Coming Home!

Carter is coming home on SUNDAY!!! As much as I wish it were today, I know Sunday is best for EVERYONE, and the next 2 days will FLY by between rehearsal dinner and the wedding. Did I mention that Sunday is also our 1 year wedding anniversary? I couldn't imagine a better present!

Carter is currently doing his carseat challenge. The nurse isn't too sure he'll pass on his first attempt, because she waited a little while after he ate and he's probably getting hungry again..which means getting fussy! To pass the challenge he has to stay in the carseat for an hour - without any respiratory or heartrate issues. He is SO incredibly tiny for the carseat right now and it was also suggested that an adult ride in the backseat with him for awhile - which I would anyways since I'm not driving yet.

Finally - later tonight Mike and I are doing our "overnight" with Carter! HOORAY! Before babies in the NICU go home, they suggest/offer for parents to spend a night in one of the suites where you will take on full care of the baby. So I'm going home to gather some things together - then Mike will meet me back at the hospital after work (he doesn't know it yet though!).

Check back later/tomorrow for details on our stay!

But Mom...I Want to go Home!

When I got to the NICU this afternoon, the nurse started talking to me about bringing in the carseat for the carseat challenge. HOORAY!!! Sort of. Of course, then I ask how long after that til he goes home and basically he could come home ANY TIME. HOORAY AGAIN!!! But not really. I kept talking to Carter over the past two weeks about growing and learning to eat so he could come home...and he sure listened!! Even faster than we thought. He even kept smiling today as if to say "I'm so proud of myself! Aren't you proud mommy?"

Unforunately, my brother's wedding is this weekend and EVERYTHING I've heard says not to take a preemie anywhere, especially around large groups of people for TWO MONTHS - but I cant miss the wedding. And absolutely no offense to anyone, because many of you have offered...but I will not leave my baby alone with ANYONE when he has just come home from the hospital.

So...I had to ask if they can keep Carter at the hospital until Sunday. It breaks my heart. I have to wait until tomorrow to talk to the doctor about it. I know either way it'll work out...I just feel like a horrible mom asking them to keep him there (or a horrible sister if I have to miss, or not fully participate in the wedding festivities). Of course, it doesn't help that the nurse looks at me like i'm absolutely insane asking to have him stay longer. *sigh*

Look Mom - No Tubes!

Carter is getting closer and closer to coming home each day! This morning I was told that he is on "at liberty" feeding. Meaning that at EVERY feeding he can either breast/bottle feed - and only needs to be tube fed if he won't take a bottle. I don't know specifics - but I remember a few days ago the nurses saying that if he can take EVERY feeding by breast/bottle for 24-48 hours, the tube would come out. He's also up to a maximum of 46ml (prior to today it was 37) with a minimum of 33ml per feeding. At 6am he took 31ml by bottle, 9am he took the entire bottle, and 12pm and 3pm he did a combo of breast/bottle feeding. 6pm was 35ml bottle, and 9pm was another combo. So far, so good. Yesterday and today he's had a lot more "wakeful" periods as well. Hopefully this is all a good sign. When I returned to the NICU for the 9pm feeding, I noticed that Carter didn't have his feeding tube in. Apparently he decided "heck with waiting 24 hours, it's coming out now!" And since he's feeding well - they will leave it out unless they need to put it back in. HOORAY!

I'm anxiously waiting for them to tell me to bring in his carseat for the carseat challenge (baby must be able to handle 1 hour in the carseat) - as this means he is ALMOST ready to go! A set of twin girls who were in the NICU with Carter had their carseat challenge 2 days ago - yesterday they told the mom she could spend the night to test it all out - and this morning they were discharged!

I really don't know how parents do this for MONTHS when their baby is even more premature than Carter was. After only 2 weeks, this is starting to get overwhelming (yet I feel unnecessarily guilty if I'm not here ALL day). Although it won't be easy having a "newborn" baby at home, I honestly think it will be easier than spending all this time in the hospital.

2 Weeks and Wide Awake

That would be Carter...not me! But he's eating great! They fed him 31ml at 3am...then since he was so awake and alert they gave him another bottle at 9am and he finished all 37ml! I fed him at noon and he seemed very unsettled (and still awake) after that. Turns out he had such a messy diaper, though even after it was changed he wouldn't sleep. So I just sat there and held him for a looong time. He finally fell asleep about 1/2 hour before physical therapy. Poor little guy was so tuckered out for the rest of the day. Oh, and they ordered his vision test...just one of the necessary things before going home. I decided to go home early myself to catch up on some much needed rest as I was practically falling asleep holding him all day.

"This is discharge talk"

That's what the Doctor said to me today while doing her rounds! Carter has done SO well feeding the last few days that he is now up to 4 bottle/breastfeeds a day! That's halfway there! He is also back in the crib, and will be starting some vitamins (that he will continue to be on when he is discharged).

At the 12pm feed, Carter started off very slow, but ended up eating VERY well (for about a half hour!). I attempted to give him a little bottle to make sure he had eaten enough, but he wanted nothing to do with it, just sleep. I left for about 1/2 an hour, and when I came back he was screaming. I picked him up and immediately he was quiet. We decided to give him just a little more bottle - and sure enough after a "snack" of 10ml, he was right back to sleep. I'm afraid we have another Justin here...eats a little at meal time, but as soon as the meal is over he wants a snack! Unfortunately when I returned to the NICU a bit later, I was told that he only slept about 10 minutes after I left...so he was VERY tired for the 3pm feeding and really didn't do much.

However - after sleeping most of the evening, Carter was a superstar at the 9pm feeding! I might call in a bit to see if he ended up sleeping through, because we only gave him 10ml of formula after he finished breastfeeding. I wouldn't be surprised if the doctor decides to increase his feedings to EVERY feeding depending on his altertness (i.e. if he's wide awake, we try to bottle/breastfeed, but if he's super tired then they just use the feeding tube).

So Big!!

Measurement time - 18inches!

Wearing his preemie clothes before he outgrows them!

Mike starts his new job tomorrow - so it'll be interesting to see what our schedule is like for the rest of the week. My goal is for Carter to come home next Sunday - what an awesome first anniversary present that would be! Of course, if he needs more time than that...it's ok!

Pictures

Almost done!!

Allison...even if this base doesn't look like yours, I'm going to try to figure out if they are compatible - do you know which version/style you have?

Kicked Out of NICU...sorta

Okay, so I wasn't exactly KICKED out, but Mike and I have been at the NICU from somewhere between 8am-11pm every day since I was discharged from the hospital a week ago. The hospital is about 30 minutes away, so we'd rather not go back and forth several times in one day. We take breaks by walking around, going down to the cafeteria, etc. The nurses keep telling me I need to go home and rest up.

So finally this afternoon a nurse offered to see if one of the suites (they often use for parents and baby to test out a night together before going home) was open so I could go rest in there. It was, so for now I am allowed in here all of today and tomorrow. And let me tell you...my 2 hour nap was FANTASTIC!

We are up to 3 feedings a day now! Carter did a GREAT job again with today's 12pm feeding. We didn't give him ANYTHING through the tube because after breastfeeding and bottle feeding, he was still wide awake, but not interested in eating, so we figured he had enough. Well, he wouldn't fall asleep and became quite fussy awhile later - so i'm guessing he needed more food.

At the 3pm feeding he ate for about 10 minutes, but then became very uninterested so I gave him the bottle. He had about 30ml of the bottle (his total feeding is supposed to be 37) then he didn't want anymore, but this time he was SOUND asleep. Hopefully when I go back for his 9pm feeding they will tell me that he slept all the way until his 6pm feeding.

The nurse encouraged Mike and I to begin watching the 3 safety videos we have to see before taking Carter home. I'm taking that as a good sign! Sarah & Nate visited tonight and finally got to see Carter, then mom and my brother's soon-to-be mother in law visited and drove me home since. Mike had left early tonight to go to my brother's stag party for which he is now IN the wedding next weekend! Hmmm...we went from causing the bride stress that I would go into labor at their wedding, to having the baby early and being able to relieve other possible stress factors. I guess that's what sisters and brother-in-laws are for!