Fat baby tries cereal...

Gunner had his 6 month well baby check up on Tuesday as I mentioned and he is officially a fatty fatso. My original plan was to try some solids at 6 months adjusted age, which is about 8 months adjusted. This would be in the beginning of January.

On second thought, I thought it might be best to do it while I was off on Christmas break so he could get used to it in some kind of routine before I went back to work. Greyson started around 5 1/2 months and it took him a bit to get adjusted. Gunner on the other hand...well his only problem was that I was not shoveling it in his mouth fast enough. So, fatty fatso will probably be getting even more fat soon. :) I will post video of this soon. In it, you can see he is handling this like a chamP!

4 month (actual) chek up

We just got back from Gunner's 4 month check up and he did great, the doc is very pleased with his growth and development. She said he seems to be pretty on track as far as development goes and as he has put on 4 pounds and 5 inches in less than three months!

here are the stats:

weight: 11lb 15oz (4th percentile--for FT babies)

length: 22 1/2in (not on term scale yet)

Head Circ: 40cm (5th percentile--for FT babies)

She has been the only one to see him and immediately noticed how big he is getting as she walked in the door! So in other words, it went well. No news on synagis yet...I will fight for it, but can't guarantee he will get it.

15 weeks, nearly 4 months

I am more and more in awe of this baby on a daily basis. Yes, he is actually 15 weeks, almost 4 months, but he really should be only 8 or 2 months...but still, he is cooing, following, reaching for toys, all things I remember Greyson doing at this same time frame.

I have been going hog wild buying baby clothes lately...stuff for the fall and winter. He wore preemie stuff for a bit, still fits some NB, but today, the outfit I was sure was a winter outfit in 0-3 fits him perfectly. Where is my tiny baby going? He is just so perfect.

I weighed him today on a "normal person" scale that only will give you a .0 to .9 reading after the pounds and he was 11.8 lbs with an empty tummy and diaper. This means he is 3 times his birthweight of only 4 lbs.

Of course, I still get told he looks small, but he is huge in my eyes...and our hearts.

Three Months Old...

Today, Gunner is three months old. He should be just about 6 weeks now, but we have been blessed with him for three whole months. He is just such a good baby. He rarely cries, he smiles and coos as soon as he wakes up, and he sleeps, eats and just has an amazing temperament.

He is growing like crazy. Here are the stats:

He is roughly 3 x's his birth weight now, I have a cheapo scale, so I am not sure exactly, but I am thinking he is about 12 lbs.

He, by my not so skillful measuring skills with a paper tape measure is about 22 inches long.

And they always measure head circumference, and his noggin is 15inches around.

This means in the last 3 months, he has put on 8 lbs, almost 6in and 5 inches of brain growth.

Here is a good pic to illustrate one month worth of growth:

Above, Gunner with his almost same size as him teddy at 3 months

Below, Gunner with his bigger than him teddy at 6 weeks

Two Month Present

What stinks about being baby #2?? Nothing new.

Here is Gunner enjoying one of the first new things he has gotten in his two months of existence! Needless to say, Greyson appears to like it better than he does...

Two Month Stats...

Today is Gunner's two month birthday...happy birthday little man!

We "celebrated" with a trip to the peditricians...he has grown like crazy since birth and since his last appointment 15 days ago. He has nearly doubled his birthweight (3oz shy) and has put on a pound since his last appointment. So his new stats are:

7lb 13oz
19 1/2in

He is actually on the full term baby scales (barely) at the 1st percentile in height, weight, and head circumfrence. I just googled the preemie charts and based on his gestational age and measurements he is nearly off those charts in weight (75%) and in head circumfrence (95%)...but not making the scale in height..guess he has my height genes!

He is having the same kind of reflux issues Greyson did, so they put him on zantac 2x's a day to see if that helps. Other than that, he is absolutely perfect!

Almost 7 lbs...

Have you ever tried to compose your thoughts when your table is vibrating? That is what I am doing right now...without sleep or coffee (damn coffee maker vomitted up my grounds and water back at me) Gunner is sitting on the kitchen table in his little bouncy/vibrating/singing chair and it is so powerful you can hear the glasses rattle in the china cabinet next to the table. So needless to say, the table is vibrating too.

Yesterday was a big day as far as our outings go...I got little man all spiffed up with a bath and a cute outfit. Below you will see his little towel that is a hand-me-down from big brother. They both will now be traumatized ala Christmas Story Pink Bunny...Can't wait to show the girls this one!

When we made it to the pedi, I found out of course that he is doing great! He is now up to 6 lb 13oz and 19 1/2 inches. Big Man. Here is a little frame of reference. Brian bought this teddy for Gunner at the hospital...

And believe it or not...Greyson still loves little brother after all of the "soft", "gentle", "quiet", "no" commands he has gotten in his vicinity!

Blissful babyhood..

It wouldn't be odd to hear many new parents complain about sleepless nights, poopy diapers, and all the adjustments that go along with bringing a new baby home. You won't hear it from me.

I feel so blessed just to have a healthy, hungry and alert baby at home..yes home. So, if it means getting up 3 times a night to feed, change and lull back to sleep our proud NICU graduate, I will do it, with a smile on my face. I am so at peace, even if it is at 2am, 5am, or whatever time he gets up in the middle of the night, just happy to have our complete family at home together.

Gunner is doing awesome. I was so worried when we brought him home that we would have to worry about his big issue that kept him in the NICU....eating. Nope, the kid is eating about 100cc's (3oz) more than he did each day at the hospital. He is signalling (quietly, possibly blessed with another baby that doesn't cry) and wanting to eat at least a half hour before when I would expect him to.

Last night was a little challenging, but again, oh well, he is home and thriving. So if it means a little less sleep for mommy and daddy, so be it.

Gunner is HOME!!

UPDATE!!!
As you guys know, Gunner July Sparkler, due to the fact that my "Junebug" came early...too early, but everything is fantastic now.

Gunner was born on June 5th at 4lb .6oz and 17.25in. On July 13th he was discharged from the NICU. He is doing AMAZING!! He biggest issue was learning to eat, be able to not be too tired to make it thru a feeding, and wake up long enough to do it. I was so worried about him at the hospital because the nurses have several babies to care for. I have one and I knew I would be on it and waking him up if he didn't wake himself.

At home, this is not an issue. He wakes up every 2 1/2 hours and eats like a champ. We had his first pedi appt yesterday to get him all logged in as a new patient and do an assessment. They said he is great. At a 1 1/2 weeks till his due date he is very close to breaking into the newborn 5 weeks percentiles. He weighed in at 6lb 6oz and 19in long yesterday.

I know a lot of you followed my blog and thought happy thoughts and said prayers...THANK YOU...it obviously worked!

let's compare...

My preemie baby (born 33 weeks GA) now officially weighs more than my peanut full termer when he came home.

Greyson (FT) was born at 40 weeks on his due date and weighed 5 lb 12 oz and was 19 1/2in...he went down to 5lb 6oz before we left the hospital.

Gunner was born at 33 weeks and weighed 4lb 0.6oz and he is now 5lb 12oz...he has the biggest cheeks I have seen on a baby that small and also a double chin!

Here's the cheeks in case you missed em...

And this was his "big brother" at birth...(3 days old)

Almost 4 weeks...

Little Gunner isn't so little any more. He is now 5 lbs 6oz. This means he has put on 1 lb 6oz in less than four weeks.

He is doing fantastic. He is perfect in every way and there are no medical issues that we have to worry about. However, the eating, is what we are working on. He has been taking about 50%of his feeds orally. When he hits 75% for two consequtive days, they will remove the feeding tube and then see what happens over the next three days. If he meets their expectations, he will go home. If not, then we wait.

We are patiently and anxiously awaiting him coming home at the same time. He is in excellent hands and in order to take care of him the way he needs, they will be doing that better than us. So, we are happy to have him home when he is ready to be home safely.

Getting bigger...

The progress continues...Little Gunner is not so little any more. He is now a whopping 4lb 13oz and growing and gaining each day. I am proud of his amazing growth. Not only is he growing, but the increased his feeds, he is now eating almost 2 oz at each sitting and taking most of them in a bottle instead of his feeding tube. Yesterday, he took 77% of his feeds in the bottle! This is the only thing holding him at the hospital, so needless to say, I am beyond excited.

We have a video...

Little Gunner just steals my heart every time I go up there. He took his first tub bath with me assisting yesterday. He is doing so well. He is taking about 50% of his feeds orally now, which is a huge accomplishment. He is also waking for almost every feeding now. He is up to 4lb 10.3oz and he really looks like he is filling out. This video is more fun to watch than reading my blab about him....

TWO WEEKS OLD...35 weeks gestational age

Gunner is doing amazingly well. We met with OT yesterday and she is impressed with his strength in all areas, minus eating. He needs a little jaw support to keep it in. But he is soo strong. He can pick his head up and he actually tries to lift his entire body off the bed, balancing on his toes.


He is now up to 4 lbs 8oz!! That is over a 1/2 lb since birth and normal newborn weight loss in the first week. His head circumference is 30 cm (12 ish in) and he is up to almost 18 in. in length. He is a growing boy!

As of yesterday, he took 33% of his feeds by mouth, when he hits 75% they are upping feeds and considering removing the feeding tube. The doc said learning to eat is the only thing keeping him in the hospital.

Yesterday, when I visited him he spent 1 1/2 houra wide eyed alert and awake. I just loved seeing him that way. He ate well over 1/2 of his bottle and burped like a champ. Speaking of bodily functions, he has the reputation of a "good pooper" he can fill a size 1 diaper, which I actually had questioned why they were putting them on him...lol!

Day 9 Updates

I got to spend some good quality time with my little man today. The 2pm feeding seems to be the best in terms of him being alert and receptive to feeding, without the feeding tube that is. He usually wakes up about 10 minutes before care time and is wide-eyed and alert. He will stay awake for almost an hour just looking up at me, so I always make sure to make it for this care time.

Today, he did what I expected him to, woke up started searching for his hands, but didn't really want them when he found them. I was waiting for the nurse to bring his bottle so we can try that instead of just breastfeeding. So while he was waiting, I offered him the paci, and he just went to town. Strong sucking reflex!

In the past, he hadn't been interested in the bottle. But today, he successfully took 5 cc's (I know...not much, but it's the first time) without spitting up or loosing any. He seemed like that was enough, so we didn't push it.

Hopefully they will be successful another time on the next shift, as this is key for him being ready to come home. His little girlfriend, who was a week ahead gestationally, but a day before in terms of when she was born, went home today. She has always been about a day ahead of Gunner...so he may be getting ready to go home before too long. That is if he continues eating progress.

He is also gaining weight, he is now up to 4lb 3.6oz....all is good!

Day 8 Updates

Gunner has left the NICU....he is now on the 3rd floor, step-down NICU or intermediate care nursery. He is doing well, but the feeding tube in his nose (in my opinion) sucks. It is to help him transfer to oral feeding, but he is getting really stuffed up and spitting up more with it in. His first day in clothes below...

Greyson came to see his baby today, although he told us he wanted a "sister" for his birthday...good luck with that kid. Two boys is all we want and can handle. Here is Greyson loving on his baby....

He is done with phototherapy for now...and in an open air crib, they will be monitoring if he can control his own temperature through the night. But here is a pic of him on the beach (aka bililiytes) it looks like I did some fun photoshopping, but this is just how the pic turned out.

I was finally able to load up the pics on my camera and I found the last belly pic that I took, ironically 2 days before my water broke, taken at 28.4 weeks.

ONE WEEK OLD....

That's right, today is Gunner's "one week birthday" he is now 34 weeks gestational age. His big birthday present was the removal of his IV. He is now IV free. He is eating 40cc's at each sitting, which is about 1 1/3 ounces.

Last night when we called to check on him, after visiting, he was up to 4lbs 2 oz. So he is growing!

I held him for about 2 hours today and he is figuring out how the rooting and sucking reflexes work together and getting how to eat without the feeding tube. They will be moving the tube to his nose so he can eat without it disturbing him. Soon he will not need one at all.

They are moving him down to the step down or intermediate care nursery sometime this weekend.

Day 6 Updates

Today was a much better day. He had phototherapy but I got to hold him for a few hours and we had the LC come in and she helped put him to breast and he likes that much more than pacis or bottle nipples. So I am much better today...

They are also hoping to get rid of the IV. They are increasing his feeds 3cc's each feeding till they hit a max of 40cc's which is about 1 1/2 ounces. He is doing great. He took 32 with no aspirations. So hopefully, when I get there tomorrow, he won't have the IV in his head any more.

Day 5 Updates...Mommy is hormonal

So, I would like to start by it is amazing to sleep in your own bed, even if it was only for 3 hours. I am up every 3 hours and every 3 hours I changed positions and sleeping location. Started on the couch, that hurt to get up and hit the bathroom, went to the recliner, that is comfortable to sit in, but not sleep in. Then I finally went up to my bed....ahhh.

I am still healing and it isn't easy to take it easy, especially when you have a sweet little boy all by himself...but that little guy is doing awesome. He is eating more and more. They have upped his feedings to 26cc (which is almost a full ounce) 8 times a day and lowered his IV fluids to 4 units an hour. They hope to discontinue the IV sometime this week. As he is tolerating the food so well. When that happens, he may move to the 3rd floor.

The IV needed to be replaced today, which was so much harder on mommy than him. I bawled. It was hard to see him have to go thru it and I left the room. It took an hour to finally get it in and after three tries in three places, he was getting pretty fiesty so it went in his sweet little head vein. Mommy bawls again.

He is under the bililytes today and they hope the phototherapy will help get his levels down. I guess it is more common in breastfed babies for the regulation of the billirubin to take a little longer. So we didn't get to hold him, which of course is hard, but we also know if he needs the phototherapy, in the long run this will help him get better faster.

So there may not be any photo updates for a few days. I can't stand to see him with his little head IV.

Day 4 Updates...Mommy Goes Home...

Little Gunner at 4 days old...

Today, after feeding, holding and stamping footprints, Mommy was discharged and Gunner stayed in the NICU...emotional, yes, but I honestly think it would be worse to have him home, because there is no way that I could provide for him the care he is getting in the NICU. The nurses there are amazing. I actually think if he were home at this point, I would be in the same 100% anxiety state that I was in the hospital those 5 weeks before he was born. So, is it odd to drive home without your baby? Yes, but it sure is better to know he is in the best hands there are.

Honestly, yes, I did cry on the way home from the hospital. But it wasn't really because he wasn't with us. It was because I was having flashbacks to on the way there when I was not sure he would be ok.

He was doing great this morning. They have increased his feeding to 20cc's, which is over a half an ounce. Dr. also said if he wants more, he can have it. This is key to regulating his billirubin count, as well as the poopy diapers they get real excited about in the NICU. They sound as though they will be removing his IV later this week and that would be when he moves to the step down nursery, to "feed and grow". He was loving his paci today; especially when you put your finger in the hole of it from behind so he can feel the nipple better.