"Updated" Max Update location

Scratch that last post. By popular demand, we'll continue to keep everyone apprised of Max's adventures on this page. It would be better to keep news of the little guy separate from the blithering opinions of his father.

Speaking of news. Max had his 2-week appointment with his pediatrician yesterday. Everything is great, and the oinker topped out at 7 lbs 4 oz. (As we all remember, he bottomed out at 4 lbs. 4 oz. way back when in the NICU.) He's eating like his dad.

Or is it his mom...?

Max Updates

Any future Max updates will be posted here.

Thank You

Just wanted to thank everyone for their support and thoughts during Max's stay at the hospital. Five days home now and we're just barely starting to get used to the sleepless nights, loads of laundry and poopy diapers.

A big thank you to everyone, especially our parents and siblings, who not only supported us, but had to "deal" with us as well.

All is good here. As you can see, Vinnie is patiently waiting for his little buddy to get a bit older.

Corey, Annie & Max

11/20: Buddies

Home

The best day ever. Maxwell is home.

t-minus 24 hours and counting...

A GREAT day. Our little chow-hound was given the OK to come home tomorrow. He sat in his car-seat hooked up to the monitor for a couple hours just to make sure, and passed with flying colors. Actually, it was just after a feeding and I think all he did was sleep and pass gas. That's one way to do it I guess.

Tomorrow is 3 weeks to the day and he's coming home.

Let the real work begin...

Open Nostrils

That little switch in Max's brain to suck-swallow has been tripped. Now it's his stamina we're working on. The falling asleep during meal-time is all that's left to get over (besides the "circ" as the nurses call it) before the little guy can come home. He's getting better and better at the breast feeding thing, taking between 25 and 30 ml yesterday, and up to 38 ml before we came home tonight. His diet is calling for 45 ml, so he's finishing up with a bottle each time. I gotta say the boy can chug too. We had to stop him at 53 ml total tonight so he'd again be hungry in 3 hours. He's become so good at the nipple thing, the nurse decided to take the feeding tube right out. It probably doesn't have to be said the yanking of the tube was immediately followed by a round of sneezes.

As far as "little guy" is concerned, today Max hit 5 lbs. 11 oz., a full pound up from his birth weight. You can see it in his face, fingers and toes.

So close now...

Moving forward

Things are progressing. Yesterday Max set a personal record latching on to mom at one feeding with 26 ml. He also proceeded to top that today in one feeding with 30 ml. He's getting it, but has a hard time staying awake for the 30 minute duration required by the nurses. Usually at about the 20 minute mark they cut him off and finish filling his little belly via tube. We're getting closer though.

Still no word on the circumcision. He was on the list to get it done a couple of days ago, but other babies get bumped up based on when they're going home. Should be soon. On another "skin" note: Max finally lost his dried up little umbilical cord today. It happened this morning before we got to the hospital and the day nurse was kind enough to tape it to the side of Max's crib pending our decision to keep it or not. (Hmph.) It didn't last long after we both turned it over in our hands a few times.

Weight. Yesterday: 5 lbs. 6.2 oz. / Today: 5 lbs. 8.9 oz. The boy's a machine.

Starting to work

We want to thank everyone out there who silently conveyed their thoughts to Max to "suck". It's starting to work.

Twice today he managed to swallow 20 ml from Mom, which is half of a regular feeding. The second time he finished the last 20 ml via bottle in about 10 minutes. He's very much like his dad at this point (nodding off during dinner), but that will change as we go along.

All this feeding is adding up: 5 lbs 5.6 oz tonight.

Why there's a NICU

Max is doing great today. He's looking and acting more and more like a little newborn versus a premee. We can see those little, hard-fought ounces as he gains weight, especially in places like his cheeks and belly.

We didn't get a weight for him tonight due to experiencing a pretty real and scary realty check. Not with Max, but with the baby in the incubator next to him.

We had just set up some privacy screens to do a little Kangaroo Care, when we heard what sounded like the baby next to us choke on the bottle he was being fed. An alarm sounded, and as I glanced over the screen at the monitor, I saw the baby's heart rate racing between 260 and 280 bpm. Within seconds there were approximately (we couldn't see much behind the screens) 4-5 nurses and a doctor, cooly and calmly addressing the situation, and within 10 minutes, the baby's heart rate was down to normal, he wasn't screaming, and there was peace in the room again.

Let me explain something, the choreagraphy of the nurses in the immediate area leaving their posts and responding to the situation while nurses from other areas quietly covered for them, the speed and utter calm in their voices and actions, and how they took care of and comforted the young mother who I think was too scared to even panic, was amazing.

Annie and I saw nothing, but heard everything behind those screens, and it comforts us to no end to know our boy Max, with the only thing wrong is he was a bit too early, is in the best possible place he can be right now.

It takes a special person to do what those people do.

E.S.P.

5 lbs. 2 oz.

Everyone please do us this favor and do your best sending Max your telepathic thoughts of, "...just suck..." Although we have come to find out the doctors now say it could be anywhere from 32 to 36 weeks before that mechanism kicks in, not 33-34 as we originally thought. In a sense that's good, as there's not as much pressure right now, even though we would like him home as soon as "yesterday".

Our boy is beefing up.

Sharp dressed 'little' man

We're continuing to get closer. Max topped out today at 4 lb 15.5 oz. (notice the ".5") He showed even more promise with latching on to mom. Just waiting for the switch to trip...

The nurses seemed optimistic about him coming home not too long after he learns to breast feed. It's been about 4 days since his last apnea, and the criteria is to go at least 5. So he's doing great in that area.

I have to admit, thanks to Mom filling the drawer to his crib with nice clean, new and donated clothes, Max is argueably the best dressed stud in the unit. I think he has more hats than his dad at this point.

Snip snip

Max finally surpassed his birth weight yesterday, surpassing 4 lb 11 oz to a whopping 4 lb 14 oz. We're tinkering with that 5 lb mark. What a beast.

Other notes of the day: Max had his first of 3 hepatitis-B shots today. He wasn't very a happy with that giant needle in his thigh. We also signed him up for -- ahem -- his circumcision. He has no idea what's in store shortly. At least he won't remember it. Hopefully...

Thank You

Maxwell was a popular guy today. So many visitors I think we wore the the little guy out. Not only did he get to meet the some more of his grandparents, but his great grandma Helen Mary (who we think tried to sneak him out of the NICU a couple of times).

Minus all the visitors, Max's day was mostly uneventful. We're continuing the Kangaroo Care (which Max loves, and Mom REALLY loves), and he seems to be getting closer everyday to latching on. He's right on the line age-wise where that little "suck/swallow" switch in his brain will be turned on. Anyday now.

Annie and I want to make sure all the people who have been helping us out for the last couple of weeks taking care of the house, the dogs, emotional & moral support, tiny little clothes, etc., know how much it means to us and we appreciate every little thing you do. Hopefully soon we can thank you all personally once Max comes home and we get all settled in.

THANK YOU SO MUCH...

Kangaroo Care

Today Max and Mom tried out what everyone is calling Kangaroo Care. Basically it's skin-to-skin contact held against the mother's chest. Studies show if an infant's temperature is above or below normal, the mother's own temperature will actually raise or lower a few degrees to help regulate the baby's during this contact. Crazy. Max seemed to enjoy this bonding session almost as much as Mom, glancing up at her face and grinning every so often.

Although he hasn't latched on yet, he managed to down two 40 ml bottles of milk today, one in about 10 minutes. They've also added a milk fortifier to his diet, being as young as he is he needs more vitamins and minerals than the breast milk provides.

The fortifier also adds calories to put some meat on his bones. All that being said, Max weighed in at almost 4 lbs 11 oz.

Slowly but surely...

New Digs

Another great day. Max seems to have taken a couple steps forward today. Not only did he move from his very luxuriously climate controlled Giraffe Omnibed incubater to a more spacious and open-aired crib, the little fella decided (while his parents were off stuffing themselves with a nutritionally balanced dinner c/o the hospital cafeteria) to chug his 40 ml of milk not via a feeding tube, but from a bottle! He also established a personal record of eating in 20 minutes versus the 30 minutes the feeding pump had always been set at.

Mom and Dad had the chance to bath him for the second time, and then Mom had a little time to play dress up. I'm sure he'll appreciate THOSE pictures in about 10 years.

Weight today almost 4 lbs 10oz. Still moving forward...

7 days and counting

At 4:34 AM this morning Max became 1 week old. He is doing amazing. We came in this morning and his IV and IV port are completely out. The only things still attached are his feeding tube and the monitor leads. He's up to 40 ml of milk every three hours which is the ideal amount for his size. He has slight touch of jaundice and is right on the line as far as putting him under the bilirubin light again. And if they do, it's completely normal until he starts stooling regularly.

The day before yesterday his weight had dropped to 4 lbs 4 oz, and was back up to 4 lbs 8 oz yesterday. Looks like the milk is starting work a bit. Before you know it he'll be arm wrestling his dad.