Its been about a week and a half since we have all been under one roof. We have made our rounds at the eye doctor and the pediatrician's office. I am tired. Matt is tired. LJ is tired...but we are together and that is what matters. Today at the doctor he weighed 7 lbs 15 oz and was 20 inches long...I would be 38 weeks now. He would have been a 10 lb baby, easy.
Last Thursday we went to the eye doctor for his bi-weekly checkup. His eyes are still premature (surprise!), but they are getting better. While we were in the hospital, they told me not to be there for his eye exams because "it looks worse than it feels" but now that we are taking him to the office, I had to hold him while they did the exam. They clamped his eyes open and stuck a metal rod behind his eyeball to move it around...horrible, awful, and we will do it again every 2 weeks.
Over the past week and a half LJ has had major tummy troubles...we are narrowing down the cause. I am ruling gas out...he has been on medication for it and it does nothing. I took him back to the doctor today to see what I could do, and they finally gave him reflux medication. We will see if that helps. I don't want to fill him up with meds, but he is so miserable. He spits up now every time he eats and then his tummy hurts so bad in between feedings, he just cries and squirms until the next one. Last night him and I were up until after his 5 am feeding. He does not sleep at night...they attribute this to colic. We slept from 6 am to 8 am this morning. Matt was a wonderful help this weekend alternating night time entertainment with me so that I could get a little sleep too. It has also been mentioned he might have his days and nights mixed up...in the hospital it didn't matter...whatever it is, we will figure it out eventually!
We took LJ to Mom and Dad's house over the weekend because we needed to get out. We are looking for excuses to leave the house and their house is about the only place we can take LJ. It was nice to hang out with them and my sister's family. It has been a long time since things have seemed so "normal" around here!
We are looking forward to Thanksgiving...Matt's parents will be here Wednesday...we are so excited for them to see Georgia, meet LJ, and spend time with us for a few days!
The Sullivan's
Florida July 2015
Monday, November 21, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Finally Home...
On Friday, 11-11-11, LJ finally made it home! The whole thing actually came as quite a surprise. On Thursday morning when I came in, the doctor told me that if he got all of his bottles that day, he could go home the next night...he had only gotten 6 bottles and needed 8 previous to Thursday. Our little guy decided he was ready to get home, and he did it! At home Thursday night, we cleaned ouse and got ready for his homecoming. We knew the day would come eventually, but all of a sudden Thursday night, I felt very unprepared...I think it all came so fast! I am not complaining though!
Matt got sick Friday, the day we got home. I spent our first night home as a family in our room with LJ while Matt was quarantined in another room. No one slept but Matt! LJ just cried all night...I don't know if it was the new environment, his belly hurting, or that he just wanted to be held. We got through it and the next 2 nights were great. Matt was much better by the end of the weekend, so we got to enjoy some time as a family.
Mom took yesterday and today off of work and Matt went back to work. She and I took LJ to his first doctor appointment...he weighed 7 lbs 2 oz! When he left the hospital on Friday, he was 6 lbs 9 oz! He has decided he loves to eat! He is pretty severely anemic, but so am I...he is taking lots of iron and it should cure itself as he gets bigger. He has something funny going on with his belly that I am noticing more and more, but the doctor didn't say much about it. He gets so squirmy and uncomfortable after he eats...they are giving him gas medicine, but I'm thinking its reflux too...who knows. He has a follow up eye doctor appointment on Thursday. So far, they haven't found anything more than prematurity of the eye (duh), but it is routine to have one more exam.
Now we start our new life at home. Figuring out a routine will come hopefully sooner than later, but really, LJ has been a very laid back baby when his belly isn't hurting. I don't think it has really hit that we get him for good now! God is good!
Matt got sick Friday, the day we got home. I spent our first night home as a family in our room with LJ while Matt was quarantined in another room. No one slept but Matt! LJ just cried all night...I don't know if it was the new environment, his belly hurting, or that he just wanted to be held. We got through it and the next 2 nights were great. Matt was much better by the end of the weekend, so we got to enjoy some time as a family.
Mom took yesterday and today off of work and Matt went back to work. She and I took LJ to his first doctor appointment...he weighed 7 lbs 2 oz! When he left the hospital on Friday, he was 6 lbs 9 oz! He has decided he loves to eat! He is pretty severely anemic, but so am I...he is taking lots of iron and it should cure itself as he gets bigger. He has something funny going on with his belly that I am noticing more and more, but the doctor didn't say much about it. He gets so squirmy and uncomfortable after he eats...they are giving him gas medicine, but I'm thinking its reflux too...who knows. He has a follow up eye doctor appointment on Thursday. So far, they haven't found anything more than prematurity of the eye (duh), but it is routine to have one more exam.
Now we start our new life at home. Figuring out a routine will come hopefully sooner than later, but really, LJ has been a very laid back baby when his belly isn't hurting. I don't think it has really hit that we get him for good now! God is good!
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Waiting...
After Monday, LJ let us know that he was mad at us for putting him through the circumcision. He quit taking his bottles, which set us back quite a bit. He had been up to 6 a day, but he went down to 1.5. As of today, he is taking 4 again. He seems to be feeling much better. We are back to just being happy with being home by Thanksgiving! I would have been 36 weeks pregnant now, but LJ is 6.5 weeks old. As of today, he weighed 6lbs. 3oz. I have no clue how long he is because they don't take that measurement regularly, but he is a long, long baby...must take after his Grandpa Evensen. He is finally getting some meat on his bones though...I think he has his first baby rolls on his legs!
We did get good news that Matt's parents are coming from Kansas for Thanksgiving. After that, Matt's best friend, TJ, and his wife, Shawna, are coming to visit for a few days...we haven't seen them since TJ married us over a year ago. Then, right after that, Matt's sister, Jenny, is coming for a visit for about 10 days. We couldn't be more excited to get them all down here to meet our little guy before the end of the year!
We had been allowed to only hold LJ when he was eating if the nurses let us, but as the weeks have gone by, we have sort of gotten more comfortable with holding him when we want to. It has made it much easier on us because there isn't a worse feeling than not being allowed to hold him when he is crying...now we just scoop him up instead of asking for permission. I have realized that if the nurses don't think you know what you are doing, they say something, but if you act like you do, they won't say anything. I don't have a clue what I am doing, but I pretend I do :) This means that on Thursday my Mom got to hold him for the first time, and on Saturday my Dad did. It's crazy to think that it took Grandma and Grandpa over 6 weeks to be able to hold LJ! My sister has been sick and so has my nephew, Sam, so unfortunately they haven't gotten to see much of LJ. We can't wait for Sam to meet LJ one day soon!
We were looking at the calendar today...sometimes it seems like only yesterday our little guy joined us, and in other ways, it feels like it has been forever! It has been almost 2 months since I went into the hospital. LJ was born 6.5 weeks ago! He will be 2 months old before we know it! When he gets home we will be the most prepared parents ever...it seems like we are at Babies R Us every other day for something new we have thought of needing. The hardest part is figuring out clothes. With him being born so early, the traditional sizes don't match...we have no clue what sizes to buy him. This is where the "adjusted age" thing will come in. When babies are born early, they have their gestational age and their adjusted age. For developmental purposes, they will go by his adjusted age until he is 2. For example, most babies smile when they are about a month old. LJ will smile about a month after his due date...so by January 3, we should get his first smile. At the hospital, they still refer to him as being 36 weeks because that is how long I would have been pregnant if I had him today. Not being a math person, it's all going to confuse me at some point!
We did get good news that Matt's parents are coming from Kansas for Thanksgiving. After that, Matt's best friend, TJ, and his wife, Shawna, are coming to visit for a few days...we haven't seen them since TJ married us over a year ago. Then, right after that, Matt's sister, Jenny, is coming for a visit for about 10 days. We couldn't be more excited to get them all down here to meet our little guy before the end of the year!
We had been allowed to only hold LJ when he was eating if the nurses let us, but as the weeks have gone by, we have sort of gotten more comfortable with holding him when we want to. It has made it much easier on us because there isn't a worse feeling than not being allowed to hold him when he is crying...now we just scoop him up instead of asking for permission. I have realized that if the nurses don't think you know what you are doing, they say something, but if you act like you do, they won't say anything. I don't have a clue what I am doing, but I pretend I do :) This means that on Thursday my Mom got to hold him for the first time, and on Saturday my Dad did. It's crazy to think that it took Grandma and Grandpa over 6 weeks to be able to hold LJ! My sister has been sick and so has my nephew, Sam, so unfortunately they haven't gotten to see much of LJ. We can't wait for Sam to meet LJ one day soon!
We were looking at the calendar today...sometimes it seems like only yesterday our little guy joined us, and in other ways, it feels like it has been forever! It has been almost 2 months since I went into the hospital. LJ was born 6.5 weeks ago! He will be 2 months old before we know it! When he gets home we will be the most prepared parents ever...it seems like we are at Babies R Us every other day for something new we have thought of needing. The hardest part is figuring out clothes. With him being born so early, the traditional sizes don't match...we have no clue what sizes to buy him. This is where the "adjusted age" thing will come in. When babies are born early, they have their gestational age and their adjusted age. For developmental purposes, they will go by his adjusted age until he is 2. For example, most babies smile when they are about a month old. LJ will smile about a month after his due date...so by January 3, we should get his first smile. At the hospital, they still refer to him as being 36 weeks because that is how long I would have been pregnant if I had him today. Not being a math person, it's all going to confuse me at some point!
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