Sean and I have decided, after almost 2 years of being engaged, to get married. Soon! We decided on a date. March 12, 2005 will be my wedding day.

So much to do!!! Eeekkk!!!

But I'm soo excited!

Laura

Noah Sean has been home for a little over three weeks, and today we went for his first check-up. He is doing fabulous! Today would have been his due date. I can't believe that we've already had him with us for almost 2 months.

He weighed 6lbs. 3oz. (2830g). That is less than 3rd percentile for actual age, but he is at the 11th percentile for corrected age. For height he was 18.5" long, which is 13th percentile for corrected age. So he is a small full term infant, but he is on the charts now.

His brother and sister are doing really well. Toby is loving having the snow. I swear that child would stay out all day if I'd let him.

Sari is our little mother. She wants to help with the baby ALL the time. It's pretty cute.

Not much else to report.

Laura

Today my youngest baby is one month old! Yesterday he finally got to come home!

At his discharge yesterday his weight was up to 5lbs. even (2285g). He is 18" long. Sooo cute. I am unbelievably happy to have him home. It's been a long wait, but now that he is here, it's sooo worth it.

He is taking 2.5oz at every feeding. His first night at home was a little rough at first, but it smoothed out, and he is doing great!

Toby was supposed to start school again today, but I let him stay home so that he could be with his baby. Sari is confused by him, which is really cute.

L!

Another day, another update.

Christmas here was good. The kids got tons of stuff, they were very happy. Noah Sean had to stay in the hospital, but the good news was that he was moved to the lower care nursery on Christmas Eve, so Toby and Sari got to go in and meet him. We spent time with him on Christmas Day too, which was nice. They "helped" him open his presents.

Unfortunately Boxing Day we had a slight setback. His breathing was rougher than it has been, so he was put in an oxygen hood to give some extra help. He was in the hood for three days, and then weaned off. Today he has been breathing well on his own.

His weight is up to 4lbs. 13oz. Big boy. So he is 3oz off of the peds original discharge weight for him. He is sleeping well, regulating his temperature as well.

Feeding wise, he is eating more. He feeds are still being helped through his NG tube during the night. Hopefully he will be weaned off of that soon.

That's all to report for now.

Laura!

Noah Sean will hopefully get to come home soon!!! I really really want him here.

As of yesterday, December 22, 2004:
Age: 19 days
Weight: 2010g, 4lbs. 6oz.
Feeding: Taking his daytime feeds by mouth, he gets "help" with two feeds, and one is still totally tube fed
Sleeping: Sleeping is going well. He is doing really well at body temperature regulation.

So soon, hopefully really soon. I asked his ped if we could take him home this weekend, and was told "maybe". Hopefully I will have a baby home on Christmas!!!

Laura

Another day, another update!

Noah is doing well again today. It's been 3 days of breathing on his own, and he's doing great! For the first time this morning he took a bottle of expressed breast milk. It didn't take him long to figure it out . He is a little porker!

Speaking of porker. He is *almost* 4lbs. again. 3lbs. 15.5oz as of this mornings weigh in. The breast milk he's getting is doing him wonders.

As for the other kids... Toby will be done school for Christmas holidays on Friday. He's excited for that. Sari is having a hard time understanding about the baby. She doesn't understand why the baby isn't in mommies tummy anymore, and where he is exactly. That won't really get straightened out until we can bring him home.

Hopefully he'll graduate to the "big kids" nursery in the next few days so that Toby and Sari can come see him.

Laura

I am posting on the computer again.

Noah is gaining weight. He is up 3oz. in the past 3 days! He is almost back at 4lbs. again. YAY!!!

We got the conditions for discharge today:
1. Weight 5lbs.
2. Sleeping in a normal bassinette (not heated)
3. Feeding on his own
4. Breathing on his own

So we now know our goals. He is going to be starting to take one feeding a day through a bottle (if he can) tomorrow. I hope that it goes well.

The sad news is he won't be home for Christmas. But he is doing really well, and we are blessed to have him!

Laura

We started tube feedings of expressed breast milk for him today. Hopefully it will help him put back the weight he's lost.

He is down to 3lbs. 11.5oz. Very very tiny. I am so scared. I want him to be big and strong. Right now it feels like that will never happen.

Sad today.

L

Noah had a scan of his brain done this morning to check for bleeding. None was found, which is absolutely awesome news.

His weight however, continues to drop. He is now only 3lbs. 13oz. Down another 3 since 3 days ago.

Hoping that he starts to grow soon!

Laura

Today the took Noah off of the ventilator, and put him on CPAP. He is doing great with that. His weight is down a little bit though, he is only 4lbs. even now. We've been told to expect a 10% drop in birthweight before he starts gaining. For Noah that is 6-7 oz. He's already halfway there.

L!