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WELCOME, GUEST |
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(1 member)
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niylnnrae @a…6 |
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MY LOVE, DAWXEN
SkNeal |
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| Category: Home | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | | | | | | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
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LOVE LOVE LOVE HIM
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Aug 12, 2010 04:41pm (EST)
goodness, my bubba is getting so big!!! growing by the minute!!! he's been eating so well and so much more... we went up last night from 3.5oz to 4 oz... 4.5 oz... and he's finishing his bottles (4.5 oz) in like 15-20 minutes... he's doing great!!  he's getting so big!!! and did i also mention, he absolutely loves loves his baths... just sitting in there, the warm water... good smelly bath soap... he's just a very happy baby.
on another note... so frustrating... our kitchen sink it acting up again and does not want to drain.... i think it the garbage disposal... cause things from the disposal will come back up on the other side of the sink.... called maintenance to come fix it for the 3rd time... yes, the 3rd time.... i'm getting really angry that they aren't fixing it correctly... so i'm having to use the bathroom sink to wash all bubba's bottles and my pumping parts.... so frustrating cause the bathroom sink is way smaller to work with... and it sucks... so i hope they come by today for sure to fix it... ugh....
so my medela pump has been acting up on me and that was frustrating me too... it started to bubble up when i would pump... so i called them and they are sending me some parts for my pump... i've called them twice now about my pump and how it kept dying on me in the middle of pumping and outta the blues... and now, the 3rd time... the tubing... the parts... ugh.... so in the meantime of waiting for the new parts to arrive, i changed out the membrane parts and the tubing to the shorter tubing i got when i ordered my pump.... and it's much better... but still... it's sucks and it's frustrating when i EXCLUSIVELY pump for my bubba and having the pump die on my half way through or it starts to bubble up.... GRRR!!!! so i'm very happy they're sending me new parts.... my hubby and i have considered buying a new pump... like the hospital ones if this doesn't pan out... but they're way expensive.... i've only had my pump for not even 4 months and already.... it's been going out on me... for something so so super expensive, it should hold up and last long... sheesh.... i'm hoping that when the new parts come in, my pump will be better to me.... i really do cause i don't want my bubba to go without breastmilk just yet, or maybe ever....
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Posted by SkNeal | Comments: (1) | Permalink
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3 WEEKS SINCE...
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Aug 10, 2010 06:50pm (EST)
St's been 3 weeks since my bubba's been home with us. I couldn't have asked for anything better. I absolutely love being a mom and having Dawxen home. It's the greatest gift of all. There are those nights of pure sleepiness and frustration and then there are those that he sleeps for a good 3-4 hours and you get to also... and then he wakes up to eat.... either or.... every moment is a great one. His personality is really starting to shine. And he knows that he sets his own schedule and he knows it so well.... When he sleeps, he'll sleep for a good 3-4 hours and wake up knowing that it's eating time and sometimes he'll fall right back asleep and sometimes he just stays up. He absolutely hates getting his diaper changed... he always fusses and makes all kinds of noises just because he can. He's such a booger sometimes, but I dearly love him. He loves to sit in his bouncer and just stare at everything. He's absolutely perfect and adorable in every way!!! I heart my little guy so much. And he's now 3 1/2 months old.... almost time for his 4 months shot. Today he also went for his follow up hearing test and all is great.... Dawxen past his test in both ears. yay to my little guy. I couldn't be any happier and prouder of my son. What can I say, I love being a MOMMY and I love everything about my miracle baby.
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Posted by SkNeal | Comments: (2) | Permalink
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CHILLING WITH MY BOYS
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Aug 01, 2010 04:27pm (EST)
So after a long morning with Dawxen up and asleep on and off, and waking up to eat, I survived yet another long night. And after a long couple days at work and having to work yesterday, Dawxen and I woke up just as Daddy got home from work this morning. I fed him and then Daddy gave him a bath after I prepped everything up and set it up for him. They're so good together and they've been napping since. They're so cute napping together. I should be napping too, as tired as I am... but for some reason, I'm fighting it right now. My boys look so comfy on the couch together. It's a priceless moment. Father and son.. they both are so alike, Dawxen sleeps just like his Daddy.
Off to feed my little bubba... and possibly attempt to nap.
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Posted by SkNeal | Comments: (1) | Permalink
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DOCTOR APPTS
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Jul 30, 2010 12:55am (EST)
so we've had 3 dr. appts this week... all good visits too. monday, he had his eye appt... very very happy... both dawxen's eyes are mature. he'll have to get them checked again though in 3-4 months. yesterday, we did a follow up appt from friday, his 1st peds appt. it went well... nothing's changed really... all is still good... we met with yet another case manager, but one who works on base and is gonna do more for us, referral wise, and whatnot. today we had his pulmonary appt. all went well. they turned his flow to room temp and his stats were good.. he was sitting between 97-99... basically high 90's.... but the dr. wants him to stay on it still just cause we started him on his albuterol last weekend cause of his coughing here and there and a little weezing. but she said that when he is up and awake, go ahead and turn off the o2 and just keep the apnea monitor on, but that it could also be turned off sometimes too when he's up and awake... i just can't wait for him to be off the o2 and the apnea monitor. even though it's for his own safety... the startling of the apnea monitor going off when he's got shallow breathing... sometimes is more scarier than it should be, even though i know he's doing good... just shallow breathes... dawxen doesn't mind the loud noise, but we do.. so another month of it left, i hope. so we'll follow up in a month with pulmonary.... overall, everything's going good still. still sets his own routine... it's almost pretty much set now, on when he wakes up and eat... they're usually about the same time every day... so i'm a little used to it.... okay, starting to get used to it. dawxen now weighs 6 lbs 1 oz... he lost 2 oz from yesterday's weigh in.. it's all the pooping he did this morning. he's gaining weight and eating good. i'm still doing good on pumping... i'm afraid though, that we'll eventually have to switch over to formula cause at this rate, not resting as much as i did while he was in NICU, it's definitely putting a toll on the production. but i'm not discouraged, i'm still gonna continue to pump and do what i have to, for dawxen.
well ladies, good night, i'm off to bed... get in those couple hours of sleep while he's asleep and before he wakes up to eat. i have NICU set for recording tonight on the DVR... love that show... gonna watch it tomorrow since it'll be a lazy day for us... we don't have to be anywhere, except possibly going to get the hubby from work... he comes back home tomorrow after being gone the whole week... good night friends.
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Posted by SkNeal | Comments: (1) | Permalink
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WHAT IF...
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Jul 27, 2010 10:24pm (EST)
so since dawxen came home last week, yes, it's been a week.... i've noticed that my milk supply has slightly decreased. i'm still pumping about every 3 hours or so... i've tried on and off breastfeeding with dawxen, but he just seems to not take to it... only sometimes. so anyways, i've been mainly pumping. while dawxen was in nicu, and i'd pump daily, i would get a good 4 to 7 oz. at least. well these past couple days i've only been able to pump and get about 3 oz... i don't know why my supply has decreased, i'm a little worried about it. i really don't wanna switch him to formula, not that there's anything wrong with formula.... but we will if we have too and if my supply is decreasing. do you ladies have any suggestions or reasons to why milk supply decreases? i read online that it could be a thyroid issue or something... and to get it checked out... so i think tomorrow i'm gonna call the lactation specialist and check with her.
so on another note, but still having to do with my supply... i got an email from the hubby yesterday to call our friend to check with her on my supply i have frozen, stored in their deep freezer. so i called her and asked her about my supply cause apparently they had a power outage couple nights ago and they didn't realize that the deep freezer hadn't come back on... i asked her if they were still good... and she said no it wasn't and that i shouldn't use any of it... cause for hours, the deep freezer didn't come back on... so of course, i was bummed... there goes all my hard work due to a power outage... 2 whole months worth, the deep freezer was almost full to the top too... that's a lot of milk that just went to waste... freaking power outage... and of course, makes matters worse is that we live in flordia... weather doesn't help at all either. so that was my bad news of the day. so we only have some at home, frozen in our freezer.. and with my supply on a temp decrease (hopefully it's just temporary), things couldn't go any worse. :[
now onto my baba, he's doing great!! such a wonderful baby!! i love him so much. dawxen had his eye appt yesterday and good news, both his eyes are mature!! thank god!! we will have to get them checked again in 3-4 months. but no more eye appts. he's got 2 more appts this week and one next week. i'm sure he'll have plenty more to come still, but i'm up for it... all for dawxen... he deserves nothing but the best and that's what he'll get. gave him a bath today and he absolutely loves his baths... he just sits there and lets me bathe him and he doesn't cry or fuss at all. and then of course as soon as i finish up with him, put his cannula back on and his leads, he's slowly falling asleep already. and by the time i put his leads on and zip his sleeper up, he's knocked out and still is. but he'll be up in an hour cause it'll be eating time. so we'll see how these leads hold up for him and his monitor... i hope they'll stick better and stay put better than the other leads.
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Posted by SkNeal | Comments: (5) | Permalink
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FIRST COUPLE OF DAYS
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Jul 25, 2010 08:57pm (EST)
just wanted to give a quick update before the lover and i start watching a movie while dawxen is asleep. since dawxen's been home, it's been great. he's been eating good, sleeping good, up when he wants.... gotta love it! i know i do, even at the times where i'm most tired and not wanting to get up or anything, i do it all because i know my little guy needs me. the hubby has been so great also, with all the help and is the perfect daddy to dawxen. dawxen's been eating about every 3-4 hours... roughly between 2.5 & 3 ounces.... he's been so good about the whole eating thing. he's such a good baby.... we've also been doing leg exercises with him to strengthen his lower body tone... and so far, he's been doing good... he's very strong, but his tone needs a bit more help, so we hope that the leg exercises will help in now and in the long run as well. dawxen sleeps very good... doesn't usually wake up crying or anything, just a few noises and grunts here and there, but that's about it. and i'm very thankful that he's not much of a crier, he hardly cries... and i love that. he had his 1st peds appt on friday and i must say, overall, everything went well... things are where they should be and we're gonna be following up in next week and the week after that as well. it's gonna be a tough couple of weeks cause babe will be gone this whole week for work and then home for the weekend and then the same thing the following weekend. so i love whenever we get time together as a family... sometimes i think i may want more than i can get, but i guess i'll just have to take what i can get... so i should stop complaining... or more like whining. but i know once we transfer out and he's done on the ship, things will be much better for him, for all of us as a family.
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Posted by SkNeal | Comments: (2) | Permalink
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WE'RE ALL HOME, DAWXEN TOO!!
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Jul 21, 2010 06:21pm (EST)
So as of last night, we are a complete family here at home. Dawxen is finally home and not going anywhere anytime soon, except to his many Dr.s appointments. He did good for the Monday night when we did the rooming in @ the hospital. He slept good, ate good. His apnea monitor went of a couple times from low heart rate, loose connection somewhere, but all in all, he did very well for us. So our first night home last night with him, he did very well too. His monitor beeped twice right before bed cause he was getting too comfy in his crib, he forgot to breath. But then all night, no beeps... yay!! He does very well for us. Though I noticed, Dawxen doesn't seem to like to sleep during the night after he eats... last night he was just wide awake... and then he'd sleep for a bit and he'd be up again. But when Raphael gets up in the morning and is about ready to leave for work, of course, Dawxen goes back to sleep and will sleep for 3-4 hours until he's hungry again. So it's gonna be some working on his night sleeping. Otherwise, he's been great since we've come home. Still being patient about the breastfeeding with him. He did good yesterday while we were at the hospital waiting to get discharged... and then all of a sudden, for him, it's like "I like it and then I don't" kind of feel. So he'll nurse just fine and then cry about it or move his head. But I'm being patient, I know he'll get it.
It feels real good to have our son finally home with us. We don't ever have to leave him in someone else's care anymore and we don't have to travel to see him everyday anymore. I'm so very thankful and blessed for everything we've been through & blessed with. For everything happens for a reason, we may not know why, but definitely, GOD knows why and that's all that matters. I love having Dawxen home.... it makes MOMMYHOOD feel so much more complete.
Our family... my precious Dawxen on discharge day.
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Posted by SkNeal | Comments: (0) | Permalink
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I'VE BEEN SO BUSY... WE'VE BEEN BUSY!!
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Jul 17, 2010 04:00pm (EST)
So for the past couple of days, Raphael & I have been so super busy. Him working.... Monday to Friday and all day on duty days. I been cleaning up the house, getting last minute things done. And of course, Dawxen, he's been busy too... eating a lot more by bottle now, his sucking coordination and tone has gotten so much better. Him holding & maintaining his own body temperature has gotten better too, and his breathing is getting better even though he's still on .1 liters @ 100% oxygen. He's come such a long, long way and we're both so very PROUD of our son.
So I didn't mention before, but when I called NICU Wednesday morning and I talked to his nurse, she gave me some really GOOD news. She told me that the Doctors were thinking about discharging him MONDAY!!!! I know, right, I was in total shock, happiness, nervousness, all mixed emotions. So since then, it's looking for real that our son is finally coming home with us!!!! Dawxen will be getting discharged on MONDAY!!!! So we've been cleaning up the apartment, buying last minute supplies for him, like preemie diapers, wipes, bath tub, hand sanitizer, you know, baby things. I also finished washing all his clothes, all his blankies, all his bedding (again for the 2nd time, 1st time was when we first got the crib and I couldn't wait to put his bedding on, so of course, me being super excited, I washed and did his bed). It's finally happening, the moment we've been waiting since he was born, it has finally come! He's been eating very, very well. Yesterday they started to wean his calories down from 24 to 22. And they are also giving him as much milk as he is willing to eat. So yesterday, for the most part, he ate a whole bottle at every feed. Just once, where he didn't want to eat his bottle & only took 17cc... but every other time, he took 60cc, once @ 50cc. He's eating so good!! So they're considering taking his feeding tube out since he's been eating well. =)
Dawxen will be coming home on the cannula still since he requires the help still and he will be coming home with an apnea monitor as well. He will also be continuing some of his medications & treatment, like his nebulizer treatment, iron, and some others and also some multi-vitamins. We have a big task on our hands and with Daddy working and helping when he can when he comes home from work, we're gonna be busy adjusting and learning together as a family. It's gonna be a challenge for us, but it's worth it and plus, Dawxen will finally be home. No more having to say bye to him as we leave the NICU, no more painful & heartbreaking goodbyes!!! He will be confined the the house until he gets stronger & healthier... not going anywhere unless it's to one of his appointments.
We have to get a few more things done today. We have to still go find him a diaper bag... haven't found one we both like, so gotta go look at a couple of places. We're gonna also take in the car seat when we go see Dawxen so that they can do the car seat test on him and hopefully, he'll pass it so that he can come home on Monday. Last minute loads of laundry. YAY laundry. =( And then tomorrow night, we're doing the "room in" overnight... first night as a family. See how we do with Dawxen before he actually gets discharged & if we feel comfortable taking care of him and all. So I will have to pack our things tonight... get his little outfits ready for him... pack his diaper bag... so it's a busy weekend for our little family!!
So ladies, I will update later.
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Posted by SkNeal | Comments: (2) | Permalink
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MY GOODNESS, IT'S BEEN AWHILE, HERE'S AN MAJOR UPDATE!!
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Jul 15, 2010 03:40pm (EST)
So, I know, I've been MIA for a month!!! I was so sad and miserable, not being able to get on the net. Our computer died on us & in the middle of my husband being gone. I was so upset. I couldn't even update on here or download any of Dawxen's pictures on the computer. So when my Raphael (my husband) came home... he tried to fix it, but it didn't work... so turns out we had to get a new computer. We finally just got one yesterday and yay!!! I not computer-less anymore and I LOVE IT!!! So, here I am, downloading all Dawxen's pictures from the past month & man, my baby has grown so big!!! He's such a big boy now.
Dawxen has been doing so great!!! We're so very proud of him and his accomplishments!!! He had an MRI about middle of last month... almost towards the end of the month, anyways, his results came back negative, we're so thankful for good results. Last month, we also started nursing together and I must say, for our very first time trying, he did so well. He latched on and sucked!!! It was like he was a pro! It was a success. We tried a couple more times afterwards as the days went... like any other preemie, he did good and then he didn't... he had his days with nursing. And then towards the end of June, the OT (occupational therapist) started bottle feeding with him.... his first bottle feed ever, he took the whole bottle! I was so ecstatic... I was very, very proud of Dawxen!! So the OT, whenever she was in, she'd work with Dawxen on his sucking coordination & tone and also a bit with his hip movements... a bit of exercise. And over the past month, his sucking coordination & tone as improved a whole lot, he's gotten so much better! He then also got an ultrasound of his liver, cause the dr. said his enzymes in his livers were too high. Turns out, everything is normal, but the ultrasound picked up something in his kidneys. Looked to be something metabolic... calcification. So a week later they re-did the ultrasound, still looked the same as the week before. They wanted to do a VCUG, which basically, insert a catheter, and then insert dye into his system & fill up his bladder and watch him pee & trace his urine system to make sure all is flowing correctly. That came back in good news. Dawxen hit the 4 lbs. mark at the beginning of June. Today, Dawxen is 5 lbs. 6 oz.!! My little booger has grown so much, Daddy was so happy & proud to see how much he grew since being gone for a month. Our son, he's been through so much & through it all, he's gotten stronger & healthier & better!!! He'll be able to come home very soon now!! And we cannot wait for his discharge home. During the course of the month, his bilirubin had gone up, so they gave him some meds for that also. And then he had gotten an "infiltration" in his right ankle from an iv... basically it's when fluids leak outside the vein.... and it then forms to look a burn bruise. A couple of days in, the burn had gotten smaller and then Dawxen, being his active self, the burn had open up. So with the silverdine ointment treatment they've been putting on it, they started to cover it up with gauze so that he won't rub it on anything else. And it's gotten better.... So relieved, not totally healed yet, but it's getting there.
So much has happened in the last month of me not being able to blog on Dawxen's progress, but it's okay, I am most of all just very thankful for all the good news that we've received and that everything has been wonderful... the good, the bad! I'll update again soon. So for the moment, here's some pictures of my little guy! I LOVE HIM OH SO MUCH!!
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Posted by SkNeal | Comments: (3) | Permalink
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