Wonderful UW & Children's Appts.

Ah SOOO good to be home. It was a long 2 days but we are so happy with how everything went so lets start from the beginning shall we?

Nicki and I left around 10 Wednesday morning. I was up since 6:30 trying to get everything ready but Brant was being SO difficult. He wouldn't let me put him down, even after he was asleep so my mom came over so I could everything together and finish packing the last stuff. We got to UW a little early so we visited the NICU. Unfortunately not many of nurses were working. We talked with Serena, one of his nurse practitioners and one of his respiratory therapists, both of which I couldn't remember their names, oh and Emily of course.

After that we headed down to the cafeteria and grabbed some yucky food then headed to the High Risk Infant Clinic. We met with a physical therapist who did a bunch of "tests" with Brant. These tests were more just playing with Brant and seeing how he reacted to different things and handled different things.  She wanted to see if he would follow things with his eyes, how his peripheral vision was, hearing etc. She also checked muscle tone, balance, and how well he holds his head. At the end of a LOT of playtime for Brant and after he fell asleep we discussed how well he did. An 84 is considered normal and for the mental portion of the test he scored a 105 and motor skills portions a 98! That was so great to hear. She doesn't need to see him back until May and does not recommend he sees any physical therapists or occupational therapists. She said to continue what we are doing, recommends more tummy time as he will tolerate it (he hates it and rolls over right after put him down). Her suggestions was to get him a special toy that he only gets to play with while on his tummy. She is very pleased with his social skills and said once he gets mobile we are going to need to do some serious baby proofing.

After the appointment we headed to The Watertown Hotel to check-in and let Brant take a nap. After he woke up we decided we needed to get out and go for a walk. So we walked around the UW campus and to U Village... first down a HUGE hill, then back up. It was a workout! We were all in bed and asleep by 9:30... pretty pathetic. This morning we had breakfast at the cafe in the hotel, people watched, then packed up the room and headed to Children's.

Once we checked in we were taken back by the nurse, got his weight and length checked. 13 lbs 14.5 ounces and 25 3/8 inches. We spoke with his pulmonary doctor and got the O.K. to start weaning him off oxygen when he eats and sleeps. We will start with eating. We have to hook him up to his monitor and see how he does. If he doesn't drop his sats below 93 for a couple days and his intake doesn't change we can then move onto naps. Again if they don't drop below 93 for a couple days we can move onto his 2 night sleep test. They will hook a transmitter up to his monitor and for 2 nights see how his sats do off oxygen. Yeah there is going to be NO sleeping those 2 nights.

So the estimate is IF everything goes smoothly that he would be off in a couple weeks.

The nutritionist is also happy with his growth. His pediatrician and physical therapist were a little concerned with his weight in comparison to his height but the nutritionist wasn't concerned. He's long and lean just like his daddy. There is actually only 1 pair of pants we have that fit him right now... he has no butt and has really gotten long so no tummy to really hold them up so they just fall right off.

water baby!

So Brant is a total water baby. He has always loved baths ever since his first one in the NICU. And then there is Grandma Nicki's pool. He has been in that one a couple times but this morning it was official. HE. IS. A. WATER. BABY.

He totally blew his diaper out while eating a little bit of banana (which is the only thing other than formula that I've found that he likes). I went to change his diaper and quickly realized that he had poop smeared all the way up his back and into his hair. So into the bath tub we went! I stuck him in the tub with his rubber ducky and by the end of it I was soaked and he had hardly any water left in his little tub. He was splashing and kicking and giggling. It was so cute, even though the bathroom had water everywhere!

Where has the time gone???

Brant has his first tractor ride on Thursday! 

Eating peas in his highchair like a big boy! And of course he has Snap On bib! 

Geesh I can't believe August will be coming to a close soon. Time is just flying by! I've been keeping myself busy taking care of Brant and trying to stay on top of housework. I'd say I do pretty good except with laundry. I HATE laundry. I don't mind throwing it in the washer and then to the dryer but the whole sorting, folding, and putting away thing is just not my thing and I always put it off. I've been trying to motivate myself to get a few more house projects done before the weather turns but am not finding time to do them. I want to get the guest bathroom painted and the new light fixtures up but I know that will take me a good 2 days with prep work, actually doing it, and cleaning. It would probably only take me a day if I had someone to hang out with Brant. I'm hoping the week after next I can get around to doing it.

Next week Wednesday & Thursday we go to UW & Children's for tests and evaluations. Wednesday afternoon we go to the High Risk Infant Clinic at UW for development evaluations. I got the paperwork for that appointment the other day and it looks like its going to be a good 2 hours of them evaluating. Then we will head to our hotel and in the morning its off to Children's. We will see what they have to say about oxygen. The past week or so I haven't been taking him off as much as usual. With his immunizations and then he started coughing a little I thought we better be safe and let him get some recovery. So far today he has been off except for eating and sleeping and he must be going through a growth spurt because he slept 10 hours straight last night and has taken 2 good naps today already! And both of those have been in his crib!

Tonight we are headed to the rodeo with some friends and thank you to my aunt Renee for babysitting tonight! Should be a fun time!

Pictures!

one of the shots Amber got

it's been a while!

Geesh it's been a while since I posted on here!

I feel like we've been super super busy but really we haven't that busy. I work Monday's, a couple hours Tuesdays, and Fridays. On my days off Brant and I spend the day at home cleaning, playing, and more playing, and doctors appointments. Brant's baptism went really well on the 4th. He didn't cry or anything. We went down to the basement after and watched the rest of the service from down there because I knew he would start throwing a fit and wanting to eat in the middle of the sermon. And I was right. After that we went and had lunch at Darren's mom & dad's and took some family pictures. Amber showed me the unedited ones and once the fair is over she will get them edited for me. Can't wait to see those!

Brant had an appointment with his pediatrician yesterday. It was his 6 month check-up and he weighed 13lbs 8.5 ounces and was 24 or 25 inches long. I can't remember which. He is in the 5th percentile for height and just below the 5th percentile for weight. We are on the charts and thats all I care about! She is very impressed with how well he is doing, and how healthy he looks (LOVED hearing that). He had to have some immunizations... no fun... but the nurse did them super fast so he cried for just a second and I picked him up and got him calmed down right away. He did wake up with a fever this morning- I gave him some tylenol and mom watched it while I was at work and his temp. is back to normal now.

We have started giving him rice cereal. He doesn't really know what to do with it in his mouth; loves the spoon but spits the cereal out. Its still early for him but he started showing interest in my food so I thought we would try it.

In 2 weeks we go back to UW and Children's. Pretty excited and nervous for that! I'm nervous for the UW appointment. They will be looking at his development and determining if he will need any therapy and additional help. I'm excited for Children's because I'm REALLY hopeful that they will give the okay to take him off oxygen. It does make me a little nervous though because with oxygen I know he's okay and covered. I think when they say okay take it off it'll be hard at first because I'm so used to it now and I'm sure there are going to be some sleepless nights making sure he's still breathing!

I was on facebook earlier and saw a post someone had shared from a page called "Prayers for Corbin". I started reading and immediately started crying. It still amazes me how fresh our "wounds" are from our experience even though it seems like so long ago. Anytime I talk to another preemie mom or read other peoples stories I start crying. Any other preemie moms have this?? I am looking forward to visiting the NICU again when we go to UW. We stopped in after his last appointment but they were SO busy that we only talked to one of his nurses so it would be nice to see some other ones too.