Feb. 6 - Sneezy boy

Weight - 5 lbs. 5 oz.

Chubby, Sneezy Boy! Wish you could see the little double-chin he's getting when his chin is tucked in - it's adorable.
For those of you wondering, the weight thing is just something I'm tracking. Because he's doing it so well, I'm a proud mamma! He doesn't have to be a certain weight in order to go home. He has to do three things on his own...eat (without a feeding tube or assistance), breathe (with oxygen if needed - but I won't accept that at this point), and continue to "progress" and grow (whatever the doctor thinks is normal) with a regular temperature, belly growth, proper diaper output, etc. The weight just gives you, the viewer, an idea of how he's growing. Got it? I'm glad you do! Taking a baby home on oxygen is not my kind of fun. I watch parents coming and going with full term babies with oxygen, and the beeper on that thing is like a screeching banchee. Scares me and scares all the other babies in the NICU and wakes them up. They all end up crying when the "home" alarm goes off in the room. Very annoying. Especially if you have a headache (which I don't today, thank goodness).

Today at lunch, Gerard sneezed quite a bit. I hope he's not catching a cold. It could be his response to the canula in his nose again. As you will see in today's photos he's out of the head box and back on the canula (oxygen in the nose).
Not sure of the proper spelling of canula, but you get the idea. He sneezes twice in the video below. He sneezed (like I do) four times after his feeding (20 minutes). We'll try again later... Reminds me of the notes they have posted everywhere all over the place. Here's the quote, "Wash hands frequently. Avoid contact with anyone exhibiting any cold symptoms (try that in this town). Consider having your child receive the RSV vaccine if she qualifies." Yeah...right.

Lucky for me, sweet Rosemary took me to the hospital (in her new Honda Pilot) since our car was in the shop. Thank goodness nothing horribly wrong, just some minor maintenance. Thanks Rosemary! Don't forget to check in on Sky, her new baby (puppy). Put a cape on him and he's Super Puppy!


Today I'm really tired again, so this post must be brief. I need a nap before heading back to the hospital. We have an exciting "NICU Family night meeting." Tonight it's all about car seats. I can hardly wait. I've been there so long this is a repeat performance. I wonder if they will still let me eat some pizza. The pizza at the hospital totally rocks. Really. Although I'm so tired I'm not really in the mood for eating. That's the other thing they constantly harp on - "be sure to eat and get plenty of sleep." Yeah. Right! If I could pump in my sleep and not worry about my baby in the NICU in my sleep, I would! Even if I weren't tired, would somebody please confirm that they would be tired of this schedule, too!