Immunizations, yuck

Cade continues to recover very well from surgery. He is now ok'ed to have a bottle at any feeding where he is awake. He took a whole bottle from us on Friday, almost a whole one on Sat and another whole one on Sunday. He's up to 48 mils (1.6 oz) per feeding and is 5 1/2 lbs. He's still a peanut but he's growing. He hasn't outgrown his preemie clothes yet but I keep hoping he will soon because of course he has a whole new set of newborn size to try out. There's no doubt that our child will never run out of clothes since Mommy keeps finding good deals. Daddy teases that he's set until he's 18 but that's a little bit of an exaggeration. Yesterday, he had to have his 2 month immunizations. It still doesn't make sense to me since he isn't even supposed to be born yet but I guess shots do not get adjusted for due date. Sean and I asked that we be present when he got them so that we could help comfort him after the trauma. The nurses don't like giving shots and they kept saying things like "he doesn't have any meat on his bones" Well, duh, he only weighs 5 1/2 lbs and just a few weeks ago starting getting some fat. But, they gave him the shots in his not so plump thighs and both had one leg so that they could give 2 shots at the same time to try to minimize the pain. Then, a 3rd shot needed to be given in his left leg. That one didn't go so well. The first try bounced off his leg so the nurse needed to really jab it in. That's when Sean needed to walk away. It's hard to see your child in pain especially when he has gone through so much already. I'm really glad he won't remember any of this. I'm also glad he was born in 2008 and not back when his parents were born. I read in one of our preemie books that in the 70s doctors didn't give preemies anesthesia because it was thought that it was too risky. I'm so glad they changed their minds. After the shots, Cade went to sleep with me and then Sean took over for awhile before we left for the night. I'm glad we were there to help him through that little hurdle.

Here's some pictures taken before his surgery without his NG tube but he did have a big IV:

The expressions of Cade

Here's a picture from last night, sleeping and holding onto my shirt.

Recovery

Cade continues to be recovering well. Yesterday, I went the the hospital to keep him company because I knew that he wasn't feeling so great. I got to the NICU around 11:30 and they still had him intubated. The nurses were rooting for him to pull out his own tube! But, I guess when the doctor rounded early in the morning, he had some spells where his heart rate dropped. He had never had bracchacardia (heart rate drop) before but I guess it's a common side effect of the anesthesia. But, by noon, when the doctor rounded again, he was doing much better and they pulled the breathing tube. He went back on the nasal cannula and started breathing on his own right away. Unfortunately, it was very loud in the NICU and Cade was upset. His neighbor's family came in with a 4 year old who was autistic and a 2 year old. Let's just say they were not quiet and were soon removed from the NICU. I understand that you can't always find baby sitters but loud children do not belong in the NICU. Even that family's baby was having a hard time with all the commotion. Since Cade was doing so well and would be better off in the ICC, his nurse asked the doctor if he could be moved back there after his head CT scan and his x-rays. The doctor agreed. Yeah! So Chris (the NICU nurse) and I took Cade down for his CT scan and he didn't make a peep. He stayed so calm. Maybe the blinking lights on the ceiling helped. He looked very tiny in that big machine. Then, it was off to x-ray where he was a very good boy too. He just got a little angry when we had to told his arms and legs but actually stayed relatively still. Chris was so impressed by him that she fell in love with him. She picked him up after x-ray and had to cuddle with him. Then, she looked at me and said, "I suppose you should be doing this." I said, "No problem, I get to cuddle with him everyday." Cade is a very popular baby. Chris told me that she thinks this calm patience is his disposition. I hope so :) I think he gets my attitude when confronted with medical procedures which is "OK, I know you have to do this so I'll stay calm but please get it over with quick." We headed back to the ICC and, I hoped, some peace and quiet. But, it was loud in there too because Cade's neighbor is going home soon and the whole family was there for a conference. I was able to close the curtain and block out most of the noise. The doctor also ordered that Cade could start back on minimal formula so I tried to give him a bottle but he was too tired after his big day. So, I got him to sleep and went home to get Sean. We headed back to the hospital after dinner and Cade was feeling a little better. He did have some more spells and it got a little scary. Sean tried another bottle with him and he just was not into it. So, we gave up and put the formula through his NG tube and then gave him his pacifier. Well, he was alert and sucking on that pacifier so I'm not sure why the bottle didn't go well. I think Cade was worried that he was going to miss out on something because he just stayed awake most of the day. Maybe his shunt is making him feel better. I eventually got him to sleep and we left for the night. This morning we called for an update and he hadn't had any spells overnight and took one bottle. I think we are on the right track.

Just a warm fuzzy 4 U

Christian the Lion - More free videos are here

Shunt Surgery

Cade's shunt surgery went well. He is back in NICU for recovery, is back on the vent again, and doesn't look all that hot. But, more importantly, he is recovering very well so far. Also, this is funny.

5 lbs!

On Saturday, Cade made it to 5 lbs. He continues to do well with the bottle except sometimes he's too tired to finish. But, the doctor changed the orders from once a day, to twice a day, to 3 times a day and now to whenever he's awake and wants to try. All of that progress just since Tuesday. He definitely knows when he's hungry too and he lets us know it. As the nurse said, he's found his voice. I think he actually cries more when he has gas pains than when he's hungry but at least he's telling us when he is uncomfortable. When we arrived on Sat, Cade was in an outfit with pants. He has a few outfits with pants but hasn't been able to wear them because he's supposed to wear something that snaps down the front but the nurse decided to put him in an actual outfit. He was so cute. Especially when the pants went up to his armpits!

So, that's all the good news but we also have some not so good news. Cade is tentatively scheduled for his shunt surgery on Wednesday evening. The neuro team tried to tap him for less hoping that his body would be able to drain the extra fluid but we noticed that the taps are now back to the standard volume. He will have another head ultrasound on Tues night and we will review everything with the neurologist on Wed but most likely he will be having surgery. He now weighs enough (over 2 kg) for his body to be able to handle the tubing that will run from his brain to his abdominal cavity but he's still so tiny. I know that the surgery needs to be done because he can't continue to be tapped every day but he's my baby and he's already been through too much. I'm sure everything will turn out OK but a few extra prayers won't hurt either.

I'm wearing pants!

Goofing with Mommy

Dad, I think this is a little up close and personal.

This is how we found him when we got there on Sunday.

After a dip from the start of diuretics, he just keeps on growing.

Bottle :)

Last night we fed Cade his second bottle ever. Of course, it was the first one for us. When we arrived we found out that he had pulled out his feeding tube again. Maybe he's trying to tell us, "Hey, I can do this bottle thing" Sean had me go first which was fine since I have at least given babies bottles before. The nurse said that we had to keep him in more of an upright position so that the formula didn't flow too fast and cause him to get more than he could handle. So, he was sitting there facing me and kept giving me these looks like "What are you doing Mom?" It took awhile for him to start drinking but he did get a little rhythm going. Then, he burped and Sean gave feeding him a try. Well, I must have primed the pump because once he got with Sean he chugged the rest of the bottle down even though he was falling asleep. He drank a total of 40 ml (1.4 oz) He woke up when we changed his diaper and outfit. Then, I noticed his cheeks were all rosy. Sean reminded me that he had just used them to suck down a bottle. He looked so cute with his rosy cheeks. Once we got home, we let all of the animals smell the dirty sleeper with the formula spilled on it. They had smelled Cade before but not the formula. Belle actually climbed into the bag with the dirty clothes. She was really cute but I didn't catch a picture of it. She did continue to lay next to the bag though.

Hey, what are we doing Mom?
I'm liking this Dad.
But I'm getting so sleepy.
Now, I'm awake and my cheeks are rosy.
Belle getting ready for Cade

Bottle?!

Good news! When we arrived at the hospital last night, we were told that Cade had some good news. The day nurse had tried to give him a bottle and he chugged down the whole thing without having any spells (heart rate drop/oxygen drop). This was a complete surprise to us because one of the nurses had told us that they wouldn't even try a bottle until ~35 weeks gestational age (GA). Well, Cade is only 33.5 weeks GA but he's a little ahead of the curve I guess. Sean says he's now at the top of the class :) Since he will only be getting 1 bottle a day until he's strong enough to handle more, they will be giving him the bottle at 9pm so that Sean and I can feed him. I can't believe that we've actually made it to this point. He's one more step closer to coming home. And to think that he was supposed to be in the womb another 6 weeks.
He is also being weaned off of his high flow oxygen. He was at a flow of 3 liter/min about a week ago and is now down to 1.5 liter/min. His O2 percentage is also dropping to around 30% (room air is 21%). The diuretics and steroid nebulizer treatments are really helping his little lungs function better. His hematocrit (red blood cells) is also increasing. He's now up to ~28% and low normal is 31%. This is a big improvement over 21% at his lowest.

Other good news at the Bober house is that we finally sold the townhouse that I owned in Lakeville before we got married. We are barely making any money off of it but at least we won't have to think/worry about it any more. The closing is scheduled for July 22nd so I pray that everything goes well.

Happy Father's Day

Well, it's been a busy Father's Day weekend. My parents came down on Friday afternoon and went to visit Cade. Then, Marcy came over and we all went to dinner. Sean and I then headed to the hospital. It was a late night but Cade happy to see us. Then on Sat, we had to take the dogs to the vet because they both have pink eye. That was not a fun trip but it had to be done. Poor Lucy was so nervous she was shaking like a leaf. Now, we have to try to get salve into their eyes twice a day for 5 days. Wish us luck! Saturday afternoon was spent with my mom, dad and Marcy at the Como Zoo. It was great to spend the sunny day outside. Then we all headed to the hospital to see Cade. I'm glad that they weren't strict about the 4 person limit and all 5 of us got to play "pass the baby". Cade did very well with the multiple hand-offs. Today, we all went to lunch and back to the hospital. Sean and Grandpa Reg had to see Cade for Father's Day. We were missing Grandpa Phil and Great-Grandpa Andrew. Hopefully, Phil will make it down in the next couple of weeks and great-grandpa will have to wait to see Cade until he comes home and we can make a trip up to Chisholm. I'm excited for Grandpa Phil and the great grandparents to get their turn to hold Cade. The nurse told us today that she has never seen a child so little have so many expressions. We've decided that we probably won't have any problem figuring out how Cade is feeling. If he's not sleeping, (and sometimes even when he is sleeping) he's continually making faces. Here's some pictures from this weekend:

Grandma Linda

Grandpa Reg

Daddy and Cade

Fathers

Growth

So, since both Sean and I like data we decided to do a growth chart for Cade. Sean manually recorded everything from Cade's chart and I put the data into excel. Yes, we are geeks but it's fun to see his progress. I looked up what he should be approx at 32 weeks gestation and it said weight is 3.75 lbs and length is 16.7 in. He's right on track.

Goofy boy

Here's a video of our goofy boy:



He loves to cross his eyes and stick out his tongue. Usually around 9pm he becomes very alert and shows us all of his expressions.

Also, here's a quick video of him with his pacifier.

With grandma Barb on Friday:

And auntie Marcy on Sunday:

Here's Sean with 2 of our other "kids" and our "niece" Lola. He babysat Lola while Marcy and I went to the movie Sex and the City:

More progress

Last night when we arrive in the ICC we were pleasantly surprised to see that Cade had been moved to a crib. As you can see, he was all bundled up in a onesie, sleeper his hat and 3 fleece blankets. Also, his hands were all tucked in so he couldn't pull out any tubes. He seemed to be doing well but had just been transferred at 6:00 pm. Hopefully, tonight he'll still be in the crib but if he has any problems, his isolette is standing by.
Grandma Barb is in town for a visit. Last night she arrived too late to hold Cade because he was getting his feeding but he was alert enough to say hi. Tonight, she should get to hold him.

4 pounds!

Sleeping with Daddy

Outfit from friends Ashley and Brooke

Quick update

I made it back to work yesterday but didn't have access to my computer until today. My first day back was spent chatting with a bunch of my coworkers. Today I cleared out 1600 emails. I'm easing my way back.

Cade is continuing to do well. He is up to 3lbs 14 oz and is very close to getting moved out of his isolette into a crib. He's becoming such a big boy! He has also learned how to pull out his feeding tube (pulled it out twice this weekend) so he now has to wear socks on his hands. :) His latest head ultrasound looked stable but they still drain fluid everyday.

Here's some pictures: