Happy Halloween!

Some pictures from the last few days -- here's Patrick just before we went home!

In the car seat for real this time!

We're going home!

Chile and Jack heard Patrick making noises and decided to check it out.
In the bassinet!

Cake from the shower.. blue champagne. Sooo goood.Patrick hung out in his papasan today... he was really interested in the hanging toy.

Tried to grab it...

And just plain cute...

He finally had a huge poop tonight, so I'm feeling a lot better (I'm sure he's feeling a lot better too). Hopefully he'll do more sleeping through tonight with how awake he was all day. Had the first appointment with the pediatrician, and he weighed in at 5lbs 8oz, so he has been eating just fine. Everything else, he's small. That's the only thing. He doesn't even fall on the charts yet with average sizes of month old babies. The doctor is pretty sure he'll catch up soon enough.

Sorry for not posting anything for awhile! It's been crazy, trying to get the house into shape for the baby shower we had today! The house looked great, by the way. It was the first time we were really able to go "Look at how different this house is!" Jon has worked so hard on everything in here, and it's so nice.

I'm having trouble typing because I'm holding Patrick at the moment. I'm trying not to use my left hand as much as possible. We tried to put him to sleep when Jon went, but Patrick wasn't having any of that. So I'm hanging out with him in his room for a little bit to see if that does the trick. I seriously hope this doesn't turn into the kid who only sleeps when he's being held thing.

I am starting to worry about a couple things now... like eating and poop. I decided that I need to keep a record of how much he eats and when, but today was so crazy it wasn't even worth it to try and track it. I don't think he's eating as much as he needs to. Which leads to my second concern - that I haven't changed a poopy diaper in a while. Neither has Jon. I'm going to chalk most of this up to the crazy transition to home from the hospital, and all the commotion that was going on here today.

The shower was pretty fun. We were able to see a lot of people we hadn't been able to for a long time, and they all got to meet Patrick. I'll definitely have to do laundry tomorrow to wash all the clothes he's gotten! Our hostesses were amazing - if you've never had the blue champagne cake from The Cake Gallery, you should try it sometime. Or I'll get it again sometime, and invite you over. Maybe for Patrick's first birthday.

I'm not sure how to go about setting a schedule for Patrick, since I'm awful at planning, so we'll see how these next two weeks at home go.

I promise there will be pictures soon.

If you can tell by the time, I haven't gotten a whole heck of a lot of sleep tonight. That is because Patrick did in fact come home! We picked him up around 6 last night, and he's been here ever since. Obviously. So far, so good. I was pretty sure that every little noise he made was going to keep me up, and I was right about that.

The only thing that didn't work out is that I woke up with a migraine yesterday morning, and at about 2am again this morning. So the lack of sleep is even worse than it would have been.

We'll have to work on this whole feeding schedule thing, getting bottles ready for him to eat on time. Also, he's peed all over the crib twice while I was changing him. You would think I'd have learned on that one too.

Chile and Jack are already being protector dogs. While we were having dinner, the dogs were both watching the bassinet and every time he made a sound they would stand up and go see what was going on. Chile is too short, but Jack could look over the side and make sure he was okay. I have a picture of this, but it's 6am and I'll upload pictures after I get a little more sleep.

Other than that, uneventful. The stupid cat thinks that she gets to sleep in the crib though. She will learn about that one.

Okay... time to see how much sleep I can get this time around...

Tonight might be your last chance to come see Patrick at the hospital! The nurses seem pretty certain that he'll be going home tomorrow. I'll talk to the doctor sometime this morning and I'm sure he'll have something to say about it.

He was 5lbs 3oz last night, and he's taking bottles just fine! We're taking the infant CPR class, and getting flu shots ASAP.

If you're planning on being around Patrick at ALL we ask that you get a flu shot too. And if you feel even a little bit sick, please please please stay away. We love you, but stay away :) It's getting to be RSV season and that's the last thing that we want Patrick to pick up at this point.


He's coming home soon!

Sooooo big.

He's finished all his bottles today!

Still at 5 lbs 2oz.

Exhaused parents, going to bed. Okedoke, good night!

5lbs!

18 3/4 inches long!

Kid is getting big! They upped his feeds again today, so he was at 42ccs, now I don't even know for sure what he's getting. Patrick did take an entire bottle for dad tonight!

Aunt Katie held Patrick for just a second before Shannon, the charge nurse, came in and tested out the car seat again. There's been some confusion about the car seat. It DOES have a 5 point harness like they want us to have, and the straps weren't done tight enough to hold Patrick in properly when they tried the first time. Shannon made some adjustments, and he fit! Sort of.

He didn't seem to mind too terribly much. He's so tiny though!

After all the excitement of the bottle and the car seat, I was changing Patrick's diaper and he thought it was a perfect time to pee. So he soaked the bed sheet, his blanket and the floor. Me, instead of covering him with his diaper, I jumped out of the way. Little stinker.

I put all the bedding in Patrick's bed today, and we have a new chair from Grandpa Max. We also have cousin Colin's old basinette ready to be cleaned up for when Patrick comes home! Just a few more days, we hope!

No big changes... Patrick still isn't finishing his bottles, so we're back in that holding pattern. He finished one today, left about 12ccs in another, and the other ones were put down his feeding tube today. He's been sort of a sleepy kid. We gave him a bath tonight, and he was awake after that! If we'd had a bottle ready right away, he probably would have finished it, but we didn't, and by the time we did, he was comfy and sleepy. I was holding him while the bottle was getting ready, and he was lifting his head and arching his back and Jon figured out he would calm down with his pacifier. We need to get this timing for bottles worked out better.

Other than that, he's at 4lbs 15oz. Still too little for the carseat we have, but we just need one with straps that get smaller now. We're back in the range of 7-10 days for him to come home with his current eating patterns. At least we'll have the house ready!

This whole going back to work thing is killing me, so I'll just summarize for now.
Last night he was 4lbs 12oz, but he hasn't been finishing bottles today. Patrick was circumsized this morning (they wait to do that until babies are close to going home) and the combination of the procedure and the Tylenol make little boys sleepy. I was able to be at the hospital when they brought him back to his room, and he was wide eyed and sucking on his pacifier. The nurse told me he actually fell asleep in the middle of it! I'm so glad they use anesthetic for all of that. I didn't know that until after it was done. He's done really well with it all.
He passed his hearing test!
The carseat we have is too big. That makes me really sad. We have to go get one that can carry a 4lb baby... I know he's close to 5, but he's just way too small for a normal carrier.
Sometime I'll get pictures of his double chin! He's got a couple rolls :)

Patrick could be coming home this weekend! Or early next week!!
He was 4 lbs 10oz last night! He gained 3oz total.
He had an eye exam, and it was normal. He'll have a hearing test soon, and another brain ultrasound to check for any changes.
They told us to bring up a carseat to see if he'll fit!
He's up to 5 feedings a day, 42ccs each. He hasn't been finishing all of them, but since he's still gaining weight and finishing most of them, they're feeling pretty good about his progress.
We're getting carpet today too, so the house is ALMOST ready.
I can't even begin to describe how excited and scared I am. I don't know if there are enough exclaimation marks in the world.

I'm updating from work, so I should get back to my desk.

It seems like Patrick is getting better at the whole waking up when it's time to eat thing. I know that he actually finished a bottle this morning, but he hasn't gotten through most of his bottle feedings without falling asleep before being done. Like everyone says, this is the slow part of the NICU stay.

This morning he had a pretty good spit up and scared me when he started choking and his heartrate started dropping. I turned him on his side, pulled out the blue sucker thingy and tried to get it out of his mouth. I wasn't so great at that and hit some button to call the nurse, and that set off some sort of scary sounding alarm, so she came rushing in and pulled out the air suction tool and cleared him out for me. Now I'm pretty sure that he would have been just fine, but I think that's the first time he really ever had me worried.

Jon talked to the doctor this morning, and we're not counting weeks anymore, we're going by DAYS! It could be 7 - 10 DAYS before Patrick comes home. Days!

I think I'm going to have to start changing his clothes twice a day to get him in all the preemie things we have for him! He's really growing into them now, and last night he weighed 4lbs 4oz. After we weighed him he did have a huge poop, so he was probably only 4lbs 3oz. That's my guess anyway.

Patrick had on his Husker hat Saturday, but it didn't seem to help. We didn't get the game in his room, so I was on the phone with Gramalissa to hear the end of it. So sad! Next game I'll have to remember the hat AND the Future Quarterback onesie! (I don't know about quarterback for a Connealy... but hey, it could happen!)

Jon was putting in the new hardwood floor with Uncle Justin the entire day, now we're getting everything else done so carpet can come in on Wednesday! I had my first day back to work on Friday, and it was a slow day. We'll see how this week goes. I just hope I remember everything! The company I work for has been so understanding through all of this, and it makes it so much easier to be working while Patrick is in the hospital.

So, there's really not a whole lot of exciting things going on. And that's exciting!

The Hamptons! Notice the empty bottle on the table?

This is an outfit that friend of Jon's from college sent Patrick... he said to let him know if it fit. I think we'll need a couple more months.This outfit did fit though!
Soooo big...Last night, Patrick came in at 4lbs, and this morning he had spent over 12 hours at room temp inside his isolette, so at 11am, he went to a crib!



He's the tiny little bump in the upper corner of the bed!

Since he's not in the isolette anymore, he has to be weighed on a real scale... 4lbs 1oz tonight!
They did increase his feedings to 36ccs, but Patrick wasn't as interested in the bottles today. Doc said it could be a week, two weeks if all goes well in the crib. So far so good!

Happy 1 Month!
Patrick is one month old today! He is also 4lbs!! 1820 grams! We're up to THREE bottle feedings today, but the third one didn't go as well as the first two. He finished those off without a problem. Tonight we tried feeding him after giving him his Hepetitis B vaccine, and even though he had Tylenol with it, I think it was bothering him enough to distract him from eating. That, and he's really interested in his new room.

Patrick moved to the Hamptons yesterday evening! They're actually the med/surg rooms that are meant for Children's older patients, I think, but the NICU has been using them for a while since there have been so many babies in the unit. They're right next to the skywalk that connects Children's and Methodist, so they're officially the Skywalk rooms, but they're so nice the nurses call them the Hamptons. Which is also funny to me, because our friend Katie who just got back to Omaha was actually interning at a theatre in the Hamptons this summer.

ANYWAY.

There's a couch that folds out to a bed, a flat screen TV and we get our own bathroom now. It'll be really nice when he's in the crib because it's so much quieter than the regular NICU rooms. I totally miss all the nurses we had upstairs and being able to listen in on the conversations that were going on around us. I'm sort of a snoop like that. Jon hates it. But the nurses are still just as awesome in the Skywalk, and we're happy to be there.

Patrick is a cute kid, and I say that because it's completely true, not because I'm his mother. He's almost big enough to not be drowning in his outfits... give him a pound or two and he'll be fine.

I have pictures, but I'm about to fall asleep typing, so I'll put them up another time.

Thanks for checking in with us!

Happy 4 (or 33) weeks Patrick!

He's up to 3lbs 12 oz and taking entire bottles! Saturday night at his midnight feeding Patrick managed to finish off all 30ccs in about 15 minutes. Not as much luck when I tried on Sunday, but this morning at his 9am, he did it again! The doctor decided to up his feeds to 32ccs, and if he takes a whole bottle again, he'll get oral feedings a day! I'm thinking I might try a bath tonight before the 9pm feeding, since last time he got a bath he was wide awake after it, but he was too cold be out of his isolette.

The kid also had the loudest poop ever when I was getting ready to give him his bottle this morning. Seriously, the people in the room next door had to have heard it. I'm starting to get afraid that he really does wait until he has a clean diaper on to make a mess.

Patrick keeps pulling his feeding tube out, so maybe it's a sign that he's ready to get more bottles. It's not fun when he pulls it out, because they have to put it back in, and that's the only time I've ever really heard him cry. Jon said this morning the lab tech came by to do a blood draw from his foot, and Patrick was MAD. I guess he was kicking his foot like crazy trying to get the bandage off. Poor kid.

So, 3lbs 12oz came to 1695 grams. The nurses said it'll be 3 or 4 days and they'll probably get him in a crib to see how he maintains his temperature!

I've been using a lot of exclaimation marks this time around. We will have Patrick's room ready for him to come home as soon as the carpet is installed. Jon's been working so hard to get everything in the house ready for Patrick. The bathroom is the most finished room in the house right now (just a few pieces of trim left) and Patrick's room will soon be completely finished!

It seems like we're getting into a routine around here, but I start work again on Friday. It's weird, but I'm sort of excited to get back to work. I'm definitely more sad that I'm not going to be with Patrick as much as I've been able to, but once he comes home they're going to let me have some more time to be home with him. They've been great about everything that's been going on with us over the last few months.

The doctors are happy with Patrick's progress and so are we. He'll be coming home in about 3 weeks!!

Yesterday, Patrick only took 5ccs and 3ccs from his bottles. Just didn't want to wake up for his feedings!

He's also developing this bad habit of waiting until we change his wet diaper to a clean one, then he poops in the new diaper. I'm not a fan of this.

I'm not sure if he knows it yet, but Patrick is a Huskers fan! He weighed in at 3lb 9oz last night, and this morning he took 23 of the 30ccs in his bottle!! Not a whole lot else going on up at the hospital. Gave him a bath today, and he was cold and awake afterwards, so he posed for a quick picture in his new hat.

Patrick's room got painted today! Just a few touch ups tomorrow and it'll be finished.

We're about to head up to see him here in a little bit. Hopefully he'll be awake enough to take a bottle from dad!

Pictures!

This is Patrick's new room!Patrick with dad...

Another burrito wrap
The blanket is right...

Bear Collection
When I came in this morning, he had pulled his feeding tube out of his nose and was chewing on it and playing with it.

I had to take some pictures before the nurses came in to fix it!

Don't know if I mentioned, but his head ultrasound was normal! Woo! In a few weeks he'll have a vision check, but chances are that will be normal too.

This morning he took 16ccs from the bottle when I tried.

Other than that, I don't think there's a whole lot to report. Grandma Vickie and Aunt Karen are coming over to paint this weekend, so if there are any volunteers, now is the time we'd need some help!

Apparently things weren't exciting enough, so Patrick decided to make things a little more interesting! Last night after we left, he spit up enough that he aspirated, his heart rate dropped and they had to suction him out. He didn't look so great for a while, but about an hour later his color was back and he looked better. This morning when I took his temp, I thought his feet felt cold and his temp came to 96.9. The nurse practitioner even took a rectal temp to verify that his temperature was around 97 degrees, so we had to warm him up. The rest of the day was pretty boring.

He took about 13ccs by bottle this morning, and he was just too sleepy tonight to even try. We're okay with that, we just really wanted to try with him again.

Patrick weighed in at 3lbs 6oz last night, and 3lb 7oz tonight!