Kangaroo Care

The first time I got to hold Samuel I also got to do kangaroo care with him. The skin to skin contact is very beneficial for preemies and I think that it also was very helpful for me. I didn't get to hold Samuel for a whole week after he was born. It was so nice to have him close to me. He was snuggled close with his head just under my chin and his little feet were tucked into my bra to give him support. He fit perfectly in that little space.

Tonight as I was rocking Samuel I thought of that first time that I sat and rocked with him. Tonight his head was nestled under my chin because that is his very favorite position. However, his feet dangled off my leg as he sat on my lap. My tiny baby boy is so big! I am amazed at his growth - in just 11 months he has gone from 4 lbs to 22 lbs. He is healthy and strong and such a blessing to our family.

Curly Curly Hair

Yup - Samuel has lots of curls! I love it. He is sooooo cute, if you don't mind me saying so :)

I really like this picture because he is just out of the tub so his hair is at its curliest and he has a big grin showing off his teeth - that's right! Samuel has sprung another tooth, it is to the right of the tooth you can really see.

Animal Kingdom

We are on the train going out to Rafiki's Planet Watch. I really like this part of Animal Kingdom; if you go in the morning you can see the animals being cared for. Yesterday we saw them check out the opossum and giving her a sonogram. Papa and Samuel have become good buds. Papa took Samuel in to see the goats and sheep. On the train back from Rafiki's Planet watch.

A gorilla! I didn't know that Animal Kingdom had gorillas! I have been there several times but still haven't seen the whole park.
We are having so much fun with David's parents. Samuel really loves have two more people to pay attention and play with him!

We're Home!

Samuel was discharged from the hospital this afternoon. He is doing so well; the surgeon was very impressed with how quickly he is recovering. He is such a strong little boy!
Leaving the hospital was kind of an emotional experience today. Samuel has had his final surgery so this time when we left we have no plan to return. We will have follow-up appointments with the surgeon, but we aren't preparing for the next surgery. It feels a little odd because all of the other times we have left the hospital we have known that we would be back within a couple of months. So, just like the first time when I left the hospital and had to leave Samuel there in the NICU, I cried almost the whole way home, but this time they were tears of joy!

Toe Lassos and Wagon Rides

Samuel is doing so well today. He is happy and very active. First thing he started doing this morning was pulling on his IV and his leads. His favorite thing to play with is the pulse oximeter. He grabs onto the cord and pulls his toe up. It was on his right big toe and the IV is in his left foot so this morning he would pull the cord and the iv line so that both feet would come up at the same time. Luckily when the surgeon visited this morning and saw how well Samuel is doing, he discontinued all IV fluids and meds and put Samuel on a regular diet. Now he just has the pulse oximeter to pull on.

Because Samuel is doing much better he can now leave his room. The hospital has wagons and Samuel loves going for a ride in the wagon. We are hoping that the doctor will also give us the okay to leave this floor so that we can go to the Pirate Ship Playground!
Samuel loves his Curious George. He also really loves the frog that is sitting with him in the wagon. The frog was Samuel's Valentine from David's boss

Clear Liquids

Samuel is on clear liquids. We gave him 2 oz of the clear Pedialyte and he loved it!

Here I was just trying to see how much more he had left - he, however, was not going to part with that bottle. He went from the one-handed hold to two hands so that I would not be able to take it.

Examining the bottle to see if there is any left.

Giving the bottle a good shake to get all of it off the bottom - Samuel has already learned the old addage "Waste not, want not"

It's a Poop!

At 6:03 PM Samuel had his first poopy diaper! David and I were both present for the event and we are excited to change more poopy diapers in the future. This excitement may fade soon, but for right now we are very proud of him.
The pooping was uncomfortable for Samuel and he definitely didn't like having it on his bum. Because his bum has never had poop on it before we have to make sure to slather it some very thick bum cream called Critic-Aid.
So, the nurse has called the surgeon who now has to come look at the poopy diaper. After the surgeon confirms that Samuel has pooped he will hopefully put in the orders to allow Samuel to start having clear liquids.

Out of Isolation

Samuel's MRSA test finally came back so we are now out of isolation. We just got the results and it is so nice to not have the sign on the door that we may be contaminated and to take every precaution before entering our room. The doctors and nurse had to put gowns and gloves on before coming into our room and everything that was used on Samuel had to stay in his room (i.e. the stethoscope - they have disposable ones that are used when the patient is in isolation).

Once the nurse was in the room she/he couldn't leave before taking off the gloves/gown and then sanitizing hands. This was very annoying for them when they just needed to step outside the room to get something and then come right back in. Anyway, everyone is happy to no longer have to go through the process.

I took some pictures of the room - as you can see it is quite large.

In front of the crib there is a closet and then behind the closet (where you can see the chair by the wall) is a desk and the television is above that. You can see little Samuel in his crib. To the right of Samuels crib is where the roll-away bed is and then the door to the bathroom. It really is a very nice room. In fact, it could be mistaken for a hotel room if it weren't for all of the medical equipment.

Today we are expecting to have Samuel's first messy diaper, we just gave him a suppository to help things along. After that Samuel will have some juice. If he handles that okay then the surgeon said that he will progress quickly on to food and then we should be clear. Typically if there are going to be problems they will generally arise on day 4 or 5 so after that they feel more comfortable discharing us to go home!

Still Resting

Yesterday evening we were put in a private room (HOORAY). It is much nicer to have your own room so that you don't have to worry about your noise disturbing others and so that you don't get disturbed by someone else's noise!
Samuel had a pretty rough night. He was in quite a bit of pain and he wasn't breathing very well. Early this morning we finally got the okay to give him a breathing treatment and they also sucked out the mucous from his nose and throat. It was awful! So thick and Samuel was not happy about having the tube put up his nose. He got so mad that he arched his back and just yelled. Of course when he arched his back he really hurt because that pull in the incision so it took quite a while for him to settle back down. Poor little guy.
This morning the surgeon gave me permission to hold him (for clarification, the permission was to hold Samuel - not the surgeon). I could tell that when I picked Samuel up it did hurt him but he just clung to me. He did not want me to put him back down. His grip on my shirt was tight and he just buried his face in my chest. After he settled down he just kept looking at me and would let out a little "Maaaa." It is heart breaking. He is now resting peacefully and I am hoping that soon he will mess his diaper so that he can at least be given some clear liquids!


Here is a picture of David while we were waiting during the surgery yesterday.

We originally brought Curious George so that Samuel would have him, but it looks like George also comforted David a bit too!

We Got A Room

Okay - we are now with Samuel in a room. It took longer than expected because there wasn't a room available in the ACU (acute care unit). We are in a shared room which isn't ideal, but at least we are back with Samuel. The wait was hard.
He still had eyes closed when we first saw him but when he heard my voice he started to wiggle and he took a firm hold of my finger. He knew his mommy was back with him.
Hopefully we will be upgraded to a less intense unit in the next couple of days. Samuel wont be eating still for a couple of days. He needs to poop before we can give him food. How exciting, his very first poopy diaper! Definitely will deserve its own blog post!

Surgery Update

Well it is 11:57 AM and the surgeon just came out and said that Samuel is in recovery. The surgery went really well and Samuel's insides looked really good. They are anticipating a fairly smooth recovery! Hooray!!!!! We wont get to see him for about 45 minutes as they are still waking him up and that 45 minutes will likely feel like about 5 hours - but that's because I have great patience :)
Thank you to everyone that is praying for us and Samuel.

Pre Op

So the hospital that we go to is so awesome and because this is the last time that we will hopefully be here we took some pictures. This first picture is the castle which is by the info desk where visitors check in to go to patient rooms. Samuel did so well this morning. He slept really well last night and he was so happy this morning. The ladies at my work said they would pray that God would fill Samuel's tummy so that he wouldn't feel hunger pains and I really think it worked because he didn't really even act hungry. Seeing as he had to be on clear liquids starting Tuesday at 12AM, that is a miracle that he was cheerful and playing during pre-op.
Here he is playing with his Curious George while waiting in pre-op

All dressed in his gown and just waiting for the surgeons and anesthesiologists to come talk to us

The nurses' station in pre-op. The theming in pre-op area is the Hundred Acre Wood. We love it!

Samuel was taken back to surgery at 10:11 AM, and the surgery will take about 1 1/2 - 2 hours. We will try to keep the blog updated with how he is doing. Samuel did great going with the nurse, I cried. I have heard that separation anxiety is common around this time and I think it has hit me particularly hard!

Little Boy, Big Tub

Yesterday we got a brand new tub. Our old one was awful. Before we moved in, the apartment complex had tried to refinish the tub. However, the tub was cracked so the paint started chipping off. It was yucky so Samuel has always used his little baby tub until today and he had his first bath in the big tub. He loved it!

Hello Friends

Our friends came out to WDW last weekend and we got to see them for a little while. It is always so nice to see friends, and these particular ones we have really missed. They moved to FL on the same day that we did and they have moved away over a year ago. Samuel loved meeting them and had a great time sitting with Aaron and Ally. I wish we had taken more pictures but this is the only one we got!

Evaluation

We had the Early Steps screening evaluation on Wednesday and I am so excited to report that Samuel is doing very well! He is meeting all of the targets for his adjusted age and some for his actual age. I have been so nervous about his development and it was so reassuring to hear that he is doing well.
So, as I suspected from the minute we saw him in the 8 week ultra sound, not only is Samuel very cute, he is also brilliant!