Tommy 54 days old yesterday. This is how he looked when I had been frustrated with him not drinking his bottle well. I had called Larry to help. Larry thinks Tommy was gesturing "please, no more milk"...the kid only takes 40-45 mL (1 1/2 ozs)at each feeding!
Tommy's first bath on Valentine's Day, his first night home.
Update on the brain bleed...
Okay, many have asked about the brain bleed. Here's the deal...The first head ultrasound (which is done on all preemies) showed a Grade 1 bleed. A week later to see if it was resolving showed a Grade 2 or possibly Grade 3. The next week to try and figure out which grade it was showed Grade 3. Although this was getting Larry and I nervous (Grade 4 needs quite serious medical intervention) the neonatologist reassured us that although the report stated Grade 3, clinically, Tommy did not have a Grade 3 bleed. Weird...okay, they weren't worried and neither was I. They still rechecked it in 10 days. This time the head ultrasound showed the one side staying the same and the other side improving. They initially said they'd repeat the u/s in 7-10 days. Around 7 days later when I was asking about the date they said because it had stayed the same and showed some improvement they would not repeat the u/s. They would do a routine CT scan before discharge. That was done on Feb 12th and on the 13th the doctor told me all looked good. Unlike Larry, I'm not savvy at thinking of questions on the spot and took the "all looked good" for what it was worth.
On Valentine's day, I did ask the doctor discharging Tommy if Tommy needed any follow up. At this time he doesn't.
Tommy's first time to wear a non-NICU outfit! 2-15-07
First pediatric appointment...
On Friday, the 16th Tommy went in for his first pediatric appointment! He was 7 1/2 weeks old and weighed in at 4lbs 7ozs!! To you that may sound small, but to us he's really getting big...well until we see a full-term baby :) The doctor seems to think Tommy will need another CT scan to follow up on his brain bleed, but again...clinically there's no sign of problems. Tommy will go back in a week or so for his 2 month well baby appointment.
Tommy will be 8wks old tomorrow and the following Monday (the 26th) he'll be 9wks and have a follow up appointment with a pediatric opthamologist in Oklahoma City.
Kimberlyn giving Tommy VIP treatment...strolling him in her doll stroller from his bath back to his bed!
Tommy's first outing...
Against reccomendations, we did in fact take Tommy out yesterday. Robby had his RA Racer race at church. RA's is similiar to Boy Scouts, just has a Christian base. I'm so glad we went. Tommy and I went for a short time just to see Robby race... Robby took First Place for his group! This was super exciting as he did this last year too!
Next Saturday is the SO. Baptist Association regional race, where all the other So. Baptist churches in the surrounding towns meet at our church and compete against each other. Last year Robby took second place at this race. We'll see :)
Tommy stayed in the carseat on the stroller (so the monitor and oxygen wires/tube doesn't touch ANYTHING) with the hood of the stroller meeting up with the hood of the carseat so nobody was tempted to touch him. We did let a few peer in, BUT I was quick to say "not too close" as a reminder. We won't go out on a regular basis, but it was nice to see the race.
Robby (orange car) winning a race!
I'm glad I ventured out to the race...it was neat to see Robby so excited for his win. He even brought his trophy over to the stroller. I said no touching...that's more of a worry to me...those kids touched all sorts of stuff. All I could think of was the germs on his hands... I explained to him that he was full of germs... then he said "I just want to show Tommy my trophy" ahhh, so sweet. He's in hog heaven with his baby brother!
Robby showing Tommy his trophy!
Kimberlyn is possibly in hog heaven with her baby brother's STUFF. For example one of her twin babies (those smaller type baby dolls) is wearing Tommy's booties, sad part is they fit the baby doll very well :) Yes, they fit Tommy perfectly right now :)
Kimberlyn's doll wearing Tommy's booties!
