Splish Splash Its Time for Kaleb's First Bath

Kaleb: Day Twelve

We started the day off with some more good news, Kaleb gained another 30 grams over night and now ways 1670 grams or 3lbs 10.91oz. He is nearly back to his birth weight, which is fantastic. The other news was that he finished an entire bottle overnight and he also had his feeding tube moved into his left nostril although he did manage to pull it out twice today. I left work early so I could get over to the hospital for his first bath. I took off his diaper and he was fussy again, but it was only the beginning of his whining. Once he was stripped down and moved him over to the bath things really got interesting. He really freaked out as soon as he was placed in the water, luckily he calmed down relatively quickly and actually enjoyed the rest of his bath. It was a pretty neat moment. I managed to capture some of it on tape and hopefully if I can get up to my mom's house this weekend I will be able to get some of the video on the internet. We finished up his bath and I once again tried to give him a bottle, it went much better today than the last time, I think mostly due to the fact that I am much more comfortable holding him now. He made it through half of his bottle, which was pretty good, we are going to try again tomorrow, but will give him more rest throughout the day so he isn't so tired.

After the hospital I went in to BoCaNO at the Kinsale. We really did poorly at trivia and quit halfway through. It was good to see everybody though.

Keeg

Out of the Greenhouse and into the Garden

Kaleb: Day Eleven

It was another great day for Mr. Kaleb today. The biggest news was that he graduated from his greenhouse and moved to a bathtub crib. The reason for the move is that he has been keeping his temperature pretty steady and there is no need for external heating. It is just another step in the direction of his eventual move back home. The only big hurdle left is to get him to feed without the use of his feeding tube. He has had some success with bottles, but it is a real crap shoot, on the other hand his breast feeding has continually improved. Yesterday his weight only increased by 5 grams, but that is okay because it is still in the upward direction. What else... oh yeah we were supposed to do his first bath tonight, but due to time constraints we are pushing it back to tomorrow night. I have the video camera all loaded up and ready for the big adventure. Hopefully the bath will go better than the diaper change I went through tonight. I don't know what his deal was, but he sure was fussy. Not only was he crying, but his heart rate went through the roof, its super scary when you are trying to change a diaper and not only is the baby crying, but a machine starts beeping like crazy.

Tonight after coming back from the hospital we were treated to a fantastic dinner at Rendezvous by Cara and Jeff. I went with a nice lamb shank and finished the meal with a fine piece of chocolate cake. I had never been there before, but I highly recommend it to anybody looking for a really tasty meal. Thanks again to Cara and Jeff for such a great treat!!!

Keeg

Quick Update

Nonna sent me this photo of her with Kaleb and I think it is a cute one so I have posted it. Today we found out that Kaleb gained 40 grams over the last 24 hours, which was phenomenal progress. He also lost the last bit of his umbilical cord this morning, Jennifer saved it for me to see and she also took a photo that will get posted later. For lunch today Andy and I drove over to Winchester hospital so he could visit the little man. It was really great that he wanted to visit, it is just too bad that Kaleb was so sleepy and he didn't get to see him in action. I am sure he will have plenty of time for that later though.

I am just about to close up work, so I can get back over there and visit.
Keeg

Addendum:
Kaleb: Day Ten

I just got home from visiting Kaleb. We had a little father/son time at the six pm feeding and then my mom and Jon stopped in to say hi. Unfortunately he was back in in house when they got there. Speaking of his house, it seems that he seems to be managing his temperature relatively well and my be taken out of the insolette and put in an unheated bassinet. Very exciting although a bit louder for him.

Daddy's Diaper Duty

Kaleb: Day Nine

I have said it before and I have to say it again, it was another banner day for Kaleb today. Jennifer went in for the 9AM feeding and came back with tons of good news. First we learned that he actually gained weight over the last twenty four hours, we also learned that he did an entire feeding from a bottle. So a couple more positive news bits. Since Jennifer was in early I went in for the noon feeding and got to do my first temperature check, diaper change and bottle feeding. I did an okay job with the diaper although Kaleb noticeably missed his mother and was a bit fussier than normal. The bottle feeding didn't go quite as well. He is still having a hard time getting down the timing of breathing and swallowing so more than once we had to stop because his oxygen level dropped. We did manage to get half of the bottle down his throat before giving up and going through the stomach tube. I then held him for an hour while Brendan took a ton of photos. It was the first time he had met his Uncle Brennie and it was just a taste of all the photos that will be taken of him. Hopefully I will get those photos up sometime soon, there are a ton of them so it might take a while.

Jennifer returned from the shower for the 3PM feeding and we stayed until after his six o'clock feeding. He really downed a ton of milk at the six o'clock feeding via the breast and actually got so much that his stomach overflowed and he spit up all over his new clean outfit. The good news from that was it means he will start getting less through his feeding tube.

That's all for now. Thanks to everybody for all the stuff we got at the shower today.
Keeg

One Week Down a Lifetime to Go

Kaleb: Day Eight

Well our little man is officially a week old, actually at this point he is one week, two hours and forty minutes old. He continues to impress us everyday with his progress. As I said in the previous entry his weight has possibly bottomed out and he is hopefully on the way up up and away. We spent most of the day today at the hospital and were lucky enough to have a few visitors. First, Nonna showed up during the noon time feeding and was lucky enough to hold the little guy. No sooner had the feeding begun when my dad and Anne showed up to visit also. We figured out a schedule and everybody got some face time with the little guy. It was really nice to spend the whole day with him, normally I only get to stop by for about an hour, but today was a different story. It was nice to see him out of his little house three times. You hear it all the time, but I am also going to utter this, "He changes everday." Its just amazing how much of a difference one week makes. He is much more active now and when he wakes up he looks around for quite a while taking in all of the views. I have been lucky enough to hold him twice in the last twenty four hours and it is the greatest feeling in the world to have him looking up at me. I always get him to do a little smirk here and there which is very rewarding. I think tomorrow I might go in during Jennifer's shower and meet my brother while I feed Kaleb a bottle. It will be my first time there without Jennifer, but I think I will be able to hold my own, it also helps that there are a bunch of nurses there to help me out.

Keeg

Moving On Up

Kaleb: Day Seven

Yesterday Kaleb was transferred from the Brigham & Women's to Winchester Hospital. Its a big step because it means he is progressing well. Jennifer and I scoped out the hospital in the morning and gave the okay for his transfer. Its a really low key facility and much calmer than the Brigham's NICU. In the morning he had half of his feeding from a bottle, which was about 50% more than he had the previous day. Jennifer put him to breast in the afternoon using a nipple shield and it really helped him feed, which was another huge accomplishment. The most important thing right now is getting him to feed completely from a bottle or breast. So far he seems to be learning quite well.

Today my dad stopped by and was there when he arrived for the transfer. Later on in the evening my mom showed up and sat with us during the six o'clock feeding. It was really nice to have my mom there while Kaleb was out of his greenhouse. I think he really liked having her there too.

This morning Jennifer called and the nurse said his weight is unchanged from yesterday, so hopefully it is just going to go up from now on.

My First Bottle

Kaleb: Day Six

Yep that's right Kaleb had his first bottle today. He only had the equivalent of two teaspoons, but it is a start. He is still under the lights, but even that was lowered to just one light. The other milestone today was the removal of his IV, which freed up his left arm. He also had an ultrasound on his head today because they were concerned about his squished head. The test results came back and there weren't any issues. I know the good news just keeps flowing. The final huge piece of good news was that he is getting transferred to Winchester Hospital tomorrow. We originally planned to get him sent back to Mount Auburn, but the nurses have been ranting and raving about Winchester. It apparently has a great level 2 nursery and is a lot better than the Mount Auburn nursery. Sorry I didn't take more photos today, but I spent most of the time taking video today. I am still having trouble downloading the video to the computer, but once I get it working I will be sure to upload it to one of the various video websites.

Here's a fun added bonus. Every Sunday night starting on September 24 (Week 13), we took Jennifer's measurements and took a photo of her to document the growth of her belly.

Jennifer's Growing Belly