To celebrate Mr. Cameron's 2 week birthday, he got a real bath! Now that he no longer has an IV and his umbilical cord has fallen off, he could have a real bath (he'd only gotten a sponge bath before this), and me and Blaine got to be the one's to bath him! Okay... I got to be the one to bath him, Blaine was on camera duty. : )
It was definitely scary, he was SO tiny! I've just barely gotten used to holding him standing up and putting him in and out of his bed (last week I'd just sit down and let the nurses carry him, he was just so small, I was nervous!). It was nice to see him without so many wires hooked up all over him. He certainly looked extra tiny when he was all nakey, though!
He was pretty dang sure he was not going to like his bath at first. He wanted back in that blanket, but after we got him in the water and scooped it up over his belly he was happy again... well... til we took him out! (Little stinker couldn't make up his mind, first he hated the bath... then he liked it...) : ) He was also about ready to eat, so he kept trying to nurse from my hand. (picture below) LOL
Here's a little video of his first real bath:After he was all dressed, snuggled in a blanket, and fed his dinner, he was one tired little guy and perfectly content to doze off in Mommy's arms...
I had to post these of him in his little jammies. He looks so cute in little clothes. He's just barely too long for preemie clothes, but as you can see below... newborn size clothes (pictured) are still pretty big on him. Both Kadan and Zackery NEVER fit into newborn size clothes, they went straight to 0-3 months! It's strange to now have one that probably wont fit into newborn size til he's a couple months old! Having one so tiny is definitely new for me. I'm used to them coming out half grown! : )
Here's a couple of him in his isolette. The temperature is set at 85 for now. When he was first born he had it at 90.5, so in 2 weeks we've gone down 5.5 degrees. He's gotta get down to 81 before he can move to a regular open crib... 4 more degrees to coming home!
Now that he is a little older and bigger (tonight he weighed in at 4lbs 10.7 oz!!!) he seems to have more energy to be awake longer and eat more. It's so fun to see his little expressions and smiles, and his little cheeks and body are starting to get a little rounder, which is definitely nice to see! This week he has just been on a roll with weight gain! (Which we are SOO happy about because being able to gain weight is one of the things he needs to be doing before he can come home, he doesn't have to reach any particular weight, he just has to show that he is able to progress and be gaining weight.) For the last 4 or 5 days he has gained 1 to 1.5 oz per day!
Still hooked up to lots of monitors, although they've been unplugging them for a bit the last couple days while I feed him and snuggle with him. It is comforting to know that his heartrate, breathing, and oxygen levels are constantly being watched. It makes it so I worry a little less about my little baby when I can't be with him. 
When the boys come home this weekend, they said I can take him over to the door and let the boys see him through the window. It's the closest they can get for now, since Cameron can't leave the NICU and they can't come in. But I think they'll like seeing him, and hopefully soon Cameron will be able to come home and they can hold him and see him up close.
He is doing SO good with eating, now, too! Today he had an AMAZING day with eating! The best by far he's ever had! I've been breastfeeding him 3 times a day for the past 3 or 4 days. He usually averages out to getting 18 ccs by breast per feeding, then he gets the rest through his tube (he's still eating 38ccs per feeding). But today this amazing little dragon ate 22 ccs the first time I nursed him, 24 ccs the next time I nursed him, and 32 ccs the next time I nursed him!!! The nurses were just floored he did so well today! Especially because in the beginning they told me he would most likely not really even start to nurse until he was a couple weeks old. And he's already almost eating his entire feeding through nursing! He does get a bottle with a little preemie nipple in between my feedings if he's awake enough, and he can drink his entire feeding usually by bottle. I was really hesitant to want him to have a bottle, because I didn't want him getting used to an easy bottle nipple and not want to nurse (since nursing is harder). Which is one reason why they let me try nursing him last week (a week earlier than we'd planned). After I saw he was latching on and breastfeeding well (even if he got tired halfway through, he'd still start out really good) then I was more okay with him having the bottle. Plus, the nurses said if we waited for him to be able to nurse EVERY feeding, he'd be in the hospital MUCH longer. Where he was taking both well, they suggested I keep him at 3-4 breastfeedings a day, and let him take the bottle the rest of the time, that way we'd get him off his feeding tube and home quicker, and while at home I could slowly switch out bottle feedings for breastfeedings as he got bigger/older and had more energy for it. So that's the plan for now. Sorry for the long explanation about this, but this is the main thing we're working on right now, so I had a lot to explain. : )More updates in a few days! Thank to everyone who's called or sent messages or brought us dinner or helped with the boys!! Especially my Mom!!! I have NO idea what we would have done without her in this. She has taken an ENORMOUS amount of stress out of our lives and out of the boys lives. I know they are safe, happy, and well taken care of in good old SV, and having a MUCH funner time and a much less stressful time with their grandparents. As hard as this is for me and Blaine, I know the boys would be so confused and stressed if they were here and we were having to drop them off with babysitters all the time as we run back and forth from the hospital. I'm glad they're getting a comfortable, calm, normal routine in a house and with people they love and are familiar with. As much as I miss them (like CRAZY...) this is a better arrangement for them for now. But I am SO counting down the hours til we see them this weekend, and counting down the days til we are moved in to our new place and they come home for good!!! And hopefully... HOPEFULLY... the fifth member of our family will join us very soon afterwards!!!
Won't it be so fun to look at him without the tubes! He is going to be there before you know it!
ReplyDeleteKarrie he is so dang cute! It makes me so happy to read your post and see him doing so well. I know the nurses/doctors won't say much about when he will go home but honestly you are getting really close. I love that he is eating so well, this is the hardest part for so many. Also on the nursing & bottles it does make it so much easier for them to come home if they are on bottles as well as nursing. We didn't have the option of all nursing like some later preemies do but I would watch so many moms say only nursing to later switch to both or just bottles so they could just go home.
ReplyDeleteWay to go little Dragon!! Your doing so good!