2 Short Stories

I have been meaning to throw these into one of my posts but never found a place so I will just make one :)

The snugglers...

Pat and I noticed these ladies in blue jackets. They would come into the nursery pick up a baby, rock them, put them back, and leave without a word really to anyone. We also noticed it was typically always the same babies. Of course I started to wonder two things...

1) do the pick up my baby when I am not around?? Not that I would mind but I was curious..

2) do they not like my baby???

So I asked Patsy to give me the details..... Turns out they get "assigned" to babies whose parents don't visit often or they will "call in the snuggler" when a baby is being fussy since the nurses are typically too busy to just sit and rock the little people :) The only stipulation was baby had to already be in an open crib. Since I was there often and my Jamison was SOOOO good we never had a snuggler.... or so I thought.............

The day we came to pick up Jamsion I come around the corner and there he is... in a rocker with a lady in a blue coat....... when I hear nurse Patsy talking about Jamison "raising the roof" he cried so much that morning they had to call in the snuggler. hahahaha Best part is I guess this wasn't his first call down for the snuggler. I said "but he is always so good" and got the response "ya when you are here......" to which they all decided it was time for him to go home :)

The next day when we came back to visit Weston we said "wow its so quiet in here" and Patsy said "thats because all of the loud ones went home..." she started to name the loud babies when she slipped and said Jamison, I could hardly believe she was talking about our little Jamison.... now........ I BELIEVE!!!!!



Sir Poops-a-lot

Weston poops......... ALL THE TIME. Each diaper change and sometimes in between (which is why we thought about a possible food allergy). For such a small baby its ALOT of poop, you would be surprised... wouldn't be a problem but he STINKS, I mean really this kid can clear a room.

The other day we were there and I went to change his diaper and the nurse asked if I could put it in another room!! She said that when she had changed him earlier.....

"I almost threw up!!! It was terrible!!! The worst..."

When you think of how many baby's poopy diapers she has changed in her nursery career, and he is the WORST, that tells you something.

The other day his isolette was so bad from the poop smell being locked inside with my little poop machine they actually had to AIR IT OUT!!!! How many babies have they had to do that for in the past you ask???? NONE!!! He is by far the smelliest :) Really he must get this from his daddy :)

The latest was a new nurse who was assigned to him for the first time and I was getting ready to change his diaper and I mention to her it was a poopy... and say "he poops alot.." she said... "thats what I hear..." OMG I laughed. My baby isn't even out of the hospital and his reputation precedes him. So funny the other nurses warned her about the possible gagging involved in changing his behind.

He now has the nickname Sir Poops-A-Lot :)

Saturday 10/30

Well tomorrow is Halloween... and as you know Weston didn't make it home in time for his first holiday... BUT...... he will be home for the next one............ he will most likely even be home before celebrating one more weekend in the hospital!!!!

It has been a great week for him which I would have loved to update you all on sooner except some jerk (I have a few other choice words for this person however I will keep it clean for the kiddies) hacked my computer, gave me a virus and sent out emails from my account. It STINKS. I was so worried because every picture I have taken of the boys was on there and I was so upset thinking I would loose them but my hero... I mean my husband... will be able to get them back for us, but our computer is still shot (thanks mom for letting me use yours). I guess the light at the end of the tunnel is Pat was getting me a new one for Christmas anyway, I just maybe getting my present a bit early this year :)

On my last post Weston had just barely broke 5lbs, next night he was 5 lbs 3oz, the next 5lbs 5oz and last night 5 lbs 6.5oz!!!! He is really filling out his cheeks :) The best part was with the added chunk he is finally able to maintain his temperature and is in an open crib!!!! All in just 3 days!!! I am so proud of my baby, this was tough for him but he must have decided he was done and ready to come home...either that or he heard how much Jamison is getting spoiled and wanted in on the action......or maybe he was afraid of all the new parents screw ups we would have and he wanted all of the kinks worked out on his brother :) He is still having some spells but they have been quick and he has been able to fix himself which is a big step although I was still thinking he needed to go a few days with none before they would start talking about him coming home.... I was wrong (and I don't admit that often... ask Pat hahaha)

Today when we went for our visit with the little guy our Dr came by and said...

"well he is eating great, gaining weight, maintaining his temp... looks like its time to start thinking about sending him home"

I was so surprised. The Dr. isn't concerned about his spells since they are so brief so all he has left are his circumcision which will be done tomorrow, car seat challenge probably Monday and as long as nothing crazy happens baby Weston will be home with his family Monday or Tuesday!!! Our family will finally be complete. Honestly just typing that brings tears to my eyes. It has been such a long road and I want nothing more then to see my babies together, hold them together, let them play together and just be together.

Jamison has been doing great, eating like a champ (minus the fact if you give him formula like we are supposed to twice a day he WILL NOT eat it unless its mixed with breast milk, he hates it... not that I can blame him, I tasted it and it taste worse then it smells... which is hard to believe)... however he MUST work on this "hold me or I cry" business. Maybe he is trying to soak up every bit of attention possible before his brother gets here..... which will be quite the adjustment for him since now we all fight over who gets to hold him (so maybe its more our fault then his..). In the middle of the night (still asleep) he will scream, you barely lift his butt off the mattress before he stops, eyes still closed, if you dare attempt to put him back down you will be sorry... 10 seconds or less he is back to screaming... Mamma is going to start baby boot camp for this little one :) He is so darn cute though.... that makes him one of two people who can wake me up in the middle of the night playing these little games and get hugs and kisses instead of in trouble :)

I had to stop at Kohl's yesterday to do an exchange and right next to the service desk was all of the Christmas goodies. As I was waiting I was looking at the trees all lit up remembering this time last year.... I had just had my failed cycle, so sad I wasn't expecting during the holidays which is always that warm and fuzzy time of year. I remember beginning the medications at Christmas time for our second cycle of IVF so hopeful that this year we would be celebrating with our new baby. Now here we are 2010 coming to a close and we have not one but two beautiful healthy baby boys and I am still in awe of the whole thing. It was hard to get pregnant, hard staying pregnant, hard to see my babies in the NICU but it will never be hard to love them with all my heart and I would do it all over in a heartbeat.

When we pull away from that hospital with Weston in the car it will be an amazing day. We will be closing a big chapter as we begin a new one. We have spent a total of 14 weeks in this hospital. I have met some amazing people, nurses, doctors, and even other patients all which truly helped us get through each part of this journey. They kept all three of us healthy (me both physically and mentally there have been more days then I can count when a nurse would stop by and give me a hug or words of encouragement on particularly bad days) and I will forever be grateful of the care we received.

Thank you INOVA Fairfax!!!!

Tuesday 10/26

Finally I have some time to post :) My sweet little Jamison is sleeping great at night and is on a pretty good schedule of up every 3-4 hours for a bottle.... the only little hiccup is he likes to cry and grunt while he is sleeping so every... like... 30 minutes (sometimes more) I am checking on him... this all adds up to a very tired momma, grandma and lately even Miss Maggie since we are all in the same room (as daddy sleeps nice and soundly all by himself... although I can't complain someones got to make the money hahaha).

Jamison is doing FABULOUS. His home nurse came out for a visit yesterday and after his evaluation she said he did so well that she doesn't have to come out any more :) She weighed him while she was here and I can't believe he is already getting so big.... 6lbs 7 oz!! Momma's milk does this little guy good!

As for my little Weston... we did the breast milk only for a day and he didn't gain any weight so the next day we went back to every other feeding formula, he gained an ounce so today the Dr suggested trying formula only for a 3-4 days to see how he does "as long as thats ok with you..." I am not a breast milk crazy person, if formula is best for this baby then that is what I want him to have... I know some moms really want to nurse and get really upset if they can't.. I guess I am just not one of them. Weston's health and gaining weight is so much more important and maybe his metabolism is just faster then his brothers??? With his thyroid test coming back normal they are back to all of his issues being weight related... gain more weight, have more fat, regulate temp better and it will cushion the nerves causing the spells to stop... at least that is what we are hoping. With the added calories in the formula, fingers crossed we will be there in no time. Tonight he finally crossed the big milestone........... HE IS 5 POUNDS!!!!! That make me so happy :)

He is getting super long too, 17 1/2 inches, for such a lightweight baby he is a bit of a string bean. I had said that I wouldn't put either boy in newborn sized clothes until they came home, I don't know why but it just made me feel like I wasn't missing as much. Jamison wore his first newborn outfit the day we brought him home but unfortunately last night I had to suck it up and bring Weston all newborn sized sleepers. The preemie clothes were beginning to pull tight in the legs and shoulders... he looks so cute in his new outfits. Looking at him now in this size reminds me of how little he looked when I first put him into his very first preemie sized sleeper, he was swimming in it and now he is swimming a bit again :) I also had to give in and realize my goal of having him home for Halloween just isn't going to happen, he will spend his first holiday in the hospital... but he will be the cutest baby there sporting his pumpkin onesie!!!

You know how sometimes things happen to put life into perspective?? Tonight I had one of those moments. The elevators I usually use had one down and was taking FOREVER so when I saw a nurse getting ready to go up I asked if she cared if I road up with her in the patient services one. She said sure and when I got in there was a full sized stretcher inside. From behind you couldn't see who was in there but when I went to the back of the elevator to get out of the way I saw..... it was a little boy, I would say about 3 years old who looked so tiny in the big ole bed, it just swallowed him up. This little guy and a neck brace, a breathing machine, heart monitor, his arm in a brace with multiple IV lines. He looked at me, I smiled, and with his tiny hand that was barely able to move because he was so weak he lifted it up and he waved to me.... it was so sweet......

Its so hard to have Weston struggle daily, I want him home with his family......... but we ARE so blessed. He WILL be fine in time and sometimes seeing just how much worse it could be makes me remember how lucky we are. I don't know that little boys story and I will probably never see him again, but one thing I do know is that his mom's heart breaks for her son, and I am sure his fighting spirit keeps her going as Weston's does for me.

Enjoy the pictures.. the diaper only picture was just before I went to put Weston to bed after Kangaroo care with daddy and when I pulled the blanket back I thought he was so adorably snuggled in... little peanut :) Of course I had to include some new ones of sweet Little J too!!!

Updates :)

It has been a busy week between visiting with my parents, visiting Weston and of course spending time with my little Jamison.

Weston is doing ok.... he had a few good days with no spells and then the last few days he has had some bad ones :( They have increased how much he is eating (now they let him eat as much as he wants and this baby has a good appetite) from what they say sometimes after babies start to eat more their reflux gets a little worse till their body adjusts to the new amount... the reflux=more spells so hopefully in a few days he will be doing better. His temp is still all over the place so the Dr said he wanted to try him outside of the isolette, put him in a crib and cross our fingers to see how he does.... here is how it went...

We bundle him up

-long sleeve tshirt
-onesie
-sleeper
-hat
-swaddle sleep sack
-blanket

an hour later he is cold so they add

-a hot blanket from the warmer

a little later he is even colder so

he is back in the isolette :( I cried..... I know he should technically still be in my belly and he is doing well overall but this step back is just one more step away from my baby finally being home. He still has so many hurdles before we can even think about him coming home and UGH!!! He temp dropped so low so fast they are now re-testing his thyroid levels, really trying to come up with any reason his temp would be so unstable at this point. We are still not certain its not a food allergy at the root of all of his problems and they told us today they are going to go ahead and try taking him off of the formula totally (he was getting it 2 times a day and then they went to every other feeding trying to put weight on him) and going with fortifying breast milk with extra calories and seeing how that goes.

His weight has been up for a few days and then last night he had lost a tiny bit so now he is 4lbs 14oz, he will soon be 5 pounds and for some reason I am thinking that number maybe when he really gets moving in the right direction.

I know that they say babies don't understand much... and that may be true but Weston melted my heart the other day... and daddy was there to see it.

When we got there for our visit I walked over to his isolette and looked in, he was wide awake, I opened the little port hole and start saying hello, telling him I love him and all of the normal momma stuff and all of the sudden he picks up his little arm and sticks it out of the port hole (he has never done this before) so I let him grab my finger.... he squeezed tight and pulled it into his little bed and up to his face. OMG I loved it.... who knows what babies really understand but at that moment there is no doubt in my mind, he knew his mom was with him. I can't wait till he is home.......

Jamison is doing awesome taking 3 oz each bottle and now going almost 4 hours between feedings (more sleep for me yay!!!!!) He is a very good baby, very little fussing and he is super hugable and kissable :) We do tummy time every day and you would be surprised at how well this pint sized baby can hold himself and his head up.

Of course Pats mom is still here and she has been spoiling all of us. I honestly don't know what we would have done without her here.... I am sure I am making her crazy, you can say with the baby I am a bit more.... um...... picky??? But really she has been a huge help. Thanks Mom!!!

Hopefully I will have some good updates on our little Weston soon, at least I will get some new pictures up :)

One more Weston :)

This is my favorite of him so far I think :)

Weston's Picture Time

He is getting bigger!!! Yippeeeee!!! Tonights weigh in is 4lbs 14.5 oz!! Weston and I have come to an understanding, he is to get bigger and be home in time for Halloween.... no ifs ands or buts :) So far I think he is going to be a good boy.

I wish I had more of him with the family being spoiled like his brother but so far they all have only seen him through the nursery glass... although I am sure his time will come :) If you can tell he is sideways on the scale... little boy would not stay still and for being such a peanut, he is pretty good at moving his body all over the place!! And the little mark on his forehead... not sure what its from we have been playing is that a bruise or is that a birthmark along with the nurses I guess time will tell, you might not be able to see but it is heart shaped in real life... I think he was kisses by a tinsy tiny angel :)

Picture time for Jamison

All of Jamison's grandparents loving on him :) The poor little girls.... kids have germs, what can I say hahahaha. If he was a full term baby I wouldn't have been so cautious, but with a preemie in flu season I have to... the best part is when I went to take this picture I told them to "smile" I guess old habits die hard :)

As you can see (in the video) little J has found his thumb. I have some ultrasound pictures of him sucking on it that I think are adorable but I think its even more adorable now!!

Oh and a side note.... we gave him a bath today (first one at home) and he pooped in the tub.... I have seen that happen lots of times with big babies but it cracked me up to see such a tiny one do it :)