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11/02/05
Ok here are the latest pictures!!!
Right before (or after I can't remember) his eye surgery:
Posing for Mommy:
Halloween pictures (I'm a terrible Mommy hahaha YES that's my sorry excuse for a Halloween costume! I couldn't find ANYTHING else little enough!)
Bonding with Mommy:
Pictures the nurse took of him sucking his thumb when I wasn't there!!
Tonight's pictures:
Notice you can see his upper lip? I've never seen it before tonight!
Halloween morning I met Cat's sister, Vanessa. I've known Cat online since March, when I found out I was pregnant. Her and I bonded immediately because she lives in Odessa, where I'm from. Anyways, I met Vanessa on Monday morning, she was in town for a doctor's appointment. We ate lunch at Zookini's, and she brought gifts!! Isn't it amazing how people who you've never met in person can care so much? Thanks, girls, you are both wonderful!!!
A cute doggy that sings when you pull his tail out:
A nice, warm outfit:
The cutest bathrobe EVER:
Warm blankets:
Diapers and Wipes:
Lotion, body wash, clippers, nose plunger, shoes to match the above bathrobe, baby book:
All the gifts in the cute basket they came in:
And, My new favorite scent, Tahitian Orchird! mmmm
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11/03/05
Yesterday was a big day for David!! His roommate got moved out..the sent him to Dallas for heart surgery, poor baby. So it was a pretty busy morning. Javier went in & held him for almost two hours, and David loved every minute of it! Then, in the afternoon, Meme got to hold him for the first time!! I know it made her happy, and David really loves his Meme!! Here are the pictures:
Thats right...he's under five pounds again :sniff, sniff:...hopefully he'll gain that back before I cry.
Locks of Love
Today I used my birthday gift certificate to Delia Espinosa & got my hair cut. I thankfully had enough hair to donate to LOCKS OF LOVE...but it's a pretty drastic cut. Here are the pictures:
And another picture that I just happen to like:
Aww...look at the sweet kitty!!!
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11/09/05
Slacker!!
Brenda says I need to update my blog..and, well, she's probably right!! I don't know what my problem has been lately? I'm a slacker!!! So, Brenda, this post is dedicated to you :)
Let see, what all have I not told everyone...David is up to 5lbs, 4ozs, & he's 16in long. He's still on the vent, and they've stopped the chronic wean for now because everytime they go down on the vent they end up having to go back up, even higher than before. So, since he isn't tolerating going down, they are going to let him rest where he is (rate of 41, about 50% oxygen). He's really starting to enjoy his pacifier, and gets really irritated when you let it fall out of his mouth (how DARE I??). I'm happy that he is sucking so good because that gives me hope that when he comes off the vent then maye he'll take his bottle fairly quickly.
I asked one of the nurses the other day if she thought it was unreasonable for me to hope to have him home by Christmas. She said yes. She said that once he gets off the vent, he'll go onto Vapotherm, which will keep the pressurized oxygen. Once he's been weaned from that, he can go onto just a nasal cannula, which is when he'll be able to learn to bottle feed. He has to be able to take all of his bottles by mouth within thirty minutes before I can take him home. He can come home on oxygen...but I'm hoping he doesn't have to do that.
ANYWAYS...here are the latest pictures of my little man:
Throwing a fit during his assessment!!
His wittle feet & hands (aww):
Lookin cute in Winnie the Pooh:
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11/10/05
New Video of David
CLICK HERE for a new video of David. When the page finishes loading, click "Click here to continue to the download page"...then right click the "FileFactory FTP -- Click here to download" and click "save target as"...then open the file with windows media player or your choice of media player.
I will try & get Javier to host this on his webpage so it won't be such a pain to view it.
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11/11/05
Ug.
Well, due to no fault of my own, I cannot visit David, at least until tommorrow. I didn't visit him yesterday either. Apparently one of Javier's friends, Chad, came over and brought his daughter over. Chad's son has RSV, which could've been carried over to my house via Chad's daughter, transmitted to me, and then if I went up to the hospital I would be risking reinfecting David. It's not worth the risk. I called the nurses to get their opinion, because I didn't know 1) if it was even possible for it to be transmitted through such an indirect source and 2) if he can even CATCH it again, seeing as though he ALREADY has it. She said it IS possible to transmit it that way, and they aren't positive that he even still has RSV since they haven't done a RSV wash since 10-29. So it's possible that he is no longer infected.
Ug. I miss my baby.
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11/12/05
David is at a rate of 37 breaths per minute, and is tolerating it well. Keep your fingers crossed because if he does not have any more setbacks it's possible that he could come off the vent in about a week and a half. That would be awesome possum! By the way, he's up to five pounds, seven and a half ounces now! He's getting so big!!
So I really love our new camera. The pictures that it takes are amazingly clear, AND it takes video, which rocks. However, it doesn't do motion very well unless you have it on one particular setting, and when you have it on that setting, it flashes...and since I'm not trying to blind my baby, I can't put it on that setting when taking his picture. And GOD FORBID he lay still for a minute!! haha
ANYWAYS...here are the pictures that I took tonight:
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11/13/05
OMG!!!
So today was bath day, and after David's bath we decided we were going to put him face down so we could get one of those cute "butt shots" haha....ANYWAYS...this is what he did:
OMG he held his head up!!! I'm soo excited!!! I even got video of it....but it's too hard to put video on here :( :( :(
Anyways, here are the other pictured I took today:
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11/14/05
Videos of David
I've figured out a place to host my videos, finally! YAY! Here is the link to his videos: www.jusspress.com/sxymma
Anyways, David is on a rate of 33 breaths per minute and only 35% oxygen today. Pretty exciting stuff!! Hopefully soon he'll be off that vent!!
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11/15/05
Ug.
So something is bothering me. People up at work (and noone who reads this blog...mostly the people in the mailroom and "big red" as Isabel fondly refers to her...so noone FLIP out ok?) seem to think that's it's okay to ask me the SAME question. Every. Single. Day.
"When will you get to take your baby home?"
Every. Single. Day.
You might just be making conversation with me. Maybe you're just trying to let me know that you care. But all you are really doing is reminding me that I DON'T KNOW WHEN I'LL GET TO BRING MY BABY HOME.
Tell you what. When I find something out, I'll let you know. Believe me. I'll be shouting it from the rooftops. I will tell people over and over again. I'll be grinning from ear to ear. Hell, I'll probably even be skipping. But until then, for the love of God, STOP ASKING ME THAT. (or at least don't ask me every freaking day)
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11/16/05
adVENTures
David is on a rate of 29 breaths per minute now (remember he has to be at least under 20, maybe even 15 before they'll take him off) and he's at 35% oxygen (room air is 21% oxygen)....this is the lowest he's ever been. They apparently discovered that kids with chronic lung disease can tolerate lower oxygen saturation than kids with healthy lungs, so everytime his oxygen saturation gets above 95% and stays there, the nurses will turn down the oxygen. Today is his bath day, let's see what kind of stunt he decides to pull today!
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11/17/05
I created a snowflake with a message for others to pray for my baby David. I recieved several responses, one from a woman named Sandra. In addition to agreeing to pray for David she designed the most beautiful snowflake ever. I hope she doesn't mind if I show it to all of you.
Beautiful, isn't it? Thank you, Sandra.
I received a very special package today from Cammi. Her sweet little boy, Landon, was also born prematurely, soon after David was. He very quickly outgrew some of his preemie clothes, so she was kind enough to mail them to me, for David's use. When David outgrows them them I intend to donate them to the NICU. Well, maybe not the gray outfit...because that's just too cute. He wore it today, too (check for those pictures below).
I also received a package from Grandma & Grandpa Monroe the other day. She sewed me four burp clothes & a diaper bag, and threw in a little doggy rug/ blanket:
You should all feel very special for these pictures. Cox is a stupid, stupid, company, and it literally took me all night long to get these pictures uploaded. I have a few more videos to share also, but with as slow as the internet is being right now I'm not about to try & upload those. (*****EDIT: The new video is up: http://www.jusspress.com/sxymma*******)
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11/18/05
DAVID IS OFF THE VENT!!!!
So this morning they went down to a rate of 21 breaths/minute. The nurse said they put him on a setting called "automatic" or something like that, which means that the vent does not actually GIVE him any breaths, it just keeps the pressure & gives him extra oxygen. They did another gas, and that came back good, so they took him off the vent & put him on vapotherm!!! HURRAY! :does the happy dance:
There will be LOTS of pictures tonight.
OK here are the pictures of David without the vent!! YAY!
Here are some other pictures of Javier & I.
And remember, there are videos at www.jusspress.com/sxymma
And more at http://www.jusspress.com/Jescobar
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11/20/05
More pictures of David off the vent...Javier took these...why do his pictures always turn out better than mine?????
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11/22/05
Yesterday I had to talk to the charge nurse because I wasn't comfortable with the nurse taking care of my baby. I felt like such a bitch. I hate doing things like that, but I really was not keen on the idea of a nurse who was pulled from another department taking care of my baby. I feel like there are too many nurses who know him for him to get care from someone who doesn't. There were other reasons, too, though, not just that he didn't know him. Anyways, here are the pictures from yesterday!!!
SMILING FOR DADDY!!!
Today was a BIG day for David!! He took his first bottle!! YAY!! The lady you see in the pictures is Margaret, the occupational therapist. She said she would feel better if she gave him the bottle, so she would know how he was breathing, etc. He did really well!! He drank about 19cc's of formula before he tired out. She said he had the suck, swallow, breath coordination down, and all we have to worry about now is his endurance. Hopefully he will get the hang of it quickly!! YAY!
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11/25/05
Gobble Gobble!
JoAnn & Mom came up for Thanksgiving (probably more to see David than anything else haha) but JoAnn ended up getting sick on the way here, and since Mom had been exposed to her, neither of them got to hold David....but they got to come in (with masks & everything) so they could see him.
Anyways, Thanksgiving was at Amy's, and it was delicious...ate too much, tired afterwards, the regular Thanksgiving treat. Here are the pictures I got of it:
JoAnn, sick & hiding:
Meme:
Lizzie
Mom:
Calvin (guest of honor, in his opinion):
Weston, playing the cello:
So today was "Black Friday"...the day of the year that I have taken a holy oath to NEVER shop on. Well, JoAnn wanted to buy a carseat for David....so I was drug along!!! But it wasn't nearly as bad as I anticipated....I guess since I had Mom & JoAnn to talk to. It was actually a little bit :gasp: fun!! However, after the trip to Target, Kohls, Old Navy, Dollar Tree, and JCPenneys, alas, no carseat. Noone had one! Can you BELIEVE that crap? OMG....anyways, JoAnn gave me money for me to shop for one later. She's a sweet girl. Here are the pictures of what I ended up getting!
I Love Santa & baby's first Christmas onsies:
Mom bought this little elf outfit for him:
Hats I got, just because they were cheap & on sale:
Insie Winsie shoes:
And finally, here is today's picture of my little man:
Tonight I had an interesting experience at the hospital!!! I was sitting there holding David when the parents of the other baby that's in that room came in. Shortly after, another lady walked in. The other lady started asking them questions, like "are you sure you didn't have any type of drugs before you had your baby?" and "would you be willing to take a drug test, both of you?" and that sort of thing. I (being a blondie, what can I say?) thought to myself "I don't remember them asking me that....oh well, I was on a mag drip, so probably I just don't remember it" yada yada. So then Pat (a nurse) came in & whispered in my ear that they were having problems with CPS and drug issues so I was going to have to leave. They apologized profusely, and I was sent on my way! How sad...that poor baby. No wonder he cries all the time, and no wonder none of the nurses were always so hush hush about that baby...
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11/30/05
OK...let's see what is new since last time I posted.....
David is taking a bottle again, yesterday he took one in 20 minutes, which is wonderful, since he has to be able to all of them in less than 30 minutes before he comes home. I was supposed to be able to give him one last night but the baby in his room was being transfered to Dallas so I didn't get a chance to :'( So today at 10:30am they gave him one, he took it in 16 minutes, then he was too pooped to take another one at his 1:30pm feeding. At 4:30pm he took it again...and in FIVE minutes! He drank it so fast he ended up spitting it back up!!! Again he was too tired at the 7:30pm feeding, but I got to give him one tonight, and he took the whole thing in a little more than 30 minutes. I'm so proud of him. After he ate I figured he would fall right asleep, but he was still awake when I had to go at midnight!!! He was being so sweet, and so alert, though, it was good bonding time.
Here are the latest pictures:
I got a box from Chrissy today, she sent me a bunch of clothes that her baby grew out of, plus a special outfit she bought just for David awwwww:
They put up the Christmas tree in the NICU this week:
OH! And, this week was the season's first snow! And you KNOW I took pictures of it!!!
David is sick again :(
They don't know if he aspirated some of his formula and it caused an infection....or if he's just constipated from the rice they have put in his bottle to make it easier for him to drink.
When I was in there this afternoon, he was very fussy, and you could tell his tummy hurt. His tummy was really swollen. I didn't think much about it, though, because the nurse just acted like he had gas, and she gave him some milicon.
But when I went in there tonight they were worried about it because his tummy had swollen up even bigger, and when they did the xrays they saw lots and lots of loops. His heartrate is elevated, and his breathing is very fast. They had to go up on his oxygen because his tummy is so swollen it's harder for him to breath. She pulled over 15 cc's of residual from his tummy. They've had to start an IV for antibiotics and they have him on NEC precautions, which entails a repogul (sp?) tube to get all the extra air & food out of his tummy, because if it sits there long enough it will rot his gut, which could be deadly. I don't think it's that bad, though. And, they've stopped his feedings for now. I'm hoping that he'll just take a big ole crap tonight, and he'll feel better in the morning.
I'm irritated, though, because the nurse that he had this morning & afternoon didn't have his feeding tube down far enough, and so she wasn't able to tell that he had residual. If they had known about this earlier, he probably wouldn't have been in so much pain right now. That's IF she even checked for residual all day long, because when I was there this afternoon I had to remind her to check.
Anyways, Javier took the night off of work, and we're about to go back up there. Please keep him in your prayers.
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