2 Months Old!

Today, December 5, 2011, Mr. Finn Weaver is officially 2 months old!  WOW!  So hard to believe!  He is weighing in at 4 pounds 6 ounces, and had begun to bottle feed.  Never in a million years did I think I would  have 4 children, let alone a micro-preemie with a very long NICU stay, but, here we are!  And, as you can tell from the picture, it was time to COWBOY UP this weekend and yell ORANGE POWER as loud as we could, and Finn was in on the action as well.  So, not only do I have 4 children, my Oklahoma State University Cowboys are Big 12 Football CHAMPIONS!  What an amazing weekend!  Along with all of that, Britt and I are celebrating the 6^th anniversary of our engagement!  Best 6 years of my life.  SO GLAD God led him to me, and that I said “YES!”

Since Finn is off CPAP, he is MUCH easier to “get to,” and we can hold him much easier now.  That means, other family members can get in on the action, too!  Unfortunately, my mom is struggling through a cold, and the Big Girls were off on adventures with their Other Dad, so that left Big Brother.  And boy, was he excited!  And so good at it! And just completely precious.  Jake sang songs to Finn, talked to him, and just LOVED on him.  It was adorable!  He got to hold Finn twice on Saturday and once on Sunday, and he was (almost) as excited as Christmas morning!  I think he is going to be an EXCELLENT big brother – even though he refuses to change diapers!  ;)

When the doctor had called on Friday, she had told us that the next time we were there, we would probably be able to attempt a bottle feeding.  Unfortunately on Saturday, Finn was still tachypneic (breathing too fast), so they decided to let him have another day of getting used to breathing on his own before we tried.  While we were there for the first night shift hands on, we told our nurse that if he was showing signed of readiness, they were more than welcome to try him with a bottle!  We had been told earlier in the week they would not do the first bottle without me there, and I wanted them to know I didn’t want to be the reason he was not home by Christmas!  With me so far away, and the weather getting iffy, to go ahead!  So, Finn had his first bottle at 2 am on Sunday morning!  She said he drank some of it, but then got sleepy so she finished it through his tube.  We got there Sunday afternoon in time to try again at the 2pm feeding.  He was a bit slow, but he finished the required feeding amount in just over 30 minutes.  They only want them to try for 30 minutes, but he had just a bit left, so we got to finish.  Then, I got to try again at the 5:00 feeding.  HOLY COW!  He sucked the entire bottle dry in 20 minutes!  The nurse came back in to check on us, and she was SHOCKED!  So was I!  She said there were 5 extra cc’s in the bottle, too!  WOW!  GREAT job, Finn!

We learned that overnight they attempted one more bottle, but he was pretty tired, so they were going to finish out the night with gavage feeds to let him rest.  He HAD to be tired!  He worked so hard for Mommy yesterday!  He got his hearing checked on Saturday, and one ear failed, but that is pretty typical at this point and he will get checked again before we go home.  The eye doctor was also in on Sunday, and he is showing signs of mild ROP, but they will also keep monitoring that.  And, since he is 2 months old today, they will start with his immunizations!  He gets 3 shots over the next 3 days – with Tylenol and lots of love.  Poor little guy!  But, he’s shown himself to be quite a trooper, and I know he will do fine.  So, we need him to continue to do well with bottle feeding and get more consistent, and we are also starting to wean the percentage of oxygen that he gets through the nasal cannula.  Those are the things we need to have happened to get him home for Christmas!  Keep up the good work, Finn!

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

WOW! So much has happened the past few days!  It seems like things were doing a two-step (one step forward, two steps back) for such a long time, then everything was just stagnant with nothing happening, then the last week or so, things have been moving forward QUICKLY!  We are really looking good for this “home by Christmas” dream we have had.  Finn is doing very well, hitting milestones, and getting bigger and cuter everyday!  We’ve had a few “too cute for words” moments this week, and I want to share some pictures and events with you.

On Monday, I stayed in the NICU later than I usually do.  They were due to draw a blood gas at 5, and I wanted to stay for that, then I decided to stay for the 8 o’clock hands on as well so I would know who the night nurse was.  SO GLAD I DID!  Finn’s night nurse decided he needed a bath, and she wanted me to help out.  Since he was still on the CPAP, the RT was in there to help as well.  The nurse made us a tub of water, and the RT had me holding an oxygen tube up to his nose to keep his oxygen saturation up. Another of our favorite nurses just happened by to see what we were doing since we had the big overhead lights on, and I asked her to grab my camera out of my purse, and she took pictures:

So, how many people does it take to bath a 4 pound baby?  (Well, he was only 3 pounds 15 ounces at that point.)  I guess 4 is the right answer!  The RT was using one of her tools to make bubbles in the water, and he had lots of personal attention, so we called it is his spa treatment.  I am still a little nervous with the feeding tube in his nose that I pulled out last time, so I had the nurse wash his hair.  After we were done “playing,” we put clean clothes on him, wrapped him all up, and put him back to bed!

I spent part of the day Tuesday in the NICU as well.  Nothing much happened that day.  I got to hold him for a long while, but then headed back to Stillwater to be ready for my surgery on Wednesday.  When we called for a weight check late on Tuesday night, Finn had hit another one of his milestones!  He weighed in at FOUR POUNDS!!!!!  Wednesday morning was an early morning at our house (the big kids spent the night at Nana and Grandpa’s), as we had to check in for surgery at 6:00am.  Everything went well (from what I know – apparently there was a problem with my chest tube), and I was home by 10:30am.  Asleep by 11 and sacked out most of the day!  Wednesday night, Finn weighed in at 4 pounds 2.2 ounces.

Yesterday, I was planning on just keeping a low profile and sleeping all day.  One of our doctors called about 8:30 am and said that they had REMOVED THE CPAP!!!!  Finn was doing ALL of his own breathing, just on a nasal cannula for oxygen support!  THIS. IS. HUGE!!!!!  Because, as soon as he tolerates that well (which he did all day), they can start bottle feeding him.  Once he is taking all of his feedings through a bottle, HE CAN COME HOME!  Christmas is a mere 23 days away…  So, after celebrating that news, I took a nap.  Around noon, our nurse called (I assumed that she was calling to say he was back on CPAP) to tell me they were almost out of breast milk.  YIKES!  I called Britt to tell him we needed to get down there, so he took the afternoon off.  What better reason to HAVE to go down there and see him only on a nasal cannula!

While we were there, Britt and I each took a turn holding him, and we also asked the nurse if we could “play” with him.  She said, “SURE!” in a very happy tone, and  then said, “Wait! What kind of play?”  LOL!  We wanted to use a couple of props and take some Christmas card pictures.  Those will have to stay under wraps until we get our card done.  Your sneak peek is the lead picture – those are his feet from the adorable Christmas outfit he had on!

So, here we are on a happy Friday.  Finn weighed in at 4 pounds 3.3 ounces last night.  They are very close to starting bottle feeding.  (I’m not real clear on when this will happen.  My nurse on Monday said they won’t do it without me there, and I’m not going back until tomorrow afternoon)  And we are VERY close to bringing him home.  It really is beginning to look like Christmas!  (But not in my house.  Jake is very frustrated that we have not decorated yet!)

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!