Carter is up to 6 lbs 10 oz!

Carter is growing, growing, growing!!!  He saw the pulmonologist on Wednesday, and they downloaded the information from his apnea monitor and said that all the breathing alarms were false, and most of the heart rate alarms were false.  There were a few low heart rate alarms that were real. They were when he would reflux.  He did this in the NICU as well.  The dips were only for a short time and he always corrected himself.  Carter now only needs the monitor when both he and mama are sleeping.  So he can be free of that machine when he is awake.  He goes back in 2 weeks to have another check and see if it can be totally removed.  He saw his pediatrician yesterday, who thought he probably didn't need the monitor at all.  His weight curve is excellent and his legs are starting to look a little pudgy!  And I know you can't tell baby's eye color yet, but I am betting on blue - just like his dad! And while we were waiting for the doctor to come into the exam room, he pooped, so we changed his diaper and right when we took the dirty one off, he decided to pee and we looked like a comedy act trying to avoid a total disaster!  Of course, it didn't bother Carter! The pediatrician also said to let him sleep through the night until he wakes up - Courtney has been waking him every 3 hours or so to feed.  So that's good news and maybe worth a few more minutes of that precious sleep!  Next visit to the pediatrician, he will get vaccinations :(.  I am sure he will cry and probably mama will too!

Carter's First Trip to Grandma's House!

Well, Carter came to visit me last night!  And he brought his mom!  It was her first solo drive with her in the front and him in the back, and they survived.  And he lived through the commotion at my house.  Courtney brought her dog, Kyba, who joined our dogs, Weezer and Remmy.  There was lots of barking, and he slept right through it!  Weezer was mad and pouted most of the night.  Remmy was very curious.  He passed by the pack 'n play several times before he realized there was something alive in there.  He stood for the longest time looking through the mesh trying to figure out what that little grunting thing was.  When we sat on the couch with Carter, Remmy got as close as we would let him, trying to sniff where he could.  He really wanted to lick him, but we wouldn't let him get close enough.  Carter was asleep when he got there, but eventually woke up and stayed awake for most of the visit.  There were lots of new things to look at!  He even got an early Christmas present - a noisy, bright colored ball to look at and listen to.  Lucky for us, this Christmas, he won't know he got one less thing when the day arrives!  He goes to his pulmonologist this Wednesday, and we hope he will remove the apnea monitor.  It goes off so often that no one pays any attention to it now.  He will see his pediatrician Thursday for a weight check.  We are anxious to see if he gained.  His belly and legs look a little fatter to us, so we are hopeful he's packing on that weight.

Not much weight gain this week

We took Carter to his pediatrician yesterday.  This past week, he advised to try mostly breastfeeding, hoping it might help with his reflux, as he seems to do it worse with formula.  But he had only gained 1 ounce in a week, which is not enough.  It seems that he is still so small, that the energy used up while breastfeeding is pretty much equal to what he is taking in, and in a sense, being a little counter-productive.  So this week is doing partial breastfeeding, with formula each feeding.  We will take him back in a week and let them weigh him and see what his weight is after that.  He is taking liquid vitamins, which always seem to make the reflux worse and upset his tummy a little, so the doctor told us to pre-mix his day's formula and mix the vitamins with a large amount and then he would only be getting small amounts at one time.  We also asked about trying Zantac, as we had read some babies are on that, but he said Zantac is harder to tolerate than Pepcid, so we will continue with that.
Our dumb question of the day was, what do we do if mama or daddy gets sick?  Our funny doctor replied, "Well, we come and take the baby and give him back after about 10 days or so."  He said if mama gets sick, her body is making antibodies to whatever she has, and while Carter is breastfeeding, he is also receiving those antibodies.  He said Carter may get sick with whatever they have, but he should also be able to fight it fairly well. 
It is still so frustrating not being able to take him out anywhere because of the germs and viruses, and once in a while it is really tempting.But if we can hold out until this winter's "sick" season is over, we will be out and about with him.  I guess it's not worth the chance of having to go back to the nicu!

No Explanation of Delivering Early

Courtney went for her six-week checkup yesterday and everything is fine.  Her incision is healing well.  They did several tests to try and determine the reason for the premature delivery, and there was nothing wrong.  Her doctor said about 10% of women deliver early for no apparent reason.  He also said if she chose to do this again, she would be considered high-risk and would probably need to take progesterone shots to try and ensure that she made it to term.  And said she would probably want to do another C-section. 
Carter slept all the way to Springfield, the whole time we were there and all the way home!  What a trooper!  We figured we would have to stop along the way home to feed him, and he fussed a few times on the ride home, but then went right back to sleep.  Of course, he was really ready to eat when we finally got him out of that seat! 
So glad all is going well at this point.  Carter goes for his 6-week appointment this week, and we will be anxious to see how much weight he has gained.  Next week he sees a pulmonologist  who will download the activity from his apnea monitor and supposedly he can tell if the alarms were real or false. We are hoping he tells us we don't need it any more.  It is such a pain lugging that thing around everywhere!

Sleeping Beauty

It's 10:30 in the morning, and I'm just sitting here watching Carter sleep. I bottle fed him this time around so Courtney could get a little rest. Amazing how peacefully he sleeps during the day and how often he wakes during the night. Yesterday he was awake in the early evening for around 2 hours. I just think he is doing miraculously well, considering he's still not supposed to be here for another two weeks.  Courtney goes for her six-week checkup this coming week and Carter goes for his, as well. I am anxious to see how much weight he has gained. We are not sure how much he can see at this point. Sometimes it seems as though he looks right at you. He does seem to like the bright colors of his toys and books.

Finally, a little sleep

Night before last, Carter didn't do very much sleeping. Last night, however, he slept for almost 3 hours, which allowed Courtney to get a little sleep. Yesterday, I came over on my lunch hour, and laid him on his tummy time mat and turned on the music, and he laid there listening and looking around for probably 20 minutes. He seems to be having more "awake" times and loves to be talked to and entertained.  The nicu nurses told us to swaddle him until he is able to bust out of it, which he has done for a couple of weeks now. And he also rolls from his back to his side on his own. This morning  I laid him against me and he raised his head for what seemed like a long time. We are amazed at how strong he is. Aunt Chelsea came to visit him today and was amazed at how much he had grown! I am babysitting this morning while mama does a few hair cuts. I keep trying to imagine what his personality will be -only time will tell!

Quick trip to the doctor

We took Carter for an unscheduled doctor visit today. He has been getting choked fairly often when he feeds, and last night he actually threw up afterwards. So we were concerned that there might be something wrong, as well as wondering how much he was actually keeping down and wanting to make sure he was retaining enough food too continue gaining weight. Last Thursday he weighed 5 lbs. Today he weighed 5 lbs, 11 oz! So apparently he is gaining. The doctor said he is actually gaining 50% more than he needs to. We discussed the breast feeding vs. Formula with him.  The nicu nurses said to always offer him formula just to be sure he gets enough calories, and we think he is getting enough, so the doctor said to only breast feed for this week and see how his weight is next week.  He seems to be doing fine with it - didn't act hungry for about 3 hours, which is normal. We are excited about the possibility of not having to mess with formula, plus the preemie formula is really expensive. And breast milk is more easily digested, so that may help  with his reflux episodes.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that he has an uneventful night tonight!

Still kicking!

Well, the last couple of days haven't been too bad, except we think Carter has his days and nights mixed up.  He seems to be rather content to snooze the day away, and then fusses and cries all night.  He has to take vitamins with iron, and we have been giving him 1/2 in the morning and 1/2 in the evening, and we are wondering if that might be upsetting his belly.  We will try giving him the second 1/2 in the afternoon and see how that goes.  His bandage from circumcision finally came off, so tonight it's bath time! And maybe we can soak off those darn apnea tabs and put new ones on to ensure the connection is good.  But his reflux doesn't seem to be as bad today.  And he is doing much, much better when he eats, remembering to pause and breathe every few sucks.  He has gotten strangled several times while eating - not sure what that's about, hoping it is something transitional that will pass.  We hope to weigh him tonight. His face has really filled out and his color is very good.  I hate not being able to take him out and show him off!  Can't take the chance of him getting rsv or even a minor cold would be a big deal. 

We hate apnea monitors!

This apnea monitor Carter has to be hooked to is the devil!! The nurses told us the sticky tabs would stay for 3-5 says. After about 5 days, his breathing alarm was going off from time to time, but he was still breathing, so we assumed maybe it was time to change the tabs. They said if you soak them in warm water it would help them come off. But because of his circumcision he can only have sponge baths until it heals. So we tried holding a wet washcloth on it and then when we tried to peel it off, it was still really attached. He cried and Courtney cried. At that point we decided to leave it on. The last couple of days, the heartbeat alarm has went off a few times, sending everyone into a panic. But we think it is just losing connection from time to time. Hoping to get the tab changed today. And he had some pretty bad reflux yesterday. We asked his doctor about him taking Pepcid, and he said its debatable whether it actually helps the reflux or not. He said at most, it simply coats his esophagus, preventing it from becoming irritated from the reflux.
Both he and Courtney got about 3 hours straight sleep this morning, which is more than they have gotten in a while. I know this time will pass, but at the moment, it is so stressful for Courtney, wondering if the alarms are real or false, and worrying about if he should spit up or reflux while he is sleeping, and not getting any rest. We ask for your continued prayers as we muddle through these first weeks at home.

Carter's One Month Birthday Picture!

Carter's First Doctor Appointment

We took Carter to see his pediatrician for the first time today.  Of course, it took way longer than we thought to actually get him packed and loaded in the car and we were a few minutes late!  His doctor said he looked good, and he is up to 5 pounds!! And from the time we brought him home until today - 6 days, I had to let out the harness straps on his car seat he had grown so much! The doctor showed us his growth on a graph, and said it was "optimum", so he is growing very fast.  We still don't like the apnea monitor, as it goes off for no apparent reason, which I guess is totally normal for those.  But still, it puts you into a panic when it goes off.  We still have to feed him every 3 hours, so that he continues to get enough food and calories to maintain his growth pattern.  He will still need to wear his hat and keep bundled all the time until he is around 8 pounds.  They said at that point, they can usually hold their own as far as maintaining their temperature.  We bombarded the doctor with a million questions, and we hadn't even gotten out of the parking lot before we said, "Oh, we forgot to ask...."   If only we could think of everything when we needed to! Anyway, he goes back in 2 weeks for another check up.
Courtney is feeling a little more relaxed with him, and getting a little bit more rest, so she is in a better frame of mind.
The doctor said for probably six months, absolutely no crowds - church, store, etc.  And he said only do that if you are ok with saying to everyone, "Don't touch my baby, don't breathe on my baby, and don't put your face close to my baby".  That's kind of hard to do, so he will probably just stay in until spring!

A couple of pictures of the sleeping prince!  Carter is doing just great!  His little cheeks are starting to look chubby, and he is eating 2+ ounces per feeding which is a great improvement - when he was a week old, he was only eating about 1/2 ounce at a time.  He is staying awake for longer periods as well.  We're not sure what he sees and what he doesn't, but sometimes it seems like he looks right at you.  And every time he hears daddy's voice, he turns to see where it's coming from!  Mama is totally exhausted, and could use some extra prayers!  We all know no one takes care of your baby like mama does, but sometimes you just have to let someone else take over and get some rest!  Cole is just the best dad - doing whatever needs to be done anytime he's asked.  He goes back to work tomorrow, so it may be kind of a rough day for Courtney.  We will try to take turns running over there to see what she needs.
Carter's monitor has went off a few times, but it's so frustrating because you don't know if it's actually him having an issue, or the monitor not getting good readings.  He has his first doctor's appointment Thursday, so we will be anxious to find out what doctor has to say, and to see if he's gained weight since coming home. 
Updates later!!