Cameron:

Up to 9 Months

2010-12-05T11:38:00.000-08:00

So I am LONG overdue for a baby Cameron update! The last few months have been crazy with me starting work, Kadan starting kindergarten, and taking way too many credits for school! So here you go.... I'll redeem myself...

Towards the end of the summer Cameron went 3 months gaining only a little over a pound total.... not so good. The doc said he is certainly not malnurished, because he was growing in height VERY well and he was doing awesome on his development. But baby fat is good and we wanted him to gain weight. So we started "calorie packing" which is like what we did when he came home from the hospital. Back then we were adding preemie formula to the breastmilk he got from a bottle to make it more calories. So we started adding formula and rice cereal to his baby food.

The next month he had gained a pound and a half, and we were very excited! So we backed off a little on the calorie packing. We went in for a weight check yesterday and he had only gained 10 oz. sigh. Not horrible, but definitely not what we were hoping for. 15-30 oz a month is 'good' range. So we're back to the calorie packing thing.

Healthwise he's been excellent, no issues there. He's had the typical small colds for the season, but nothing major. He is getting his first tooth! : ) It's slow coming in, but it's working its way up. Thus, everything and anything goes straight to his mouth to chomp on. And he really is an awesome eater, he's eating plenty calories for his weight, but it's just not really 'sticking', so we have to add to it.

A developmental specialist comes out to our house once a month to work with him and check his development and help him get caught up. He's about the developmental level of an 8 month old in almost all areas. (He is 9 months old chronological age, but would only be 7 months if he was born on time, so being at 8 months is good.) The only score that's been consistently low is his receptive language. He has a hearing evaluation in January. We know he CAN hear, he's just not responding to sounds and voices quite as good as he should be for his age. So we'll see how that goes.

He is starting to crawl and finally starting to babble a little bit. He is still super teeny, in 3-6 month clothes, so it's so funny to see him eating graham crackers and crawling around. He even gets up on his hands and feet sometimes. It looks like we have this 4 month old baby crawling around the house. : )

He is a super happy little guy. He loves his big brothers and any and all attention they give him. If you say, "Cameron give me kisses" and make kissing noises he'll lean in and give a big open mouth slobbery kiss all over your chin/cheek. : ) It's excellent. : )

SO grateful for my little baby and that he's done so good! I know too many family's with preemies who were not quite as lucky to avoid all the problems we've been able to avoid. I'm very grateful for my little guy and for each little milestone he makes.

5 months old!!!

2010-08-15T21:57:00.000-07:00

I'm a little late with this post. I should have put it a couple weeks ago, but... better late then never. Here is our 5 month old little boy! I can't believe how fast time goes by! I feel like I was just barely pregnant with him! He's already almost 1/2 a year old! He is SO fun! We are just loving every minute with him! Although he gave us a scary start... he has been such an easy fun baby! Sleeps good... eats good... plays good... and all while looking SO dange cute. Yes, we count ourselves very blessed! WINNER of the top dang cutest 5 month old picture of my super cute baby Cameron. : ) Check out that cute grin and dimples!!! LOVE him. : ) Oh, man. Looking at this picture seriously wants to make me run upstairs, pick him up out of his crib, and squish the little cutie and kiss those cheekies!!! but I wont... of course.... because a mom must relish the time when ALL her kids are asleep at once. ; ) LOL

He is doing SO good. Not quite up to par as far as a typical 5 month old... but he's doing good for his adjusted age. He acts and is the size of about a 3-4 month old baby. He doesn't scoot yet, but he holds his head up very well and WAY prefers to be on his belly if at all possible. He can roll back and forth like a piece of cake now.

He's smiling all the time and trying to laugh now too. We've gotten quite a few little half-giggles, and you can tell there's more there just trying to get out! : )

He loves to play with his little toys now. He can reach out and grab little baby toys. He will also try to grab anything else within reach... mommy's hair... mommy's necklace... daddy's glasses... big brothers' nose... you name it! I'm remembering why I chopped off my hair when the other 2 kids were babies! LOL (though I just worked so hard to grow it out again... so I wont be chopping it)

We have the developmental specialist coming out sometime this month to do an evaluation on him and see where he's at compared to his adjusted age and actual age. They're going to help monitor him for the next year and help make sure he gets caught up to where he should be. By a year to a year and a half supposedly you wont be able to tell he was a preemie, so we shall see. I'm excited to hear what suggestions they have and see where his skill level/development is at.

I don't have a weight for him at 5 months, because he no longer has to go in for monthly weight checks (woohoo! that means he's growing nice and steady!). But I'd estimate he's maybe about 13 lbs-ish. A few more weeks, when he's about 6 months old, we'll start rice cereal. With Kadan and Zack we started rice cereal at 4 months, and fruits/veggies at 6 months, but where he's not really developed like a typical 5 month old, doc suggested (and we agreed) to wait a little bit longer.

So, that's the update on this little tyke! Here are some more pictures of my SUPER cute baby! : )

A friend made him this and other cute little tie-onesies. He was all ready for church! Lil cutie!
I know his hand is blurry... but look close... he's making a little "I Love You" sign! He's totally a genius. ; )

Just chillin'.... He's such a good baby!
love his little face! : )
"hey, mama! whatcha up to? looks neat!"
"oh yea? just taking pictures of my cute face? okay. here. take one of my cute lil dimple."

"hmmm... alright. think I'm done being interested in the camera. I might be ready for some lunch... again..." : )
this is his "WHAT are you DOING?" face. Note the superbly wrinkled eyebrows and forehead. He makes it anytime me, Blaine or the boys act crazy trying to get him to smile. : )

CUTE item big brother Zack needs

2010-08-03T00:19:00.000-07:00

I found this cute stroller strap for a toddler to hold onto while baby sibling is being pushed in the stroller! AND... they're giving it away. : ) The website has some cute stuff. Another one of my faves to browse through.

http://liltulips.blogspot.com/search/label/weekly%20freebies

Nicki's Diapers Blog

2010-08-02T23:40:00.000-07:00

I found this new blog with lots of cool mommy and baby stuff! I hate window shopping in actual stores... but I could window shop online all day! I love comparing prices on line and being able to switch from store to store with a click of the button! : )

This site also has weekly giveaways! Woohoo! score!

www.nickisdiapers.blogspot.com

TWO free cloth diapers from clothdiaperwhisperer.com

2010-08-01T14:11:00.001-07:00

I just entered a giveaway for 2 free cloth diapers (BumGenius 4.0 one size)!!! Wish me luck!!!

The Giveaway is here.

Cameron: 4 months old

2010-07-09T23:35:00.000-07:00

Baby Dragon is 4 months old!!! It's CRAZY how fast it's gone by!!! Last year at this time we were only considering having a third child. That tells you just how fast this little guy decided to get into this world! He's quite the impatient little stinker, doesn't waste any time! : ) In one year he went from just a "thought" to a 4 month old baby!!! Our little man must have a pretty important role to play in his life, some reason he needed to get down to Earth so quick! : )
At his four month check up he weighed 10 lbs 9 oz. He was 22 3/4 inches long. He's doing well. Growing at a good steady rate. Ears, eyes, etc, all look good. He's developmentally what he should be for his adjusted age (2 months old). No worries! : ) We got a healthy baby boy... just a little on the small side for a 4 month old. He is in the 1%ile for his height, weight, and head.He has started to roll. He can't always do it exactly when he wants to. He can go from his belly to his back pretty easily. His back to his belly is a little trickier, he has to work at it, but he's done it quite a few times.His hair is starting to grow back on the top of his head! : ) woohoo! This is about how much he had on top when he was born, then it all fell out, but the back and sides were still long! (yup... bald with a mullet!!!). Now the back and sides have mostly thinned out and it's growing back on top, so it's a little more even all around.
When he's awake his eyes are always opened wide like he just doesn't want to miss anything exciting that might happen around him. With two crazy big brothers, he stays pretty entertained just watching them play. They can almost always make him smile! : )
I love that he's putting on a little fat. He's got nice round cheeks and a little double chin. His belly, arms, and legs, have all got a little pudge to them now.
I couldn't get a picture of his big smile. It was hard to 'entertain' and click the picture on time. Here is a little bit of a half grin. LOL
Here is a video of his smiles. (Check out his superbly cute dimples!!!) It's a little long (like 3 minutes). I don't know how to edit my videos yet. So, to save you time, he smiles in the first minute and then again during the last 30 seconds, so you can skip ahead. ; )

And here a little song he wanted to share with everyone. LOL As I was taking pictures he just starting cooing away like he was singing a little song, so I switched and took a little video. SO dang cute! I love hearing this little baby's voice!!!

I can't believe how fast it's all gone by. I have to remind myself to slow down and just enjoy his babyhood. When you realize how fast it's all gone by you wish you could have gone back to enjoy it a little more. He really is such a good baby and it's possibly the best feeling in the world to just hold and cuddle with him. I am so grateful that we were so blessed with him. So many things could have gone wrong, and they didn't. The Lord was with us, and baby dragon was surely meant to be here. : )

Quarter of a Year!!!! Little munchin is growing fast! : )

2010-06-06T12:49:00.000-07:00

Mr. Cameron is 3 months old! He is doing SO good! He eats awesome now. Tuesday he had a checkup and he was 8 lbs. 11 oz., he's been gaining about 1 oz per day pretty regularly so at exactly 3 months he weighed about 8 lbs 15 oz., which is the weight big brother Kadan was when he was born! (Zack was 9 lb 1 oz.) Cameron seems like he's grown SO much it's crazy to think that Kadan came out that size from the beginning! I still think he has longer arms and legs than either of our other boys though.

Grandma (my mom) bought him this cute Fisher Price Little Lamb swing. I love LOVE it. And so does baby. It has a little mirror in the center of the mobile and he loves to just stare at the mirror and the little sheep as they go around. It's also super nice to have a place I put him where crazy big brothers wont trip over the little guy! : )

I had to take some more pictures in this little basket. When he was one month old, this is the basket I put him in to take pictures for easter. He fit lengthwise laying down in it, his little feet were the only thing propped up over the edge. He's grow SO much since then. I had to sit him in it differently this time, he was too big to lay in it. : )

(I LOVE this one (above) by the way. : ) He is such a cutie.) He is almost sleeping through the night. I feed him about midnight right before I go to bed, then he sleeps until about 5:30 or 6. Then I can go back to bed until 8, when the big boys wake up. It's nice to be able to get more rest at night! For the most part he really is a happy little baby. He eats good, loves to watch things like his mobile, people talking to him, and his brothers making funny faces and sounds for him!

I have SOOOO many baby hats that I've acquired between the three boys! I'm such a sucker for the tiny little hats. We have plenty of little beanies, little winter hats, little baseball caps, and little sun hats. He's still a little two small for most, but here's a couple I like. Poor kid is still bald on the top with lots of hair on the sides and back, but we think he's still super cute anyways. I'll admit.. sometimes when he's wide a wake with big open eyes and he makes the funniest little facial expressions and I think think he looks like a little turtle. LOL Don't get me wrong, a super cute turtle... lol. Being the mom, I'm quite biased toward thinking my kids are the cutest thing ever, but with each of them we've joked that they looked like one thing or another. Kadan was completely balled with big ears so we always called him Dopey. Zackery had the funniest little squishy face and funny ears and he had visible eyebrows from the time he was born so we always said he looked like a little baby troll, oh, he also kind of looked like the baby Tarzan from the disney version of the cartoon. And now we have our little turtle. : )

The big boys are just LOVING their little brother. So far no jealousy issues, which I am grateful I've been able to avoid when Zack was born and now when Cameron was born. They both love to hold him and talk to him. And Cameron is perfectly content to watch them play or talk. He's going to be following them around in no time I'm sure! Trying to keep up with all the action! : )

Two Months Old!

2010-05-05T23:00:00.000-07:00

The little munchkin is now 2 months old! He is 7 lbs and 4 oz. That's almost 3 lbs bigger than his birthweight! But still a pound and a half smaller than either of his brothers when they were born (they both came when I was 38 weeks pregnant). He is 20 inches, the same length Kadan was at birth (Zack was 22 inches). Cameron is in the 1% for his height, weight, and head. Even though he is so teeny for a 2 month old baby he seems like he's gotten so big! His little cheeks are all nice and round and his arms, legs, and belly now have some fat on them! It's nice to see him getting chubby.

I no longer have to wake him up to feed him, he wakes up on his own at regular intervals, and he is nursing every feeding now! : ) And it is SOOOO nice not to have to pump milk anymore! : ) He does still get 1 bottle at night on some nights, because his Daddy is very nice and helps at night with him on the nights Mommy is super tired. He doesn't have to go in for regular eye checkups anymore. His eyes have finished developing (up to the point of a full term newborn) and there were no problems, nice and healthy. : ) When he is 6 months he'll get another eye checkup and hearing checkup just to make sure they are continuing to develop good.
The doctor said he has no worries for him at this point, he's growing wonderfully, and his development is good for his adjusted age. He's starting to focus his eyes on people and objects. He loves watching his brothers when they talk to him. And he likes to watch the mobile in his crib and on his swing. He's starting to be awake more during the day which is fun. For the first month and a half he would only wake up to eat then he'd fall back asleep, and some feedings he wouldn't hardly even open his eyes for at all! Now he usually has 2 really 'awake' times where he'll be awake for up to about 2 hours straight, once late morning and once in the evening. And he's more alert for each of his other feedings as well. It's nice to see him looking around and opening his eyes wide and paying attention to things.
We do have some slightly sad news. Cameron's doctor is moving to Salt Lake in August, he got a job at Primary Children's. He has been my favorite pediatrician I've ever met! We just love him! There were several different doctors that rotated shifts at the NICU, so we had a chance to get to know several of them, and all of them we liked, but he was our favorite. He was so great to talk to us and give us updates at the hospital, he's been wonderful at all of his checkups. He has an amazing reputation and has done lots of really wonderful things in his career. He is absolutely the kind of doctor that became a pediatrician to make a difference and because he truly loves the work. So... if any of you ever happen to need to go to Primary Children's, if you see a doctor by the name Andrew Smith, I just want you to know you are in very good hands. I completely trust him and I've always felt that he truly valued my opinion as Cameron's mother and always took it into consideration. This guy is awesome we're very sad to see him go, but excited for all the good work he'll be able to accomplish at Primary Children's.

Thank you to Dr. Smith for helping us take the best possible care of our little baby these last couple months! : )

Check Up (5 1/2 weeks old)

2010-04-12T21:31:00.000-07:00

Cameron had a check up today. He is still eating WONDERFULLY, still gaining an oz a day. He is now up to 6 lbs 4 oz. He is the size of a normal newborn!!! Well... a smaller normal newborn, but still within normal newborn range. : )

He is 19 inches long, arms, legs, muscles, breathing, and everything else looking and developing good.

Here are some of the following changes that are happening with our little guy:

Adding in more breastfeeding sessions little by little, the last week he's been on 4 breastfeeds & 4 bottles a day, now I can start breastfeeding once more every couple days til.... (drumroll...) I don't have to pump milk anymore! WOO HOO! Cuz seriously... it sucks. LOL
When he's awake, bringing him downstairs to be with the family more for tummy time, sitting in his bouncy chair. He's growing good and having more energy so whenever he's awake we can start giving him some more stimulation and interaction. Before he would only really be awake for about 20-30 minutes at a time, just enough to eat, so we wanted him to save his energy for eating and growing.
AND... taking him out of the house a little more!!!! Doc said on nice days we're okay to take him out for a walk or bring him outside while the boys are playing on the grass, or even for a trip to the grocery store. He's still not okay to go places where there will be lots of little kids or lots of people who would want to be touching and holding him (so we wont be taking him to the kid's library activities and church and any big family functions just yet).
This time we can wait TWO weeks before going in for a weight check with the nurse. And we'll see the doctor in about 3 weeks for his 2 month checkup.

He also has another eye exam next week (he had his 2nd one last week). His first eye exam was at the hospital and I was not there. I went to the one last week, however... I will absolutely under no circumstances be attending the one next week! Blaine has agreed to go to that one (thank heavens... obviously I would have gone if he couldn't... but I am SUPER glad he's going!). It was AWEFUL!!! They have to put this tool in his eye to pry the eyelids open and hold them open and another tool to move the baby's eyeball around so they can get a good look into the pupil!!! The tool they use to hold it open is just HORRIBLE looking! I saw the tools, but had to look away while they were actually checking him. They gave him drops to numb his eyes but he was still screaming because they had to hold him down and I felt literally sick. Ugh, it was SO aweful. I would rather watch them replace his IV and feeding tube a MILLION times than have to watch that eye exam. Thus... I told Blaine I couldn't go to the next one and he agreed to take him next week. I know it's necessary... and I would rather him have these checkups than have his eyes not develop right and end up going blind (yes... a possibility for preemies, but so far they have no immediate concerns for Cameron). I mostly understood it when they explained it to me... but not well enough to explain it to someone else very well. Basically (as far as I understood it) when a baby is born premature their body is so busy putting all its energy into making the major organs (lungs... heart... etc) work and develop (because those are most important obviously as they keep the baby alive) that the eyes fall behind (and eyes aren't fully developed until 40 weeks), and then when the eyes start developing again they're kinda like, "Ooh, better hurry and catch up" and then they grow too fast and they don't grow right and the baby can end up blind. Risks go up if the baby has needed to be on oxygen. Luckily, Cameron really didn't need oxygen for very long, so that's good. So far, his eyes are looking good, everything is developing as it should, but they still aren't fully developed so there is still a chance problems could occur, which is why we're going back in next week. His chances for problems are low at this point, but even a low risk of blindless is enough risk that us and the doctors want it watched carefully of course.

Lots of good news. He's doing awesome and continuing to grow and develop as he should. It's nice to finally be able to feel like we have a baby as part of our family. Having him sleep up in his room all the time is certainly better than the hospital, but we'll enjoy lots more having him be around for and part of our little family's daily activities! : )

Happy 1 MONTH Birthday, Baby Cameron!

2010-04-05T23:00:00.000-07:00

Cameron Harris has been out in the world for one whole month! At his doctor checkup today he weighed 5 lbs 13 oz. We were told he has good muscle tone, his eyes, ears, and everything else is looking good, heartbeat and breathing is good, and he's gaining weight good! Pretty much everything is good!

We're going up to 4 breastfeedings a day and we were told we could be a little more lenient on his feedings and start to take some cues from him. He still needs a certain amount of food a day, and of course it should be at regular intervals, but one time if he's extra hungry and eats a ton and the next time he doesn't hardly eat anything, that's okay. Before we were trying to keep it at a certain amount every 3 hours. Now we're just trying to keep it at a certain amount each day, exactly when he gets it doesn't matter as much.

Also, to celebrate my little baby's 1 month birthday, we had a fun little photo shoot up in his room. I just took them myself, and my camera isn't too excellent... but seeing as I had such a beautiful subject... I think they turned out kinda cute. : )

A nurse at the hospital made this hat for one of her twin 1 yr old boys and it didn't fit so she gave it to Cameron. All the babies get one little pink & blue knit hat anyways, but he got this extra one, too, and I LOVE it. : )

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This is one of my favorite blankets of his. It came from Grandma (my mom) and it is SOOOO soft!
Introducing: Cameron Harris! A recent graduate of Portneuf NICU's school of preemiehood! (if u can't see it... these are little itty bitty scrubs he's wearing)
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SUPER Cameron!!! With super powers that allow him to be born whenever the heck he wants and still grow healthy and strong!!! ; )

Ready to join the family football team!!! (this would be Kadan's build-a-bear Teddy Bear's outfit!... and it still pretty much drowned him... lol)
Happy Birthday my baby! We love you so much and we're so glad you are home with us!!!

Welcome Home!!!

2010-03-31T13:06:00.000-07:00

At 3 1/2 weeks old, Cameron finally joins us at home! It is WAY sooner than we were anticipating! But he is a little trooper and just kept pushing a long, making awesome progress and now he is home!
He weighs 5 lbs 8.8 oz and is 19 1/4 inches long. Next week he'll have a follow up with the eye doctor and with the pediatrician.
Cameron will most likely be spending all his time in his room for the next week or so. They want him to still be able to sleep in a quiet, not-too-light room without any distractions (aka... big brothers! lol) : ) It will help him get better rest if he can be resting quietly in his crib and then he'll be able to grow and develop faster. So, for now, every 3 hours we go up to change his diaper and feed him and cuddle for a bit and then we leave him alone to rest. I have the monitor constantly with me, even though he really doesn't cry much. He doesn't even cry to eat yet, so I have to pay close attention to the clock to know when to feed him. This also means I'll be setting my alarm to wake up to feed him every 3 hours. Once he gets a little older and eating more during the day I'll be able to let him sleep more during the night, but for now, he needs the round-the-clock feedings.

The boys were just ecstatic when I walked in the door with him! : ) We had them wash their hands really good and let them each have a turn to hold him for a bit. It was QUITE a big event, they just loved it! Kadan kept saying, "he's such a TINY little guy!!!" When I put him up in his room and carried all his stuff up from the hospital both of them kept saying, "I wanna help! I wanna help baby Cameron!" And they stayed right next to his crib the entire time I was getting everything settled! We put a lock on Cameron's room, that way the curious and loving big brothers can't go in anytime they want. It was a good idea, too, because about every 20 minutes Kadan tells us he needs to go check on his baby brother, and we have to remind him that baby Cameron is okay and just needs to rest right now. : )
It's a little scary having him home, a little overwhelming to care for all 3 kids at once, but its also very VERY nice to have us all together at home. Especially now that life is settling down for us and we will mostly be hanging out at home for the next little while.

Zack did do better holding him, I just took pictures of him holding him first, so by the time I got to taking a video, he was ready to be done.

3 weeks old!!!!!

2010-03-26T21:48:00.000-07:00

Happy 3 week birthday to my baby Cameron! Love you buddy!

Here's some more videos and pictures to celebrate. (And the big brothers needed another dose of their new baby dragon) : )

Little Hiccups: (I thought Kadan would like seeing this one)

Snuggles with Mommy. Now that he's eating better and able to keep himself pretty warm, I get to snuggle with him for about an hour (instead of the old 1/2 an hour). It's VERY nice. : )

I sure love this teeny little guy...
I'm nursing him 3 times a day still (I probably wont go up to four times a day until he comes home), and the other feedings he gets a bottle if he is awake and looking like he wants to suck (which is most of his other feedings). He can pretty easily drink his whole feeding by bottle. He can usually get 1/2 to 2/3 of his feeding if I'm nursing him, and then he just gets to tired, though he has gotten his whole feeding through nursing a few times. Today he had an awesome day! He only had to have ONE of his feedings through the tube! This was a pretty big deal! That's our goal, to get all his feedings through breastfeeding or the bottle, it doesn't matter how much he takes through one or the other, we just want to get that feeding tube out.
The temperature on his isolette is down to 83.5, so he's got about 2 more degrees to go.

He weighs 5 lbs 2 oz, now! It feels so good to be past that 5 lb mark! We really didn't expect him to hit it so soon, but he's growing like a little weed and we LOVE it. : )

We're starting to see his little cheeks and belly get a little rounder as they are filling out!

A visit from his big brothers...

2010-03-26T21:38:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday Cameron got to meet his big brothers, Kadan and Zackery. They aren't allowing siblings (or any kids) into the NICU right now, but they did let me take Cameron up to the window and Blaine lifted up the boys so they could see him. Zack was pretty much like, "Cool!... a baby!... alright lets go." His excitement lasted all of 2 minutes, then he was ready to move on, as a typical 2 1/2 year old's attention span goes. : )

I think Kadan enjoyed it a little more, then again, he's been much more part of the process since we told him I was pregnant about 6 months ago. He's able to understand and remember more and he even remembers quite a bit about when Zack was just a little baby, so it's a little more special for him. He just kept saying, "He's SOO tiny!" : )

Pretty sure Cameron was SUPER excited to meet the big brothers we've been telling him about. Yup, he was definitely looking forward to it. He just uh... keeps his excitement 'low key'... you know... a blink here and there. : )

Happy 2 weeks Birthday, Baby Dragon!!!

2010-03-19T21:53:00.000-07:00

This is a SUPER long one folks!!! But the big brothers needed some new photos/videos of their new baby dragon brother and I was getting lots of questions about an update of how he's doing, so here ya go! : )

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!!!

10 days old

2010-03-15T18:29:00.000-07:00

Cameron is doing so good! He's surprising us and the doctors/nurses left and right!

He is up to 38 cc's. Tommorrow it looks like they are going to start adding extra calories to my breastmilk so that he will have the extra calories for energy and growth, but his tummy wont have to try and digest more milk than it can handle.

The last couple days we have been breastfeeding twice a day. He usually gets out between 20-25 cc's, then he gets tired and falls asleep so we feed him the rest through his tube. He's really good at latching on and everything, though. Apparently they usually wait until 34 weeks to really start nursing, most babies just aren't interested and can't really figure it out before then. So, for being 33 weeks, we're proud of our little man. : )

Today they told me that since he's doing so well with it they'll bump him up to 3 breastfeeding sessions a day. Once he starts getting those extra calories and as he gets a little older, he'll have the energy to breastfeed an entire feeding, and more feedings a day. Considering they told me I probably wouldn't be able to even try nursing until he was about 34 weeks... I'm thinking we're doing pretty good!! : )

Last night he weighed 4 lbs 4.1 oz, only 2 more oz to go til he's back at his birthweight. His isolette is turned down to 86.5, so that hasn't changed much in a couple days, but today his temp was up to 98.7, and once it gets to about 99 they lower the isolette temperature again, so probably by tomorrow it will be lowered again.

He gets to wear cute little preemie size jammies now. It's cute to see him dressed and it's nicer when we get him out he doesn't have to be bundled up so much, his arms can stay out of the blanket and we can hold his little hands. Although he is a little long for the preemie size, so a couple times they've put him in newborn clothes, which are still just a tad big. He's kind of in between sizes I guess.

Overall, lots of progress, and we feel so blessed for how good he's doing! They still wont say anything about when he might come home. Seeing the rate he's progressing I'm thinking beginning of April, but I know they wont confirm that until it's about the time he comes home.

Lots to be thankful for! I'll post new pictures in a day or two. Thank you to everyone whose helped us or came to visit us or just sent a message wishing us well. Love you all! : )

Happy 1 Week Birthday, Baby Cameron!!!

2010-03-12T16:49:00.000-08:00

Note: I know there are TONS of pictures for this post, but our older boys are still in Star Valley at my moms and we've been taking lots of pictures/videos for them to see since they can't come in and see him in person. That way they get to know their new little baby brother and have some time to get used to the idea before he comes home. : )

Today our baby Cameron is 1 week old!!! To celebrate, we let him try nursing! He did SO good for his first try! He probably only sucked for maybe 5 minutes, and he only got out about 2 cc's of milk, but we weren't even sure he'd want to try sucking at this age, so it was a WAY good first try! We were so proud. What a talented little boy we have. : )So, I really wasn't upset or scowling or anything, LOL, I just didn't know Blaine was getting me in this picture, too. BUT... look how pink/peach I'm getting again! (lips are still a little pale I guess... ) But I don't look like a corpse anymore! : )The temperature on his isolette is down to 87 (it has to be at 82 before he can move to an open crib), that's one degree down from yesterday's 88.He is up to eating 27 cc's at a time. It's still going up 1 cc every other feeding. By tomorrow he'll be up to eating a full oz of milk (30 cc's)! Once he gets to 45 cc's, he wont need his IV anymore, because that's the amount he'll need to maintain his birthweight. Hopefully he keeps digesting his food well and in a few days he'll hit that 45 cc mark and after that he'll start gaining weight quicker. He is very very slowly gaining back up to his birthweight. He's up to 4 lbs 1.8 oz.
He is back under the bililights today. He was just barely over the line for his levels. He's been up and down a little bit, so the doc said he might have gone back down without the lights, but he decided it was still a good idea just to have one more day under the bililights. Cameron doesn't mind a bit. He stretches and sprawls all out all comfy-like under the warm lights, like he's just lounging on the beach on a nice sunny day... : ) He also gets to wear his cool 'superhero' mask and transform into... (drumroll)... CAMERON: THE AMAZING DRAGON!!!
When I came back in after lunch this (above 2 photos) is how I found him... all sprawled out just lounging. The nurse said she almost adjusted him, but he looked so comfy and content how he was that she decided to leave him be. And he really did look super comfortable, it was so funny! Probably a good choice she left him to sleep that way for a bit because when I rolled him over to change his diaper he really wasn't too happy to be disturbed from his comfy position. : )
Check out this sweet little face!! Yup. That's right. I made that. : )A high school CNA student came in and needed a couple pictures for a project. We agreed to let Cameron be her subject. So she took a couple pictures and asked us a few questions about him and his birth for her project. It was kind of fun. Our little man is famous... well... at least in the CNA class at Pocatello High School. : )

The doctor said he's doing very well at everything he needs to be doing. He has no major concerns. Everything at this point is just a matter of time, slowly working his food intake up and slowly lowering the temperature on his isolette. I'm REALLY hoping that means he'll be able to come home in a few weeks, but I'm still trying not to get my hopes up too much. We'll just have to wait and see!

5 days old

2010-03-10T14:38:00.000-08:00

Cameron is up to eating 19 ccs (30 cc's is 1 oz). Every other feeding he goes up 1 cc. It's still through the feeding tube. We MAY try nursing next week, but it just depends on how things go. He needs to be up to 45 cc's to maintain his birthweight. Each time they up his feeding they lower his IV fluids, so by the time he gets passed 45 cc's he will no longer need the IV (he's not on any extra medications, so it is just for the fluids until he eats more).

He lost a bit of weight the first few days of life (which is completely normal) and is on his way back up. He got down to 3 lbs 15 oz, and last night weighed 4 lbs 1 oz. They weigh him every evening.

His isolette (incubator) is set for 90.5 right now. His temperature is taken every 3 hours at his care time. As his temperature slowly starts to go up (not feverish, just a little up) that shows that he's able to maintain his own body temperature better and they'll slowly lower the temperature on the isolette until he's weaned off of it. Once the isolette temperature gets to about 80 or 81 and he's still keeping his body temperature at a normal level then he can move to a regular crib, which is a big step in being able to come home.

He's still breathing room air, so that's really good. 2 nights ago they gave him a tiny bit of oxygen when his levels dropped just a bit, but after a couple hours he was fine to be off it again. They've left the tube on his nose, just not plugged in, just in case, but tonight if he hasn't needed it anymore they'll remove it again. (It's irritating to their skin to be putting on and removing tape all the time.)

Today I had my first moment of feeling like a mother that felt 'normal' to me throughout the last few days. I was changing Cameron's diaper and it took me a little bit longer because it was poopy and cleaning off a little bum around all the wires is a little tricky. Well, Cameron decided I was just taking too long and he peed all over! And silly as it was, I was tearing up out of joy to have that little moment that felt like normal motherhood. Everything with Cameron has been different and I feel like a first time mom all over again. But here was finally one thing I had experienced with my other two children that I was getting to experience with number three, and yes... despite being all wet... It made me happy. : )

3 days old

2010-03-09T20:50:00.000-08:00

Sometimes when we'll talk to him he'll be too tired to really pay attention, so he'll just crack one eye open to peek at a us for a minute, and if we don't look interesting enough that time he'll go back to sleep. : )
He took after big brother Zack and has cute little dimples you can see when he makes different facial expressions.

He looks especially tiny when Blaine holds him! When you see him up close you can tell he got Blaine's nose for sure. The other boys got my rounder nose, but Cameron's is a perfect little triangle, just like Daddy's.
I always love it when he is alert and opens his eyes for us. It's usually only for a few minutes at a time.
He's in an isolette (incubator) to keep him warm. He's too little to maintain his own body temperature right now. That's one of the things he has to be able to do before he can come home. He stays nice and warm in here so he can have his arms and legs free to move a bit, but when we get him out he's bundled up good to stay warm. Every 3 hours is his care time, when they change his diaper and feed him, and we can hold him at these times (occasionally his temperature is a little low, so we don't get him out that time) and we only have him out for 1/2 hour at a time.

If we're there at his care time they'll let me take his temperature and change his diaper, but I have to do it through the isolette hand openings. It's a bit tricky, especially since he's so tiny, but it's nice to be able to feel like his mom and get to care for him.

Video: his Birth Day

2010-03-09T20:30:00.000-08:00

Cameron's Birth Day

2010-03-09T16:49:00.000-08:00

Presenting little Cameron Harris: The Amazing Dragon! (see previous post for explanation on the name) He made his debut March 5th, 2010 at 6:33 am via c-section. He weighed 4 lbs 6 oz and was 17 1/2 inches long. He has dark eyes and brown hair, long legs and some good sized feet! Despite being a preemie, he may end up surpassing his big brothers height-wise! He has Daddy's nose and dimples like big brother Zack. And somehow he inherited Grandpa Brent's hair... mostly bald on top and a mullet in the back! ; )
The day he was born he had to have the big tubes hooked up for most of the day. He only had extra oxygen during the morning, then it was just helping the air move in and out of his lungs so he wouldn't have to work so hard.

The tube you see in his mouth was getting the blood out of his stomach. Since babies swallow amniotic fluid while in utero, and my amniotic fluid was mixed with quite a lot of my blood, he was swallowing blood for a few days before he was born. It was also in his eyes a lot and every so often the nurses would have so wipe a bit of blood from the corners of his eyes. It didn't hurt him to be swallowing the blood, just a little irritating to his tummy.
By that night he was moved from the big tubes to the little tube under his nose. He was much happier with his! He was constantly trying to pull of his 'elephant nose' as we called it. The little one didn't bug him so much.
The boys got to come see me at the hospital before they went to Star Valley, but of course they weren't allowed in the NICU to see Cameron. So we've been taking lots of pictures and videos for them to see. If I look a bit loopy and pale, that would be the dizziness from the insane blood loss, mixed with the crazy amount of drugs I was taking for pain. I looked a bit better the next day. : )
He was under the bili lights for jaundice for about 36 hours. He had on his little superhero mask (very fitting for a baby with a superhero-ish name like CAMERON: THE AMAZING DRAGON!) and in the left of this picture you can see his little boombox so he can jam out to some tunes while he relaxes in his 'tanning bed'. : ) (The little machine played soothing sounds like waves and such. They put them next to the babies every once in awhile to help relax them if they need it.)Here's a couple videos of our little guy on his first day out in the world! : )

Welcome to the World...

2010-03-09T09:30:00.000-08:00

At 4:00 am I woke up and needed to use the bathroom. As I sat up in bed I felt a gush of fluid. It felt a lot like when my water broke with Kadan. I waddled to the bathroom and saw immense amounts of blood soaking my underwear, filling the toilet, and all over my rug. My first thought (to last til we reached the hospital) was, "I've lost the baby, he's gone..."

I ran back to our bedroom grabbed my phone and went back to the bathroom (I was still bleeding a lot). I called Blaine first, told him to get home (he was working a night shift). Called Karri (a friend) next to come over to be with the boys. Called my mom next to tell her what happened. She told me to hang up and call an ambulance, which did make sense but in the chaos it actually didn't enter my mind til she told me to. The total of those three phone calls was about 1 minute 20 seconds. I called 911 and by some miracle remembered my address to tell the lady. Blaine arrived home first, the paramedics were right behind him, and Karri made it over as they were getting me into the ambulance.

I don't remember a lot of that drive over except praying over and over and over and over that everything would be okay. At that point I was still fairly certain the baby was past the point of being able to survive. I didn't know what was happening, but I was pretty sure massive amounts of blood were not a good sign. The blood loss made me pretty out of it though, so I have only vague memories of the ride to the hospital.

We got up to a room and the nurses were amazing and the resident doctor who came in was also amazing (thank HEAVENS it was not the doctor who checked me the day before when we went in to the hospital... see family blog for this story). They hooked me up to monitors and we found that the baby's heartbeat was doing surprisingly well. I was shocked! I absolutely didn't expect to hear a heartbeat! From an external exam they couldn't tell where the blood was coming from. They did an ultrasound and still could not see a cause. By this time the on call OB/GYN doctor had arrived. He worked in the same office as my own OB/GYN but was not the actual doctor I had been seeing throughout my pregnancy. The second he walked in and started talking to us I felt SO much better! This man was amazing. Although I was still scared out of my mind, he made me feel so much better and I knew I was in very good hands.

At this point my bleeding had slowed way down. The doctor suspected it was the placenta detaching. Where the baby was showing to be stable and the bleeding had pretty much stopped the doctor talked to us about our options. So long as my bleeding didn't continue, we had the option of waiting. I would stay in the hospital very closely watched and they could give the baby a shot to mature his lungs and so long as I didn't bleed anymore and the baby was doing okay and the contractions I was having (steadily getting worse) stopped, it could be the best chance at getting the baby a little more prepared for life outside the womb. Even an extra couple days would have lessened his chances for many long term problems. However, the doctor stressed that it was a risk to wait. Our best chance at life (for me and the baby) was to do the c-section immediately, while the baby's heartbeat was strong and stable. If we waited, and the placenta tore more and I bled more or the contractions and/or bleeding put the baby in too much stress and we had to rush into the c-section, it would be much more risky for us (life-wise). It was possibly the hardest decision I've had to make. The doctors/nurses left for a few minutes for us to talk about it, we decided to go ahead with the c-section and not wait. Although in the end it didn't matter because when the doctor came back in and checked me I had bled more, which no longer gave us the option of waiting. They got Blaine in some surgery clothes and got me prepped for surgery and away we went to get the baby out.

The surgery went well, when they opened me up they found that it was in fact the placenta detaching from the uterine wall. My amniotic fluid was mixed with quite a lot of blood, some of it not so fresh and they figure I had been bleeding for a few days (which explained the pain I had been having the last few days). The doctors/nurses were amazed that the baby weighed 4 lbs 6 oz. His Apgar score was also an 8 or 9 (which was really good).

After spending some time in the recovery room they wheeled me into the NICU to see the baby and I was shocked that he looked so much like a full term newborn baby, just mini. He even had a little fat on him. I guess I expected him to look a bit more 'less developed'. From the beginning he was breathing much better than expected. Doctors said because he had been a little stressed the last few days (because of all the blood and the state of the placenta) his survival mode kicked in and his lungs actually started to mature faster during those few days.

We named him Cameron F Harris. (Blaine's middle initial is L and his mother's maiden name was Lottman, so the F is for my maiden name, Foy, and also for Blaine's grandfather Fay. Also, having it be just an initial makes it like Blaine's name and my dad's name, they both only have a middle initial.)

We heard the word "amazing" many times throughout the last few days. Cameron seems to be quite the tough little trouper, doing everything as good as or better than he should be (quite the little overachiever... we'll have to make sure he doesn't get too cocky in front of the other NICU babies). : )

Before I had my 20 week ultrasound we asked Kadan what he thought the baby was going to be. He responded, "I think it's gonna be a girl... No! wait!... I hope... it's gonna be... a DRAGON!!!" He was pretty disappointed when the ultrasound showed the baby to be a little human boy, not a dragon. But the nickname stuck (especially after Uncle Justin told Kadan to feel my belly and that you could feel the 'wings'!). So now we have our new baby boy... Cameron the Amazing Dragon.