2/13-26/11

Omi is just kickin' some butt. (mostly ours) and things are moving right along.

Man, life takes over quick. I realized it's been a while since I've done an update. Omi definitely keeps us busy.

So last week he had a full dance card of appointments. 

He had an appointment with his pediatrician. Everything is good. He's gaining weight at a steady clip. He's at 9.5 lbs as of last week. His line had been sort of erratic on the growth curve, but is now going straight up, which is kind of funny since it's normally a curve not a straight line going up. All the Doctors are really pleased with this. He's finally getting chubby like he's supposed to be. He's on really high calorie formula (it's like beefcake weight gainer for babies) and we're seeing some pretty quick results. We have to add thickener to his food cause he's really messy when he eats. A side effect from how long he was on a breathing tube. Not a big deal.

They say that overall, it will take him until he's around 2 years old to fully catch up to normal.

He had been having a bit of reflux which is common in preemies, so he's basically on Zantac now. Yep, Omi has heartburn.

He then had an appointment with the people that did his eye surgery. I finally got to see an eye exam, and really don't care to see another one. If you've ever seen A Clockwork Orange, think of the scene in the theater. Not pretty.

But, his eyes look great and they won't have to see him again for another few weeks. Yay laser surgery.

The next day, he had a follow up appointment with the people who did his hernia surgery. Again, he looks just fine and won't have to be checked again for another 4-6 months. 

The day after that, he went in to have his next round of vaccinations. The kid is a champ, barely even bats an eye. It's a little sad that he is used to being stuck with needles, but I'm glad that he doesn't think it's that big of a deal. 

Besides, he got some really bitchin' band-aids with spaceships on them.

The following day, he had home health care come out and look at him. I was really pleased that the Nurse said she thought we were taking really good care of him. 

Later that day, another Nurse came out to get all his information for his developmental follow ups. He will have several of those until he's around 3 years old. The nurse said based on what she saw and the responses to the questions she asked, he seems to be right on track. Good news so far.

The day after that, he had his follow up at the NICU at St. Luke's. A little homecoming if you will. Of course the word got out that Mr. Omi was in the house, so he had a few visitors while they were running his labs. He got passed around a bit and as always enjoyed every bit of the attention. Even the receptionist stayed late just to make sure she could see him and say hello. I've said it many times, but still, they are some of my favorite people in the world.

His main reason for the visit was to determine if his adrenal gland was working properly. If not, he might have to go back on steroids for a while. When his labs came back later that day, his Doctor said she would have been happy with a grade of 4. His was 10. So I guess that means he will take up skydiving pretty soon.

They also gave an order to turn down his oxygen level again. I don't think it will be too long before he can ditch the oxygen and monitoring device. 

We're starting to get the hang of transporting him around. The stroller has a little basket on the bottom and his oxygen tank and monitor fit right in it. He's still not really "portable", but it's not as much of a pain as we thought it would be.

I think we're pretty lucky cause he sleeps most of the night and only really gets up to eat, then goes right back to bed. We keep him in a bassinet by our bed most of the time cause he's still really quiet when he cries and gets drowned out on the baby monitor by the oxygen condenser. It sounds like Darth Vader is in his room.

Overall, he's a pretty quiet baby and doesn't cry much. Don't get me wrong; he has his moments, and sometimes those moments last for a couple hours on and off, but I think we have it a lot easier than I imagined it was going to be. 

We've become pros at mixing bottles. We can wash, sterilize, mix and assemble 8 bottles in about 20 minutes now. It looks like we're serving drinks at a little baby bar.

There are a few extra things that we have to do that I guess are a bit outside the norm from other babies. His nasal cannula can be a bit high maintenance. Just trying to keep the thing on his face can be an ordeal by itself. You have to keep his nose lubed up and use saline drops to make sure he doesn't dry out or get too clogged up with snot. I wonder if later on he will freak out if anyone touches his nose. Probably. I would anyway. 

So, we've kind of found our groove as far as a schedule goes, and we're just enjoying our time hanging out with him. He's cute as hell and makes the funniest faces.

I'll try to update more now since I have some spare time.

Okay, I know everyone wants to see some pics of the little guy, so I'll be quiet now.  :)