CPAP to give him the little boost he needs. It's tough to think that your little baby is having trouble breathing - one of life's most basic things - but again, it's not because he's sick that he can't, it's just because his lungs still need to mature. And they will, it'll just take time. (There's that word again - time - it's so annoying that it's passing so terribly sssllloowwwlllyyy!!)
The best time of day continues to be the time we can hold him. He is just the most precious little thing and I can't even believe the insane amount of love I feel for him. It's overwhelming!
Well, that's all for this week. Stay tuned for the next update and hopefully some more pictures! Keep the positive energy coming our way ...
Lots of Love,
Tara, Drew & Spencer xo
Well, another good week for Spencer. He's now up to 3lbs 5 oz (1, 510 grams) as of tonight (Monday). When he gets to 1, 800 grams, he graduates to an open crib instead of an isolette, so that's an exciting milestone. 1, 800 grams is just under 4lbs, so that's not too far away! The babies gain an average of 30 grams per night, so we're looking at about 10 or so days until he's there. The other exciting thing that happens once they graduate to a crib is that the grandparents can hold them then (right now, it's only the nurses, Drew and I who can touch or hold Spencer), so that'll be nice for Grandma & Grandpa P. and Grandma & Grandpa S.! And then of course, once he 'breaks free', others can hold him, too ...
We've steered clear of any infections again this week, thank goodness. It's reassuring to know that our little boy isn't in the hospital because he's sick, but instead is in there because he's small and needs time to develop/mature. That's not to say he won't pick something up while he's there - of course that can happen - but here at 31 days, nothing has come up, so we're praying every day that he'll keep following along that course! Speaking of developing/maturing, his lungs are still in that process (in utero, the lungs are one of the last organs to develop). He's still on CPAP to give him the little boost he needs. It's tough to think that your little baby is having trouble breathing - one of life's most basic things - but again, it's not because he's sick that he can't, it's just because his lungs still need to mature. And they will, it'll just take time. (There's that word again - time - it's so annoying that it's passing so terribly sssllloowwwlllyyy!!)
The best time of day continues to be the time we can hold him. He is just the most precious little thing and I can't even believe the insane amount of love I feel for him. It's overwhelming!
Well, that's all for this week. Stay tuned for the next update and hopefully some more pictures! Keep the positive energy coming our way ...
Lots of Love,
Tara, Drew & Spencer xo
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
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