Thursday, April 27, 2006

Busy Week

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)

Jacob had quite a busy week with visitors. He got to see Grandma T and Great Grandma R one day. He got to see Aunt Nez and his cousin Colin another day. And then, today, he got to see Great Grandma S, Meme, Aunt Melissa, Aunt Margie, and cousins Katy and Alison.

Jacob also visited the doctor earlier in the week where we found out he's over 6 pounds now! He's only got about a week or so until his original due date. We're anxious to see if he's "normal" infant weight by that time. I don't think he will be since he gets quite a bit more exercise than a fetus would, with all the breathing and eating that he's doing!

Jacob was very good during Alias last night. He slept peacefully even while Elle (who was over with her mom, Johanna to watch the show) cried her little eyes out. Jo ended up leaving early to take her little girl home while Jake just slept on. He eventually woke shortly after the show. It could have been because it was three hours since his last feeding, but I prefer to think he was just being considerate!

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Colin visits Thomas


Jacob's cousin, Colin, got to go with his parents and some friends to hang out with a life-size Thomas today at Greenfield Village. It looks like everyone had a great time! You can see photos here.

Meanwhile, Jacob got to spend the day with his Mom, Grandma and Grandpa T, and Great Grandma Remenicky while Daddy went with Brian to watch the Wings play downtown. Unfortunately the Wings lost, 4 - 2, but all's not lost. Hopefully they'll snag one or two wins on the road and maybe even wrap the game up back in Detroit in game 5.

Also, you might want to check out Jake's friend Elle's blog. It's been updated with new pictures (Photos 4) and a little "Baby Babble".

Saturday, April 22, 2006

1 Month Old

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)

Jacob is already 1 month old! Of course, he shouldn't have been born for about two more weeks, but whatayagonnado? There are a TON of 1 month photos in our album, since a lot were cute, and we couldn't decide on just one (or two). Clicking on the photo above should take you right to the latest photos from April. The frame he is posing with was created by his Aunt Lynette (Nez).

Michele will be taking Jacob to the doctor again on Monday just to get a quick check on his weight. Now that he is getting all of his meals through breastfeeding, they want to make sure he is not losing any weight. He seems to be content most of the time, so we think things are going fine. After that, barring any incidents, he doesn't have to see another healthcare worker until he's 2 months old.

Grandma and Grandpa T put up a few more photos that can be viewed here.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Excited for Alias

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)

Jake and mom are doing very well at home. Jake has been getting plenty of rest and plenty to eat and is very much looking forward to the return of Alias tonight! He thought he would study the DVDs to get a gist for what would be going on tonight. I tried to tell him that anything he could learn likely wouldn't matter since Alias has nearly as many plot twists as Lost, but would he listen?

Jacob is getting all of his feedings straight from Michele now. The pump sits lonely in the corner. He seems to be getting good amounts as he's still going 2 to 3 hours between feedings.

We're starting to get into a rhythm. Michele handles all the late evening stuff, everything while I'm at work, and some of the stuff when I get home. It leaves me to just hold my son and spend some quality time with him. I do manage to get a few diaper changes in a day, but Michele is the one really busting her tail.

Leaving Comments

We love to hear what you think about our blog, pictures, or anything else that's going on. Feel free to click on the comments link at the bottom of any post to leave a comment.

When you click this link, it will open a new page that will show any existing comments, and provide a space for you to type your own comment.

After you've typed your comment, click on the Other radio button under "Choose your identity" and just fill in the name field. This will show who wrote the comment instead of "anonymous said...". Once that's done, just click on Publish and your comment and it will appear.

Michele and I both love seeing your feedback.

Another way to comment, is from the photo albums. If you comment from there, it gets emailed directly to us.

Thanks for visiting our blog, and be sure to check back often!

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Welcome Home Jacob

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)

What a weekend! Michele and I started off by going to a beautiful Easter Vigil at the church we finally decided to join, St. Aidan. We then got to head back up the hospital to stay the night with Jacob. HVSH offers an overnight to new parents so that they can try being with their child on their own, but still know that the CCN nurses are just down the hall, and a phone call, or emergency button away. Jake did very well. As the nurses warned us, he tends to make a TON of noise when he's asleep. We had a pretty sleepless night, but it was all worth it.

Then, Easter morning (or early afternoon) he got checked over by the neonatologist one last time and got cleared for discharge! We got him changed, fed him (mistake) and loaded him up to bring him home. Since he's so small, he's well protected in the car seat, but he doesn't have a lot of head support. He didn't seem to like the ride much, and proceeded to spit up quite a bit. We did eventually make it home though.

When we got home, Grandma and Grandpa T had rearranged their Easter dinner plans, and prepared it at our house. Jake was greeted, eagerly, by his Grandparents, Great Grandma Reminicky, Uncle Dan, Aunt Nez, and Colin.

After oohs and ahhs, a feeding and changing or two, and after all the adults had dinner, that group headed out. Jake got to sleep and both Michele and I got a little rest.

It didn't seem like too longer after, and Meme and Papa showed up with Alison, and Uncle Mark, Kelly, and Simba in tow. Jason, Johanna, and Elle eventually joined the party as well.

Jake, in the evening, fed well for the first time today, and then proceeded to study everything. He actually stayed awake for more than an hour!

All, in all, it was our best Easter yet!

With all those people, here, you know there are going to be a lot of photos floating around. Keep checking back to this post, as they'll all be linked here.

Uncle Dan and Aunt Nez
Meme and Papa
Grandma and Grandpa T

Friday, April 14, 2006

Snip Snip

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)

For how well Jacob is progressing, today really wasn't much of a reward. First, as we posted yesterday, he's on formula which he doesn't seem to care for much. Second, they removed him from his nice incubator and put him into an open-air crib. And then, the icing on the cake, or rather sliced off the cake, he got circumcised this morning. The procedure went well, and he seems to be doing OK.

He gained a few more grams, and his eating has started to go up in volume. Unfortunately, he seems to pig out the feeding before we get there, and we get left feeling incompetent as he eats less than he normally would. We were reassured that we aren't doing anything wrong, and maybe they won't let him eat as much as he wants going forward, but rather limit him a bit.


Thursday, April 13, 2006

Bottles only please

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)

Jacob had his feeding tube removed today! This means that, as long as he does well, he will be on bottles only from here on out. Since we've seen him slide backwards at least once so far, neither of us will be surprised to return tomorrow and see the tube back in, but here's hoping he's ready for this step!

With the tube out, the next step has been revealed to us. As long as he's feeding well from the bottle, he will be moving out into a crib soon. There, he must continue to eat, keep or add to his weight, and maintain his temperature without difficulty, and then we move on again.

The nurses noticed that Jake is looking a bit yellow and they are afraid he might be jaundice from the breastfeeding. He doesn't have to go back under lights, but rather, we will be giving him formula for a few days instead of breast milk. Hopefully that will clear everything right up. There's also some speculation that he might have received the earlier treatment a tad early, so it didn't really break down all of his bilirubin.

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Busy day

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)

Jacob got to see both of his grandmas and one great grandma today! All three got to help feed him as well! It's no surprise that by the time it was Dad's turn, he wasn't nearly as excited as before. If you look close at the photos, you'll see he wasn't all that interested in his 6:00 bottle.

Meme took some photos during their visit (with the help of a nurse) and you can view those here.

The CCN is a little busier these days. There's a set of twins and at least 4 or 5 other babies, with even more coming and going. If you wonder why it looks like Jake's been pushed up against a window, that's why!

Monday, April 10, 2006

Gains and losses

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)

Jake is still doing very well in the CCN. Michele and I both got to feed him again today. Michele fed him at the earlier visit, and I got to feed him at the latter. He is nippling very well. We think, if we heard properly, that he got at least 4 of his 8 feedings today from a bottle! While we know this could have just been a GREAT day, and tomorrow he may get none, we remain optimistic.

Jake also gained a bit of weight again in the last 24 hours. He is now up to 5 pounds, 7 ounces.

As you can see in the picture, if you look close enough, he has lost the little stub of umbilical cord that was left after all the IVs came out! While this isn't a MAJOR milestone, it's still one sign that he's getting older. He will be three weeks old tomorrow (or today, depending on how you look at it).

The pictures linked from the photo above our a few pictures we snapped tonight. If you click here, you will find some pictures that Grandpa T shot while he was visiting Jake on Sunday night.

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Feeding time pt. 2

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)

What a nice surprise... Jacob was doing well enough this afternoon that Dad got a chance to feed him! Even though the nurse had bottle-fed him at the previous feeding, she decided to give it a go, and he did very well. In fact, even after finishing his bottle, we were able to hold him for another 15 minutes until it was time for the CCN to close.

Feeding time


(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)

Michele got to feed Jacob from the bottle for the first time yesterday. Jacob inhaled the bottle, which the nurses had warned us might happen. He really seems to like eating through his mouth rather than through his nose, which, I'm guessing, is a good thing!

It sounds like they also tried bottle feeding him later in the afternoon, so we weren't able to do that again when we arrived at night.

Here's a little video of the big event!

A few days ago, Friday, Grandma T got to hold Jake for the first time. Please click here to see those photos as well.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Cleans up nice


(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)

Today was another great day at the CCN. Jake had the hood removed again early this morning, and was still out from under it when we got there to see him tonight.

As an added bonus, we got to disrobe him, help weigh him, give him a sponge bath, and re-clothe him all before holding him for about 30 minutes while he ate.

It was quite a night!

Then, after he was settled in, we found out that he ate an entire bottle (2 ounces) today when the nurse tried it at 3:00! Once he's been bottle fed at least once for a few days, then they try bumping him up to twice a day, and so on until all his feedings are from the bottle.

He's gotten pretty good at sucking on his pacifier while he's being fed through the nose tube. They say this is very good since he can start connecting the motion to the feeling of being full. You can find a video of him sucking while he's being fed below. Click here if you need help with the videos.



Wednesday, April 05, 2006

A month from now...


(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)

Jake's original due date is one month from today! Today was, as I told many people, the day that I wish he could have held out for. How cool would it be to have a birth date of 4/5/6?! Of course, 3/21/6 does have a bit of numeric coolness to it as well... 3+2+1=6... it's more of a stretch, but whatareyagonnado?

Jacob was breathing without the hood for a few hours today, but he wasn't quite ready for that big step yet. Shortly after noon, the hood went back on, but the oxygen level is only a few percentages above room air, so maybe in a few days he'll be ready to breath normally.

When the hood was removed, they had suggested that we bring some clothes up for him to help him keep his temperature up. They let him keep the clothes even though the hood came back! Hopefully they've finally figured out why his diapers kept leaking, otherwise, I'm going to have a TON more laundry to do very soon!

As this photo shows, he is up to 5 pounds, 1.2 ounces. He dropped down, we believe, to a low of 4 pounds 10 ounces, and has been working his way back up a few grams at a time since then.


Sunday, April 02, 2006

What a day

(Please click on the photo for more pictures.)

Jake did fine last night, so we BOTH got to hold him for a little while today.

While I was holding him, he was fussy and VERY squirmy. It didn't help that he had JUST been prodded a bit by the nurse to get his vitals. He did eventually settle down just in time to pass him off to Michele.

Michele, an old pro at holding him by now, had a very sweet and CALM time holding the little guy.

The 30 minutes FLEW by, and before we knew it, he was getting put back into the incubator. We did get a chance a little later, before we left, to have some "hands-on" time, but it's not quite the same!

Oh, and Dad got to change his first diaper today while Mom was out pumping. We'll have to wait and see whether there are any complaints about the job I did when we get there tomorrow.

Saturday, April 01, 2006

Big day

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures)

What a big day! Jacob finally got to come out of the incubator and was peacefully resting in Michele's arms. Sure it was only for 15 minutes, and sure there wasn't time for Dad, but it was a BIG step none-the-less!

Michele was floored when she heard that she'd get to hold him today. I'm not sure I've ever seen her so happy... well, happy through teary eyes, of course. She's going to be a GREAT mom.

As long as Jacob made it through the rest of the day without his vitals dropping at all, we might get 30 minutes out of the incubator tomorrow. And you KNOW I'm going to get some time with my little boy!

Video Help

I decided to use Yahoo! Briefcase to host our videos in. For one, it's included in our DSL subscription. Secondly, it's pretty easy to get files up and pull them back down. There do seem to be a few quirks, however.

When I publish a video from now on (that's hosted here), you should click on the preview or text link, and you'll be taken to a Yahoo page. If the page appears blank, refresh your browser. For most, you can hit F5 or CTRL+R to do this. You may have to refresh a few times, but eventually you'll see a little file icon. THIS is the video file. You can right-click and choose Save Target As (for IE users) and save it, or just left-click on the little icon to launch it from the web.

There are other video hosting services out there that will allow for similar links, so I may switch eventually, but for now, I hope this helps.

Thank you for visiting our BLOG, and remember to check back often!