Back to Work

Well it's official...I'm going back to work in two weeks! Jay's going to be stay-at-home papa for a couple of months and I'm going to head back a little early. The fact that I work from home obviously makes it a pretty easy decision. We can both be home! It's really the best of all worlds. And I'm looking forward to getting back to my other job. I'm so grateful for the situation I have, it's not lost on me as a new Mom how lucky I am and I'm feeling exceedingly grateful.

I'm also feeling grateful because Leo continues to thrive! We have a weigh-in later this week so hopefully he'll be up over 8lbs by then. It's been two weeks so I can't imagine he's not. He just keeps getting bigger. His head is getting bigger too, and he's holding it up! When you pick him up and hold him in your arms he really holds up his head well. When we do "tummy time" he still struggles a little bit to pull his head all the way up. But he moves it from side to side no problem. AND, the brutal diaper rash of the last couple of weeks is almost gone! Hooray!!! Butt paste is the greatest thing ever. No kidding, it's called "Butt Paste". And it rocks. Not sure if the "no dairy" orders from the doctor have also helped, so we'll see when I start to reintroduce some dairy later this week. Fingers crossed.

Leo is also coming off of some of his meds! He's off of the antibiotics (another reason I suspect the rash is getting better), off of the nasty orange vitamins that he puked up daily AND nearly off of the formula. He's nursing more during the day and I think taking more at each session. All in all, things are going very well. We think he's getting close to giving us a real smile...it always looks like he's just about to do it so I hope that means it's close. We can't wait for "interactive baby" stage.

And we have a new addition to the family...we got a Mac. I feel slightly guilty given my employer BUT I'm pretty much over that now that I'm using sweetness (as Stephen Colbert would say). Sweet sweetness. It's so pretty...and it works...and it doesn't have a virus like the old machine did. Plus I made up for my treason at the store by encouraging them to prominently place a couple of certain printers on the show floor. Just trying to do my part.

AND, we're getting ready for a big visit from Grandma. We're so looking forward to having her here for a bit. And in anticipation Jay is working hard at getting the downstairs office/guest room marginally ready...it'll be rustic but it'll be functional nonetheless. That's how we roll. Check out Mr. Leo snuggling.

One Month! Or Three Months! Either Way!

Leo's been home one month this week! It's hard to believe we've been at this for four weeks now...it feels longer! I think that's the sleep deprivation talking. I think I've mentioned this before but it's odd to have a little person so totally in between ages. He's technically three months old this week but his corrected age is only four weeks. He's more engaged and active than a four week old, but not as much as a three month old. SO it's odd. But he sure is fun to have around. He's lifting his head up all the time, he manages to scooch himself into the corner of the co-sleeper regardless of being placed in the middle, he looks at us more intently now as if to suggest that he may finally be recognizing us and I swear the other day I nearly heard a laugh out of him. I'm sure that's my imagination...but still.

So the GI doc was out on Friday so still no word on whether we can come off any of the meds or the formula. We did hear that Leo's Billirubin level is at 0.6, down from 3.5 when he left the hospital. Ideal is right around zero but they really want to see it at .5 or lower. So he's just a hair above normal and we don't know if they will therefore want to keep him on everything for a bit longer or if they won't be concerned about it. The doctor who was subbing for GI doc on Friday said that she wasn't worried about that number at all, but it's not her call. So we'll see what GI doc says, hopefully today. We did also hear from the kidney doc and she wants to keep Leo on a couple of the vitamin/meds he's on so we're not totally going to be rid of everything just yet. But at this point even going from 6 down to 2 would be a big win.

We had a nice Dad's day yesterday...tho the weather didn't cooperate. We're at our wits end with this weather. But we didn't let it totally ruin the day, we managed to throw some ribs on the grill in an effort to trick ourselves into thinking it's summer. And I whipped up a really lovely (and super easy) blueberry cake for dessert that was dee-lish. So it was a mellow first Dad's Day for Jay but a nice one nonetheless. Plus we slept in yesterday morning until about 11...of course that was after the 3 and 7 a.m. feedings. But who's counting!

It's hard to imagine that in another month there will be even more exciting developments and changes to report...and maybe summer will have finally arrived! Here's hoping...

Cruisin'

Unlike last week, which was only a 50% solo visit, today I had - officially - a 100% mommy-only visit to the doctor's with Leo. Two doctor's visits in fact. First up was a visit for me to investigate a lingering...how shall I put this...nursing issue. I'll just leave it at that...but use your imagination. Leo was a champ, and there were many "ooh he's so cute!" and "oh he's tiny, how old is he?" from well-meaning strangers. Prognosis for Mom? A sample sent off to the lab to determine once and for all the issue along with a prescription for some ointment that will hopefully help in the meantime. Again, I won't go into details as the men reading this will run screaming...and honestly so will the women. Nothing earth-shattering, just kinda gross and annoying. The end.

Second visit was one of Leo's follow-ups - this one with the Gut Doctor, as I call her. She was the one focused on Leo's high direct billirubin (bile flow) levels in the liver and the one who put him on his fancy cocktail of half and half (formula/boob milk) along with many of the vitamins/meds he's on. So this was a big follow-up visit. As I suspected, the kidney doctor (in the same office as gut doctor) didn't screen the blood she took from Leo last week for his billirubin levels so gut doctor had to take more blood to check on the all important billirubin level. Her suspicion is that his levels are where they need to be since they were much lower when he left the hospital three weeks ago. SO, presuming the levels are normal we can begin...wait for it...to ween him off of the formula!!!! YAY!!!!! AND, not only ween him off the formula, but likely off of the nasty vitamins that turn everything orange as well as a couple other vitamins he's on. So we may be within a month of just feeding him mommy milk. WOOT! His weight gain continues on a very nice growth curve - "oh that's a very pretty growth curve" - were her exact words today. We also got the results back from the "jaundice chip" test that was sent out to Children's Hospital in Cincinnati - yes, Cincinnati - some 6 weeks ago. It was negative! So we know he doesn't have some crazy, rare liver diseases. Check.

In other parenting news...you've heard about our cloth diapering, which continues to go well. I also thought I'd do the reusable baby wipes...they're flannel and you just moisten them with a solution of your choice and then launder them with the diapers. So the solution I chose came from the cloth diapering site we've been using (a hippie combo of tee tree oil and other stuff) and supposedly all you need to do is mix a few drops of the solution in some water and then take your wipes and moisten them in that solution and then throw them in the wipe warmer - et voila! Well...not so much voila unfortunately. The wipes themselves are good, they're very soft, etc. But the solution sucks. And it's kind of a giant pain in the arse to have to get them all wet in the solution, wring them out, and then fold each one individually and put them in the wipe warmer. SO, I think I'm abandoning the reusable wipes for their intended purpose. They're great for burp rags or for drying off his bum after we wipe it down at diaper changing time. He's got a bit of diaper rash right now so using those wipes in their dry state will help dry off his bum before re-diapering. So not a total loss. But I will now go visit my favorite - diapers.com - and will order many boxes of regular disposable baby wipes, stat!

So keep your fingers crossed for normal billirubin! We should know in the next day or so what the prognosis is. And here are some new pics - Grandma and Grandpa Donahue shots as well as Jay catching some zzzz's with his boys.

Week 2 - Follow-up Begins

Today I managed to get out of the house with Leo all by myself! AND, I managed to keep him happy, calm and occupied for the duration of our 5-hour visit to Swedish today. No newborn melt-downs! Yay! True confession...Jay arrived for the second half of the day but still, I got him out of the house and handled the first part of the day at the hospital alone! Woot!

First was a trip to radiology for an ultrasound that the Nephrologist (kidney doctor) wanted as a follow-up to his time in the hospital. And I managed to feed Leo without incident (with my pre-measured bottles specific for each feed - this one with vitamins, that one with meds, a third with extra milk in case he was really hungry - look at me!) in the ultrasound room before dashing across the Swedish campus to the Nephrologist's office to discuss his progress. The ultrasound showed things to be much improved in the kidney arena...the calcification he had on his kidneys while in the hospital was greatly reduced so hopefully that'll continue and be all cleared up in another couple of months when we go back for another ultrasound. She also took some more pee and blood samples (the sound of him crying at the blood draw made me surprisingly emotional...wasn't ready for that) to check for any lingering urinary tract infection, etc. But overall she was very happy so things are going in the right direction there. Sadly we can't come off any of the meds/minerals/vitamins she has him on just yet. But hopefully soon.

After those two appointments we quickly dashed back across the hospital to our Pediatrician's office for our weekly check-in there. And we were a little bummed out when Leo weighed in only 2 ounces heavier than last week's weight. But the doctor explained that his overall weight gain is exactly where she wants it to be - more than one ounce per day since he's been out of the hospital - so that perspective helped. She even said that last week's one pound weight gain is WAY uncommon and therefore not sustainable. Again with the slow and steady!!! I'm reminded of the need for patience yet again. But, as with the kidney doc, the Pediatrician is also very happy with where he's at. Nothing more to do but keep shoveling food into the little guy and go back next week for another weigh-in.

And we have a couple of dinners to look forward to this weekend from wonderful friends and family as well as some superb weather finally headed our way. Safe to say that we are desperate for some sunny Summer-ish weather. Perhaps some grilling and a lovely summer salad are in order.

Hark, I hear the call of the hungry one now.

Week 1

I can't believe we've had Leo home for over a week! It feels in some ways like he's always been with us and the NICU is a faint memory. Now our life is filled with regular feedings, pumpings (nothing new there!) and lots of snuggle time. We're actually sleeping pretty decently. Leo's been better than I think either of us imagined he'd be with the sleeping thing. He's giving us 3-4 hours at a stretch so we're only doing one middle of the night feed, usually around 2 or 3. Jay's been taking the last feed of the night, around 11, so I can head off to sleep first and then I get up at 2 or 3 for middle of the night duty and to pump and then Jay gets up with Leo around 6 for the next feed. This lets me sleep in until about 8 or so. All in all it's working pretty well. So hopefully next week when Jay's back to work this schedule will allow him to get enough sleep to make it through his workday and give me a chance to catch a few extra zzz's in the morning. And the pediatrician mentioned that pretty soon we can start letting him go 6 hours or so! So we might be free of the middle of the night feed in another couple of weeks. Joy of joys. Of course I'll still be getting up to pump, but somehow that feels easier.

Oh the pumping...what a cruel mistress. So the lactation lady told me last week that I could probably start to ween off of the Fenugreek - in her words: "Once your milk comes in, it's there, so you should be fine." Sweet! So I start to ween off and my total slipped a little bit, but nothing alarming...until about 2 days ago when I dropped off the cliff. I was down nearly 50% of my daily totals. Part of this I'm sure is sleep deprivation which does affect your totals...but the other part? So needless to say I'm back to popping 9 Fenugreek pills a day desperate to get my daily total back up to where it was. It's slowly climbing back and hopefully will be back to normal by next week. And the lesson there? As with this whole thing - trust yourself! I had a feeling the Fenugreek was what was keeping my levels up and yet I ignored that. One step forward, two steps back. It seems to continue even after the hospital.

But on to better news - Leo's 7 pounds!!!! He packed on over a pound in one week! The pediatrician is super happy and hopefully he can pack on another pound this week. He is literally doing nothing but eating and sleeping (and pooping) so we'll keep our fingers crossed that we can just keep it going. I suspect he's going to be rounder than he is tall (his little legs are just that - tiny!) but such is his fate as our child I'm afraid. That's what soccer's for!

In other exciting news, we've begun to use our fancy cloth diapers. And it's working pretty well. RIght now we're using the all-in-one Bum Genius diapers for preemies, which are just like disposables in that the liner is sewn into the diaper so it's just all one piece. So all we have to do is get the poop into the toilet and then throw the diaper into the pail until laundry day, usually the next day. I'm still tweaking the washing technique - an ammonia smell seems to linger - but I'm trying a few things that should help with that. And we ordered the sprayer that attaches to the toilet and mounts on the wall beside it for easy poop removal. So once that's in I think things will be much easier on the cloth diapering front. We're still using disposables overnight and when we have to take him out. But we'll get there eventually. Baby steps. And he looks really cute in them too. Bonus! OH, and for all your new Moms or Moms to be out there, I've discovered what I believe to be the greatest burp rags ever - and I know I'm going to sound like my Mother with this one - old fashioned cloth diapers! The prefold ones that they sell at Target, I think Gerber makes them. I swear they're genius. They wash beautifully, are the perfect size - not to big, not too small - and they really absorb the spit-up. Leo's got all manner of spit-up due to all the meds he's on, and these things work like a charm. And they're about $10 for a pack of six, so really you can't beat that.

So that's all for now. Check out my Facebook page for some recent photos with Leo and our other two children, the dogs. They've been doing some good bonding here.

Happy Friday and here's hoping for some frickin' sun this weekend!