Soon Enough

I just gave Finn a bath.  (he is now sleeping soundly in his swing.)  He really likes the bath.  Getting "dressed" afterwards, not so much.  He enjoys lounging in the little blue tub, letting me squeeze the water out of the tiny soft washcloth onto his belly and legs, and he really likes getting his big round head scrubbed.  Finn takes his baths in our big bathroom, in our big tub.  The kids bath in the hall is too small and has too much other kid clutter for mommy, so our bath it is.  We have a LARGE jetted tub in our bathroom, that is up off the ground quite a bit, so I can't just lean over and wash him like I would with a regular tub.  So, the blue infant tub goes in the end by the spigot, then I have a little one step Rubbermaid step stool (that is older than dirt and has about 10 colors of paint on it) that I put in the other end for me to sit on so I can reach Finn.  (I learned this method from my husband.  It's how he used to bathe our dog, Einstein. *tear*)  It's really pretty comfy and gives me quite a nice vantage point for the bath.  I like it!  But, when the bath is over, neither one of us likes it.  It is a bit of a gymnastics feat to get OUT of this tub like this while holding a wet baby wrapped in a towel (MUCH easier this week without the oxygen support, but still a challenge).  And once I get out, I transfer him to the changing table, where I have the monitor belt, leads, wires and Velcro closure all set out and ready (pictured) - along with a clean diaper and change of clothes.  This is when the waterworks begin!  He hates getting dressed!  I remember when he was brand new at home he was so STIFF and I was worried about it and talked to our SoonerStart Child Development Specialist.  She said we would watch it and hopefully it would get better.  The stiffness has dissipated, but he still hates getting dressed.  First, I slather him up with smell good baby lotion - being careful to avoid all parts of the body that come in contact with the monitor belt and leads (ugh).  Then, I put the clean diaper on (sometimes I'm a little too slow on this step).  Then, I have to get the monitor parts together: attach the wires to the leads, put the belt under the baby, put the lead with the white wire under right arm, black under the left, pull the belt securely around baby's chest, affix the little band aid shaped Velcro tab.  All on a wriggling, crying baby.  THEN, clothes.  We've had a heat wave of sorts the last few days, so for now that's a short sleeved onesie and some socks.  MUCH better than earlier in the winter when I actually had to do layers and keep him warm!

Our bathtub set up. You can see my feet/ankles outside the top of the tub.

But, VERY SOON we will be done with the heart and apnea monitor.  It has not alarmed in weeks, unless one of us forgets to plug it in and the battery goes down, or we step on the blue cord and the leads come unplugged (the final step of the bath/get dressed precess when I bring him back to the living room is plugging the 2 lead wires into the blue patient cable that goes to the machine).  The home health company representative usually comes to Stillwater on Tuesdays.  We hope to be able to call this coming Monday and tell them to pick up all the oxygen tanks, the concentrator, AND the monitoring equipment.  It feels like we have been doing this forever, but soon enough, Finn will be FREE and off of all of his "leashes" that have been confining us for weeks.  It can't come soon enough for me.

Changes for good!

Well, one of my worst “Mommy of a Preemie” fears came true over this past weekend. Mommy got sick!  Almost worse than not being able to see Finn for a few days, it made me worry it was going to mess up my surgery (tubal ligation) that is scheduled for this coming Wednesday!  Luckily, I used my resources, and I am currently in OKC between “visits” with my little man.  I started feeling a bit “off” Friday evening (lost my voice for a while, even), then had a pretty good day Saturday, but was worried about the upcoming week, so I texted my OB (yeah, we’re that close) and he called in some antibiotics for me that night.  I took my meds and slept all day yesterday, and I am feeling much better today!  Good enough to drive down to see my baby, that’s for sure!

Over the weekend, Finn “graduated” from his high-tech incubator “Giraffe” omni-bed (pictured above) to a regular nursery crib!  That happened overnight Saturday night, so while I was sleeping yesterday (and Emma and Lara were with their AWESOME Aunt), Britt and Jake came up to see him in his new crib!  They keep him pretty wrapped up, and with the SiPap on his face and head, there’s not much to see!  He has on his clothes (a sleeper), then a snuggle blanket thing, then he is covered with another blanket!  He’s still learning to maintain his own temperature, so they like to keep him very cuddled up.  While Britt and Jake were there yesterday, Finn got his 5^th blood transfusion.  His numbers had been hovering on the low side, and he was borderline anemic, so they went ahead and transfused him, even though tests had shown he was making new blood cells.  This just gives him a head start and keeps him on the right track.

Today when I got to the NICU, I learned that the SiPap is no longer providing breaths for him!  This is SO BIG!  All of the breaths he is taking, he is initiating.  Such a big boy!  Now, the SiPap is still in use as it is holding his airways open, but we are definitely making progress.  They checked his blood gas about an hour ago, and it is GOOD, so he is doing what he needs to be doing!  YAY!  While I still get the lovely honor of taking his temperature and changing his diaper at the hands on times, we are really at a point where Finn doesn’t need a whole lot of attention (unless he loses his pacifier!), and the time seems to drag on!  He just needs to grow!  And we know he is because he has also graduated from the purple pacifier to the ORANGE pacifier!  Or, they may have done that since the Cowboys have a big game this weekend…

I was just thinking the other day how I haven’t told the story of giving him his first bath.  Last Sunday, I was in the NICU late for some reason (like past 8:00pm), and our regular nurse was at a delivery, so the charge nurse was working with Finn in the meantime.  Well, during the hands on, she decided he needed a bath.  I was perfectly content to stand back and watch, but she INSISTED I do it, because I had admitted I had never done it before.  Well, it was quite comical.  He was still in the BOX at that time, and while they had “popped” the top for full access to the baby, at 6 feet tall, it was hard for me to bend over and reach him very effectively.  So, in the awkwardness of the moment, and trying to not mess anything up, either Finn or I (probably me), pulled out his feeding tube!  The nurse was not too pleased with me on that one!  She got what she needed to replace it, and we got on with the bath, but I was not comfortable with it, I am pretty sure Finn got very cold, and we messed up his feeding.  I won’t be doing that again until he is without all the extra wiring!