Week 3 and we're starting to get a little rhythm and alot tired. We're now entering an interesting time in the blog where I have to discuss and share our parenting approach, which I'm sure will open us up to scrutiny and judgement by parents, but at the same time will hopefully provide a guide for those of you who may wish to some day give up sleep, personal freedom and spontaneity. So here's a couple tips we've learned that have helped us.
Tip #1: Night feedings and sleep. This has been a tough one. Thomas needs to eat constantly, but I also need my beauty sleep. So I came up with a simple solution that kills a couple birds with one stone. What I do is put Thomas in the crib and then put a bucket of KFC chicken in the crib with him. This way, when Thomas gets hungry in the night, he can follow the delicious smell of 11 herbs and spices to food and we can sleep through the night. Whatever is left over becomes breakfast for us. Now, right now, because Thomas has no teeth and his hands are small, I usually find him just sucking on a drumstick, but last night he did manage to pull out a breast and use it as a pillow. I call that progress.
Tip #2: Bath time. Thomas isn't crazy about baths. Its cold and traumatic, plus Rebecca always seems to want to do it when there's something on t.v. Again, I came up with a multi-tasking stroke of genius. I smothered Thomas with jelly and then set him down in front of our dog, Charlie. Charlie cleans Thomas, Charlie gets fed, problem solved. If you employ this tactic, be sure to cover your child head to toe, that way you can see if your dog misses a spot.
As we go along, I'll share more parenting tips. Next week, incorporating your child into your work out as a free weight.
This week is multiple doctor visit week. Monday, we took Thomas to see a plastic surgeon to look at his hemangioma on his bottom. The doctor was at Children's Hospital. We'd never been there before, but it was really nice. Lots of warm colors, soft lines, natural light, very un-hospital. It it weren't for all of the kids running around, it would have been great.
We arrived at the scheduled time of 10 am, only to be informed that the doctor was running an hour and a half behind. Rebecca immediately went into calculating mode and realized that we didn't have food to cover an extended visit (and I didn't see a KFC anywhere). The receptionist assured us that we would be out of there by noon. That seemed very odd, given that best case we wouldn't get into an examining room til 11:30. Sure enough, in a blink of an eye (after an hour or so in the waiting room) we were whisked into a room, the doctor swooped in, made a diagnosis based on information we could have given him over the phone or in an email and we were spit out the other end. It was alot like going on a ride at an amusement park. You stand in line for ever for 30 seconds. Doesn't seem worth it.
Oh well, the long and the short of it is that they are going to laser the hemangioma, starting Thursday, which will be doctor visit #3 for the week. #2 will be tomorrow, just the normal check up. The doctor thinks it will take 3 to 4 treatments. Hopefully this will not be too painful for him.
Thomas really seems to enjoy the visits to the outside world. He is always in such a good mood at the doctor's office, no fussiness, just wide eyed and laid back, taking it all in. Once we get home though, he's thrown off for at least a day. He doesn't eat as well or sleep normally and is generally unhappy. The only thing I can figure is that after all of the new sites and interesting new people, he finds Rebecca and me to be a big let down.
Finally, Rebecca took Thomas on his first stroller ride outside today. He's not fond of the bright lights and kept his eyes closed most of the time, but seemed to enjoy himself.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Quite a cliff hanger
My sincerest apologies for the delay in an update. Who knew parenting was time consuming? I mean really, how about a little insight?
I've been meaning to update and have stuff to share, time just slips away. My mom reminded me how I had left the last blog entry at the doctor's office without any resolution and that's a little unfair. Thomas is exhibiting the ability to climb walls, shoot a web-like substance from his wrists and has a sixth sense, kind of like a spider. The doctor says that's all pretty normal.
I will sum that one up by saying the appointment was short and sweet. The doctor was pleased with how well the first weekend went. So let me fill you in on the 7 days that have followed.
We're into our second week of self sufficiency, learning the nuances of non-verbal communication, between us and Thomas and each other. Its very important I think to pick up cues that anyone of the 3 of us has reached a melting point. With Rebecca and me, its easier to identify than with Thomas and I think we are doing pretty darned good. We're supporting each other pretty well and doing our best to share all of the responsibilities. Basically, Rebecca takes care of Thomas and I go out drinking with the boys after my shift is over at the factory. Thomas is extremely good natured and doesn't get to fussy that much. When he does, there really are 4 main culprits: hunger, gas, a dirty diaper or most importantly a lost pacifier. He hates that last one and will really let you know quick. Rebecca and I, with the timely help of her mom and my mom, have managed to get a decent system down that allows us to trade off feedings and get semi-short, if not completely restful sleep.
Oh, I guess the vitals are important. Thomas weighs 7 pounds, 2 ounces and is taking about 2 to 3 ounces every 3 to 4 hours. He's doing really well. The ulcer is about the same, we'll be going to a plastic surgeon to see what can be done.
The feedings pretty much rule our lives at the moment. I don't even think about night and day, or normal milestones of the day. Its all about those 3 hour windows and what might happen. Will he sleep, does he want to interact, or will he be fussy? The fussy times are obviously the most challenging. Its tough to get anything done and you just feel awful for him, especially if you can't figure out what's wrong. This too will pass.
Father's Day was great, you know, because I got stuff and who doesn't like another day for gifts. It was obviously a little more meaningful than that. I actually spent Father's day watching soccer and recovering from a race that Rebecca and Thomas allowed me to do in Little Rock, Arkansas the day before. I had planned to do this race, an off road tri, a few months ago thinking that Thomas would have been home long before and things would be somewhat settled. Little did we know that Thomas would show up race week. Training was a little haphazard leading up to the race anyway, between travel and hospital visits, and a week of late hour feedings wasn't optimum either. The toughest thing was skipping out for 2 days and leaving Rebecca and Thomas. Fortunately, Rebecca's mom was there to help. The race was very hot and difficult. It sounds a little corny, but if I started to run out of energy, I would just picture Rebecca holding Thomas and both of them looking at me. It gave me a boost and I was able to keep going, although I will admit on the last leg, the run, it got a little tough to get the image clear in my head (it was really hot).
So we're cruising along. I will do a better job of updating going forward.
I've been meaning to update and have stuff to share, time just slips away. My mom reminded me how I had left the last blog entry at the doctor's office without any resolution and that's a little unfair. Thomas is exhibiting the ability to climb walls, shoot a web-like substance from his wrists and has a sixth sense, kind of like a spider. The doctor says that's all pretty normal.
I will sum that one up by saying the appointment was short and sweet. The doctor was pleased with how well the first weekend went. So let me fill you in on the 7 days that have followed.
We're into our second week of self sufficiency, learning the nuances of non-verbal communication, between us and Thomas and each other. Its very important I think to pick up cues that anyone of the 3 of us has reached a melting point. With Rebecca and me, its easier to identify than with Thomas and I think we are doing pretty darned good. We're supporting each other pretty well and doing our best to share all of the responsibilities. Basically, Rebecca takes care of Thomas and I go out drinking with the boys after my shift is over at the factory. Thomas is extremely good natured and doesn't get to fussy that much. When he does, there really are 4 main culprits: hunger, gas, a dirty diaper or most importantly a lost pacifier. He hates that last one and will really let you know quick. Rebecca and I, with the timely help of her mom and my mom, have managed to get a decent system down that allows us to trade off feedings and get semi-short, if not completely restful sleep.
Oh, I guess the vitals are important. Thomas weighs 7 pounds, 2 ounces and is taking about 2 to 3 ounces every 3 to 4 hours. He's doing really well. The ulcer is about the same, we'll be going to a plastic surgeon to see what can be done.
The feedings pretty much rule our lives at the moment. I don't even think about night and day, or normal milestones of the day. Its all about those 3 hour windows and what might happen. Will he sleep, does he want to interact, or will he be fussy? The fussy times are obviously the most challenging. Its tough to get anything done and you just feel awful for him, especially if you can't figure out what's wrong. This too will pass.
Father's Day was great, you know, because I got stuff and who doesn't like another day for gifts. It was obviously a little more meaningful than that. I actually spent Father's day watching soccer and recovering from a race that Rebecca and Thomas allowed me to do in Little Rock, Arkansas the day before. I had planned to do this race, an off road tri, a few months ago thinking that Thomas would have been home long before and things would be somewhat settled. Little did we know that Thomas would show up race week. Training was a little haphazard leading up to the race anyway, between travel and hospital visits, and a week of late hour feedings wasn't optimum either. The toughest thing was skipping out for 2 days and leaving Rebecca and Thomas. Fortunately, Rebecca's mom was there to help. The race was very hot and difficult. It sounds a little corny, but if I started to run out of energy, I would just picture Rebecca holding Thomas and both of them looking at me. It gave me a boost and I was able to keep going, although I will admit on the last leg, the run, it got a little tough to get the image clear in my head (it was really hot).
So we're cruising along. I will do a better job of updating going forward.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
First Field Trip
Today is Thomas' first check up with the pediatrician. We're sitting in the waiting room for our 2:00 appointment. Its now 2:40, but I'm sure we'll be getting in at any moment. Its been a bit of a reunion, as 2 of Thomas' roommates from the NICU, Jonathan and Victor, have also shown up for their first appointment. They were scheduled for 2:15 and 2:30 (so apparently these appointments will only take 15 minutes...). They had both been discharged as well last week. We all made the rookie mistake of going into the wrong waiting room. The pediatric office has a "sick" waiting room and a "well" waiting room so that babies that aren't sick don't get exposed to the ones that are. The waiting rooms aren't labeled, so I guess you're just supposed to know. Since we're all well, and there were no sick babies, and the well waiting room was packed, they let us stay. Unfortunately, a sick patient showed up, so we all just had to move to the well waiting room. The waiting room appears to have been designed with only preemies in mind. It fits probably 2 to 3 families, semi-comfortably. We have 5 families in here, consisting of 8 adults and 7 children. I'm sitting on the linoleum. Its cold and I can't stretch my legs out. It reminds of going through Fraternity pledging, only not as much fun. Rebecca just went to the bathroom to change Thomas and its bigger than the waiting room. I may move into there. (she also realized she forgot diapers in the diaper bag and we had to bum one off of another mom. Highly embarrassing. I mean, its a diaper bag! Hello! We will review her preparation skills when we get home, but rest assured, she's never going to be in charge of packing for a camping trip.)
Prior to being kicked out of the sick side, we were in there with fraternal twins who I think were a couple years old. The nurse came to get them and you would have thought the boy had seen a ghost or was being led to his impending doom. He clearly recognized the nurse and had no interest in what she had to offer, despite her promise of not having a needle.
Its now 3:00.
When we left the house, we pulled out of the alley and up to the stop light. The car behind us was not paying attention, going fast and nearly ran up on me. Before I knew it, Rebecca was out of the car and letting what I suspect was a startled young girl that we had a new born in the car. I believe I will go invest in a Baby on Board sign right away so that Rebecca doesn't have to personally deliver the message anymore.
Catch up on the last few days. Rebecca's mom came in on Sunday, which has been a much needed relief. We've worked her into the rotation, so we're getting some sleep, but not as much as we liked. Thomas has continued to do well. He hates a dirty diaper, which is about the only time he gets fussy. The only drawback of Rebecca's mom being here is it puts my little game to the test. As kind of a joke, I intentionally avoided using the names of her parents when speaking to them. I've managed to keep it up for a few years now, although I had to break my streak with her dad during the initial crisis with Rebecca's pregnancy (hardly fair, but rules are rules). So with all of the help and support she's giving us and the interaction, its difficult to continue the streak, but I'm still going, just like Cal Ripken. Anyway, thank you so much for everything unnamed mother of my wife.
Its 3:15 and we're in! I'll update how it went later.
Prior to being kicked out of the sick side, we were in there with fraternal twins who I think were a couple years old. The nurse came to get them and you would have thought the boy had seen a ghost or was being led to his impending doom. He clearly recognized the nurse and had no interest in what she had to offer, despite her promise of not having a needle.
Its now 3:00.
When we left the house, we pulled out of the alley and up to the stop light. The car behind us was not paying attention, going fast and nearly ran up on me. Before I knew it, Rebecca was out of the car and letting what I suspect was a startled young girl that we had a new born in the car. I believe I will go invest in a Baby on Board sign right away so that Rebecca doesn't have to personally deliver the message anymore.
Catch up on the last few days. Rebecca's mom came in on Sunday, which has been a much needed relief. We've worked her into the rotation, so we're getting some sleep, but not as much as we liked. Thomas has continued to do well. He hates a dirty diaper, which is about the only time he gets fussy. The only drawback of Rebecca's mom being here is it puts my little game to the test. As kind of a joke, I intentionally avoided using the names of her parents when speaking to them. I've managed to keep it up for a few years now, although I had to break my streak with her dad during the initial crisis with Rebecca's pregnancy (hardly fair, but rules are rules). So with all of the help and support she's giving us and the interaction, its difficult to continue the streak, but I'm still going, just like Cal Ripken. Anyway, thank you so much for everything unnamed mother of my wife.
Its 3:15 and we're in! I'll update how it went later.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Tag Team
We're trying to get a rhythm going. We were doing a great job of taking turns on the 3 hour feedings, which gave each of us about 5 hours to rest, until Thomas decided he would stay up from 2 am to around 6. Threw things off, but he and I hung out and watched part of the movie the Love Guru with Mike Myers. It may have been that it was 4 in the morning and I was only half watching and half entertaining Thomas, but I think critics may have gotten this one wrong. Not that bad...He's doing really great on his feedings, sucking down most bottles in 20 minutes or less. So as far as that goes, he's great. His ulcer is the only thing we're really worried about. It appears to be getting a little worse and bleeds occasionally. Thomas seems mostly unaffected by it. Thomas' pediatrician wants a plastic surgeon to look at it, so we'll see.
There's one thing that I'm already having difficulty with. Its the home confinement. The sleep patterns and late night feedings are no big deal. I'm an outdoors guy and extended periods indoors while there are things to be done outside, like soccer and riding bikes and volleyball drives me crazy. Even mowing the lawn looks good. I'm looking forward to when Thomas can go outside and chase after me. Many advetures await..along with some scrapes and bruises, but I'm sure Thomas will take care of me.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Saturday morning
First night was relatively smooth. We all managed to do our feedings and get in little naps. I only woke up once in a panic to make sure Thomas' silence was peaceful slumber. Its a little tough to trust that everything will be ok, to take that leap of faith that without all the wires and sensors all will be ok.
Rebecca took the 1:00 and I took the 4:00. luck of the draw favored me greatly, in that Thomas took his bottle in less than 20 minutes without any breaks. I was already for a feeding battle and was kind of left standing there, not knowing what to do. Wide awake and Thomas hadn't given me a challenge. So we both went right back to sleep. At 7, Rebecca's turn, Thomas was a little feistier and has not gone to sleep since, so Thomas, Charlie and I are hanging in the living room while mommy gets some much needed sleep.
I think the "room in" wiped us both out. Not much sleep and uncomfortable furniture left us beaten and sore. I think in a day or so, we'll be good to go.
Rebecca took the 1:00 and I took the 4:00. luck of the draw favored me greatly, in that Thomas took his bottle in less than 20 minutes without any breaks. I was already for a feeding battle and was kind of left standing there, not knowing what to do. Wide awake and Thomas hadn't given me a challenge. So we both went right back to sleep. At 7, Rebecca's turn, Thomas was a little feistier and has not gone to sleep since, so Thomas, Charlie and I are hanging in the living room while mommy gets some much needed sleep.
I think the "room in" wiped us both out. Not much sleep and uncomfortable furniture left us beaten and sore. I think in a day or so, we'll be good to go.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Home Sweet Home
Well I think we are settled in, or at least we're all learning to adjust to each other. Always awkward when a new roommate moves in. Everyone is establishing their boundaries and rules. Charlie has shown only mild interest in the new arrival.
We've had 3 successful feedings (2 for Thomas, 1 for us) and we're gearing up for the first night without a safety net. I will catch everyone up tomorrow, but we're all happy to be home and Thomas is reasonably excited about his new surroundings.
Good night
We've had 3 successful feedings (2 for Thomas, 1 for us) and we're gearing up for the first night without a safety net. I will catch everyone up tomorrow, but we're all happy to be home and Thomas is reasonably excited about his new surroundings.
Good night
Live Blog #13 5:00pm Friday
We have cleared all of our stuff out of the room and rolled back into the NICU for Thomas' car seat test. Basically they put him in the car seat and I stand behind and make car noises to see how we will react. Actually, its just to make sure he can breathe and such while strapped into the seat.
We've gone through all of the discharge information, signed the forms and taken down all off the pictures and signs. Its really starting to hit home that this place and the staff that have been a significant part of our lives for 5 months are about to not be. So there's a lot of happy/sad going on. Several nurses that have taken care of Thomas have come by one last time. There are many others that we may not get to say goodbye and thank you to, but we can't possibly thank everyone enough for what they did for Thomas and for us. We weren't the patients, but they truly took care of us and helped us through a very trying experience. Thank you to each and every one of you.
Unless something interesting happens, the next blog you will probably get is from our house.
We've gone through all of the discharge information, signed the forms and taken down all off the pictures and signs. Its really starting to hit home that this place and the staff that have been a significant part of our lives for 5 months are about to not be. So there's a lot of happy/sad going on. Several nurses that have taken care of Thomas have come by one last time. There are many others that we may not get to say goodbye and thank you to, but we can't possibly thank everyone enough for what they did for Thomas and for us. We weren't the patients, but they truly took care of us and helped us through a very trying experience. Thank you to each and every one of you.
Unless something interesting happens, the next blog you will probably get is from our house.
Live Blog #12 1:00pm Friday
Freedom? Or should I just look at it as house arrest. We've made the determination that all 3 of us are going home today. The doctor made the very astute observation that after 5 months and 10 days, one more day at the hospital isn't going to make a bit of difference. I can also safely say that after 5 months and 10 days, we're not ready. We just rattled off 5 or 6 things that we still need to get done. But what's done is done.
We're going to feed Thomas one more time here ( he totally went comatose and slept his way through the last one) and then we'll begin the discharge process, which includes the car seat test. More updates to come.
We're going to feed Thomas one more time here ( he totally went comatose and slept his way through the last one) and then we'll begin the discharge process, which includes the car seat test. More updates to come.
Live Blog #11 10:06am Friday
Boy, things just happen fast around here. While I was typing the last entry, the doctor came in and did his assessment. He was pleased with how things went last night and would like to talk about the possibility of us leaving...today...with Thomas...basically, its our comfort level. I'll let you know.
Live Blog #10 9:40am Friday
Single dad.
Thomas and I have been alone for almost an hour now. Forging ahead against the elements, living off the land. we've fashioned a shelter out of trays from the cafeteria and we've set a trap in hopes of capturing a wild pig or some chicken mcnuggets. Its indeed scary. I hope we can make it until Rebecca gets back in an hour.
Thomas and I have been alone for almost an hour now. Forging ahead against the elements, living off the land. we've fashioned a shelter out of trays from the cafeteria and we've set a trap in hopes of capturing a wild pig or some chicken mcnuggets. Its indeed scary. I hope we can make it until Rebecca gets back in an hour.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
