Lazy Sunday

Since I have not been able to spend a lot of time with Ray San the past couple of days, I really wanted to hang out with him today. We had a nice day of pretty much nothing. I held him for about 30 mins. today, but he was getting a little cold so he had to go back to bed. It was a nice hold though. I also started reading him a book that the Poseys gave us... Zen Shorts. So far it is a really cute book.

He's still on the cannula and doing great. They switched him to a different kind of cannula because they wanted to be able to turn the pressure down to .5. The problem is this one doesn't seem to fit in his nose very well. I'm not sure if it is too big or the prongs aren't long enough or what, but it is continuously coming out which has me a little worried. He was with one of our favorite nurses again this afternoon so I told her about it and I trust her to make sure things are good with him.

He had a nice weight increase too. He went from 1215 grams all the way up to 1252 so is 2lbs. 12.2oz. He's so close to 3lbs. I cannot wait for him to hit that mark. That should be happening soon since they increased his feeding from 25ml. to 27ml.

Also, both Great-Grandma Sako and Great-Grandma Sakita came for another visit. Look at them beaming.I also caught him smiling today. He is just too precious.

Some Big Changes

Last night I was only able to visit Ray San for an hour because I had to go to the Seahawks pre-season game with Rachel. It was a great game and we beat the Raiders 23-16. Here's Rachel and me at the game.

So today I got to the hospital late too because we got our brand new couch delivered from Macys. It is a beautiful chocolate brown leather sectional couch and SO comfortable. You can all enjoy it when Ray San comes home and you come visit us =]

When I finally got to the hospital, one of our favorite nurses Jeanne told us that Ray San was getting rid of his CPAP and moving up to the cannula. The head strap holding the CPAP on was making his head grow funny shaped so that's why the decided to try the cannula. When they first started him on cannula, it made him sneeze. Everytime he would sneeze, it would make him bring his arms up together in front of his face and would cause him to clap. It was SO cute.

He's been doing really well on the CPAP which is why they decided to try out the cannula. I'm thinking he may have to go back and forth between the two of them, but we shall see. I love him being on the cannula because you can see so much more of his face and eyes. He is just too darn cute for words.

Before

After

Sneezing

How can you not love this face?!?

Such A Cutie!!

Tonight I had to head up to Ballard for my Wednesday night New Beginnings karate class that I help Laura with. Class goes until 7:00 p.m. so I didn't get to the hospital until 8:00 p.m. Just as I arrived, they were weighing Ray San and he was 1199 grams (2lbs. 10.3oz.). They also were changing out his CPAP mask to a more cannula (sp?) type with the prongs going up his nose. As they were switching it out, Ray was able to get a picture of Ray San with his eyes open and nothing on his face. He is SO cute. The nurse also put him in his first preemie outfit. Look at all the room in the legs.

He was a really good boy and had a good day. The nurse said he was feisty as usual. I got to hold him as he was all swaddled in his blanket while his bedding got changed. He dropped his stats and had to go back to bed, but it was still a nice 20 minute hold.

Here's the little cutie.

Today is also Ray San's six week birthday. Wow... six weeks already.

Look at his squishy face

Ju.st a fr.ien.dly re.min.der to cl.ick the lin.ks in the ri.ght cor.ner. Th.ank.s!!

A Graph

As you can tell, I was able to add a graph of Ray San's latest weights. It isn't exactly like I wanted, but it is close and does the trick. I will continue to try to update the graph too.

Thanks to my friend Stacy for the website.

Another Step Forward

Last night during Ray San's feeding, I got to hold him again for almost an hour. It was just as fantastic as the first time. My dad took some pictures so I will get those uploaded soon. He is tolerating the hands on stuff so much better, but he still cries when you take his temperature and change his diaper. He really hates both of those things.

He is still on CPAP and doing great. His weight yesterday was up to a whopping 1180 grams (2lbs. 9.6oz.)... his highest weight yet. I'm still trying to figure out the easiest way to put a graph on here of his weight. I will hopefully get that figured out soon.

Since he has no PICC line, he is exclusively on my milk so he gets 25ml over an hour and then two hours off. The nurses say he is tolerating that and digesting pretty much all of it. He should be hitting the 3lb. mark soon!!

Ray San was sleeping last night with his right arm extended all the way up. It was just too darn cute. Here are a couple pictures I took with my camera phone. Sorry they aren't the best quality.

Ray went to visit Ray San this morning and his weight was down to 1140 grams. They are going to give him a blood transfusion (so much for my theory about not needing those) in the hopes that it will help him pack on the pounds easier. We shall see.

Shhh... Not Too Loud

Today was a good day though. Ray San's weight was back up to 1110 grams (2lbs. 7.4oz.), but was down a little from the night before where he was 1145 grams (2lbs. 8.4oz.).

He's still on CPAP and we have reached the 72 hour mark. I was a little worried yesterday because he was having a lot of episodes of not breathing. I thought they were going to have to put him back on the vent, but they give him a little more caffeine and he was perfect. They tested his caffeine numbers and it was 13. Apparently Ray San likes to be at a 15. He was doing awesome today.

In other good news, his PICC line is going to come out. I guess that means they don't think he is going to need any more transfusions or supplemental food or antibiotics or anything that needs to be done in an IV. If something comes up, they are going to have to prick him from now on. He will have one less line now =]

Here's some more of our CPAP cutie. Look at how he loves to stretch out his little legs.

In other news, the nursery is under construction.

Plain white walls

Finished blue walls

There is still going to be crown moulding along the top and the trim on the bottom. Also, the wall on the left is going to have stripes. So excited for the finished product.

Do.n't for.get to cl.ick the li.nks to the ri.ght of our we.dd.ing pi.ctu.re. Th.anks.

The Little Stinker

Thursday night at 9:00 p.m., the little stinker extubated himself again. So he is back on CPAP. He was doing great last night and the nurse said he had a fantastic day. I'm going to visit him again today so I will hopefully get to hold him again... as long as he's been stable. Here's some pictures of CPAP attempt 4.

5 Weeks

We have reached the 5 week mark. It is pretty amazing. So here are the latest things going on with Ray San.

For the last couple of days, he was out of the incubator and on just a nursery bed. I was shocked to see him like that and was also scared. He was just out in the open subjected to the light, noise and germs. Thankfully last night they put him back in the incubator. I feel so much better about that.

He is still on the ventilator. They think that he threw up and swallowed a lot of it and it got into his lungs. That caused him to have trouble breathing and hence why he had to go back on the vent. They hope he's off it and on the CPAP in a couple days.

His weight is down again. He was 2lbs. almost 8oz. Now he's 2lbs. 5oz. again. He's also not eating a lot since he had the issue. I think he was getting 24ml. and now he's getting 17ml. They say that will increase again too once they are sure he is ok.

Ray San has a hernia as well. The doctor says it is really common, but he is also one of the younger ones to get it. It will have to be repaired surgically at some point too. For now he is tolerating it and they are able to push it in still. They are just going to monitor it and make sure that it doesn't interfere with his bowels and stays soft. If it starts interfering it will get hard and they will have to do surgery right away.

Some good news is that he has had 3 brain scans now and they have all been negative and clear. That is fantastic news!!

Something that Ray San has coming up is an eye exam. They are going to do that around 31, 32 weeks so he's still about a week or two out. What they are looking for is ROP. An eye disease affecting the way the blood vessels in the eyes grow. His chance of having ROP is pretty good so it is just a matter of the severity. The majority of the time the disease cures itself. Let's keep our fingers crossed that it isn't very severe.

I think that is pretty much the latest and greatest. The doctor is still pleased with his progress and only concerned about his hernia. I'm glad to hear that.

As usual... pictures!! It was hard to get a good picture of him since he was facing away from us and I couldn't get around to the other side.

I have also been keeping up my pumping. Our freezer is pretty full now. This is just some of the milk in there. Ray was doing a good job organizing it, but as you can tell, that didn't last very long.

One last thing is a request.

I need to ty.pe fun.ny so I do.n't get cau.ght. If you wou.ld vis.it the lin.ks to the ri.ght of our wed.ding pic.ture I wou.ld app.rec.iate it. Ea.ch cl.ick ea.rns us so.me mo.ney. On.ce we ea.rn $100 we wi.ll get a ch.eck in the ma.il. So if you cou.ld cl.ick th.em ea.ch ti.me you vis.it our pa.ge, we wou.ld app.rec.iate it. Th.ank.s. E-m.ail me if you do.n't un.der.stan.d.

Small Bummer

I got a phone call from the hospital this morning and they had to put Ray San back on the ventilator. He just started having too many episodes of not breathing properly... poor little boy. He was just 12 hours shy of making it a full week.

They also started his antibiotics again as a precaution. Apparently a lot of times it is a sign that he is started to get sick. The doctor was going to do his full assessment a little later this morning so I'm sure I will know more tonight.

This is just his way of showing us that he is still pretty fragile and still needs all the good thoughts and prayers.

More Weight Gain

Yesterday Ray San was weighing in at a whopping 1110 grams or 2 lbs. 7 oz. He is also 15.25 inches long. When he was born he was 13.75 inches so he has definitely grown. He is exclusively getting my milk and at 22ml over an hour. He then digests it for 2 hours and repeats. His milk is also being fortified now with an extra 24 calories per ml... I think. I will have to double check that.



He had a chest x-ray the other day and it came back clear so the infection is gone. Thank goodness. He also should be having another brain ultrasound soon so keep your fingers crossed it is all still good.



Ray San is still on the CPAP and being such an awesome boy. I've also held him a third time. That really does not get old. I was going to hold him tonight, but he was sleeping so peacefully that I didn't want to disturb him.



As usual, here are the latest pictures of Ray San.

Look at his little arm resting on his CPAP mask =]

Getting pictures of him in his new incubator is a little harder because the plastic is really reflective.

Hold... Again!

Last night I got to hold Ray San again. It was just as exciting as the first time. I actually got to hold him for 40 minutes. He was so happy and was even more mad about going back this time. Man I love that kid. Once again... pictures!!

Getting ready to settle in

Comfy

Look at that cute little hand

Who's bigger?

As good as the first time

Going back to bed

I changed his diaper again for the first time in probably a week. I also got my first experience with the pee fountain. Good thing he was coming out to be held. It made it a lot easier for the nurse to change his wet bedding. Speaking of bedding, he moved into a new incubator. I'm not sure if they needed his for a new preemie or what, but he doesn't seem to mind. Here's his new bed.Another change for Ray San is that as of last night, he was no longer getting any supplemental food via IV. He was exclusively eating my milk alone. It looked like he was getting 18 ml of milk over an hour and then taking a couple hours to digest that. I will check this morning to see how his feedings are going. The nurse also said they should start fortifying my milk soon so he will be getting even more calories. Hopefully he will be growing like a weed now.

Things still seem to be heading in the right direction for Ray San. I'm sure it is all the good thoughts and prayers you all are giving him. Thank you for continuing those.