Noah 10 month well visit

We saw Dr. Dhar today for a well visit and Noah is doing really well. He is 17lbs. 13 oz. and 26 3/4 inches long.


He has been sitting up really well on his own this week, for up to 20 minutes at a time. He is up on hands and knees rocking back and forth and pushing himself backward across the floor. He has also started rocking while sitting up and I have a feeling it wont be long before he is scooting forward. He has the drive and ambition in his eyes to go. He can move his walker both forward and back and is getting much better at turning it to go where he wants.


He is growing up really fast now, we have started with stage 3 foods. He is doing well with the small noodle and carrot chunks, larger oatmeal, and mashed bananas. He polished off half of a biter biscuit (cookie shaped like a flat finger) in 2 minutes this afternoon. He loves the Christmas tree and the stuffed puppy stocking that barks Christmas carols while its ears move. He is playing with real toys now and anything that makes noise and lights up gets his attention. He also really loves the tags on his stuffed toys, blankets, and clothes.

Thanksgiving Day with Aunt Lori and baby Chloe

On Thanksgiving Noah had Grandma Langley's cooking for the first time and he didn't spit any of it at me ;) He also met Baby Chloe, my niece Becky's new little girl. She is 7 lbs. 13oz. Noah is no longer the tiniest person in the family.

Noah at 9 Months...

Noah's First Halloween....

Fit and Fat... Taking time to play!

We had the Developmental Clinic a couple of weeks ago and Noah is doing wonderful. So far here are no signs of lingering problems from his early birth. He is due for a Flu shot and his first RSV shot very soon. He was 16 lbs. on Oct. 25th and 9 months old, length was 26 inches. He is still a little small but catching up OK. He has more than mastered the roll over and is sitting up with someone to catch him when he leans to far. He is trying to crawl but hasn't yet realized that it works best when you get you back end up off the floor. He does a great job pushing himself snake like across the floor both forward and back. He is also getting more capable with his walker, he goes backward like a champ and has started working in a forward step from time to time (1 step forward 25 steps back... lol).

Eight Months

Wow, the time is really flying by! Noah is getting so big. He is eating meats now and has been for a month and a half. The only food that really gives us grief is rice. His digestive system is just not fond of it. He is trying really hard to sit up, he is getting help from me still but if Collin is on the floor in front of him he will lean toward him a bit and hold himself up for a while. If Collin is not there he is just so squirmy that he falls over. He has also started pushing himself backward in his walker.

All of his shots are done until his first year with the exception of the Flu shot and RSV shots. He will get RSV once a month during the flu season. The only other medical news is the developmental clinic we go to at the end of October. I will post again after it and fill everyone in.

Noah is an angel at night, he sleeps right through. He is still trying to push out those first teeth and has good days and bad days as far as being cranky.

jennifer

Noah at six months

Noah had his six month birthday on July 25th. He is acting like a six month old in some ways and a bit behind in others. As with most preemies he is very small for his age. He is 12 lbs. 6 oz. , this is ok for his corrected age. He is a little on the short side for his corrected age (3 1/2 months) but Michael and I are both pretty short so I am not too concerned.

 

 

 

 

 

Noah has started teething... He is drooling and shoving his fists in his mouth all day long. He likes to play on/in his baby gyms and holds and pulls on plastic rings, small toys, and his blankets. He laughs quite a bit, he is either laughing or fussy most of the time without much in between. He really thinks its funny when I take his arms out of the sleeves of his clothes, his laughter during clothes changes is very infectious!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Solid foods are going really well, he is getting three meals a day and drinking some water now. I am surprised how quickly he figured out eating from a spoon. We are feeding pears this week and he really loves them (so do I).

He is growing up so quickly and as much as I want this fussy phase to get over I also hate to see time go by too quickly. I know I will really miss him being this little some day!

Solid Foods

Noah started getting solid foods last Wednesday. He is spoon eating a tiny bit of rice cereal everyday and sitting in his highchair without the tray on it( he is too short for the tray, his mouth and nose are right below the edge of it). He is still having a tiny bit of colic like activity during the late evening (9pm-11pm) but it only lasts about 45 minutes. A warm bath helps to get through some of the crying, Noah loves to kick the water out of the tub and get me all wet. Standing up also helps and his little legs are getting very strong. Last night he accomplished a pretend walk on the living room rug (with Mommy's support). He is also sleeping 6-7 hours a night.

Noah rolled over twice on July 3rd but has not rolled over since. He is starting to get to the cute and smiling stage. He even giggles and coos at me now. It seems I can be exceptionally silly from time to time.

Noah is 5 months old

Noah is about 11 lbs. now. He goes to his doctor for another shot on July 9th and I will get an accurate weight then. He is holding his head up very well and following us around the room with his eyes. When he is six months old (July 25th) he will be able to wear sunblock and bug spray then mommy can start taking him outside more.

Michael's mother and my mom took turns babysitting him for the first time a few weekends ago and Michael and I spent a few hours both mornings in our kayaks. We had a wonderful time, the grandmas were not complaining either! It was really nice to get a little sun and exercise. I can't wait to go again, I am really missing my kayak this year.

He attended his first outdoor party last week. My friend Sherry had a live band, Noah loved the music. He fell asleep after an hour and a half and woke up as soon as the band stopped playing. Collin had a pretty good time dancing and visiting with the dog. It was nice to get the whole family out and do something, we have felt a little trapped for the last few months. Noah has also been going to church for the last month and is generally very well behaved during service.

Mom and dad are coming down camping for the holiday weekend, we are hoping for a weekend of swimming, fishing, smores, and fun.

Happy Fourth of July!!

Jennifer

8 Lbs. 1 Oz.

Noah has started to work toward becoming a pork chop ;)

He is 8 lbs. today. He has been eating very well the last few weeks.

He is also 4 months old.

No More Caffine

We went to the apnea clinic at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital today. Allthough Noah's heart and respritory monitor alarms a couple times a day (night/ we don't use it when he is awake or we are near him during the day when he sleeps) the specialists that read the hard drive on it said he has not had ANY actual events since coming home from the hospital. Because of this he will no longer get liquid caffine added to his milk. We will keep the monitor for a few more weeks, when the hard drive on the current one is full the specialist will read it and call me to let me know if we need to continue monitoring him or not. I don't think we will.

Noah reached his due date last thursday. He is now full term. He will be 4 months old on the 25th of May. :) It has been a long road and it has also gone really quickly.

He is now 7 lbs. 2 oz. and 19 1/2 inches long. We are finally accepting a few visitors and getting out of the house a little. Noah and daddy took me out to breakfast to the Clarkston Cafe for Mother's Day. They have the best blueberry pancakes. We snuck over to the greenhouse this afternoon after the doctors visit. Everyone was very happy to see him. He gets his second set of vacinations at the end of the month, we should be able to take him anywhere after that.

Noah has been keeping me up nights quite abit over the last month, that is why I haven't had time or energy to post here. He had a case of colic and cried hard from 10:30 pm until 1 or 2 am. Since I started cutting back his caffine the colic has dramatically improved, he only cries for 30 minutes or so now. He is also going 4 hours between feeds at night instead of 2 1/2 hours. I am much more rested now, and a lot more sane ;) His feeds are up to 3 oz., the have increased quite a bit over the last two weeks. He is doing very well and behaving like a normal newborn, except his neck is much stronger. He likes to work at lifting his head and looking around, especially when he hears mommy talking.

Noah is off of oxygen

Noah has been off of oxygen for a little more than 24 hours and is doing just great! :) It is so much easier to get around with just his monitor. He will be on caffeine until he is event free for eight days, he will be weaned off of it cold turkey at that point. He had about five minor apnea events today(a couple more than normal due to the change in oxygen). He did this last week when his oxygen was cut in half as well but by Monday had adjusted and only had one or two events a day the rest of the week. I expect it will be a couple of weeks before he gets off of the caffeine.

Noah won't be full term until May 15th, and yet he is 12 weeks old. It's hard to believe we are just a few days away from 3 months!!!

Everything is going well at home, he keeps us up very late every night but we are adjusting. He is 5 lbs. 5 oz. and 17 1/2 inches long. Dr. Dhar is still insistent that he not have visitors. She said he should be able to have them when he is full term, just a little under a month, until then he is on house arrest.

NOAH IS HOME :)

Noah saw his doctor on Friday and was 4lbs. 15oz. and 17 inches long.

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, life has been very crazy. Noah came home Wednesday night and we have been busy trying to make our schedules work together. Noah thinks we should get up and play from midnight until 3 am, I obviously am not quite in sync with that idea. Unfortunately for me, Noah holds all the power cards! So far he is doing good at home. The monitor for his heart and breath rate suck, and I'm being nice when I say that. The leads dry out quickly and come off or read incorrectly. I am starting to figure out the best way to get them to function properly, I must dampen the backs every three hours :) Noah is also on oxygen at home, 1/8 of a liter. It is a very small amount and will most likely be cut even more on Friday when he sees his pediatrician for the second visit.

Our house is still under construction, we are staying at the Nanny Ruth hotel (Michael's parents) until it is done and clean, hopefully we will go home Wednesday night. I bet Hitch misses mommy by now!

Thank you to every one who brought Noah a gift on Saturday, he would like to apologize for not being able to attend the shower. Doctors orders were no parties or company for him. We are very grateful to you all, for all the prayers and love that have been sent our way, we truly believe you made, and will continue to make, a difference in Noah's growth and life. Keep up the good work!!!

Noah 4 lb

Noah is doing really well. He was 4 lb. on Sunday. He is bottle feeding really well now, it took a couple days for him to get the hang of it. He gets half of his feeds by bottle and the other half through his tube. Once he gets all of his feedings by bottle they will finish the last details of his treatment and send him home... It won't be long!

His big brother Collin is having a rough week, he came down with scarlet fever on Sunday morning. His temp. came back down to normal this morning. I breathed a big sigh of relief. I have decided its best to stay away from Noah for a day or two just to be safe. Collin is feeling much better this evening and has gotten his appetite back.

The construction crew start putting in our new windows and doors on Monday, everything seems to be happening all at once and my head is starting to spin. It generally takes them 10 to 12 days to finish the project. I will be staying at Michael's mothers during the construction, its possible Noah will be there too....

Noah 3lb. 12 oz.

I have to appologize for being naughty and not posting this week. We are spending our spare moments cleaning closets and getting the house ready to bring Noah home. We have a construction crew coming the first of April to put in new windows and things (Special thanks to the airport) and we want to paint the living area before they get here. We have our fingers crossed that they will be done before Noah comes home, if not the tiny man and I will stay with Michael's parents for a few days.

Noah is trying his best to grow and he is now off the breathing machine. This is the middle of day 5 for him on just a nasal canula. He has done very well so far and we are hopeful that he will not have to go back to either of the breathing machine methods. He has grown well this week and is 3 lbs. 12 oz. more accurately he is 1712 grams. He was crib weight at 1600 grams so if he continues to breath well he will be in a crib by the end of the week. The issolette he is in currently is due to be changed on Wednesday (every two weeks), I am guessing he may get a regular crib then.

Mondays are blood draw days, this means they test all the babies in NICU to make sure they have enough cells. Noah's were down a little so he got his third transfussion today. It was given like the last one, half in the am and the other half 12 hour later. I think the renewed energy will do him good as he gets to the point where breathing completely on his own might start to get tiring for him.

We finally have some photos of his cute little face without so many tubes in the way. These were taken on Sunday. He is wearing clothes now, his own from home! :)

Happy ST. Patrick's Day....

Jennifer

Noah at 3lbs. 5 oz.

This has been possibly the longest week of my life. Last Friday our tiny guy was taken off the vent and put back on the c-pap, he did wonderful for several hours and after an excellent blood gas his doctor decided to put him on the nasal cannula. He did very well on this until about 3:30 am Saturday morning when he crashed so hard he scared his nurses a little bit. They had him back on the vent and doing well (after some serious effort) when they called Michael and I at 4:20 am. We obviously immediately ran up to the hospital. Noah had a very bad mucus plug that seems to be the main cause of his event. He just couldn't breath through it. He is a tough little man and was right as rain by Saturday evening when we got back up there for the second time that day. Sunday night he was all eyes for us and was constantly turning to look for mommies voice. Today his doctor put him back on the c-pap and he is doing just fine (except for not liking the way it feels and trying to wiggle out of it). His doctor said he would give him 48 hours (I wouldn't be supprised if he doesn't wait that long) before another attempt at the nasal cannula. His afternoon and evening blood gases were great. I took a few photos after I gave him his bath and had him snuggied back in bed today.

3 lbs. 1 oz.

Noah is growing fine. He has been maintaining his temperature at room temp for almost 4 days now. He went back on C-pap this morning. We have our fingers crossed that he is done with the ventilator. He had an infection that may have been the cause of his need to go back on it last week, but thanks to some great antibiotics he is feeling much better now. Mommy cannot wait until he starts eating from a bottle, he has to breath on his own first though. His feeds are now 13ml an hour with a schedule of 2 hours on and 1 hour off.

Jennifer

2 Lbs. 11 oz.

Life has been a bit odd around here lately, not that I expected anything to feel normal when Noah made his appearance so early. I just never expected how little I would get done in a day. The cold I have had this week has slowed my down some and taken quite a bit of the time I spend with Noah away from me. I won't lie, leaving him at the hospital every day is difficult, it is even more so when I don't get to hang out there with him for more than 45 minutes.

Noah has had yet another interesting week and I feel bad for not keeping the Blog updated. He pulled his vent tube out of his lungs twice early on Thursday and his doctor decided to let him have his way. He put the C-pap back on him in its place. Noah did well for a couple days but pooped out late on Saturday. His color was also a bit pale so this morning Dr. Desai ran a CBC. Noah was a little anemic so he has now gotten his second blood transfusion, this one was in two doses. Dr. Desai also decided to put the vent tube back into Noah's lungs. The C-pap was drying out his sinuses really bad and he was getting pretty tired. Hopefully our strong little man will leave it in this time.

Michael and I took a required infant CPR class this afternoon. It was very informative. I had a CPR class in high school but it didn't have infant CPR. The class is only required for parents of preemies. The state should make it a requirement for all parents.

The last tidbit I have for tonight is diaper news. Noah went up one size. It seems he was overfilling his "teeny, tiny, extra small preemie" diapers. Now he is wearing "small preemie" diapers.

Jennifer

taken Saturday Feb. 23, 2008

1 MONTH :) 2 LBs. 6 oz.

Noah is one month old today!!! His life is full of a never ending stream of challenges but he handles them very well. Yesterday morning he went back on the ventilator (tube directly into his lungs). He was getting very tired and having quite a few episodes. His doctor also put him on a course of antibiotics, just to be safe, and ran a CBC. Preliminary results are good as there is no news yet (no growth on his culture), his nurse says "no news is good news". As long as he doesn't have any signs of infection he will be off the antibiotics after 48 hours. His lung X-ray came back good and his lungs, heart, and digestive system sound good. I think he just got pooped out.

I have also gotten pooped out and come down with a cold. Unfortunately this means no more holding and snuggling until I am well. I can still visit, with a mask on of course. In the mean time I don't stay that long and I don't handle him or his incubator. It's better than not seeing him at all. I am taking good care of myself and drinking massive amounts of water so I will be better ASAP and it seems to be working at the moment... The cold feels mild.

Noah is one month old today!!!! Happy 1month B-day tiny little man :) we all love you!!

Jennifer

Busy Day....

Noah had lots of company today! Grandma Langley, Aunt Lori, and Aunt Brenda came to the hospital with mommy. We had a wonderful visit! Noah is 2 lb. 3 oz. and still cute as a button. His feedings are up to 7.5 ml an hour. I got to hold him in the fashion know as kangarooing. It was very nice to snuggle with him, the skin on skin contact is supposed to be very beneficial for both of us. He is still having little episodes of apnea. It is pretty common for preemies of his size and I am getting used to it. It would be nice if he would remember to breath all of the time though! Keep up the prayers, they are helping him grow!

Jennifer

2 lb. 1.6 oz.

Noah continues to gain weight little by little. We have our fingers crossed that he will continue along this path. We had a good visit today. Michael and I spent a couple hours cooing over him and I got to hold him for about 20 minutes. It is wonderful to finally snuggle my little guy. We didn't have our camera with us and ended up using the disposable camera I left in Noah's dresser. It is new so it will be a while before the photos get developed. What ever did we do before the instant gratification of digital photos and the internet??
We continue to pray for Noah to be strong and grow and we appreciate all of the prayers offered by friends and family.
Thank you for stopping in to check on him, it means the world to us!

Jennifer

Noah's New Bed

It is beautifully sunny in our part of Michigan Today!! The sunlight feels great :)
I was at the hospital by 12:30 this afternoon in order to give Noah his bath. It was a pretty important bath as it is the first one I have given him. It is a little different giving a bath to 2 lb. preemie. I washed his face and head first and then dried them before moving on so he wouldn't get a chill. His bath is not in a tub yet. He gets them on a pee pad (small sheet absorbent on one side and plastic on the other). After the bath and re-diapering I cleaned out his nose and mouth. This is when things got interesting! I put his c-pap back in his nose and got the head band adjusted and then prepared Noah to come out of his bed. It was "new bed" day for him; he gets a new clean isolett every 2 weeks. Nurse Sue had me hold him while she switched out his bed. This is the first time I have held him since right after he was born. It was a sweet moment for both of us! It was also a little tricky as Noah was dangling a few wires and his c-pap did not want to stay in place. He did wonderfully well during both the bath and the bed change. When his wires were reconnected to the monitors his numbers were all fantastic. Once he was comfortably drifting off to sleep I snuck out so he could rest. It doesn't take much to tire out someone so small.

If you noticed I did say 2 lbs! Whoo Hoo..........

It is a beautiful day ; )

Jennifer

Tuesday Feb. 19th, 2008

Noah spent 4 hours today off of the c-pap. I managed to snap a couple of pictures while he had the regular oxygen tube. I don't often get a picture of his full face :) His doctor took him off the c-pap to rest his nose a little and see how he would do on the nasal cannula. He did a little better than I would have expected but still had enough episodes to be put back on the c-pap after 4 hours. He did however get a little more lung exercise, that is the point after all. Try, try again! That is the name of the game. I am guessing that his doctor will give it another shot by the beginning of next week.

Noah gained a tiny bit more weight last night. He is now 1 lb. 15.3 oz. or 900 grams. His feedings are 7 ml. an hour, 5 hours on, 1 hour off, around the clock. He continues to have good blood gases and his CBC from earlier in the week came back clean (no infections). When he is awake he likes to stare at mommy... I know I am just a big blur but he must like the sound of my voice as his eyes gravitate toward me every time he hears it. The warmth and the noise of the bells and beeps in NICU exhaust me, I don't know how he can stand it!

Jennifer

Noah on his C-pap

Here is a photo of Noah ,2-17-08, with the c-pap in his nose. I think he was actually posing for me ;) He must be grandma's boy!

Sunday's News

Noah is having a good day today. I am posting from his bed side :) He had some blood work this morning and the preliminary results are good (no infections). He was getting tired last night so his doctors decided to turn his breath rate back up a little, 20 breaths per minute, and wait another day or two to take him off the c-pap. I am very pleased about this decision, he looked tired to me last night and I was a little worried he needed a couple more days.

He gained a little more weight last night and is now up to 1lb. 15oz. I am hoping for a repeat performance tonight as he is so, so close to that 2lb. mark. I would love him to make it there.

He is getting another bath in about an hour, I am letting him catch some zzzz's first. Then I will be headed home. I have a few new photo's I will try to post tonight or tomorrow.

Jen :)

A Quick Update

Noah is still doing well on his C-pap. The doctors are thinking of taking him off of it tomorrow and putting him on regular oxygen (the regular nose tubes without the forceful push his c-pap gives). He is currently only getting 10 breaths a minute from the machine and the oxygen level is set near room oxygen. I am a little worried he will get tired but he is doing much better breathing on his own this time.

The only change we have experienced today is with his eyes. He started to have some drainage and his nurse did a culture. He is getting antibiotic drops now. Yick... It's always something! I think he likes to make sure we are all paying attention to him ;)

Love,
the mommy

Noah's Bath

Michael, Collin, and I watched Noah get a bath tonight :) He was cute, though he complained a little bit. His weight is up today and he is doing pretty good on the c-pap. I am proud of him, he is still on the short prongs and his blood gases are doing well. His feedings haven't changed in the last few days. Tomorrow they are going to start adding an Iron supplement to his food.

Nothing else has changed in the last couple of days.

I have never been a fan of Mondays!!

It seems wrong to dislike a day because it falls at the begining of the week, but dislike it I do. It's not a major dislike just an irritant. Truly I should embrace Monday for it's new begining but I cannot seem to find the desire.

Noah is doing just fine today. He and I have both had an active day; although we have not had the pleasure of spending it together. I am a little crabby :) because of this fact. Noah gained a few more grams during the night and continues to do well with his feedings. His blood gases have been good and once again he has had the tube removed from his lungs. His doctors have decided to take him back off of the ventilator and put him on the c-pap. He has the short prongs at the moment and I am hopeful he will do well on them. Last time they put him on the c-pap he ended up with the long prongs and I don't think he liked them very much as he kept wiggling around and pulling them out.

Nothing else has changed in the last day. His test results for this mornings ultrasound won't be back until tomorrow. I am looking forward to seeing him in a few hours. Michael and I are planning a night visit today.

Keep up the prayers....

Jennifer

Noah week 2 (1lb 13oz.)

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. As you can imagine running back and forth to the hospital, keeping up with homework, and pumping baby food all the time has been keeping me very busy and is leaving me a little exhausted at the end of the day. I have managed to make up my homework and am in the last week of my current class. I expect to finish on time and maintain my grades, the faculty at Baker have been very helpful.

Noah has had a pretty busy week. His ultrasound showed a tiny bit of hemorrhaging under one of the ventricles in his brain, we have been told not to be concerned as this is semi-common. Our doctor rated Noah's bleeding on a scale of 0-5, 0 being no bleeding and 5 being bad. Noah is a 1. This condition is caused during birth and happens in about 50% of all vaginal deliveries. It occurs during the first 48 hours or so. The blood should dry up on its own but they will ultrasound him again on Monday to re-check his condition.

Noah also had his first blood transfusion this week. They did not remove any of his blood; rather, 13 ml was added. After the transfusion his IV was pulled from his belly button. He is now free of the two lines he was given in his belly button at birth. He is getting enough fluid from his feedings, and he now longer needs to have an IV. The other line was an arterial blood pressure monitor, they removed that early last week and are monitoring his blood pressure with a tiny arm cuff (only when it needs to be checked). Noah looks very cute with his tiny little belly button completely free of wires and tubes :)

A second echo was done on his heart late last week, his doctor wanted to re-check the size of the duct to see if it was closing. The cardiologist called the opening "Tiny", the first echo showed it as "small" so it is making progress closing. Noah's nurse will ask when and if another echo will be done during rounds this morning.

The last bit of news I have this morning is Noah's weight. We have been warned not to get too excited about his weight, as it will go up and down quite a bit over the course of his stay in NICU. This morning is a great morning for us anyways because Noah has finally come back up to his birth weight. He is 810 grams this morning, he gained a tiny 10 grams last night. This was just enough to push him up to 1lb. 13oz. and I can't help but be proud of him for this tiny accomplishment. His feedings are up to 6ml an hour and he gets fed 5 hour on, 1 hour off, around the clock. During 24 hours he is getting 120ml, roughly 4oz.

We visited with Noah rather late yesterday, normally I am there in the afternoon. It was after 8pm when we arrived and he was having his vitals checked by nurse Nanette. He was wide awake and responded very well to Michael and I. Nanette was pretty impressed and mentioned how wonderful he was to nurse Debbie this morning. The staff at St. Joseph NICU is wonderful. Every nurse we have worked with has been great. I cannot say enough good things about what they are doing and the compassion they show. Michael and I are going to take the camera up and start taking their pictures to post here. We want Noah to have a record of the kind and caring people that are taking care of him.

Jennifer

Day 10 for Noah

It has been a long and interesting weekend. I was a little tired and didn't get here to post new info. They say the week that starts following day 3 or 4 can be kind of tough and I understand why! We were given a lot of information from the doctor on day 2 relating to some of the issues Noah might go through because he is so early. Over the weekend we encountered a couple of these. The first is Noah's breathing. They took him off the ventilator last week, breathing on his own helps to build important muscle in his chest and lungs. Getting preemie's to breath on there own as soon as possible is pretty important. As was expected Noah started getting tired near the weekend. On Saturday his little nose was all sore and yucky from his tubes wiggling around and he was having too many incidents of poor breathing so they put the respirator tube back into his lungs for a little while so he could rest and recover. He looked as if he was feeling better right away and his blood gases have been getting better and better since the change.

On Sunday morning Noah had a slight murmur in his heart, this is also something we were told might happen. The murmur is caused by a tube in the heart that is open inutero and is supposed to close once a baby is born. In preemie's sometimes it doesn't close or it will close and open and close and open. Noah started getting medicine yesterday to close it. This morning nurse Jennifer said she did not hear the murmur, my fingers are crossed that it stays this way, I would hate to have to repeat the medicine again in a few weeks if it re-opens.

Noah's weight this morning is good at 1lb. 12 oz. he is almost back to birth weight. I was hoping he would start moving in that direction by day 14 so I am feeling pretty positive this morning. He had some blood work and an ultrasound this morning and we won't have those results back until tonight and sometime tomorrow. What is important for the next day or so is rest and growth. Feedings are still going really well. He is digesting mommy's milk very well and having poopy diapers every day. I believe he is getting 3ml a feeding but will double check this afternoon when I get to the hospital.

Jen

We love you Noah

From Aunt Lori

Day 5 January 30th

What can I say except if I feel this exhausted my little Noah has got to be pooped right out. We both need some rest, I'm sure. Today Noah spent his first full day without the breathing tube in his lungs. He has little tubes in his nose that "inspire" him to breath if he forgets. The breathing machine is on and he gets 30 breaths a minute from this new method. He got a little naughty this afternoon when I left for a few minutes to pump his meals and he pulled the tubes out of his nose. All sorts of bells and lights went off and his doctors came right away to fix the problem. The resident doctor said he did just beautifully during the half hour it took to get him all wired back up, she also said she used a stronger tape so he wouldn't be able to pull it out again.

Last night Noah put on a couple grams of weight, we have been warned that his weight will go down and come up and go down... Like a roller coaster ride. We should not worry or get overly excited about these minor changes. I pay closer attention to his heart rate which has remained very stable whenever I am around him.

When I was sitting next to Noah talking today he kept trying to follow my voice with his eyes. I could see the white in his eyes when he rolled them my way. He would also follow my hand movement above him with his eyes. I am reassured by something that may appear simple and is truly a difficult and complex task for such a tiny person. Noah is well loved by both Michael and I, we truly appreciate all of the prayers our friends and family are sending our way. Please keep them coming, post them here as comments or email them to me privately. We will pass them on to Noah as well.
Love Jennifer

My big brother

Collin came to see me on Monday night.

Noah's Baptism

Today was such a busy day.... Mommy talked to my nurse in the morning and found out I was doing so well they were considering taking my breathing tube out of my lungs during morning rounds. By the time mommy and daddy came in at noon the tube was gone and I was breathing on my own. Now I just have a nasal cannula stuck in my tiny nose to help me get enough oxygen. I am breathing in and out of my lungs on my own.

After daddy and mommy got filled in on my morning they had Sister Alice from the hospital chaplins office come in and baptise me. My nurse Stephanie took pictures and found a baptism gown to put over me. Mommy got a little tear in her eye, it looked pretty with her smile. The cold water startled me and I made a tiny noise. Mommy and daddy both looked very happy afterward.

I had the biggest lunch ever today! I have been digesting mommy's milk really well so this afternoon my nurse started giving me twice as much of it as before. I will now be getting 2 teaspoons of mommy's milk everyday instead of one. Mommy said I have to try hard to digest it so I can get big and strong, she said someday I will be able to go home with her but first I have to eat and grow.

All of my vital stats are still really good, daddy and mommy are proud of the progress I am making, they tell me I am very strong. They also tell me how cute I look sleeping on my tummy with my butt in the air :)

Noah and Mommy

Noah and Mommy...

Monday January 28th 2008

Today mommy spent time sitting and reading next to me at the hospital. I like it when she is there. Daddy brought my big brother Collin to see me, he said my legs are skinny and kind of scary. I know he loves me anyways. He asked daddy all kinds of questions about my tubes and wires. He asked mommy how she gets the milk out for me...
My health is still good, I didn't lose any weight last night. My lovely nurses turned my breathing machine down again, they are trying to get my lungs strong enough to breath without the machine. When I first got here the machine was making 50 breaths per minute for me, now it is only making 20, I do the rest on my own. I have been getting feedings of mommy's milk for a little over 24 hours now, I have to lay on my belly some to help digest but I have only missed two feedings because my tummy was slow.
I slept a lot today, being on my tummy makes me sleepy. Mommy laughed at me when I got the hic-ups, then she gentle rubbed my back for a little while.
The card at the top is the one my nurse helped me make for mommy... she really liked it :)
Noah

Noah's Birthday 1-25-08

Today I took my first breath on the earth... Mommy was scared because I came so early, Daddy was scared because my delivery was "Terrifying"! I just had to get here anyways, my environment had a breakdown. Mommy was only about 24-25 weeks pregnant with me so I am very small, 1 lb 13.1 oz. My doctor thinks mommy might have been closer to 26 weeks because I wiegh more than the average 24 week gestation baby.

Mommy is making this site for me so she has a place to post a journal of my progress to our family and friends. She will try to post new pictures and details of my health and growth here a few times a week. Right now she just wants everyone to know that I am doing very good. My heart rate is very stable and every day I breath a little more on my own. My eyes were still fused shut at birth but I opened them during my second night and mommy and daddy got out of bed to come stare at my little eyes at 1 am. They keep telling me how proud they are of me and how much they love me. I love them too!

Mommy had to leave the hospital on sunday, she was very sad to go home without me. My nurse Jennifer helped me make mommy a little card with my hand prints and foot prints. Mommy was very happy to see it when she came back to the hospital to visit me sunday night. I had my eyes open and I tried to stare at mommy when she talked to me but I have a hard time turning my little head so all I could do was shake my fists in frustration....