4/11-4/24/11

 
Movin' right along......

Don't forget, next Sunday is the March of Dimes walk! Anyone who is interested in taking a walk with Mr. Omi, is more than welcome to do so.

So, Omi had a few more doctors appointments. Yeah, I know, Omi had a doctors appointment? Really?

He had his last round of RSV shots, so that's done. We can start being a bit more social with him soon instead of being paranoid and keeping him in the house all the time. The kid has to get all germy sometime right?

He had a couple of developmental follow ups, and the doctors and therapists were pleased with how he is doing. He's either right where he should be or a little ahead in all areas. Go Omi! And, he's 12.7lbs now. He's finally starting to feel like something when we pick him up now.

Everyone keeps commenting on how good his head looks. Most of the people we see say that they can spot a preemie a mile away due to their head shape, but they say they would never guess he was a preemie aside from being small for his age.

So a big thank you to the NICU staff for turning him on a regular basis so that his head didn't come out looking like a stop sign.


Speaking of the NICU, Omi made a visit to the good people there to say hi. (And admittedly for us to show him off a bit.)
He got lots of hugs and kisses from his Homeys and got plenty of attention, which he just loves.

You know, it's long overdue for us to say so, but the people at the NICU at St. Luke's are some of the best people we have ever had the pleasure to meet and deserve some props.

I can't even begin to describe what they have meant to us during this entire ordeal. 
They kept us sane through the whole process, and more importantly, they kept Omi alive and safe. They are part medical professionals, part counselors. 
It's tough to explain to people what it was like to be there every day, and not be able to do much for your child than cheer them on and hope for the best. 
The NICU understands how scary it is for the parents because they live and see it every day. It was the toughest experience we have ever gone through, and they made a really emotional and terrifying time tolerable.

We spent almost four months at the NICU at St. Luke's and we can honestly say we don't have a single complaint about the way anything went. The level of care for Omi was second to none and we were always treated with the utmost kindness, compassion and respect by every single person on the staff.

Omi was able to thrive there due to the hard work of a group of extremely talented, smart and caring individuals.
These people love what they do, and it shows. 
It's an extremely difficult job, and we were in constant awe that there are people that dedicated with the knowledge, training and the willingness to take on the most harrowing situations head on the way they do. 
Seriously, these people go to work every day to save the lives of babies. I can't think of a more noble profession.

They were always there to answer every single question we had, no matter how minor, and explain it in understandable terms. If they didn't know an answer; they would go find out. They were always in constant communication with us if something changed with Omi or needed to be addressed. 
I had at least one conversation with a Doctor or Nurse Practitioner every single day just to inform me of what was going on with Omi that day, and what the course of action was. 
Nurses and Respiratory Therapists were always available to answer questions and give updates whenever we called. There was never a moment where we weren't in the loop, or didn't know what was going on.

These people earned our complete trust through their obvious skills and effective communication. I don't know how many times where Omi would have some sort of complication and we stood there and watched as one of them jumped in without batting an eye and saved his life. They always knew exactly what to do, and could explain to us what just happened.

And let's not overlook the fact that they are just all around genuinely nice people. We truly enjoyed the company of the staff while we were there. Even when times were rough, we always seemed to find something to at least smile about. We might have been down at times, but because of the staff, we never felt like there was no hope.

It takes a certain type of person to do the jobs they all do, and we have the utmost respect for everyone there. They are our heroes, and largely, due to being isolated from public view, their good deeds go unnoticed and unsung. 
It also seems to largely be a thankless job, which is unfortunate, because without them, Omi would not have survived. There is never a guarantee of a storybook outcome. In certain cases, children do die. It's never for the lack of effort, but sometimes it does happen. 
I can't imagine the stress of having to fearlessly walk in to work every day, and deal with the potential on a daily basis. Luckily, the good stories far outweigh the bad. We commend them for their strength and perseverance.

Unless you've been in one, nobody thinks about what a NICU is, or what they do, and until a couple of months ago, we had no idea what really went on in a NICU.  
It's amazing things they can do, and the tragedies and triumphs they see on a daily basis is truly beyond description unless you witness it for yourself.
To top it off; they are so humble about it. We never encountered any huge egos, and they were always quick to give credit to the child, less take any credit themselves.

We know some of the staff reads the blog, and we just wanted again to extend a huge thank you to everyone there and let them know that we thank them every day that we were able to take Omi home, and that he's doing great due to the hard work they did. 
Because of these things, the staff at St. Luke's NICU will always have our utmost respect, gratitude and admiration.

All we asked for when Omi was born was that he had a chance to survive. Just a chance; we knew there were no guarantees. They not only gave him the chance to live, they worked tirelessly to make sure that he did.
We feel extremely fortunate that Omi was in the care of such good and intelligent people.

Omi has no idea what this amazing group of people did for him, but when he's old enough to understand; we can assure you that he will.

St. Luke's NICU did one hell of a good job.


aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, PICS!!!!!!!!

 

3/28-4/10/11

Omi had another week of appointments, making him the busiest baby I know.

He had another round of vaccinations early in the week. He pretty much hated them. 
Why does it seem that when your kid has a shot, the first thing they do is look directly at you like; "Why?!?!?!"

Next, he had another follow up eye exam to see if he needed glasses. Nope, not so far. 
He's probably still going to get them at some point, but not just yet. 

Then, he had his follow up at the NICU. He's doing great all across the board.
He's either right where he is supposed to be, or a little ahead in every category they measure him; Head growth, weight, length, etc. He's now 12.5lbs!
His Doctor said if she didn't know any better, she would think that he was between 2-3 months old, and wouldn't guess that he was a preemie. So he's normal, just short.

As I was packing him up getting ready to leave, she told me; "You can go ahead and leave the monitor here."
I can't tell you how happy we are about that. I thought he had another month or so on it. 
So yeah, no more "devices" for Omi. We can just walk over and pick him up anytime without having to worry about tripping over cords and getting all tangled up.

We celebrated by going for a walk with him for the first time.
He slept through the whole thing.

His voice is finally starting to get a bit louder, he seems a bit more interested in the world around him and he smiles a lot.
We just need to buy him some hair.

All in all, things couldn't be going better.

 

3/17-3/27/11

Omi is doing great without his oxygen!

I think he's pretty much done with it. One less thing for him to worry about.

He is however having really bad reflux problems. Poor kid, if he's not sitting up or leaning forward, it's almost guaranteed he's going to cry. It makes bedtime interesting anyway. 

He will also be doing the March of Dimes walk on May 1st. Omi is grateful for what the organization does, and wants to give back a little to help some other babies. 

Donations are appreciated and go to a good cause.

March of Dimes donation page

Omi will soon be selling some pretty pimp merch on his facebook page, with the proceeds going to the March of Dimes. More details soon. 

If you are interested in walking with him or want to take donations on his behalf, contact us through his page.

In the meantime, feel free to stop by and say hi.

Omi's facebook page

Okay, enough with the pledge drive, picture time!...........

2/27-3/16/11

Eat, sleep, poop cry. Eat, sleep, poop cry.

Eat, sleep, poop cry. Eat, sleep, poop cry.

Doctor's appointment

Eat, sleep, poop cry. Eat, sleep, poop cry.

Eat, sleep, poop cry. Eat, sleep, poop cry.

Eat, sleep, poop cry. Eat, sleep, poop cry.

Eat, sleep, poop cry. Eat, sleep, poop cry.

Eat, sleep, poop cry. Eat, sleep, poop cry.

Doctor's appointment

Eat, sleep, poop cry. Eat, sleep, poop cry.

Eat, sleep, poop cry. Eat, sleep, poop cry.

Eat, sleep, poop cry. Eat, sleep, poop cry.

Doctor's appointment

Eat, sleep, poop cry. Eat, sleep, poop cry.

Eat, sleep, poop cry. Eat, sleep, poop cry.

Eat, sleep, poop cry. Eat, sleep, poop cry.

That's about it lately. Omi is good. 

His last several Doctor's appointments have all went really well. He's up to 11.5lbs now! He had a follow up Tuesday, and we discussed maybe changing his food a bit cause he's been gaining so much weight. You can tell by the pics that most of it seems to be hanging out in his cheeks.

He's still behind compared to normal kids, but for a preemie, he's at the top of the curve.

He had another follow up for his eye surgery last week and they determined that he no longer needs to be checked to see if it was going to come back. Awesome news. So, in a couple weeks, we have to take him to get checked to see if he needs glasses. (Don't worry kid, if you do we will get you some cool ones.)

We're going to start weaning his oxygen today. So if he does well, he will be on room air most of the time without the cannula up his nose. He has become very fond of ripping it out every chance he gets. Hopefully, in about two weeks he will be off the oxygen and the monitor. Yay!

I'll just post some pics now....... 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

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.  :)

 

2/4-12/11

Sleepy.

Well, as you might have guessed, we've been busy the last few days. Still adjusting to a new schedule with the little man home. 
I'll have to go back and tell the story of the last couple weeks at the NICU the next post or so. Nobody expected him to be able to come home so soon, and we had to cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time. It was like a race getting ready for him to come home. We all thought that he would take a while to get the hang of feeding with a bottle, and he just took off with it. Go figure.
As usual, the staff there made sure we were ready, had everything we needed, gave great advice and made the transition as smooth as possible.
Incredible group of people. We can't thank them enough for everything they did for Omi, Heather and I. 
I have to give them their props in another post. They deserve a lot of credit for what they do.




So, ....... home!


Omi is kickin' some boo-tay.

He is almost nine pounds now!


Omi came home on oxygen and a heart monitor. Not a huge deal, could have been a lot worse. 
So, we had to learn how to use all the equipment and get comfortable with it. We did one sleepover at St. Luke's before coming home the next day. (the sleepover consisted of us taking care of him by ourselves in a room overnight) 

After an emotional, but happy discharge from St. Luke's, Omi got to meet his new Pediatrician a couple days later. 
Hope you like her kid, you're going to be in there quite often for a while. 
His first checkup went well. No problems or worries. Gaining weight and cruisin' right along.

The next day he had another appointment with a cardiologist. Again, no problems.

Around this point, I realize that there is no easy way to carry an oxygen tank, heart monitor and Omi in a car seat at the same time.

We have a home health nurse come out two days a week to weigh him and check to see that things are going okay.

He still has follow-ups with the people that did his hernia and eye surgeries soon.

Omi seemed a little sad the first couple days home, but is adjusting a little more every day. I don't blame him; they took really good care of him, and some would even say he was a bit spoiled at the NICU. (we told them to, and we're glad they did) So yeah, Omi likes to be held a lot. No problem.

We don't sleep much right now. I'm sure I'm not telling anybody anything new by saying that a baby is a lot of work. We're still trying to do all the stuff around the house that we should have done while he was in the hospital (there was just not enough time in a day). 
Heather is on maternity for the next couple weeks, and I'm wrapping it up at my job. We'll have a week or so where we're both home and then she goes back to work while I stay home with the little guy for a while. We should be able to get quite a bit done. No worries.


Anyway, we're just figuring out what works for all of us. And by that I mean that we're all just trying to figure out who gets to sleep when and for how long.    ;)

2/3/11

And on the 110th day, Omi came home.