Welcome Home, Kaleb

Kaleb: Day Twenty One

Saturday morning we called bright and early and found out that Kaleb would finally be able to come home. It was such a bright sunny and warm day, a much more perfect day for his homecoming. Before driving to the hospital we did make one last trip to the store for milk, corn oil and detergent. It was our last true outing as just the two of us, I mean yes Kaleb has been here for three weeks now, but we have still been able to carry on with life as before. The fact that our last outing as just the two of us occurred at the same place as our first outing together two years and 8 months earlier seemed rather poetic. Crazy!!!

We drove in around eight, had one last feeding at the hospital and then after a quick exam by the doctor we made our way out of the hospital. The only hitch was that we had to wait for a volunteer to walk us down, so they wouldn't think we were stealing a baby. Finally after about ten minutes of impatient waiting she showed up and walked us down to the car. The sunlight was bright on his eyes, and he had to squint, but I think he enjoyed his first breaths of fresh air. The ride home was rather uneventful, which is what we were hoping for and in no time we were in the house with the baby. It was such a surreal feeling and only now is it truly beginning to sink in that we this little person we have to take care of all the time, for at least the next two decades.

The day went very well although it didn't take long for him to go off of the schedule he had been on at the hospital. I modified a CaseNET installation for the purpose of tracking Kaleb's feedings, diaper changes, measurements and doctors appointments. I am not sure whether Kaleb is going to appreciate the fact that I am recording nearly every moment of his life, but I think I would love to have a record of when I was that small. Nonna and Sir came over in the afternoon, to visit, which was really nice. They hung around for a couple hours and then we were on our own again. We decided to try and split up the night between the two of us, so we could get some rest. Jennifer decided to sleep first, so I watched Kaleb while watching Die Hard 3. Around eleven we switched and I went to sleep for a few hours, before Jennifer joined me in bed. The three of us then slept for an hour together, before Kaleb got all squirmy and I took him in to the living room for an hour. I then attempted to feed him a bottle, but he was just not having it. He is super hard to burp because he curls up into a little hedgehog ball.

Overall the night was okay, we both got about four hours of sleep, which is nothing to write home about. I think the biggest hurdle to overcome is sleeping while he is sleeping. I am sure it is going to take a while to accept the fact that he is going to be fine and nothing bad is going to happen. I guess it is something we will learn. The bottom line is that its going to be a long week, but I have no doubt we will make it through and somehow find a way to get some rest. Heck it is my vacation!!!

Keeg

No Photos This Time

Unfortunately this entry doesn't have photos, which is really the best part of this little blog here. I do have an update, Kaleb gained another 25 grams last night and is now up to 4lbs 2oz. He is now taking almost 2 ounces from his bottles, which means his feedings nearly doubled in the last four days. We are hoping he does well tonight and then we get to take him home tomorrow morning. It is hard to express just how happy we are to have our little boy at home. Yes it means less sleep, but we miss the little guy and it will be so nice to not have to say goodbye to him every night. Once we get him home we are going to do our best to fatten him up, so we can all go out and explore the world with him this spring. Keep your fingers crossed!!!

Keeg

And in the Blue Corner Weighing in at a Whopping 4 Pounds

Kaleb: Day Seventeen

Yep the headline is true, Kaleb is now a four pound baby. He gained 35 grams yesterday and now is over four pounds. Its taken a while, but he is on his way gaining about an ounce everyday, which means in two weeks he will be a five pounder. Not much news from yesterday, everything is still going well and we are on pace for him to come home on Saturday. I went over after work and held him for a long time, long enough that he peed and left a wet spot on my shirt. I think I am really starting to get this bottle feeding thing. Yesterday, I fed him his bottle and he finished it in no time. I still need to work on the burping, it is really hard to hold him because he rolls up into a ball whenever I try to reposition him.

Bye for now.
Keeg

Some Bad News

First with the good news, Kaleb's circumcision went well this morning. I actually made a special morning appearance so I could see him after the surgery. He seemed okay, although his eyes were a bit red from crying. He went right back to feeding though and was doing well when I left.

Now for the bad news, apparently at some point last night he had an oxygen saturation issue or a breathing spell as they call it. It means he is required to stay for a minimum of five more days. I haven't talked to Jennifer about it yet, because my phone was off when she left the message. We are both disappointed that he won't be coming home tomorrow as originally planned, but we know it is for his own good. Hopefully he can get his situation settled and will be home Saturday.

:o(
Keeg

Three is a Magic Number

Kaleb: Day Sixteen
Sorry I haven't put any photos up recently, but I have been at the hospital which means I am away from an internet connection. So the photos you see by clicking on the link include a few days worth. You can see from the photos that Kaleb has many visitors in the past few days and even more that were camera shy. My dad, Anne, Auntie M, Uncle Brennie, Auntie Babe, Cara, Jeff and Jeny. He has been in different states of preparedness for these visitors and while some have been able to hold him others only got to see him sleep.

Let's see what to say about his progress, well he is definitely done with the nose tube and actually had 24 hours of successful feeding. In order to go home he has to have 48 hours in a row, so we are definitely working towards that goal. Besides that everything is on pace for him to now come home on Tuesday. Of course this assumes everything continues as it has been for the last two weeks. He gained another twenty grams today and now weighs 3lbs 13.5oz. I actually got Jennifer out of the hospital during daylight hours today for some last minute supplies, such as diapers, wipes, formula powder, a humidifier, an additional car seat base and a diaper bag. We seem to have everything we need for his arrival. This morning I rearranged our room and set up the travel bassinet we received from Matt. He was supposed to get a family heirloom cradle, but it needs to be repaired and won't be ready in time for his arrival. We also discussed getting a brand new one, but at this point it seems like a waste, consider he sleeps in a plastic tub now and seems to do okay.

Tomorrow is the big circumcision around 8:30am, but he should be back in time for his 9am feeding, hopefully he won't be too traumatized to eat. Only a few days to go!!!

Keeg

Two Weeks Old

In less than three hours little Kaleb will be two weeks old. In reality it seems like he was born two months ago, not only because I barely remember it, but also because he has changed so much. He is really becoming his own little person these days and has a personality all his own. I won't lie and say the last two weeks have been easy, but I think overall we have been very good about being positive and taking it one day at a time and it has really paid off. Of course there were a couple times when the stress of it all became to much to bear that tears were shed, but we let out the emotions that were pent up and hopped back on the positive train. I know Jennifer and I have only been married for eight months and one day, but the strength of our relationship over the last few weeks has really been amazing. We are such a wonderful pair, we both challenge and reinforce in our own ways at the right time and it is really so perfect the way we are matched. I can't be happier to have found such a wonderful partner who has not only helped me get through this difficult time, but has spent countless hours with our teeny tiny baby making sure it got all the love it needed to get better and come home. I am truly grateful for her devotion and could not be more certain about my love for her.

Enough of that sad, sappy stuff though and on to the stuff you really want to read about, Kaleb's progress. Sorry I wasn't able to update yesterday, but it was a busy day and I was tired when I finally got home. We are still on pace to have Kaleb home sometime this week. Yesterday he has gained 35 grams since Thursday morning putting him up around 3lbs 13oz. His tube for feeding has been removed and barring any uncoordinated feedings will remain out. Last night he passed his hearing and car seat test. For the car seat test they put him in his car seat for 90 minutes and make sure he can keep his oxygen saturation up while seated. Today he hasn't had any bad feeding yet, although I think I am up for the six o'clock bottle feeding, wish us luck. Jennifer and I watched a CPR video as part of our checklist of things we need to do before bringing him home.

The other big news of the day was that we officially decided to have him circumcised, which will be happening on Monday morning. We have gone back and forth on this for a while and settled on it just this morning. You see there is a great debate going on about the merits of circumcision. It seems to be a cultural and social tradition, since there aren't many studies showing it has much of a medical benefit. Not having it done increases the chance of some cancers by 10%, but the chance of those cancers in men is so small that it is unimportant. One person in particular helped change our mind, apparently he hadn't been circumcised and at some point in his thirties he needed to be for medical reasons and it pretty much incapacitated him for a month. So we decided if we can do something that will barely effect him now, but will prevent a serious effect later no matter how small the chance we might as well do it. I will let you know how it goes, but the nurse claims the worst part of the operation is restraining there legs, but after that they pretty much don't feel a thing.

Okay I have to get going to the six o'clock. I will have some photos later.

Keeg

Tube Free?

Kaleb: Day Twelve

We got some major news that we have been waiting for ever since Kaleb was born just under two weeks ago. If he continues to progress at his current rate, it looks like he might be discharged next week. We weren't given specifics about which part, but to know that by this time next week he could be living under our roof is such a wonderful thought. In order to help his progress he was put on a regiment of only nursing and bottle feedings today, with no feeding through his tube. Tomorrow morning they will check his weight to make sure he didn't have a lack of calories due to the change in feeding style. After a couple days of no tube feeding he will most likely get his tube removed on purpose (he really likes to pull it out now). He was also allowed to come out today without his leads on him and because of this Jennifer got to bring him into the parent room for some nice quiet time with him and my mom, who actually got to hold him for the first time. It was an amazing day, and while we are excited, we are also cautious at the same time and doing our best to keep in mind that the current plans may change.

I went up for the six o'clock feeding per my usual day and did his "do up" (temperature, diaper change and feeding) He was a little fussy about the diaper, but he settled down and I managed to give him almost his entire bottle. We had a little bit of struggling, but he is getting much better at it especially compared to Saturday. It seems the key is to get as much in as fast as possible before he falls asleep. We came home afterwards and unpacked the car seat we received from the shower, because we need to bring it to the hospital. One of the tests he has to pass before coming home is to sit in his car seat for 90 minutes without having oxygen troubles. Apparently having the baby sitting up in the car seat position can be a problem for their breathing. I am confident he will do fine though!!

Okay I need to get back to work now.
Keeg