Dylan and the Fat Man

As you can see, Dylan got to meet someone special this past Thursday. It was quite a treat for him, and he seemed genuinely impressed. I tried to explain to Dylan that this was some very important networking for him to do, as he will want to get on the big guy's good side. It's not what you know, I told him, but WHO you know, and it's always good to know Santa.

I was quite pleased to see how nicely Dylan took to his visit with Santa. I've heard horror stories from other parents about how kids can be frightened by him, but I guess Dylan is still a bit young for that. He was quite comfortable on Santa's lap. He even made a grab at his beard. Santa was too quick, though. Better luck next year, I guess :)

In other news, Dylan continues to try to crawl, but alas, he continues to not quite get it yet. The effort is certainly there. He'll pump his legs and swing his arms and lift his head... And end up just tottering back and forth on his belly. Then, he gets upset and starts to yell. I guess he's getting frustrated because he can't get everything together yet. It looks like he gets the idea of it, so I'm sure he'll figure it out soon enough. He is starting to get the hang of rolling himself. He can't quite get himself over, but he rocks himself almost to the point of tipping over. I think once he grows and builds up a bit more strength, he'll be rolling all over.

Speaking of growing, Barbara and I were packing away some of the things that Dylan has outgrown. Maybe it's just us, but we surely didn't realize just how much this little guy has grown. Take a look at the following picture. It shows Dylan with the outfit he wore coming home from the NICU- and that was at two months old...

I can't get over just how much he has grown over the months. I know he is almost seven months old, but still... how did he get so big? I guess he eats well :)

And eat well he does. Just not neatly. We've been continuing the experiment with solid foods, and it really has been going well. Yesterday Dylan ate half of a jar of applesauce without any trouble at all. Then he seemed to lose interest and want his bottle. It's pretty exciting stuff- at least to Barbara and I it is :)

Anyway... That's about all I have for now. I'm sure Christmas will be a day full of excitement for Dylan and I'll post all about it soon after.

From Dylan, Barbara and myself

Merry Christmas To All!!!

'Tis the Season

Welcome back folks, to the newest installment of Dylan's Den.

Everything is going very well. His latest doctor's visit saw him weighing in at 19.8 lbs and measuring 27 inches long. His head growth continues to be normal and his umbilical hernia is completely closed with just a vestigial piece of skin remaining.

His development continues to amaze, amuse and impress Barbara and I both. He is now very vocal, laughing and giggling, shouting for attention, babbling to anyone and anything that attracts his attention. He has also discovered how to make a raspberry. He uses them to punctuate pretty much everything he "says". He is also very adept at manipulating his toys- passing them from hand to and, from mouth to hand or, like in the case of his mirror, just holding it outstretched in both hands so that he can coo at it and stare at it for long periods of time.

Dylan is also continuing to explore the concept of solid foods. We've experimented with a few new flavors and applesauce seems to be his favorite. He is now opening his mouth to welcome the applesauce- not pushing out his tongue to block it. We haven't really pushed the matter with him, but he is making what we think is good progress.

Speaking of progress, Dylan is also getting to spend more and more time on his belly, which is helping him develop the muscles he will need to use to crawl. He already holds his head up so that he can look around while on his belly, and works his arms and legs at times too, but not in enough coordination to actually get anywhere. All in due time, I guess. Of course, once he does start moving around the house it will make things very interesting. I can see us now, chasing after him as he chases after he cats and dogs. What fun we will have :)

A few folks have asked what Dylan needs for Christmas. Well, Barbara and I and Dylan's grandparents seem to have gone a bit overboard. He should have enough toys to last him through until at least Christmas '09. So I guess the best thing we could say to answer that question would be gift cards to Toys 'R Us or Babies 'R Us. He will be needing a new car seat set soon, as he is rapidly outgrowing his current one. Also, there is the question of sizes. Dylan is currently wearing 3-6 month and 6 month outfits. I'd say the best bet would be 9 months size or larger.

Anyway, that's about all there is to update about for now. If anything new comes up, I'll be sure to post about it here.

I know, I know... it's been a while since my last post. But that's because everything has been such smooth sailing that I didn't really think it would be all that interesting to read about.

Still, today was Dylan's first Thanksgiving, and that only comes along once. Of course, he had his own special outfit to help celebrate:


Dylan tried some mashed potatoes and some gravy. Neither was exactly a huge success, but then again, we've only just begun experimenting with food other than his bottles. He has had a few mouthfuls of Gerber carrots, but even that didn't go over too well. That's okay though- it's still kind of early, given his adjusted age and all. He'll get it when he's ready for it. Until then, we'll just have fun watching him smear jar food all over his face.

It's all part of the learning curve for him. And the learning curve is something that came up in a conversation with his physical therapist a couple of weeks ago. After some discussion and after seeing just how well he is handling his toys and himself, his therapist and Barbara and I all agreed that it wouldn't be productive to continue seeing her on a weekly basis, especially since there isn't anything that the therapist is doing with him that Barbara and I aren't already doing at home. And since we are able to do things on Dylan's timetable, when he is ready as opposed to her schedule, it is typically more effective.

In the couple of weeks since we started the PT, Dylan has learned to control his head pretty much all of the time. He still get's lazy occasionally, but even then he doesn't completely lose control of his head- he just let's it hang a bit. He still has a bit of trouble lifting it from a flat position when he is laying on his back, but we work at that daily and he get's closer and closer to doing that himself every day. He also is grabbing with both hands, shaking rattles, manipulating toys to face the direction he wants them to (typically in the direction of his mouth) and can even hold some of his heavier toys over his chest like a bench-press, without our help. It's pretty impressive to see the development as it happens over just the course of a few short weeks. He's even starting to hold himself upright when in a sitting position. It will still be a while before he can pull himself up to that sitting position on his own, but if we put him there, he can maintain it without help for 30 seconds to a minute sometimes, before he wobbles a bit too much and topples over. We're scheduled for a follow up evaluation to make sure the home therapy is progressing well, sometime in January. That will give the therapist an opportunity to get a look at Dylan's progress and give us any pointers we may need or help us move things along in another direction if necessary. So far, so good...

Dylan also has a doctor visit Dec 4 for his 6 month battery of shots and his Synagis vaccine. Syangis is a vaccine againt a common virus affecting preemies and other high-risk babies. It can be pretty nasty, so we make sure he is protected against it. You can learn more about RSV here: http://pediatrics.about.com/od/rsv/a/1006_synagis.htm

After that, it's all about Dylan's first Christmas. We're already preparing with a couple of special Christmas outfits for the little guy, as well as plenty of holiday cheer. More on that soon, as details (and pictures!) become available.

Until then, look for updates to the blog on something more like a monthly basis, at least unless something especially noteworthy happens. With that, here's one more picture from today...

Happy Halloween!

Halloween has come and gone, and Dylan seemed to enjoy it. I know Barbara and I certainly enjoyed dressing Dylan in his costumes and taking lots of pictures while we showed him off to anyone nearby.

Although the Giraffe costume won in the poll, by the time we went to dress Dylan in it, he had outgrown it. So, we went with the runner up costume, the clown. I must say, Dylan makes quite the cute clown. I was quite impressed with how well he endured being dressed in his costume, visitng people all over town.

First, we stopped with his Nana at her job to show him of there. Everyone made an appropriate fuss over just how cute he is, especially when he's wearing a getup like that.

Then we took him to Grandma and Grandpa Levine's house where they had ample opportunity to fawn over him. And for good measure, we took him to visit a few other friends nearby.

We took plenty of pictures of the clown costume and even got a few of him in some other Halloween-y outfits. Enjoy the pictures...

Back from the doctors

We're back from the visit to the neurosurgeon with good news. After a thorough review of his previous MRIs, medical history and an evaluation of his current progress, the neurosurgeon delivered a diagnosis that he is very comfortable with: Dylan is a normal, perfect preemie.

The absence of any significant developmental delays, the normal head growth, and just general good progress that Dylan has been making all lead to what Barbara and I were expecting- Dylan is just fine. It was good to hear it from a professional, though. Of course, there's never a definate way to say that Dylan may one day end up with some sort of delay, but there is no reason to think that this would be the case. So... hopefully the myriad trips to Gainesville for various doctor's appointments are behind us and we can go to just the normal amount of worrying that any parent has to deal with.

In other news, by the time you read this, Dylan will have eclipsed the 5 month mark. Yep, he's 5 months old now. He is also 25 inches long and weighs 18 lbs. It's hard to believe that the baby that now takes two hand to hold and even then only for a short period of time before I begin to get tired is the same little guy that I once held entirely in one hand. He's growing so well...

The neurosurgeon today mentioned that he is almost completely "caught-up" to other babies his age. He is definately ahead of where he would be expected to be if he had gone to full term. Developementally, he is somewhere between a 4 month and a 5 month old baby. That's pretty impressive considering that he should only be about 3 months old right now. Of course, when it comes to Dylan, I am a bit easily impressed.

Dylan is progressing well though, even if I am easily impressed. He's more and more talkative every day, babbling to both his Mom and I, his toys, the cats- whoever or whatever happens to ne nearby. And when he babbles, it really seems like there is a purpose to it. Sometimes, it's almost as if he is picking his words before he lets out a "Gooooooeeeeey" or "Ahhhhhhgooo". Occassionally, when he feels that what he has to say is very important, he winds himself up by pumping his arms and then belts out with a loud exclamation of "AAhhhhhhhhhhoooooo" ot something like that. It's quite entertaining, actually. I hope to get some of this on video and get it posted to the blog soon. I'm actually typing this from Barb's computer this week, as mine is torn down for some major rebuilding. Hpefully, I'll have that finished soon, and when I do, I'll make it a priority to get some fresh video posted of the little guy.

Anyway, that's it for now. Remember, if you haven't already voted, let your choice be known for the Halloween costume. Also, I would encourage anyone interested to subscribe at the bottom of the page for instant email alerts when the blog is updated.

Halloween's Coming!

As promised, if a little bit late, this installment of Dylan's Den brings you the Halloween costume selection poll...

Barbara has found several costumes that she simply could not decide between. I wasn't much help deciding, and neither was Dylan.

So... the choice is yours, dear reader. Help us decide which costume Dylan will be wearing for trick or treating at his Grandparent's house and his Nana's job.

Once you've seen the pictures below, make your choice and vote in the poll to the right. I understand that some have had difficulties posting comments and voting in the polls. If you do, feel free to email Barbara at babyfundsales@aol.com with you costume choice.







In other news, Dylan had an appointment for a physical therapy/occupational therapy evaluation this past Monday. It was something that had been mentioned long ago in the in the NICU, but his previous pediatrician had never addressed it. Barbara and I were looking forward to getting a professional opinion regarding Dylan's progress thus far.

Tricia and Erin, the physical therapist and the occupational therapist both thought that Dylan was incredibly cute, and who could blame them for that? They also though that he was doing very well overall. He does have some weakness n his left side that Tricia feels can be addressed with some PT work. It's nothing extreme, but it's something we'd like to address before it could possibly stand in his way of doing something, like learning to crawl. I imagine if he was significantly weaker in his left side, and he was learning to crawl, he might just end up going in circles. We'd rather not have that, if possible.

So, he'll be attending PT sessions every Tuesday and Thursday for 30 min each session. As he progresses and Tricia is able to see how well the therapy works, the frequency may drop to once a week or less, or even to home based therapy that Barbara and I do with Dylan with only follow up visits at the office. We're looking forward to seeing how this pans out over the next few months.

Speaking of doctors, Dylan also has an appointment to see a neurosurgeon next Wednesday. It's not about anything new, though. As part of the confusion regarding the visit to the neurologist, the scheduling of the MRI and subsequent cancellation of it, we set up this appointment to meet with a neurosurgeon, who would be the expert regarding Dylan's hydrocephalus, to have an exam and evaluation done, as well as set a "starting point" in case he did need additional attention regarding that issue. It certainly seems like the whole hydrocephalus thing is a non-issue, but we'd rather a professional take a look and tell us that. Dylan hasn't shown any of the typical signs of difficulties stemming from hydrocephalus, and his head growth has been normal, so we really don't have any cause for concern. We'll let you know how that turns out, of course.

One last note: for those who have not seen it or didn't know what it s for, there is a link at the bottom of this page where you can subscribe to Dylan's Den via email. Simply enter your email address into the box and click "subscribe" and whenever I post an update, it will automatically be emailed to you.

Back from the Doc

Dylan visited his new pediatrician today, and it was a good visit. Barbara and I were both impressed with how thorough the new doc is and how attentive she was to our questions, concerns and comments. She took the time to give Dylan a very complete exam and then answered our questions for another 15 minutes or so.

Dylan got his second round of shots today, and again, he seems to be handling them like a pro. He cried at the time of the shots, of course, but they don't seem to be bothering him much. He's a bit more sleepy than usual, but that's about it.

Dr. Niger (the new pediatrician) examined Dylan's umbilical hernia and said that it appears to be healing. The reason that it seems to get hard more often is that the opening from the abdominal cavity is getting smaller, so when the hernia fills with fluid it does not drain as fast as it once did. When Dylan tenses his muscles, he now completely closes the opening, so no fluid can escape until he relaxes. So... no worries there, and no need for a surgical consult.

Dylan's weight, head growth and length are all within the norms for a baby of his adjusted age. In fact, he has almost "caught up" in weight. He's at 15 lbs, 8 oz. He measured at around 24 inches long, but that's just too difficult to get an accurate measurement, in my opinion. His head circumference is 16.5 inches. It's all looking good.

All in all, it was a good day for Dylan. We'll keep you updated!

Keeping in Touch

Dylan wanted to call you all to tell you how great things have been going for him, but we've never really shown him how to work the phone yet, so I figured I'd post it here. The little guy sure did give it a good try though, as you can see.

Seriously though, not much new has really been happening. He gave us a bit of a scare today though, when his herniated umbilical cord got hard, swollen and could not be reduced back into his abdomen. This can be dangerous if part of the intestine gets caught in the hernia and becomes twisted or strangulated. Typically, the hernia is nothing more than a little bulb on his belly that is squishy and can be pushed in temporarily, quite easily. This morning though, Dylan was very upset, seemingly in pain, and the bulb was hard and sensitive to the touch. After a quick call to one of the staff in the NICU (still helpful even two months after discharge), Barbara packed him up and headed off to the ER. I was working, and arrived a little after she did.

It turns out that it wasn't strangulated, and Dylan wasn't in any immediate danger, but the doc agreed that we did the right thing by bringing him in. Apparently, part of the intestine had gone into the bulb, and it may have been painful. Since he was in pain, this then caused Dylan to tense the muscles in his stomach which in turn caused the bulb to tighten and become hard. Once he had relaxed a bit, they were able to reduce the bulb back into his abdomen without much effort, and he was fine. Still, he recommended that we mention it to his new pediatrician (who we go to see on Wednesday) and have them set up a surgical consult. Apparently, he feels that it likely will need surgical intervention at some point (perhaps because the intestine is entering the bulb- it doesn't always happen that way) and that we should have a familiarity with the surgeon and the surgeon should have a familiarity with Dylan and his case before it comes to that. So, it's on our list for his new pediatrician.

Incidentally, the ER doc mentioned that he is familiar with our pediatrician and he spoke highly of her. He also mentioned that his own children go to the same practice. That's a pretty good endorsement, in my eyes. We'll she if she lives up to the advance billing.

Otherwise, Dylan is doing very well. He is about 25 inches long and weighs 15 lbs 7 oz. His latest thing seems to be long winded conversations with his Mommy and Daddy. We'll talk to him and he seems to be responding. We can go on for 30-45 minutes at a time sometimes. He'll coo and goo and make all sorts of sounds that sound like he is trying to form words. It's great to see him starting to develop language skills. He is also getting better control over his hands, sometimes holding his pacifier for a while, grasping at his bottle while being fed, and even rubbing his eyes when he first wakes up or get's sleepy. His head control is much better as well. When on his belly, he has full control, turning from side to side at will and holding his head up whenever he wants to see what is going on around him, which is most of the time. When upright, he is still a little unsteady, but he get's the idea of it and can keep his head upright, if not altogether still, when he wants to. He's just really impressing me with all of the little things he can do. It's amazing to see a little baby learn to do things that I never would have given a second though to until he came in to our lives.

Anyway, that's it for now. We have his pediatrician appointment on Wednesday during which eh will get his 4 month shots. I'll try to post back and let you all know how that went.

Take care!

Keeping you up to date...

Hello again!

Our plans changed again last week, as it seems they are doing with some regularity since Dylan was born- even before he was born.

We canceled his consult about the herniated umbilical cord. It just didn't make sense to drive all the way into Gainseville and to wait at least an hour to see the doctor, for something that we aren't really all that concerned about anymore. In fact, the bulb where his belly button should be has actually gotten quite a bit smaller recently. We'll continue to keep an eye on it, and we'll definitely ask his new pediatrician about it as well.

Which brings me to my next point- We canceled his pediatrician appointment also. Neither Barbara nor I were impressed with the pediatrician we selected. The fact that she works as the only doctor in her office, the fact that she seemed to not have time to answer questions, listen to concerns, among other things, all led to us finding him another doctor. His first appointment with them will be Oct 1.

What we did not cancel, however, was his NICU reunion. We were happy to head to Gainseville for that. Dylan was quite impressed with things. He got to see Elaine and Judah, his physical therapist and social worker from the NICU, also a couple of the nurses who took care of him and Doctor Baines and her daughter as well. He even got to meet his first celebrity. Mother Goose was there, signing some books for the children. We made sure Dylan got an autographed copy. It was nice to see the familiar faces and talk to some other NICU parents about our shared experience there. Dylan was a big hit with everyone who saw him. Those that new him from the NICU were all amazed at how much bigger he has gotten and how bright his eyes are and how they light up when he smiles. It was a good time for all.

Keep your eyes on the blog for a special poll to be held in the first or second week of October. It seems that we are having a very difficult time deciding what costume Dylan will wear for Halloween. We'll be posting pictures of Dylan in each of the four possibilities for you to vote on to help us make our selection.

Until next time...

Change in plans

Well... we thought we had an MRI scheduled for Dylan, with a follow up with a neurosurgeon. The neurosurgeon thinks otherwise.

We got a call today from his office. We were told that the neurosurgeon looked over Dylan's chart and does not see the necessity for an additional MRI, especially given the fact that he has already had three. His main concern is any unnecessary exposure to additional radiation. Considering the lack of abnormal head growth, the encouraging results of the last MRI done and the fact that Dylan has exhibited no symptoms of any continuing problems related to the hydrocephalus, it really does not make much sense to do it. I never knew there was any radiation involved in an MRI. I never looked too far into it, but I always thought they were radiation free. Live and learn, I guess.

The curious thing is this, though: If this is the case, why did the neurologist not come to the same conclusion? Is it just a matter of a more aggressive approach vs. a more conservative one? Did the neurologist simply not look deep enough into Dylan's chart and look at the "big picture"? Whatever the reason, I just wish that the docs could all get on the same page.

In other news, something I left out in my post yesterday... Dylan was at his first party last weekend. He helped us celebrate his Mom's birthday. In fact, he even bought Barbara a very nice pendant for her birthday that say "Mom". OK, maybe he had a little help with that, but as he proved on Father's Day, he can definitely shop with the best of them. I guess he appreciates having such a super Mom. He was very well behaved, although I think he may have had a little too much to drink. He drank himself to the point of passing out. That breast milk packs quite a punch, I hear.

Anyway, I just wanted to give you all a quick update about the MRI appointment. More news as it comes...

What's new, and what's not...

In spite of the title, there's really not much new going on. Dylan is still the world's most gorgeous baby, he still lights up the room with his smile, and he still has his mom and dad wrapped around his tiny little fingers.

We do, however, have a busy couple of weeks coming up. Next week, Dylan will be seen for a consult on his herniated umbilical cord, he get's his second round of vaccinations, and he's going to his first reunion (more on that later).

The consult about the umbilical cord is probably unnecessary, but it will help settle our minds about it. A herniated umbilical cord is typically nothing of concern, but it can and very occasionally will become strangulated and lead to serious complications. At the time that we made the appointment to have it looked at, Dylan was rather constipated and acting very fussy. The bulge had also grown quite a bit since he was released from the NICU. These can be signs of a problem with the hernia, so we opted for the more cautious(paranoid?) route. Of course, these can also be signs of a normal baby. I'm sure it will be an uneventful appointment.

I'm hoping that his appointment for his shots goes as well as his first visit to his pediatrician. He tolerated the first round of vaccinations very well and he impressed his mom and I very much. If he has the same lack of reaction to them as he did last time, I will be very happy about that. Who wants to see their child upset and uncomfortable?

As for the reunion, that's something that I know Barbara and I are looking forward to, and we think Dylan is as well. The NICU has a reunion planned for their former patients. Although we have stopped in to see some members of his care team when we are in Gainseville, there are some nurses we haven't seen and that we would like to say "thanks" to and show off our beautiful boy to. The flyer says they also have some "fun activities" planned, but I somehow think that Dylan may be a bit young for them yet. Maybe at next year's reunion though. :)

I'll let you all know how things went with all of the appointments in my next post.

Happy Birthday Dylan!

Today (Saturday) marks 3 months for Dylan. It's weird...it doesn't seem like it's been that long, yet it feels like it's been so much longer than that, too. It's hard to explain.

Dylan continues to do well. His appointment last Wednesday was a bit of a letdown though. Not because of any bad news or anything like that- in fact there really wasn't any news at all. Barbara and I thought we were bringing him to get an MRI. Instead, we had a consult with a neurologist who ordered an MRI. That appointment still hasn't been made, as we are waiting for the office to call us back with our day and time. The neurologist didn't really have anything new to add to the discussion. He mentioned the possibility of developmental delays from the ventriculomegaly after viewing the first two MRIs, but also mentioned how well things were looking on the third MRI that was done. This was all stuff we already knew. Oh well. We'll get his MRI done as soon as they can schedule it, and then we are scheduled for an appointment with a pediatric neurosurgeon to review the results. Don't worry though- there's no reason for any surgery. It's just that the neurosurgeon is the one best qualified to examine the MRI and give a prognosis. So... we'll wait and see what he has to say. Barbara and I are both confident that Dylan is just fine.

One big development that is likely more exciting to Barbara and I then to you folks reading this: Dylan is sleeping through the night, most of the time. As long as he eats a decent amount before we head off to sleep for the night, he stays asleep until around 5 or 6 am, which works great for us. I'm usually awake at that time anyway, to get ready for work, so it's no big deal to change a diaper and let him have another bottle before I head out for the day.

Speaking of feeding, Dylan continues to put all the milk we're giving him to good use. As of his appointment on Wednesday,he weighed 11 lbs, 15 oz. I'm sure by now he has broken the 12 lb mark. I'm not sure of his exact length right now, but he is definately growing longer, not just plumper. He's outgrown his newborn outfits and is now wearing 0-3 months. When we stopped up at the hospital to visit with his care team from the NICU, they were all impressed with just how big he's gotten. We don't notice it as much, I guess, since we see him every day, but even Barbara and I can see the difference. This is going to be one big kid.

Dylan has also just started to explore the many different sounds he can make. While he's not exactly babbling yet, he's finding that he can get a reaction when he fires off an "ooooohhhh" or "aaaaaaaaahhhhh" towards Mom or Dad. It's really neat to watch how he is learning new things every day. Although sometimes, when we think he might be interested in something new, he appears totally unimpressed.

We were visiting Barbara's parents after the doctors appointment on Wednesday, and we thought he might like to meet the horses. Barbara took his hand and helped him stroke the nose of one ofthe more docile horses. Dylan rolled his eyes, looked at his mom and sighed. It sure seemed to me that he was doing his best to say, "and why are you making me pet this smelly thing?" Maybe next time, I guess :) Strangely enough, the horse had the same look on his face, too.

Anyway, that's all I have time for now. I'll be back here next Sunday, unless there's anything special to report.

Here are some more recent pics to hold you over...

Steady as he goes

Things have been going along steadily here for Dylan, and there really hasn't been much to report. We weighed him today, and he is a whopping 11 lbs, 8oz. He's also around 23 or 24 inches long.

Food is still his best friend, and he is eating well and often. He is eating enough at night though to almost make it through the entire night without waking. His schedule usually works out in such a way that his late feeding falls somewhere around Midnight or 1 am and he eats again around 5 or 6 am. That's long enough that if Barb and I split those two feedings, we both get a full night's sleep.

His next doctor's appointment is this coming Wednesday. He will be seeing a neurologist for a follow up on his ventriculomegaly and hydrocephalus. His last MRI was very encouraging, and we hope to have confirmation of that on Wednesday. Either way, we'll report back with any developements from that appointment.

Other than that, there really hasn't been much of anything going on. At his age, there's not much to talk about. He eats, he poops, he plays and he sleeps. There's really not much else to it. With that in mind, I've decided to only update the blog once a week. The exact day will probably be on Sundays, but I'm not entirely positive about that. Of course, if there is anything important that comes up, I'll be sure to post about it here regardless of the day, but seeing as how things are very much the same day and in and day out, I don't see much point in boring you the reader with any more of it than is necessary.

So anyway, that's it for now.

Returning to action

I'm terribly sorry about the long delay between posts. We have been without internet since the day of my last post, due to some serious issues with Cox cable. We are back up and running now though, so I can fill you all in on what has been going on with our little Dylan.

As of yesterday, Dylan is 11 weeks old. He weighs over 10lbs now and is 22 1/2 inches long. He is eating 5 oz with every bottle, every 4 hours or so. He is also starting to sleep longer. Hopefully sleeping through the night will come sooner rather than later.

We did have a bit of an episode a few days ago, although it turned out to be nothing. Barbara calls it her "first neurotic doctors office visit". On one particular night, Dylan was very cranky all night long, pulling his legs up in pain, crying through the night and just being inconsolable. This continues through the next morning as well. We figured it was best to bring him to the doctor and have him checked out, just to be on the safe side. According to the doc, it was nothing more than some constipation, and she suggested a small amount of diluted apple juice one or two times a day to help soften things up and get the plumbing working again. By later that day, it seemed to have worked and we were back to our happy baby once again.

And what a happy baby he seems to be. As he gets older, he is so much more active. He babbles along with mom and dad, bats at our hands or his toys and just seems to be very easy to entertain. And he does a fair job of entertaining Barbara and I as well. The expressions this child can make are priceless. Whether it's "the poopy face", "the mad face", "the serious face", "giggly baby" or any other of the host of expressions we have named, Dylan is always trying to communicate something with the look on his face. And each look is simply beautiful - even the "mad face".

I have just a couple of more pics to add to the blog here, but Barbara does have many more saved on her computer. She wanted me to mention that anyone who wants some more pics of Dylan need only email here at babyfundsales@aol.com and she will be happy to email some to you.

Happy Due-Date!

If Dylan had been a more conventional child- with a bit more patience, today would have been his due date. It's really amazing to think of how far he has come in these last 10 weeks. To think that if things had gone according to schedule, I would only just now be changing my first diaper, burping him for the first time, feeding him for the first time- all these things that have already become like second nature would still be brand new to me. It kind of makes him coming so early feel like we got a head start on things with him. Granted, I would have rather had him cook for the full duration and avoided 48 days in the NICU, but now that he's home and doing so well, I think we can look at the bright side of his early arrival. Heck, it's not like we can do anything about it now, anyway.

And he does have a bit of a head start, I guess. He is already learning to support his head. He doesn't have full control over it yet, but when on his belly, he can pick it up, hold it steady or move it from side to side. He can hold it steady when he is upright as well, but not indefinitely. That will come as he gets older. His hand eye coordination is becoming somewhat noticeable. While he can't actually grasp things at will, he can definitely bring his hands to his mouth whenever he wants to, and he even seems to intentionally hold his pacifier in his mouth at times. He can track moving objects well, too. As long as it moves slowly, and stays within his range of focus, he will follow something by moving just his eyes and when it moves far enough, he'll turn his head to follow as well. He also reacts to sounds and voices by turning towards them to investigate. All of these things are things that a full term baby would be learning over the first one to three months. Dylan, who is just now at "day 0", already has these things down pat.

You only need to take one look at this before and after pic to see just how far he has come!


To celebrate his due date, Barbara and I finally finished decorating Dylan's nursery, It hasn't been a real priority, since he has been staying in our room, but since it was a special day, we thought we would add the finishing touches. I've created a slide show for those who are interested in seeing how the nursery looks.



Anyway, that's all for now... I'll check back in on Sunday.

The Honeymoon Is Over

All along, I have been waxing poetic about how wonderfully adjusted Dylan is to being home. I've mentioned how he just doesn't get cranky, how he sleeps soundly and how he is simply the best behaved baby to ever grace this planet.

Yeah... not so much, anymore.

It seems that Dylan may have hit a bit of a growth spurt. Instead of taking his usual 4oz every 4 hours or so, he has graduated to 4oz every 2-3 hours. And when he isn't eating, he is pooping. if he isn't eating or pooping, he is trying to decide which of those two he is going to do. I can hear all the snickers from all of the folks who are parents... yes, we were warned.

But geez... this little guy is giving us a run for our money. I'm writing this after having gotten exactly 1 hour of sleep last night. Yeah, I thought it would be the nice thing to try and let Barbara get some sleep, so I volunteered to take the late feeding and the early one- thinking all along that I could get about 4 hours of sleep in between, and then go right back to bed afterwards for some more. Dylan had different plans though. From around 2am or so, until around 6am, he was either eating, pooping or fussing. He even managed to sleep a bit in my arms. Of course, if I tried to put him in his bassinette, he was wide awake and crying less than a minute later.

But... I survived the night. A lack of sleep isn't something new to me, but it's no fun either.

I'll let you all know how things go in my next post, Wednesday.

Until then...

Familiar Faces, Unfamiliar Places

Tuesday was a big day for Dylan.

His follow up RoP exam was scheduled for 11 am in Gainseville. It seems that the doctor that he was referred to is either the most popular pediatric ophthalmologist in the world, or she is woefully understaffed. His 11am appointment had us finally seeing the doctor by around 1 pm or so. After what seemed like a 5 minute exam, we were on our way. Through the entire wait, which I was dreading, Dylan was the perfect example of calm and serenity. He just sat in his carrier, looking around him and making noises at Barbara. Even after they took us in and put drops in his eyes to dilate his pupils, he was his usual happy self.

As far as the exam itself, Dylan passed with flying colors. RoP stands for Retinopathy of Prematurity. When babies are born early, the development of the blood vessels in their eyes can grow abnormally. This can lead to decreased vision or even blindness if not caught early enough. Thankfully though, Dylan had no signs of RoP during his first screening, and as of this last screening, his retinas are fully developed. So, no worries there. The doctor recommended a yearly follow up to monitor him for other possible preemie concerns like crossed eyes, lazy eyes or nearsightedness.

After the eye exam, we went to pay a visit with a few of the folks from Dylan's care team at the NICU. Dr. Baines, his doctor from June who did such a great job of taking care of Dylan and keeping us informed, his occupational therapist Elayne and his social worker Juda were all thrilled to see Dylan again. Dylan seemed to remember them as well. He started out a little cranky for Dr. Baines. but after he got a little food in him courtesy of Elayne, he was a much more pleasant visitor.

After our visit in Gainesville, we got a bite to eat at one of the local restaurants that we frequent and Dylan drew rave reviews there. Apparently it's very easy for anyone to see just how amazingly cute this little guy is. All of the waitresses who saw him couldn't help but comment on how cute he was, even when all he was doing was sleeping. But then, I knew that already :)

What surprised me the most was that even with all of the running around and being outside his normal element for the majority of the day, Dylan was only ever cranky if he was hungry. He really seemed to like the car ride, as I guess most babies do, but even when we were not in the car, he found things to amuse himself or he slept soundly. Hopefully this is just a sign of things to come.

Anyway, that's all for now. Sorry this is so late- so late that it is not even Wednesday anymore. Dylan wanted to eat right at the same time I sat down to type this, and he wasn't about to wait. When it comes to his belly, Dylan has no patience at all. I'll have another update on Sunday.

Hello again!

When I last posted, I had mentioned that I was returning to work on Thursday. Well, it wasn’t easy. After spending 7 weeks being able to only see him for a few hours a day, to then having 24 hour access, to then going back to work and not being able to see him… It’s just another adjustment. I’m glad though, that I was able to take as much time off as I was both through the entire NICU ordeal and for the week after he finally came home. Now, I’ve just got to get caught up at work.

As for Dylan, he just keeps on growing. We measured his length for the first time since he came home, and he is 20” long. His last measurement in the NICU was 19”. He was 16 ½ when he was born. I don’t have an accurate weight, but he is plumping up nicely. He now has a cute double chin, rolls on his legs and he is developing rolls on his arms too.

He is also awake much more often these last few days. Previously, he would eat and then go right to sleep for about 3 or 4 hours, wake up and then eat and go right back to sleep. There were brief periods of wakefulness in between eating and sleeping, but they generally wouldn’t last much longer than 30 minutes or so. That is all changing, and it’s a joy to see. Now, Dylan will typically wake up either due to a dirty diaper or to a hungry tummy. We’ll address whatever the issue was (or both) and then have about and hour or more to spend some time with him. If he’s awake but relaxed, in what is called the “quiet alert” stage, I love to take that time to read to him. He’ll curl up on my chest and hang on my every word. If he’s more active then we’ll play little games with him or spend some time doing his exercises to improve his muscle tone. They are definitely working, too. He can support the weight of his head when held upright, for a brief period of time and if he is on his belly he can lift his head and turn it from side to side whenever he wants.

Dylan is also eating like a full term baby. We had originally brought him home using the same nipples that he was used to from the NICU. Not long after we got him home though, we noticed he was collapsing the nipples. His suck was becoming stronger than the nipple could tolerate. So, we tried poking extra holes in them. We had ordered a case of 240 of these things, and we were hoping to actually get some use out of them. The holes helped, but it really became too much of hassle to have to do that each time. They are disposable nipples and not designed for multiple uses, so we would have to poke the extra holes every time. We still had the bottles and nipples that gave him trouble in the NICU, but they are very different from what he had grown used to that we thought it best to try something else. The NICU nipples are smaller and made of rubber. The AVent nipples that we tried are significantly larger and are made of silicone. Apparently, the silicone is more difficult to latch on to. Combine that with the larger size, and it’s no wonder Dylan had a difficult time with them. What we decided to do was to find silicone nipples that were as close as possible to the rubber ones he had been using. After trying a few different brands, we found something that is an exact match in size and shape but made of silicone. Evenflo Comfi’ nipples are a perfect match for the other ones, just silicone. He took to these new nipples very well and has already graduated from a slow flow nipple to a medium flow nipple. One great side affect of Dylan being more comfortable with his eating is that he is taking in far less air, and is far less gassy. He was really having some difficulty with gas for the first few days when he began collapsing the other nipple. Now, that problem seems to have been mostly corrected.

On another subject entirely, it has been brought to my attention that we haven’t added any new pictures of Dylan since his homecoming. I guess since I get to see him so much, I didn’t really feel the need to be taking quite so many pictures. I promise to get some new ones posted soon. For now, please enjoy this one quick snapshot that we fired off yesterday.

Gettin' Snippy With It

Welcome back to Dylan's Den, and thanks for reading! Before I get into the meat of this post, let me remind you about the subscription function that I added to the bottom of the blog page. It does appear to be working, as far as I can tell from the tests I've tried. If you want to receive an emailed version of the blog whenever I post an update, just scroll to the very bottom of the page, enter your email address into the box at the bottom and click subscribe. Or, you could just keep checking back here each Wednesday and Sunday.

Anyway... What's new with Dylan? Well, if you didn't notice the entry in the weight chart to the right, Dylan's weight it up to 7 lbs, 8 oz as of yesterday's visit to the doctor. He's eating very well, to say the least. Of course, his mom is producing copious amounts of milk for the little guy- to the tune of around 50 oz each day, so he's going to keep eating well for quite a while. From what I understand, the average woman produces somewhere around 25-30 oz per day. I guess Barbara was made to be a mom. Some may question his weight gain, thinking it's quite a large amount to gain in such a short time. His doctors have assured us that there is no cause for concern. Babies in the womb gain large amounts of weight during the last few weeks of gestation, which is actually where Dylan is supposed to be right now. Today would mark his 38th week of gestation, so he's right on track.

Speaking of his doctor, we paid a visit there yesterday morning to have him circumcised. He's been handling it very well- far better than I imagine I could ever handle it, that's for sure. He hasn't really shown any affects from the procedure at all, except maybe a bit of minor fussiness. Of course, fussiness for Dylan means that he cries two or three times when you change his diaper instead of only once. There's been no bleeding to speak of, and overall, he seems to have handled it like a champ.

His diaper rash is just about gone as well. At our first visit to his doctor, we were recommended to try a diaper cream named Triple Paste, and it has worked wonders. In the 5 days since that appointment, his bottom has gone from looking like raw hamburger to being as cute as ... well, as cute as a baby's bottom. That stuff is quite impressive. I guess for $20 for a 16 oz tub, it better be. Still, even if it is a bit pricey, I'd recommend it without a second thought.

Oh... To whoever bought Dylan the outfit that says "Automatic Sprinkler"... you hit the nail right on the head! Normally, when I change a diaper, I cover his "sprinkler" with a paper towel. Since that area is a bit tender though, I haven't been doing that. I don't want to touch the area until I'm putting the Vaseline covered gauze back over it. Instead, I am regularly being sprinkled on. So is the floor. So is the changing table, the rug we had in front of the changing table, and on one occasion- the wall as well. This guy can certainly build up some pressure. For his first diaper change after we got him home, he sprinkled Barbara and I both... THREE TIMES! In one diaper change, he soaked us down three times. It must have been his way of telling us what he thought about the whole circumcision thing.

Well... that's all the interesting info I can think of at the moment. Tomorrow I finally go back to working my full schedule again. Something tells me I'm going to miss the little guy...

I'll let you know how it goes in my next entry on Sunday.

Transitions

Today was our first full day together at home. Much to my surprise, Dylan is adapting spectacularly well to his new surroundings. I had expected some issues with him being away from the familiar lights and sounds of the NICU, but he has proven to adapt to his surroundings very quickly.

He is sleeping well, whether we have the TV on in the room, lights on, or total darkness and silence. He is eating about every 3 hours or so, sometimes 4 if his last meal was large. He is also a pooping machine. I never in my life thought something that small could produce that much poop. He's pooping so much actually, that he has quite the case of diaper rash. It's getting better quickly though, but it sure looks red and painful. Judging by his reaction when we clean him, I would venture a guess that it is painful.

His reactions are sooo encouraging, too. I know every parent wants to brag on their child about how good they are, but Dylan is just awesome in this regard. When he is upset by something- whether it's a dirty diaper, being hungry or his bottom hurting him, he lets out one cry, or if he is really upset, maybe two or three. even if we can't quite drop whatever it is that we are doing at the time and it takes a minute or two to get to him, he still only cries that one time. It's almost as if he knows, "I cried. They heard me. They'll be here soon." Of course, this is just the beginning, so who knows how long this "honeymoon" may last, but I am surely going to enjoy it while I can.

He had his first appointment with his pediatrician today. She seems OK. I wouldn't rave about her from the little bit we gleaned in our one visit, but she'll at least serve her purpose for now. I think we'll likely end up searching and interviewing some other docs before we find the one we are most comfortable with. There's nothing wrong with the doc we saw today though- she just didn't do anything to impress me.

Dyaln got his first round of shots today, and we were prepared for the worst. After hearing stories of how other family members children reacted badly to one or more of the vaccinations, we were expecting Dylan to at least be cranky, to be overly sensitive to stimuli, or even to just cry a lot. Thankfully, there was none of that. He seemed a bit more tired than usual, but that may just be a side effect of the change from the familiarity of the NICU to being home. He never got a fever, never got cranky, and was his normal self. I'm so glad our first full day with him wasn't spent with him feeling miserable.

Even Barbara and I are transitioning well, I think. I'm well aware of the disruption to normalcy that a new baby can bring to any home, but we've always been so far from normal that it might actually make us more normal. Seriously though, we're starting to work out a reasonable schedule of feedings, Barbara pumping, and she and I being able to spend some time together just watching TV, talking and just being a couple. Of course, once we think we have the hang of it, I'll have to go back to work, and we'll have to figure something else out altogether.

All in all, it's been a nice transition for all of us. Dylan certainly seems content in his new home, and I know for sure that Barbara and I are more than content to have him here with us.

P.S.- A quick note about the blog... I am experimenting with a feature that should allow you to subscribe to the blog via email alerts whenever a new post is made. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and enter your email address in it's entirety into the dialog box and click "subscribe". If things are working properly, this will subscribe you to a GoogleGroup which receives an email whenever the blog is updated.

Home at Last!!!

It is with great pleasure that I finally announce that Dylan is home.

After some drama, delay and conferences with docs, therapists and social workers, Dylan was discharged today from Shands and is home with Barb and I.

The majority of the team who were responsible for taking care of Dylan while in the NICU were absolutely fabulous, and although we had some challenges with a few individuals over the course of his last week or so, even those difficulties can be set aside and left in the past. It's the compassionate care of his doctor, nurse practicioner and almost every one of the nurses that helped take care of our little boy that helped make the past 7 weeks survivable for Barbara and I. If you are a member of the Shands team, know that your contributions to our son's care and to our families concerns can not be appreciated enough. Barbara, Dylan and I are forever indebted to you- whether you took care of him for one night or for a month. I know we gave this web address to a number of folks whose genuine concern for our son's well-being truly touched Barbara and I, and I hope you all continue to visit and follow Dylan's progress.

His first pediatricians appointment is tomorrow, which I assume will be a "getting to know you" kind of thing between Dylan, the doc and Barbara and I.

It has been a long 7 weeks, waiting for him to come home, and although it feels like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders, I am well aware that the journey is just beginning. Being able to begin that journey in earnest, in our own home... It's just a huge relief.

Unexpected Update

This is an unexpected update- not just because I already updated the blog once today, but because of the reason for the update.

I mentioned the car seat study in my last post, and how Dylan failed his first attempt. The plan was for Barb and I to meet with the nurse practicioner covering the schedule on Monday to go over how to manage a preemie in a car seat and to do his evaluation for a second time then.

Today, when we arrived at the hospital, we noticed something odd on his chart. Normally his vitals are taken two or three times per shift. I noticed his chart today showed that they were taken 5 times over the course of one hour. Each entry looked normal- good sats, good heart rate. So why did they take them so often, I wondered. Well... I flipped the chart over and there was a note: "Passed Car Seat Study Today!!!"

We found out that his practicioner picked up an extra shift this afternoon, and decided to go ahead with the eval since she was there and he seemed to be doing very well.

So... good news for our little guy. He still has the RoP screening tomorrow, but things are looking very good for a Wednesday homecoming for the little one. It still isn't set in stone, but we are hopeful for sure.

Waiting semi-patiently

Dylan continues to grow and learn, and we continue to wait for him to be ready to come home.

He is doing fairly well. He has had no spontaneous episodes of bradycardia or O2 desats. He has had a few desats while feeding, but these can sometimes be attributed to positioning or the fact that he doesn't always pace himself well when eating. Sometimes he gets so interested in the eating part of things that we have to pull back on the bottle for a few seconds and give him time to catch his breath.

We experimented with the bottles that we were planning on using at home with him the other day, but Dylan apparently doesn't like change. When he was using the new bottles, he couldn't quite get a good seal around the nipple and had to work very hard to get anything out of the bottle. This caused him to desat a bit and to brady as well. So... we've put those bottles away and we'll just use the ones that he's gotten used to at the NICU until he's a bit bigger and stronger.

He continues to get physical therapy to strengthen his trunk muscles, and it definately appears to be working. He still has some work ahead of him though, as he needs to be able to hold his head up and keep his lungs expanded for when he get';s into the carseat. He failed his first attempt at the carseat study, having some difficulty keeping his sats up when in the upright seated position. He just needs some time and more work to get those muscles strong enough to support his head to keep his airway open and to help expand his lungs as needed, especially when in a more compressed position like they are when sitting.

Overall, he's moving along at a solid, steady pace. We'd love for him to make huge amounts of progress voernight and be ready to come home tomorrow, but that's not very realistic, so we'll just keep working with him as he allows us to and take things as they come.

I'll probably be going to updating the blog on Wednesdays and Sundays from now on. It's just been too difficult to try and do it at night after our visits, so I figured posting twice a week in the morning would be a great way to keep anyone interested up to date. Of course if there are any major developments, we'll post sooner, but for now, count on the Wed/Sun updates.

Closer and closer

Dylan continues to get closer to coming home.

My conversation with his doctor on Monday went very well. She feels that he is very close to coming home, and if he can go a week without any desat spells or bradycardia, he will be on his way. He actually has a new doctor and nurse practicioner, as the old team have rotated out at the beginning of the month, and they are following the same plan. We've been told that the doctor is "very conservative" though, so hopefully that won't stand in his way of coming home.

He has an exam scheduled for Monday to screen for Retinopathy of Prematurity, a potential problem with the growth of blood vessels in the eyes of preemies. This is one of the hurdles he has to clear before heading home.

Also, he needs to pass a "car seat test" where he will have to spend an hour in his car seat without experiencing any desats. Sometimes preemies, especially those with low upper body muscle tone, will have issues keeping their lungs inflated well enough when is the semi-upright position that they have to sit in while in a car seat. This test will ensure that he will be safe for the ride home.

He continues to feed well, and still exclusively from a bottle. There are a few tricks to getting him to feed at times, as it is still not natural for him to be eating at all. It's hard to remember that he still should be inside his mom, cooking and that he is still learning to do the simple things that you might take for granted from a full term baby. But, even if it does take a bit of work sometimes, Dylan does a great job of feeding and it is reflected in his growth.

As of last night, he weighed 5 lbs 14.9 oz.

His feed schedule has been changed to allow for what they call "ad lib, on demand" feeding. Essentially, this is a change from being fed every 3 hours in that it allows for the nurses to take better advantage of his alert states and feed him when he is ready. Sometimes, he would be scheduled for a feeding at 9pm, but would be wide awake at 8pm. When 9pm came along, the window had been missed and he was sound asleep. That won't be an issue now. He basically get's to eat any time from 2 hours since his last feeding, up to 4 hours from his last feeding, whenever he is most awake, and he eats as much as he wants, with a goal of at least 50cc. As long as he continues to gain weight, feeding shouldn't be a hurdle he faces before heading home.

All in all, he is making good progress. He is just starting another 7 day waiting period though, to go without the bradycardia. Apparently, the nurse that was watching over him for the last two nights observed a brady, and that has reset him for a week. It's tough to be patient when he's so close to coming home, but we're doing our best.

Brief Update

I have to be brief because it's late and I'm worn out but here are the important bits of info for all you Dylan watchers out there...

His weight is up to 2586g or 5 lbs, 11 oz.

He is receiving 48cc of breastmilk with each feeding.

Also, since 6am Saturday moring, he has been feeding exclusively by bottle. His feeding tube has been removed.

This is very encouraging news. It's just more steps in the right direction.

I plan on getting in touch with either Dylan's doctor or nurse practicioner tomorrow to get their opinion on his progress and what it means in terms of his discharge, as well as any other "tests" he may need to pass before he can be sent home.

Anyway, that's all for now. I'll try to post something a bit more detailed tomorrow.

More Progress, More Encouragement

Tomorrow marks Dylan's 5-week birthday. As of his last weigh-in, he is 5 lbs 6 oz, and he continues to grow with each passing day. He is now eating 45cc of breatmilk with each feeding, along with receiving his multivitamin twice each day. He is tolerating his feeds well, with only slight desats after eating, which may be indicative of a touch of reflux. Yup, the same acid reflux us adults can get after too much chili and pizza, he can suffer from as well. The muscle at the top of your stomach that opens and closes to let food in and keep it in is usually a bit weak on preemies, and it sometimes allows for a bit of "bouce-back" when they eat, which can be uncomfortable, causing stress which leads to O2 desaturation. By itself, a mild case of reflux is not a big deal, as long as it is recognized and treated. Left unchecked, it can cause damage to the esophagus and vocal chords. In Dylan's case, it's not so severe as to cause any concern, other than to monitor his O2 sats and make sure it doesn't progress any further.

His oxygen saturation has become a bit of a focus lately, as he has made good progress over a few other hurdles. While his sats never drop dangerously low, they do drop on occassion, and the docs are trying to figure out why. He does drop a bit after feeding, but not always. Sometimes he drops his sats while sleeping soundly, under no stress at all. Other times it may be a positional thing- he is not in a good position to maintain his airway or he maybe a bit squashed and be unable to expand his lungs like he should. The nurses are tracking the instances of desat much more closely to try and determine a cause.

One possible cause that has been advanced by his medical team is that of muscle tone. A physical therapist has been working with Dylan over the last few days. During her initial assesment, she noted that Dylan had low muscle tone in his upper body and torso. Essentially, by missing out on some of the time that would normally be spent in utero, he is lagging a bit behind in the development of his muscles. Any time a baby in the womb kicks or flails about with their arms, they are met with the resistance provided by the uterus. This acts as something of a workout. Since Dylan has instead been in an isolette, he hasn't been able to get that workout. Now, with some help from his therapist, he will. He actually has exercise he needs to do. Who would have thought a 1 month old baby would be doing a workout? It's pretty cool stuff, if you ask me. Some of it is basic movement of his arms and legs, some of it is massaging certain muscle groups to stimulate them. All of it is designed to help him develop his muscle tone to be better able to control his head, arms and legs, and strengthen the muscles that help him expand his chest to breathe. The therapist noted that Dylan tends to breathe shallowly when he is relaxed, which can lead to him not getting as much oxygen into his blood. A stronger core will help him overcome this.

One thing that I feel I should mention is that Dylan continues to do a great job of maintaining his body temperature. He is going to be staying in his open air basinette from now on. That's a big step in the journey on the road home. One other great thing about the basinette is that Barbara gets to dress him up now. All this time in the isolette, he has been naked except for his diaper. Now that he's in his basinette, he's wearing cute little onesies with the little feet on them. It's really something to see how cute he is in them, even if they are a bit big on him. That, plus it's much easier to change his diapers and pick him up and put him down again. It seems to me that he's a bit more comfortable in it as well, but that could just be my imagination.

Anyway, that's all for now. I keep trying to update the blog more frequently, but it seems that when I get home, I'm just too pooped to get it done. I'll try to keep it going every other day or so. We'll see how it goes!

Accelaration

I'm at a bit of a loss right now to explain quite how I feel, so let me sum it up with a brief explanation of the important stuff...

Dylan finished off another full 39cc bottle while Barba and I were there. We watched his nurse feed him to pick up on the finer points of feeding a preemie that doesn't quite have it all figured out yet.

He spent the day with the top of his isolette open, so essentially, he was in an open basinette with the option to close it and warm him quickly if necessary.

After we left, he finished off another bottle, or all of it but 2cc (close enough in my book).

And, oh yeah, he has been moved to a full-time open basinette.

Dylan is maintaining his body temp. He is eating from a bottle. He is not having significant bradychardia or apneas...

This adds up to Dylan coming home sooner, rather than later- provided he can keep this up for a little while.

I'm not going to try and guess exactly when he will be coming home, but this is all very encouraging news. If things continue at this pace, and he does not run into further complications, it could be soon!

Woooooo Hooooo!

Wow...

It's been a few days since my last post, so there are a few things to cover.

First, Dylan hit 4 weeks old last Friday. It's weird because it seems like such a long time that he's been in the NICU, but at the same time, it doesn't seem nearly long enough to be 4 weeks since he has arrived.

He is also packing on the weight. As of tonight, Dylan weighs 2270 grams, or 5 lbs!!!
That's right... 5 lbs. Now, it was quite a considerable weight gain from yesterday, so it's likely that he may lose a bit of that weight, but still... 5 lbs!

In my last entry I mentioned that Dylan had started with trying to master bottle feeding. That is going fairly well also. His nurse for the day shift today noticed that Dylan was sticking his tongue to the roof of his mouth, making it impossible for him to get good suction or flow from the bottle. She worked with him for a while, and got him to eat his full 39cc from his bottle this afternoon. She also had the on-call doctor today order physical therapy for him to work with the technique for moving his tongue to the right place in order to eat from a bottle. It may seem odd to have a 4 week old infant getting physical therapy to help him eat, but because he's a preemie, it's something that is often needed, or at least very helpful. Keep in mind, if things had gone as planned, Dylan wouldn't be worried about where his tongue was at feeding time. He'd still have another 4 to 6 weeks in the womb to think things over. Since he's here now though, he'll need a little help getting the more advanced things down pat. Working to suck from a bottle, swallow his milk, and breathe at the right times without choking is quite a feat for someone who is supposed to be weeks away from breathing at all, and getting all of his nutrition from an umbilical cord. Tonight, he didn't do nearly as well, but it's all part of the learning process.

One other development that has come up... His day nurse feels that it may be time to consider an open air crib instead of the isolette he is currently residing in. This is a big step if he can do it, because it means that Dylan can maintain his own body temp- one of the precursors to being able to come home. Now, he's not quite ready for this step yet, but it may come soon. We just don't want to rush things, because it takes energy to feed, energy to grow, and energy to stay healthy. Putting another load on his energy reserves to keep himself warm may not be the best idea- at least not until he has mastered the bottle feeding thing. Still, we brought up some of his preemie outfits for him to wear when the time comes. He'll be looking good when he's ready to show it all off.

Well... that's all for now. I'm off to bed. I'll try to update a bit more often, but things get kinda hectic, so don't count on it. :)