Life is Good...

Eat... sleep... make a diaper deposit... repeat... maybe throw in a bath. I must say Tyler is a pretty content baby. So far he mostly cries to let us know he is hungry. He is a little chow hound! Some people have to wake their babies up to make them eat, but not Tyler. He gets his healthy appetite from my side of the family. And since the hospital had Tyler on a 3-hour feeding schedule he is pretty used to that and mostly goes 3 hours between feedings. It fluctuates and a few nights he even went 4 hours between feedings, which means more sleep for all of us. ; ) I am still working on getting photos of him with his eyes open.

Preemies Rock!

Tyler had his first well child visit to the pediatrician today and he behaved like a little angel. Well, he did pee a nice projectile from the counter to the floor but wouldn't you if you were laying naked on a scale? Tyler weighs 5-1/2 pounds now and the pediatrician was amazed at how strong he is, especially for a preemie.

It has been great having Tyler at home, but we are definitely still getting used to the sleepness nights and the many trips to the nursery to peek in to make sure everything is okay. It's a wonder any new parent ever gets any sleep!

Home at Last

After almost 4 weeks (Tyler will be 4 weeks at 3:10 am tomorrow morning), Tyler is finally home. Yay!

More NICU Photos

Tyler's first bath. Life is good...

Listening to PawPaw's lullabies

Kangaroo care... What's with all the chest hair? Oh yeah... that's Dad.

Do these pacifiers come in a smaller size?

Slurping down some formula

Getting tested in the car seat. Ironically the newborn insert for
4 - 11 lb babies had to be removed because Tyler couldn't
breathe very well because the extra padding pushed his chin
towards his chest.

BURP!

Rockin' with Nana

Fightin' Texas Aggie Class of 2031

3 Weeks Old on St. Patrick's Day

Volunteers made these super cute cards for all the babies in the NICU in celebration of St. Patrick's Day on Tuesday. Tyler also turned 3 weeks old (35 weeks old gestationally) on Tuesday. It flies by so fast!

Tyler continues to do well feeding and gaining weight and is getting closer to 5 lb. He gets his appetite from my side of the family! Tyler did have a little breathing/heart rate episode yesterday, which means he will definitely be in the NICU at least another 5 days (until March 23). He just needs to keep developing.

On Tuesday Tyler got circumcised and although I sat with him during the procedure I couldn't watch. The one thing that did make me chuckle was the name of the restraint system used to keep him from squirming: The Olympic Circumstraint. Tyler handled the procedure pretty well after they gave him the local anesthesia and dipped his pacifier in sugar water. I opted not to keep the foreskin for his baby book. Apparently some people actually keep it!

Feeding & Growing

Tyler has been doing really well feeding and growing. Last night he weighed in at a whopping 4 lb - 10.4 oz. He has been gaining approximately an ounce per day, which is on target with what the doctors want (1/2 to 1 oz. per day). His feeding tube was removed yesterday and he has been taking all his feedings by bottle. They will reinsert the feeding tube if he gets too tired for the bottle, but so far he is a good eater! He also gets to nurse once or twice a day, but is still too underdeveloped (and my milk supply is too low!) to do an entire feeding by nursing.

Tyler's umbilical cord stub fell off on Tuesday so he got his first bath on Wednesday. He quite enjoyed it and did not want it to end!

Today Tyler got his first massage. Is this kid pampered or what? I took an infant massage class at the hospital last week. While massage is good for all babies, it is also very beneficial to preemies in the NICU and so they have a class targeted for NICU babies. Today one of the nurses supervised while I did the massage. Tyler seemed pretty content during the massage and only got fussy when I massaged his tummy.

According to the doctors Tyler may get to come home within the next week. (Gestationally Tyler will be 35 weeks tomorrow.) The feedings are on track and he has to continue to take all feedings by bottle and gain weight over a 2-day period. He also has to go 5 to 7 days without having any breathing/heart rate episodes, which are common in preemies who are still developing. Essentially they forget to breathe and their heart rate dips until someone rubs their back and reminds them to breathe. Tyler's episodes are becoming much less frequent. He had one last night, but hadn't had an episode for 3 days before that.

Photos of Tyler in the NICU

Kangaroo care. This is when Tyler still had a canula to help
him breathe (much less invasive than the original CPAP).

Kangaroo care

Nana and PawPaw visiting Tyler in the NICU West

Hanging out with Nana

Before the feeding tube was moved to Tyler's nose so
he can try nursing and bottles with his mouth.

Tyler loves kangaroo care!

Tyler in the NICU East while Aunt Janina was in town.

During the isolette days

Hanging out with Dad

Free of the isolette at last! Eventually they will
put him in a real crib in the NICU.

Tyler Progress

Tyler continues to do well in the NICU:

*He has been trying to nurse since Friday, but still needs to learn to come up for air when eating. (His inherent desire to eat fast comes from the Hulett side of the family! Have you seen my dad eat?) He did take his first full bottle on Saturday and has taken a few partial bottles since then. The rest of his food still comes from a feeding tube.

* As of last night Tyler is back up to birth weight. Yay! (FYI for non-parents: all babies typically lose a little bit of weight after birth as they transition from constant placenta nutrients to having to feed outside the womb). The doctors' goal is for Tyler to gain approximately 1/2 to 1 oz. every day.

* Tyler has been maintaining his temperature well and so yesterday he was moved out of his isolet (an incubator) into a small open bed. Eventually he will get moved into a crib as he slowly transitions into what life will be like at home.

Tyler Firsts

Tyler had a few "fun" firsts today;
* This morning he spit up a little on Michael (only on his hand) after his feeding.
* This morning he finally sprayed me while I changed his diaper.
* This afternoon he spit up a little on me after his feeding. Of course I was holding him on my bare chest and I could feel the spit up run down my stomach until my pants caught it.

Other fun stuff:
* Tyler loves being swaddled.
* Tyler hates getting weighed every night. A few nights ago he grabbed on to the side of the scale with his little hand to try and prevent the nurse from putting him on the scale. I told him getting weighed shouldn't be upsetting until he is an adult!
* My dad has been writing songs for Tyler. I am going to have to banish "Neatness is Overrated".

Tyler Graduated from Level 3 NICU to Level 2 NICU

Now that Tyler is breathing on his own, keeping feedings down (milk and formula), and no longer has an IV he has been moved to the Level 2 NICU (Level 3 is the highest level of care needed). After getting his breathing appartus removed a few days ago he had trouble maintaining his breathing while eating because he ate too fast. Now they use a pump to regulate how much milk/formula is available so that he doesn't eat too fast. Tyler has also been moved to an isolet incubator, which helps maintain his temperature and keeps noise out. He was maintaining his own temperature, but likely expending too much energy and thus slowing his weight gain. Once he gets the temperature regulation down he can move to a crib.

Today he actually got to start wearing clothes! He still has lots of monitoring wires attached, but he can wear preemie clothes, which are so cute!

Tyler will still probably be in the NICU for 4 or 5 more weeks, which would put him at full term in gestational age (36 or 37 weeks). The doctors think he is progressing very well.

Visiting Us and Tyler

I actually got to check out of the hospital late Friday afternoon. It was so good to go home after 3-1/2 weeks as a patient. I do miss being so close to Tyler and the NICU. My parents flew in on Friday- my dad is staying 2 weeks and my mom is staying 4 weeks. Michael's sister Ludy was here this weekend from Friday through Sunday and his sister Janina is flying in next weekend from Thursday through Sunday. Michael's parents will be here when Tyler comes home. We are so grateful for all the support from family and friends.

Many of you have asked about visiting us and Tyler. Rules of the NICU:
* No visitors from 6:30 am - 8:30 am and 7 pm - 8 pm during shift changes
* Only 3 visitors at a time (one visitor must be either Michael or myself)
* No visitors under age 12
Give us a call if you want to visit and we'll see how we can work it in. At the moment we typically visit him at 8:30 am, 2:30 pm, and 8:30 pm as these are good times for Tyler.

Tyler is Breathing on His Own

As of today Tyler is breathing well enough on his own to come off of CPAP (the breathing help he gets through his nose). Yay! He may also be done with his phototherapy light today that is helping him with jaundice.

A few days ago they let us start doing kangaroo care, which means they lay Tyler on either Michael's or my bare chest and then put a warm blanket on him. It is supposed to really help preemies regulate their heart rate and breathing and they love skin-to-skin contact. Plus, Tyler is used to all of my internal sounds! It is also supposed to be good for the parents. For me it is supposed to help with milk production. Tyler loves kangaroo care! And for me, it is always the highlight of my day. Tyler is so content and calm when he is laying on one of our chests. For now, they let us do kangaroo care once or twice a day for an hour or two, but this will gradually increase as he grows stronger. The first time he laid on Michael's chest he grabbed a fistful of Michael's chest hair and held on for dear life. Michael gently nudged his arm to see if he would change positions and I swear Tyler flipped Michael off. The first finger Tyler released was his middle finger, but the other ones slowly followed. We were quite amused!

My milk (that I tell Tyler is "top shelf") came in yesterday, which was very exciting. Earlier this week Tyler kept spitting out the formula they have been feeding him, but kept some down every once in a while. There was only a little of my milk at first and Tyler sucked it through the feeding tube faster than you can blink. Tyler will still get extra nutrients and formula in addition to my milk and if he keeps it all down they can wean him off his IV.

I promise to post pictures soon. There just aren't enough hours in the day!