[Sam914]

Well, Michael is 7 weeks old now! I can't believe time is going so fast, i can't imagine how it would be flying by if he was actually home with me! Lol.

Anyway, he's doing well right now. A few small issues seem to pop up but the nurses deal with them quickly and over all (knock on wood) there hasn't been any major problems. He's 3lbs 11 ounces now so he's doubled his birth weight... I'm not sure what is "normal" but one of his primary nurses Emily seems really excited about that so it must be good I believe he's about 15 1/2 - maybe 16 inches by now (up from 13in). Last week was an important step in his development, he stepped down from the CPAP machine (just like grown up cpaps if any of you have sleep apnea) to the nasal cannula. The nasal cannula for those of you that don't know is just the little thing that blows oxygen up your nose. He's been practicing with pacifier to learn how to suck and today he got a new feeding tube that goes into his tummy instead of going right into his intestines. This is getting his tummy used to food so in the next week or so he will hopefully be learning bottle feeding. He got his PICC line taken out yesterday, which was a permanent IV line just so they didn't have to stick him alot which i suppose means they don't really anticipate him needing any more IV meds anytime soon. And now that his PICC line is out he's able to wear teeny tiny clothes! Its so adorable! Oh and also really exciting is the doctor has deemed him stable enough to move to our local hospital once there is space for him there. Figures, once he's ready the darn local NICU is full! No more driving and hour and a half each way 4-5 times a week for us soon!

Alright well i think that's it, as usual feel free to ask questions.

[amazing_love]

That's great news! How wonderful that he's ready to move closer to you (but too bad the darn hospital is full!) Hopefully a spot will open up soon. Can't wait to see him dressed in cute little clothes

[Oreobaby]

I'm sure he looks just adorable. I would love to see pictures of him in little clothes. I am so glad that things are progressing well, and that he "knock on wood" is having no major issues. I continue to keep him in my T & P, but how exciting that he will be closer and easier to get to go see. I am so happy for you Sam!

[CandaceDianne]

I was thinking about you today, so I am glad you posted an update. I would LOVE to see some pics of your little man all dressed up! SOOO glad he is so SOOO well!!! What a blessing!

[mlyster]

So glad things are going well. And YAY for him getting to be moving closer to home! I hope a spot opens up really soon.

[Cheryl_W]

I agree, we need to see some pics of your little man dressed up! I'm so happy he gets to move closer soon, that is awesome news!

[MommaLee]

Awesome! I'm glad to hear all is going pretty well.

[~April04~]

Thats wonderful news!

[ca_dawson]

Sounds like he is doing great! Can't wait until the day he gets to come home! Hopefully that day comes soon!

[Sam914]

Thanks all, i havent been to see him yet myself since he's been able to wear clothes (we're going tomorrow) but dh went to see him last night after work and he was wearing a green onesie, nothing special but of course i thought it was adorable I only have 3 outfits for him so far but i ordered some more and we're getting some hand me downs tomorrow so i'll have more pics soon!



Sleepy baby


Oh yeah and he's actually 17 inches! A lot taller then i thought!

[ca_dawson]

Aww he's adorable! He looks so big compared to when he was born! I know he's still so tiny but he is growing alot!

[Sam914]

It really is funny how much bigger he looks each time we go see him! He's going to look huge when he reaches 5-6 lbs when that is small for other babies being born!

[Micksbabe]

Sam I am so happy for you!!! I am glad that he is getting moved closer to you

[tiffanys]

I'm so glad to hear a good report Sam! & he is absolutely precious!

[mlyster]

There is something special about his plain green onesie... and that is that he is wearing it. That makes it special enough. Micro-preemie clothes are usually pretty plain but nothing looks better than seeing your baby wearing them! He is so very cute!

[fromustobaby]

OH MY GOODNESS!! Sam, he looks wonderful (though my favorite pic of him is still the pirate in your siggie)...
I can't believe how old he is now!! I love the green onsies, and wow, it sounds like he is doing spectacular - really!! To give you an idea, one of the girls in my DDC had twins at 25 weeks, and they have had a large number of setbacks...but your little Mikey has been such a fighter since the day he was born!!

How wonderful to have him close to home soon, I hope that a free room opens up fast...so, do they still estimate that he will be home in late March? Do they let him go home at 5 pounds?

[Sam914]

T - they try not to give dates so that we dont get our hopes up of course, more like goals... I'm actually gonna ask what his goals are tomorrow hopefully we'll be able to talk to a doc while we're there.

Forgive me if i've said this before, it all runs together after a while...From what i understand his goals are
-breathing on his own (though i have heard of babies going home on 02)
-maintaining body temp, the next step to this will be moving to an open crib... im going to ask about this tomorrow
- taking feeds by bottle - like i said i HOPE he'll start working on this next week.
- 5lbs is the estimated weight for when he'll be able to do all of the above... like, thats usually what the babies happen to be when they can do those things so thats the target weight they give you

I've heard he could come home anywhere between about 35 and on, even beyond 40 weeks if he's not ready at that point. I'm not sure how long they observe him once he starts all that stuff - IE, i dont know if he has to be in the open crib and bottle feeding for two weeks before he can leave, or a month, or if it all depends... does that make sense?

Awh, what a sweetie! He is adorable in that green onesie. That is awesome he is really making progress. And he is a tall little dude, huh?

[::MummyToTwo::]

wonderful news!!!! so glad to hear he is doing so well!

[Cheryl_W]

Aww I love the pics!! What a lucky momma you are, he's so adorable!! So happy he gets to be closer to home soon