Just an everyday normal web geek trying to figure out how to live life. I thought I would document the journey and help those who might be doing something similar. Posts tagged with “Tanya”
Nicer Weather
The weather has started to turn for the better here, and that means we can leave our house to venture outside.
One of Tanya and my favorite places to go is Red Fish Blue Fish. This food truck (actually it is a container with a kitchen and a living roof) on dock that serves up some of the best fish I have ever had. This place is amazing and often worth the 30 min wait that it takes to order.
This was Oliver’s first trip to the dock to wait in line (you can see it in the background) and we ate some great sustainable seafood.
Getting outside
The weather is starting to turn for the better. Lately we have seen more and more sunshine and that has lured us outside more and more. The other day we decided to get an Ergo Baby Carrier which is a great way to get outside. This is our second carrier, we have a less structured one (it is basically one big piece of fabric) and it doesn’t work as well as this one.
The Ergo Baby is basically a nice backpack with out the pack. The baby is held next to the parent and it seems to work very well. Oliver was happier than he is with our other wrap and it is easier to setup and put Oliver into it.k
This was our fist excursion outside and it went fairly well. This actually makes it just a little more feasible to play a round of discgolf.
Oliver goes for surgery
We awoke earlier than normal today to get ready for Oliver’s surgery. We had to give him a bath before before his admittance to the hospital and he wasn’t allowed to eat for 4 hours before the operation.
Last night was a bit of a restless night, partially due to the anxiety of today’s event, partly due to Tanya’s dark chocolate with toasted almond macaroon tart. Eating this great dessert at 10pm isn’t going to guarantee a good nights rest, but it does give the mind a little bit of a rest (and it tastes good too).
Pink
I couldn’t not mention the pink hospital gown. There isn’t a huge selection of hospital gowns that fit an 11 pound baby (in fact there were none). The smallest gown was pink so that I what Oliver will get for the surgery.
Oliver says Merry Christmas
First walk in stroller
About 3 months ago we purchased a used stroller, it is a Baby Jogger Summit XT, which is a jogging stroller that has a number of slick features. Because of his size, we haven’t taken Oliver out for a walk in it, but that changed last week.
We had three days beautiful sunshine days and one day Tanya took him out for a 20 minute walk. He was in his car seat attached to the stroller. Tanya is happy with the stroller and I am looking forward to taking him for a run when he is large enough.
2 months old
Oliver is now two months old and is doing well. He is now home from a 5 day visit at hospital (he was back home nearly a week ago). The doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with his lungs or his heart, so we were discharged.
Over 6 pounds
Oliver has reached the 6 pound threshold and is above the 0.1 percentile (corrected for his prematurity). This means that out of 1000 boys his age, he is lighter the 999 and heavier than 1. Which is good news because before that, he wasn’t even on the growth chart. Go Oliver!
He is developing
We are starting to notice more and more development changes in Oliver.
- He has been using his hands a lot more, swatting at things (like toys and faces).
- He is also more mobile, by arching is his back and using his head, he finds novel ways to move around while we are trying to hold him.
- Changes in his voice, he seems to have different tones and slightly different cries.
- He is starting to make smiles in his sleep (we are looking forward to seeing a real smile from him)
Sleeping in shifts
Tanya and I have found that if we sleep in shifts, life is better for both of us. This is how it works:
- 9pm I will go to bed and Tanya will stay up with Oliver for one more feed
- 12am Tanya will put Oliver in his crib and sleep in the same room as him.
- 3am Tanya will feed Oliver
- 5am Tanya will wake me up and I will take care of him, Tanya will sleep in our room and get undisturbed sleep
- 6am I will feed Oliver with the bottle
- 8am I will wake up Tanya and hand over Oliver over while I go to work (this is 9 or 10 on the weekend).
This seems to work for us, Tanya will try to get another nap during the day and when follow this schedule, we both get a decent amount of sleep. Definitely seeing the benefit to catching up with sleep on the weekend.
Big foot, little foot
I love taking photos, and I haven’t really had a chance to take any photos of Oliver. Today, I was able to snap off a couple of shots, so I took one of his foot right up to mom’s foot.
Normal toes
For those who know me (or my feet), you would know that I have funny toes. There is nothing wrong with the toes, but people who notice them all say the same thing: ‘What’s wrong with you feet?’
There is nothing wrong with my feet, but I am glad Oliver doesn’t have funny looking feet like I do.
Oliver comes home
Yesterday was a big day for us, for that is when Oliver came home. After spending five weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit, he is now ready to come home.
NICU
I need to make a shout out to the nurses that staff the NICU. The very talented and patient crew helped Oliver thrive and grow and I am very grateful for their efforts and skill. They do amazing things there and it is so nice to have the support and the healthcare system we have here in Canada.
Weight gain
When Oliver was born, he weighed 1214grams (2lbs 10oz), and yesterday he was discharged at 1886g (4lbs and 2ozs).
Skills gained
While in the NICU, Oliver has had the opportunity to hone a number of essential skills:
- breast feeding
- dirtying diapers
- crying (he didn’t cry much at first, but he got that figured out now)
- growing
With these skills honed, he is ready to start down the road of development and start growing like a full term baby.
Next chapter: Sleeplessness
When Oliver was in the NICU, it was easy for Tanya and I to get enough sleep, there were a number of nurses that took care of him when we were at home sleeping. Not anymore, and I think that the next few months, I will learn how to survive on limited sleep.
We are both happy that he has made it home and looking forward to the next couple of decades as we see him change from infant to man. Thanks to all those who supported us through, your emotional support, positive stories and inspiration helped us bring him home.
When Oliver was first born, my dad said something very remarkable, something I hadn’t really thought about. He said:
Oliver is about 20% of the weight that Kelly was when he was born.
To really drive the point home, I decided to show it in graphic. Crazy how things work out.
He is growing
Oliver is growing. We weighed him last night and he has started to gain some weight. In the past week he has gained 58 grams (~2 ounces) and we are both happy about this. Oliver is doing pretty good and we see him as much as we can.
Life goes on
Life doesn’t stand still when you have a child in the NICU. Next week I will be headed back to work. I will be working part-time and spending the rest of the day helping Tanya get to the hospital where she can watch over him and make sure things go well. We will see how that goes and reassess the situation after that.
Awake and alert
Oliver was so alert this evening, it was so nice to see his eyes. Over the past few days we have seen a few changes in him, it is really amazing to see the changes happen so fast.
The tube in his nose goes into his stomache, this allows the nurses to feed him while he is sleeping or if he isn’t interested in sucking.