We are still scheduled to take Aidan home Saturday.
Have a zillian things to take care of Friday to get ready: Infant CPR, home oxygen training, home oxygen tank delivery, plus, I have stuff at work that needs to get done.
No time to post more.
Oh, Aidan gained 30 grams Thursday to 2410 (5 lbs 5.0 oz)
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
October 29, 2008: Day 59 (Good news, more good news, really good news, and GREAT news!)
Good News #1: Aidan's head scan results came back, and everything is still normal!! No brain hemorrhaging problems or anything.
Good News #2: Aidan passed his car seat challenge. He spent a full hour in his car seat, and calmly slept without any spells or without desaturating.
Really Good News: The ophthalmologist did Aidan's eye checkup today and reported that he still has stage 1 retinopathy of prematurity, and he labeled it regressing. This is great news because his ROP is not any worse than it was 2 weeks ago, and is actually going away. He gets checked again in 2-3 weeks.
GREAT news: Dr Kaempf has written the order for Aidan to go home...on Saturday!!!
At tonight's weighing, Aidan gained 50 grams to 2380 (5 lbs 3.2 oz).
Pictures and videos from today:
His car seat challenge...
Good News #2: Aidan passed his car seat challenge. He spent a full hour in his car seat, and calmly slept without any spells or without desaturating.
Really Good News: The ophthalmologist did Aidan's eye checkup today and reported that he still has stage 1 retinopathy of prematurity, and he labeled it regressing. This is great news because his ROP is not any worse than it was 2 weeks ago, and is actually going away. He gets checked again in 2-3 weeks.
GREAT news: Dr Kaempf has written the order for Aidan to go home...on Saturday!!!
At tonight's weighing, Aidan gained 50 grams to 2380 (5 lbs 3.2 oz).
Pictures and videos from today:
His car seat challenge...
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
October 28, 2008: Day 58 (Going home on Sunday?)
The tentative plan is that we are taking Aidan home on Sunday!! That is if Aidan wants to and cooperates. For this to happen:
- Aidan cannot have any heart or apnea spells.
- He needs to pass his car seat challenge. This is a test where Aidan is strapped in his car seat, and needs to remain calm with no spells for 1 hour. This is to make sure that we can be able to take him home and to the pediatrician. We are planning for this tomorrow night.
- We need to get set up and trained on the home oxygen equipment.
- He needs to remain stable on the low-flow cannula, and the doctors and nurses need to determine what the settings should be for us when we are at home.
First thing this morning, they took Aidan off the high-flow cannula, and put him on a low-flow device, that will pipe 100% oxygen at a very low rate. They started Aidan at 75 ml/minute, but he was saturating too high, so they lowered him. And he still saturated too high. So they switched out the flow-meter for one that went all they way down to 25 ml/minute. At 25 ml, he *still* saturated too high, so they turned that meter all they way down, off the scale. He is now stable, with blood saturations between 85-98 with the low-flow cannula on its very-lowest setting!!! This is better than Dr Kaempf expected. This was great news.
At this point, Aidan can survive on room air when he is calm, and peacefully sleeping. He really only needs oxygen (and a very little amount) for feeding, or when he is fussy.
Aidan gained 25 grams to 2310 tonight.
About my 2 worries for the today:
1. Aidan had his head sonogram today, but the results didn't come back yet. So we need to wait for tomorrow.
2. The opthamologist didn't make it to the NICU, so Aidan will be checked in the morning. So we need to wait for tomorrow on this on too.
I guess I these are both now worries for tomorrow...
Pictures and videos from today.
No more high-flow cannula:
The low-flow regulator:
Much easier to handle him now:
- Aidan cannot have any heart or apnea spells.
- He needs to pass his car seat challenge. This is a test where Aidan is strapped in his car seat, and needs to remain calm with no spells for 1 hour. This is to make sure that we can be able to take him home and to the pediatrician. We are planning for this tomorrow night.
- We need to get set up and trained on the home oxygen equipment.
- He needs to remain stable on the low-flow cannula, and the doctors and nurses need to determine what the settings should be for us when we are at home.
First thing this morning, they took Aidan off the high-flow cannula, and put him on a low-flow device, that will pipe 100% oxygen at a very low rate. They started Aidan at 75 ml/minute, but he was saturating too high, so they lowered him. And he still saturated too high. So they switched out the flow-meter for one that went all they way down to 25 ml/minute. At 25 ml, he *still* saturated too high, so they turned that meter all they way down, off the scale. He is now stable, with blood saturations between 85-98 with the low-flow cannula on its very-lowest setting!!! This is better than Dr Kaempf expected. This was great news.
At this point, Aidan can survive on room air when he is calm, and peacefully sleeping. He really only needs oxygen (and a very little amount) for feeding, or when he is fussy.
Aidan gained 25 grams to 2310 tonight.
About my 2 worries for the today:
1. Aidan had his head sonogram today, but the results didn't come back yet. So we need to wait for tomorrow.
2. The opthamologist didn't make it to the NICU, so Aidan will be checked in the morning. So we need to wait for tomorrow on this on too.
I guess I these are both now worries for tomorrow...
Pictures and videos from today.
No more high-flow cannula:
The low-flow regulator:
Much easier to handle him now:
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
October 27, 2008: Day 57 (8 weeks old, pooping, and 5 pounds?)
Aidan turns 8 weeks old today!
The day started with a call from Dr Kaempf. He did lower Aidan's cannula flow to 1 liter/minute, and they might change Aidan to the low-flow cannula tomorrow. Dr Kaempf also said that we might be taking Aidan home as early as this weekend if Aidan continues to do so well.
Aidan finally started to poop on his own without suppositories. This is the first time he did this in over a month. A couple days ago they discontinued giving him Human Milk Fortifier, and are now adding just formula to his milk. HMF does cause constipation, so hopefully, the pooping problems are over.
Aidan had his first vaccine today with his Hepatitis-B shot. He has 3 or 4 more to go in the next week :(
Alright, I re-booked the marching band, and the guest speakers for tonight's ceremonial 5-pound weighing. He was only 5 grams short last night (3 grams actually, but don't get me started again on the scales that are only accurate to the nearest 5 grams...)
Here we go...
Cue the band!!!
Aidan gained 20 grams to 2285 (5 pounds 0.6 oz)!!
The RT wanted to clear Aidan's nasal passages before the weighing, but didn't want to be blamed if he didn't reach 5 pounds, so she waited until after the weighing:
After the weighing, at tonight's 11pm feeding, Aidan chugged his 40cc bottle down in a record 8 minutes.
Tomorrow is a big day. Aidan gets his eyes checked again for ROP, and he has another head sonogram. Back on day 3, Aidan had a perfectly normal head scan, with no hemorrhaging. They are re-checking to make sure everything is still perfect. And as you probably remember, 2 weeks ago, the ophthalmologist reported mild stage 1 ROP. We've heard that ROP can peak around weeks 36-37 (and Aidan is 36 1/2), so we are nervous about this checkup. We will be thrilled if the ROP is not that much worse than 2 weeks ago. I'll update on this for sure tomorrow.
The day started with a call from Dr Kaempf. He did lower Aidan's cannula flow to 1 liter/minute, and they might change Aidan to the low-flow cannula tomorrow. Dr Kaempf also said that we might be taking Aidan home as early as this weekend if Aidan continues to do so well.
Aidan finally started to poop on his own without suppositories. This is the first time he did this in over a month. A couple days ago they discontinued giving him Human Milk Fortifier, and are now adding just formula to his milk. HMF does cause constipation, so hopefully, the pooping problems are over.
Aidan had his first vaccine today with his Hepatitis-B shot. He has 3 or 4 more to go in the next week :(
Alright, I re-booked the marching band, and the guest speakers for tonight's ceremonial 5-pound weighing. He was only 5 grams short last night (3 grams actually, but don't get me started again on the scales that are only accurate to the nearest 5 grams...)
Here we go...
Cue the band!!!
Aidan gained 20 grams to 2285 (5 pounds 0.6 oz)!!
The RT wanted to clear Aidan's nasal passages before the weighing, but didn't want to be blamed if he didn't reach 5 pounds, so she waited until after the weighing:
After the weighing, at tonight's 11pm feeding, Aidan chugged his 40cc bottle down in a record 8 minutes.
Tomorrow is a big day. Aidan gets his eyes checked again for ROP, and he has another head sonogram. Back on day 3, Aidan had a perfectly normal head scan, with no hemorrhaging. They are re-checking to make sure everything is still perfect. And as you probably remember, 2 weeks ago, the ophthalmologist reported mild stage 1 ROP. We've heard that ROP can peak around weeks 36-37 (and Aidan is 36 1/2), so we are nervous about this checkup. We will be thrilled if the ROP is not that much worse than 2 weeks ago. I'll update on this for sure tomorrow.
Monday, October 27, 2008
October 26, 2008: Day 56 (CORRECTION: Only 7 days left in the NICU?)
Aidan continues to do very, very well. We think the days of the feeding tube are over. He is getting stronger and stronger with his feedings, and shows lots of energy when he gets hungry. He is up to 38cc of milk every 3 hours. They weaned him another 0.5 liters/minute on the high-flow cannula again today. He is now down to 1.5 liters/minute. Aidan didn't show any signs that the oxygen flow had been turned down, so we are expecting Dr Kaempf to turn this down to 1 l/m tomorrow. The lower the flow is set, the less Aidan is being helped by the pressure keeping his lungs open, and the more he is doing all the work himself. At 1 liter/minute, the oxygen flow is low enough that they could switch Aidan to a low-flow oxygen cannula, which is the type of apparatus that we will be taking home with him. This means that Aidan just needs to demonstrate that he can be stable on the low-flow cannula, and not have any heart or apnea spells for 7 days.
I fed Aidan at 5pm:
Tonight we did get Nurse Lee again. We arrived back at the NICU at 9pm to a peacefully sleeping Aidan:
See the bumpers on the sides of his head. Lee is trying to keep Aidan on the back of his head to help make it more round. A couple weeks ago I talked about how premature babies tend to get mis-shaped heads. Aidan's head is pretty round though, and is much better than many NICU babies' heads.
With great anticipation for the big 5 pound milestone, and with plenty of fanfare, speeches, and music prepared for afterwards, we held the ceremonial weighing. Aidan needs only 20 grams (2248 --> 2268) to reach the magical 5 pound mark. A drumroll please...
DOH! 4 lbs, 15.8 oz (2265 grams)
We had to send the marching band home.
Begin digression.
The NICU has 2 different types of scales. One is the normal scale like the one pictured above. These scales always report weights rounded (or truncated, don't know which) to multiples of 5 grams.
The other type of scale is the breast-feeding scale. A breast-feeding scale was used 2 days ago:
Breast-feeding scales report weights to the nearest gram, so I think they are more accurate. So any weight that I have reported that is *not* on a multiple of 5 grams comes from a breast-feeding scale. Lately, we have been using the breast-feeding scale for all Aidan's weighings because there is one permanently parked in our area since Denyse needs it to weigh Aidan before and after breast-feeding to see how much he eats.
Tonight, Lee was going to use the breast-feeding scale to weight Aidan, but since it's Sunday, he used the regular scale because it is much easier to measure Aidan's length on the bigger regular scale.
So what does this all mean and why am I spending so much time boring you with these details? Aidan was only 3 grams short of 5 pounds. It's possible that Aidan *did* reach 5 pounds today (2268 grams), but since we changed scales, his weight might have been rounded down to 2265 grams.
End digression.
Aidan's measurements for this week:
- Length: 42.25 cm (16 5/8 inches)
- Head: 31 cm (12 1/4 inches)
So, in the last 7 days, Aidan has:
- Gained 220 grams (7.8 ounces)
- Grown 0.5 cm longer (about 1/5 inch)
- Got a bigger head by 0.75 cm (1/3 of an inch)
After the weighing at 11pm, we again fed Aidan. He hadn't pooped in 18 hours, so he was starting to feel unconformable. So Denyse rubbed his tummy:
Working for the evasive burp.
Note the "What are you doing to me?" look in Aidan's eyes...
All done eating:
Tune in tomorrow for the 5 pound ceremony...
I fed Aidan at 5pm:
Tonight we did get Nurse Lee again. We arrived back at the NICU at 9pm to a peacefully sleeping Aidan:
See the bumpers on the sides of his head. Lee is trying to keep Aidan on the back of his head to help make it more round. A couple weeks ago I talked about how premature babies tend to get mis-shaped heads. Aidan's head is pretty round though, and is much better than many NICU babies' heads.
With great anticipation for the big 5 pound milestone, and with plenty of fanfare, speeches, and music prepared for afterwards, we held the ceremonial weighing. Aidan needs only 20 grams (2248 --> 2268) to reach the magical 5 pound mark. A drumroll please...
DOH! 4 lbs, 15.8 oz (2265 grams)
We had to send the marching band home.
Begin digression.
The NICU has 2 different types of scales. One is the normal scale like the one pictured above. These scales always report weights rounded (or truncated, don't know which) to multiples of 5 grams.
The other type of scale is the breast-feeding scale. A breast-feeding scale was used 2 days ago:
Breast-feeding scales report weights to the nearest gram, so I think they are more accurate. So any weight that I have reported that is *not* on a multiple of 5 grams comes from a breast-feeding scale. Lately, we have been using the breast-feeding scale for all Aidan's weighings because there is one permanently parked in our area since Denyse needs it to weigh Aidan before and after breast-feeding to see how much he eats.
Tonight, Lee was going to use the breast-feeding scale to weight Aidan, but since it's Sunday, he used the regular scale because it is much easier to measure Aidan's length on the bigger regular scale.
So what does this all mean and why am I spending so much time boring you with these details? Aidan was only 3 grams short of 5 pounds. It's possible that Aidan *did* reach 5 pounds today (2268 grams), but since we changed scales, his weight might have been rounded down to 2265 grams.
End digression.
Aidan's measurements for this week:
- Length: 42.25 cm (16 5/8 inches)
- Head: 31 cm (12 1/4 inches)
So, in the last 7 days, Aidan has:
- Gained 220 grams (7.8 ounces)
- Grown 0.5 cm longer (about 1/5 inch)
- Got a bigger head by 0.75 cm (1/3 of an inch)
After the weighing at 11pm, we again fed Aidan. He hadn't pooped in 18 hours, so he was starting to feel unconformable. So Denyse rubbed his tummy:
Working for the evasive burp.
Note the "What are you doing to me?" look in Aidan's eyes...
All done eating:
Tune in tomorrow for the 5 pound ceremony...
Sunday, October 26, 2008
October 25, 2008: Day 55 (Only 10-14 more days in the NICU left!)
Dr Kaempf called this morning and was very excited about Aidan's nippling. He said all that is left is to wean him off the high-flow cannula, and get him on a low-flow cannula. He said a week from now we will be really close to going home, and he expects Aidan to be ready sometime in the next 1-2 weeks!!! He also said Aidan will be going home on oxygen. We arrived at the NICU today to seed they lowered his high-flow cannula flow to 2 liters/minute.
Aidan is now only 25 grams away from 5 pounds. He gained 50 grams to 2248 (4 lbs 15.3 oz). If we get Nurse Lee tomorrow, he will have seen Aidan for 3 pounds 4 weeks ago, 4 pounds 2 weeks ago, and now the 5 pound milestone.
Aidan was very hungry before his 11pm feeding:
then after his feeding, he was sleeping like a baby...
Aidan is now only 25 grams away from 5 pounds. He gained 50 grams to 2248 (4 lbs 15.3 oz). If we get Nurse Lee tomorrow, he will have seen Aidan for 3 pounds 4 weeks ago, 4 pounds 2 weeks ago, and now the 5 pound milestone.
Aidan was very hungry before his 11pm feeding:
then after his feeding, he was sleeping like a baby...
Saturday, October 25, 2008
October 24, 2008: Day 54 (Week 36 and 8 straight feedings)
Aidan is now only 4 week premature. Most babies born at this point don't even make it into the NICU. We heard that babies automatically go into the NICU if they are born prior to week 35, or are less than 2 kilograms (4 pounds 6.5 oz).
Remember when I said a couple days ago that they switched Aidan's suppository order to every 24 hours. Well, Aidan was pretty uncomfortable today with gas pain, and struggled to try to poo all afternoon.
The monitor alarms in the background are *not* for Aidan. It is funny that in the last 10 seconds of the clip, the "ping, ping, ping" sounds like a binky alarm as the pacifier falls out of his mouth, and stops when I put it back in :)
Between his 5pm and 8pm feeding, he wouldn't sleep at all, and acted like he was starving (but I think he was in pain from gas):
They close the NICU from 7-8 every evening while they change shifts, so the nurses can openly talk to each other without parents there. Aidan was acting so much like he wanted to eat, that they had us wait outside the NICU while they discussed the babies, and had us come back in early at 7:30 to feed him.
He chugged down about half his bottle, and then fell right asleep. I held him for about 20 minutes until he sort of woke back up, and then he finally ate the rest of the bottle. He was so exhausted afterwards, he finally slept:
After a second suppository this evening, Aidan finally had a big poop. So much, that he lost 14 grams and is now 2198 (4 lbs, 13.5 oz).
Aidan needs to gain 75 grams in the next 2 days to reach 5 pounds by the Sunday weighing. Funny, he was in this exact position last Friday night, needing 75 grams to reach 4 1/2 pounds by Sunday, which he did exactly.
With the 11pm feeding today, Aidan has taken his last 8 feeding without the need of a feeding tube. This makes it a full 24 hours that he has eaten all of his food by bottle or breast. He is getting really close to not needing the feeding tube at all anymore!!
Denyse wore slippers in public today, really...
Remember when I said a couple days ago that they switched Aidan's suppository order to every 24 hours. Well, Aidan was pretty uncomfortable today with gas pain, and struggled to try to poo all afternoon.
The monitor alarms in the background are *not* for Aidan. It is funny that in the last 10 seconds of the clip, the "ping, ping, ping" sounds like a binky alarm as the pacifier falls out of his mouth, and stops when I put it back in :)
Between his 5pm and 8pm feeding, he wouldn't sleep at all, and acted like he was starving (but I think he was in pain from gas):
They close the NICU from 7-8 every evening while they change shifts, so the nurses can openly talk to each other without parents there. Aidan was acting so much like he wanted to eat, that they had us wait outside the NICU while they discussed the babies, and had us come back in early at 7:30 to feed him.
He chugged down about half his bottle, and then fell right asleep. I held him for about 20 minutes until he sort of woke back up, and then he finally ate the rest of the bottle. He was so exhausted afterwards, he finally slept:
After a second suppository this evening, Aidan finally had a big poop. So much, that he lost 14 grams and is now 2198 (4 lbs, 13.5 oz).
Aidan needs to gain 75 grams in the next 2 days to reach 5 pounds by the Sunday weighing. Funny, he was in this exact position last Friday night, needing 75 grams to reach 4 1/2 pounds by Sunday, which he did exactly.
With the 11pm feeding today, Aidan has taken his last 8 feeding without the need of a feeding tube. This makes it a full 24 hours that he has eaten all of his food by bottle or breast. He is getting really close to not needing the feeding tube at all anymore!!
Denyse wore slippers in public today, really...
Friday, October 24, 2008
October 23, 2008: Day 53 (Closing in on 5 pounds)
On Thursday, Aidan weighed in at 2212 grams (4 lbs 14.0 oz) up another 47 grams. He is really starting to take off with his nippling, starting to need less and less gavaging (feeding tube feeding).
Tonight Denyse and I took a little break and went to a play at the Portland Center Stage downtown in the Pearl District. We saw a very interesting one-man play called R. Buckminster Fuller: THE HISTORY (and Mystery) OF THE UNIVERSE.
Aidan turns 36 weeks on Friday!
Tonight Denyse and I took a little break and went to a play at the Portland Center Stage downtown in the Pearl District. We saw a very interesting one-man play called R. Buckminster Fuller: THE HISTORY (and Mystery) OF THE UNIVERSE.
Aidan turns 36 weeks on Friday!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
October 22, 2008: Day 52 (Lots of photos of a good day)
I saw a definite improvement in Aidan today. He was very stable on 23.5% oxygen with 2.5 l/m flow. Denyse said that she fed him twice today and he didn't need to have his oxygen turned up either time. Seeing this made me realize that we may not be here in the NICU that much longer. I started to think about how we will miss the people here, especially the nurses we have had several times.
We fed Aidan at 5pm and again at 8pm. Aidan is completely zonked after his 5pm feeding:
Tonight's weighing:
Aidan gained 40 grams for the 3rd day in a row to 2165 (4 lbs 12.4 oz).
We moved bath night to Wednesdays:
After the bath, we put Aidan in his Halloween outfit again:
And then Denyse bottled him for his 11pm feeding (notice the total concentration):
Notice how great he is doing on the monitor!
More pictures from tonight:
How many hands does it take to burp a baby?
Another family photo:
We fed Aidan at 5pm and again at 8pm. Aidan is completely zonked after his 5pm feeding:
Tonight's weighing:
Aidan gained 40 grams for the 3rd day in a row to 2165 (4 lbs 12.4 oz).
We moved bath night to Wednesdays:
After the bath, we put Aidan in his Halloween outfit again:
And then Denyse bottled him for his 11pm feeding (notice the total concentration):
Notice how great he is doing on the monitor!
More pictures from tonight:
How many hands does it take to burp a baby?
Another family photo:
October 21, 2008: Day 51 (More of the same)
Nothing really new.
Aidan gained another 40 grams to 2125 (4 lbs 11.0 oz).
He is getting slightly better with his oxygen, actually able to maintain 22-23% for a good part of today.
The doctor changed his suppositories order from every 6-12 hours, to every 24 hours. This means they must wait 24 hours without a poop before giving him one. Aidan was a little uncomfortable today, until he got a suppository and pooped sometime after 5pm.
He felt much better this evening, and we had fun with him at his 11pm feeding. He chugged his bottle in about 10 minutes, and then Denyse and I played with him for about 30 minutes. Aidan had a lot of energy and didn't want to go to sleep. We stayed at the NICU until he finally settled down about 12:30am.
Aidan gained another 40 grams to 2125 (4 lbs 11.0 oz).
He is getting slightly better with his oxygen, actually able to maintain 22-23% for a good part of today.
The doctor changed his suppositories order from every 6-12 hours, to every 24 hours. This means they must wait 24 hours without a poop before giving him one. Aidan was a little uncomfortable today, until he got a suppository and pooped sometime after 5pm.
He felt much better this evening, and we had fun with him at his 11pm feeding. He chugged his bottle in about 10 minutes, and then Denyse and I played with him for about 30 minutes. Aidan had a lot of energy and didn't want to go to sleep. We stayed at the NICU until he finally settled down about 12:30am.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
October 20, 2008: Day 50 (Wow, 50 days in the NICU and 7 weeks old)
50 days, 7 full weeks, and 500+ pictures tell the story...
WEEK ONE:
WEEK TWO:
WEEK THREE:
WEEK FOUR:
WEEK FIVE:
WEEK SIX:
WEEK SEVEN:
Just before tonight's weighing, we tried to guess what Aidan's weight would be. Denyse picked 2090, Pat, picked 2080, Lee picked 2085, and I aimed high with 2100.
Lee won, 2085(4 lbs 9.5 oz) is up 40 grams from last night.
An updated growth chart for Aidan:
Nice, consistent growth.
WEEK ONE:
WEEK TWO:
WEEK THREE:
WEEK FOUR:
WEEK FIVE:
WEEK SIX:
WEEK SEVEN:
Just before tonight's weighing, we tried to guess what Aidan's weight would be. Denyse picked 2090, Pat, picked 2080, Lee picked 2085, and I aimed high with 2100.
Lee won, 2085(4 lbs 9.5 oz) is up 40 grams from last night.
An updated growth chart for Aidan:
Nice, consistent growth.
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