Pumping (warning: includes some whining)

Since micro preemies are so small and immature, they are unable to take in any milk for quite a while after they are born. I think with most babies, they start out with very very small amounts of milk after the first couple of weeks. Because of Nate's belly problems, he didn't start taking in milk for many weeks. They also NEVER use formula on babies that small so they are very serious about moms trying everything they can to pump milk. If the mother is unable to pump, they use donor milk until either the mother has a supply of her own, or the baby is old enough to start formula.

No one thought that I was going to be able to establish a good milk supply since I was so sick and after the babies were born. They had us sign the consent to use donor milk and then told us to do the best we could to pump. Thanks to Todd, who helped me when I was basically unconscious for the first couple of days, I ended up getting enough milk to start a little stash for when Nate was ready.

Once I started feeling better, I became obsessed with pumping. I felt like my body had failed in keeping the babies safe while they were inside so I wanted to do everything I could to keep Nate safe on the outside. Plus, for the first couple of months, it feels like it is the only thing you can do for your baby. You aren't allowed to touch them or hold them so pumping is the one thing that makes you feel like a real mom.

As Nate got older and healthier, I really wanted to be able to nurse him. He did great while we were in the hospital but I was never allowed to exclusively nurse since they were keeping such a careful eye on how much he was drinking all of the time. I thought that after his last surgery in the NICU he'd do great but after a week of not eating anything and a week of bottles to slowly work him up to a full feeding, he just wouldn't nurse anymore. So when we brought Nate home from the hospital, we also brought the pump.

Fast forward 7 months and I am still pumping. My goal was to give Nate milk through at least his first RSV season so he would be a healthy as possible and able to fight off anything that came his way. So far it has totally paid off since Nate hasn't been sick once this winter (even after I had a couple of nasty colds).

This is where the serious whining starts so stop reading now if you don't want to hear it :)

I had no idea how much I would hate pumping by the end of this first year! It has been a huge blessing for Nate, which I am very grateful for, but pumping is HARD. Here are the top 3 reasons why I hate it (but there are many more than this list)

1. It's like nursing and bottle feeding. I spend a half hour pumping, 15 minutes feeding Nate the milk, and then another 10 minutes washing pump supplies and bottles. 
2. It is difficult to keep up a good milk supply while pumping so even though Nate is now only eating 4 times a day, I still pump 6 or 7 times a day, including one time in the middle of the night.
3. As Nate is getting older and not content just sitting in one spot, I am having to sit him in front of the tv while I pump, which is something that I never wanted to do. 

The hardest thing has been the time commitment. Being stuck on the couch for hours each day leaves a lot less time to do other things that need done. After complaining to Todd the other night, we decided to do some calculations. Here is where we were shocked!

Over the past year, we figured I had averaged about 7 pumping sessions per day. So over the course of the year, I have pumped 2555 times! Each session is 20-30 minutes so that comes out to be about 1200 hours or 53 days!! Can you believe that!?! 53 days of sitting on the couch pumping! I must be totally insane or I must really really LOVE Nate!

Surgery

So Nate had his surgery last Thursday and he did great, of course. He did a bit better on the drive this time because we decided to stop in Twin Falls for a little break half way.  Plus, I brought pretty much every book we own :)

We had to be at the hospital at 7:30 the next morning so we were all a bit drowsy. His surgery was scheduled for 9:30 and was only supposed to be about an hour long. They said he'd probably have to stay for about an hour after the surgery and then we could get him in the car and head home before all of his pain medicine wore off. We were hoping to be back in Pocatello before dinnertime. Here's what actually happened...

The surgery that was before Nate's had some complications so they didn't come to get Nate until about 10:15. By then he was starving and exhausted and had just finally fallen asleep. We were sent to the waiting room to wait. By 12:30, I was starting to get a little bit worried. I knew that they would have come to tell us if anything major had happened but we had already been waiting twice as long as we thought. Finally at 1:15, the doctor came out to talk to us. She said there was still a lot of scar tissue in his belly from the NEC he had during his first week so it took a lot longer than she expected to get through all of it.  She said any kind of belly surgery he has in the future (which is hopefully none) is going to be more complicated because of that. Luckily she thought about that during his surgery last August and took out his appendix while she was in there. So that should be one less thing we would have to worry about happening down the road.

That afternoon was rough. He was starving and exhausted but couldn't do anything but cry. He was too tired to eat and too hungry to sleep so it took a few hours to get him content enough to be able to get in the car. Finally at about 6:30, his belly was full, he had another dose of some good pain medication kicking in, and we left Boise. Luckily, he slept the whole way home.

He has recovered well. The first day he slept most of the day but after that, he pretty much went back to normal. The hardest part has been the activity restriction. He has felt pretty good but wasn't allowed to bathe or jump in his jumper all week, which are his 2 favorite activities. He's been pretty bored but physically, he's doing great!

Boise

We went to Boise this past week for some of Nate's follow up appointments. We drove over Sunday afternoon and came back Tuesday afternoon. It was great to get out of the house for a couple of days and spend a little time together since Todd has been working so much lately. We left during nap time thinking Nate would sleep most of the way. However, we learned that Nate no longer sleeps in the car. He slept half an hour and was awake the rest of the 3 hour drive. He actually was pretty good and only got fussy the last 20 minutes or so. I sat in the back with him and read him the only 2 books I had packed over and over again. We have definitely learned our lesson for next time though... bring a variety of books so I don't go completely insane!

We were able to stay at the Ronald McDonald house again while we were there. We are SO grateful for the service they provide! I haven't mentioned too much about them on the blog but they were a HUGE support for us while Nate was in the NICU. We stayed there the entire 5 months.  If anyone ever has the opportunity to donate or volunteer, please do so!

We went to the NICU for a visit on Sunday night. It was so great to see all of Nate's nurse girlfriends! They, of course, passed him around and totally doted on him and he loved it. No one could believe how big he was and how good and healthy he looked.

Monday morning, Nate had an eye exam. It went really well. They were testing his vision to get a general idea of whether or not he would need glasses in the near future. Luckily, his vision was great and totally normal for a baby his age. We were very relieved because the thought of trying to get him to keep glasses on right now sounded like a nightmare!

Tuesday, Nate saw the surgeon who did his 2 belly surgeries. She wanted to keep an eye on some hernias that Nate left the NICU with. She does want to repair them so Nate will have surgery next week to get them taken care of. It should be a super quick and easy fix and we will hopefully be able to go home the same day.

Nate loved getting to have morning snuggles in our bed. 

No wonder all the nurses love Nate! How could you resist that cute little face?

11 Months

Nate Bug is 11 months old! We spent his first 5 months wishing he would grow faster and now we want him to slow down! 

• He was 17 pounds 10 ounces and 26 inches long at his last doctor appointment. According to the growth charts, he is slowing down in the growing department but you wouldn't know looking at him. He is one chunky little monkey.
• Eating is still going well. He is still eating his vegetables like a champ and tolerating a few fruits. We hope to start working a little more on finger foods this month. Every time we have tried so far ended up in a lot of gagging and throwing up. He's also really liking his sippy cup. We gave it to him a few weeks ago thinking he'd just play with it but he has figured out how it works and really likes drinking water after he eats.
• He LOVES books. We read to him several times each day and he is really starting to enjoy it. He has his few favorite books and anytime I try to read one he doesn't like, he shuts it. Even if I open it back up and try again, he keeps shutting it until I get one that he likes. He loves books about animals and dinosaurs and is showing particular delight in puppies. Every time we turn to the puppy page in one of his animal books, he gets very excited.
• He is doing really well on his sitting still but shows no interest in crawling or moving at all. He is tolerating tummy time a little bit better and is getting stronger all the time but doesn't get the whole crawling thing at all. He has decided he likes standing much better and is getting really steady on his feet. I won't be surprised one bit if he skips the whole crawling thing and just goes straight to walking.
• One of my favorite things that Nate has learned this month is how to stick out his tongue. Todd has been trying to teach him this trick for weeks and he finally figured it out. We now also know that the mystery sound that he had been making for the past month or so was him trying to stick his tongue out. He makes that same sound every time he does it.
• He is also starting to understand some of what we say. He recognizes his name (well, he thinks his name is Nate Bug) and also a few phrases. One of Nate's favorite things to do these days is sing songs. Every time I ask, "Do you want to sing a song?" he gets really excited and grabs my fingers to sing with me. His favorites are "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Open, Shut Them" and "Row, Row, Row Your Boat". Hopefully I can get a video of this soon :)

He's getting too big for the dollar picture these days. He just wants to eat it! (Don't worry, it's in a plastic bag to keep the germs away :)

Natey with his sippy cup

He's always been a great sleeper so we haven't ever really had him in our bed with us. I put him in while I made the bed the other day and he loved pulling the sheet over his head and playing peek-a-boo. He was not happy when I took him out.

Nate's very favorite toy is a wet washcloth. He would chew on it all night if we would let him. He likes to play peek-a-boo with everything lately but the washcloth is his favorite. He gets VERY angry when we take it away.

                                          

Here's a video of Nate sticking out his tongue. 

Just some random stuff

When the camera starts to get full, it's time to do another post. He's been doing some new and especially cute things lately so our camera fills up very quickly :)

Last time our physical therapist came, she was concerned that Nate wasn't sitting on his own yet. 2 days after she left, he decided he was ready and he's been doing great ever since. He loves that he can look around and see everything that's going on. His favorite place to sit is at the front window. He sits on the back of our couch and watches the cars pass by on the street. His favorite time of day is lunch time when he waits at the window for Todd to get home. He gets so excited when he gets out of his car.

Solid food has been going pretty well but Nate has decided that he doesn't like fruit anymore. He loves all of the vegetables but won't take more than a bite of fruit. We were having dinner with Todd's parents yesterday and Nate kept trying to grab the oranges. I decided to let him have a taste thinking he'd just spit it out and hate it. Boy was I wrong! He LOVED it! He sucked on this piece for 5 minutes.

My mom bought these socks for Nate a few months ago and he thinks they are great.

He's also learned how to fake cough and does it ALL the time now.

10 Months

Nate is 10 months old! I can't believe his 1st birthday is coming up so soon! We haven't been to the doctor for a few weeks so I don't have a current weight for him. He has an appointment for his 3rd RSV shot next week so we'll get to see how much he's gained then. He was 16 pounds 3 weeks ago but this kid has been eating like a maniac the past couple of weeks so I'm guessing he's going to have a big jump in weight.

Because of his huge appetite lately, we feel like we have a newborn again. This kid is hungry all of the time...day and night. We can't complain too much since he has always been a great sleeper. We can handle a few weeks of getting up at night again.

Here's his 10 month dollar bill picture. 

Here he is next to his first blood pressure cuff

This picture shows how huge that same cuff was on his tiny little arm on his first day. (It's toward the bottom of the picture on his right arm)

Nate has reflux so we try to keep him upright after he eats for 10 or 15 minutes before we put him to bed at night so he doesn't spit up in his sleep. Apparently he thinks it's boring just sitting there because this is what he has started doing. The problem is, he's getting too heavy for me to hold still so I feel like I get a good workout every night. 

Just another evening of crazy wrestling with dad.

January Fun

Nate and I are very happy that January is almost over! We are counting down to 2 events in April...first is the end of RSV season so we can finally be around people, and second is the end of tax season so we can have Todd home during evenings and weekends again. It has been a very long month but we are trying our best to find new and exciting things to do around the house. 

Nate had 2 appointments this past week. One for his 9 month well baby check and second RSV shot, and the other was a visit from his physical therapist. His doctor was pleased with his ability to roll and interact. He said he is a very pleasant and socially advanced baby. His physical therapist was also impressed with his rolling and social interaction. Both are starting to have some concerns though. Nate still isn't sitting on his own. He has been really close for a couple of months now but the physical therapist noticed some obvious weakness on his left side that is causing him to flop over and not be able to hold his balance well. We now have a bunch more exercises to work on and a strict tummy time schedule to try and strengthen his left side. With these exercises, she thinks he should be able to sit by the time she comes again next month. If not, we will have to do some more investigating. We have already noticed a little improvement so hopefully it is just a matter of strength and not something more. 

We have also been working on solid food a lot more this month. We finally gave up entirely on cereal. He just doesn't like it no matter what we try and it didn't seem to agree with his sensitive little tummy. He does, however, love sweet potatoes, squash, prunes, and pears. He also tolerates peas and green beans. I think he is really enjoying trying new flavors. 

Here are some pictures and videos from the past couple of weeks.

We took this first picture on his video monitor. This is how Nate falls asleep every time we put him down. He loves to cover his face with things lately. He has started playing peek-a-boo with us with his blankets and burp cloths. He thinks he is very clever :)

Part of Nate's physical therapy is tummy time. She wants us to double what he has been doing to strengthen his upper body which will hopefully help him balance sitting up. Nate hasn't done a good tummy time session since he learned to roll 3 months ago. The key to successful tummy time with Nate is distraction, distraction, distraction. Books, toys, tv, whatever it takes to get him to stay there for more than 5 seconds at a time. It still only sometimes works.

This video shows Nate's latest noise. He has been doing this for the past couple of weeks and we can't figure out what the heck he is doing.

The rest of the videos are all of the random things that are making Nate laugh these days

Ok so this post took about a week for me to finish because these videos took hours to load. Am I missing some secret trick or is this just how slow blogger is?