Friday, June 26, 2009

Feeder/Grower

That's my Baby Zane! He is referred to in the NICU as a Feeder/Grower. This means there is nothing wrong with him, he's not on meds or oxygen or anything like that. All he has to do is eat and grow. Dr. Hassel came by today and increased his "feeds" to a bottle every other feeding. She agreed that he is an over achiever! They also said he is on "full feeds". This means he gets the maximum for his body weight. It was 42 mls yesterday. Pretty exciting considering he started out at 2mls. (If your not into doctoring animals and don't have a need to know this an ml is the same as a cc.) Kelly has kept a great sense of humor through all of this. She told me now she feels like she is raising a show calf! Last night his weight was reported at 5lbs and 6ounces. We still think this is wrong. They don't really go by a daily weight but a weekly average so he may be lighter tonight. When Zane's uncle Matt was born at 36 weeks he weighed 5-14. When we took him home from the hospital he weighed 5-4. If you know Matt you know he grew into a big ole boy! We've dubbed the crib space next to Zane the "express lane". We've had 4 babies come and go out of the pod from that spot! No telling how many will come and go by the time I get back on Sunday. Dan & I will be going back to Nashville Sunday afternoon so Dan can spend quality time with his little partner! My buddy Charlotte just called and gave me an idea for a contest. Since you are my loyal readers and not just here for the contest I'm gonna share her idea with you.....it will involve writing a poem about Zane! Isn't that clever? Now since you're so loyal you get a head start. I hear your wheels turning now........somebody's sound a little rusty though....work on that would you. I guess Zane's next hurdle will be the whole maintaining his body temp. We think he loves his little "camper" and doesn't want to leave it. He'll be the one knocking on the portal, "hey lady, where's my bottle?" I wonder if we can get him a flat screen tv in there so he can watch "Sesame Street". Kids do still watch that don't they? I've got to get caught up with the times....... Enough of my rambling, have a GREAT weekend and keep praying for all the precious NICU babies everywhere.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Spa Day on the Lily Pad

Today has been an incredibly busy day on the lily pad! Because of Zane's recent accomplishments with the bottle his doctor wrote orders for the speech therapist to come in and work with him. Orders are required before 34 weeks, gestational age. Michelle the speech therapist came at noon and immediately started him on a special bottle designed for preemie babies that will be breast fed. It is called the "Haberman". This bottle is unique because it requires the baby to suck harder and pull the milk down from the bottle into a chamber before the milk comes into the nipple. (It is made by the same company that makes the breast pumps.) There are guides on the chamber that let you know the flow. You can change the flow by simply turning the bottle in the baby's mouth and not breaking their "latch". It was more work for Zane for sure. However, he did complete the 42 ml's in the required 30 minutes. Michelle was impressed with his ability!

After lunch it was "spa time"! Zane got to get his first tub bath. It is actually called a swaddling bath. The babies are wrapped in a blanket and put into the warm water under a heat lamp. I think he enjoyed it. When it was over Kelly wrapped him in a towel and held him under the heat lamp while I changed his bedding. We put him back in his "camper", dressed him and took some photos of him with "moo moo". Baby Zane is 3 weeks old now and weighed 5 pounds last night. That seemed big until they brought in a term baby that weighed 9 pounds and 1 ounce. He was just stopping by our pod on his way to rooming in. He looked like a toddler!! I swear he could look over the side of the bassinet.

We had just finished our photo shoot when Ned got here. We were surprised that he made it by that early. While they are bonding with their little bundle of joy I'm in the family waiting room writing and updating my blog. I'll be going back home to Alabama tomorrow morning to work at the ole Shamrock. Will be back in Nashville Sunday. And now for your photo fix. Enjoy!

When you "live" in a little camper sometimes you just have to hold your nose!

Michelle, speech therapist, working with Zane on his suck, swallow and breathe techniques.




Spa time.....


Kelly getting instructions from Nurse Debra....

I'm ready for my nap, are y'all done yet?
Easy with the srubby dub dub.....

aaahhhhhh....

hey, this heat lamp is "cool"....

oh brother....

My best side?


Zane and Moo Moo. Zane's getting bigger!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Ding, Ding, Ding, We Have a WINNER!!!

This was a really fun contest for us and I hope it was for you too! Your comments were so much fun to read. Look for more "In honor of Zane" contest in the future. Remember, we're having a contest every month! If you have a great idea for a contest leave it in a comment or send me an email. I'm definitely open for suggestions.

And now for the winner......


Drum roll, Please.......

The winner is,



Val Green


Congratulations Val! email me and let me know which prize you would like!

Can you stand a few more Baby Zane photos? First let me give you an update. He's still having a positive "smear" test. Dr. Hassel is not worried and his morning x-ray was normal. He once again completed his entire bottle this morning, 40 mls. Thats an ounce and a third! Apparently this is amazing for a preemie at the gestational age of 33 weeks! They will be requesting the speech therapist come in early and work with him. They normally don't even attempt the bottle until 34 weeks. So the speech therapist does not even see them before 34 weeks. Have I mentioned that baby Zane is an over achiever? He just hangs out all day in his little "camper" and incubates. Here are some more photos. Enjoy!


Justa snoozin'......



Kicked back and takin' it easy....



Who needs a "plug"?


"Enough of those 'baby taking a bottle' photos, show 'em how I burp like a man!"





Yep, Zane's name is on EVERYTHING!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

More Photos!

Yep! I'm the Queen of the Camera here on the 'lilly pad'! I take photos of Baby Zane everyday. When I'm not here I leave strict instructions for Ned & Kelly to take his picture.

To answer a question from the comments.... No viewing window! Not even on the 'lilly pad'. We actually have to be 'let in' to the wing he is on, we then stop at the scrubbing station and do our 3 minute scrub then it's time to put our hospital gown on over our clothes. When all this is done we can go into his "pod". Security is tight! Zane shares his pod with 5 other babies and 2 nurses.

When we arrived this morning we were met at the scrubbing station by this weeks doctor, Dr. Hassel. She wanted to let us know that Zane had some blood show up in his "stool smear". They do a smear once a shift. Because of this he had an x-ray and everything looked good. She said it might be from the human milk fortifier that he is on. She discontinued the fortifier for a while and ordered a "smear" of every dirty diaper. He is active and acting like himself so Dr. Hassel says this tells her he is not having a belly ache or feeling sick in any way. They will keep a close eye on him until the "smear" comes back negative. He is taking one bottle per shift, the rest of his feedings are using his "tube". At today's bottle feeding he took it all! Yep, every bit. And he did this in under 20 minutes. Atta boy Zane!

Don't forget the "June Giveaway" contest. The contest ends Wednesday, June 24th at noon. Scroll down to the "June Giveaway"entry and leave your comment telling me if you were born early, late or on the date! The comments so far have been really interesting and I've enjoyed reading them every day. Check out what the winner will receive at our website http://www.shamrockm.com/
Now, on to the photos! You'll probably notice something unusual in some of them. NOTHING on his face!! Yesterday when we got here his feeding tube had been moved from his nose back to his mouth. His nurse yesterday decided to take it out for him to have his bottle and then replace it in his nose. (It is easier for him to latch onto the bottle and work on his skills without the tube.)You know I jumped at the opportunity to get as many photos as I could "tube free"before he had to go back in his "camper" the giraffe bed. Enjoy!













Bath Time on the Lilly Pad.....









Monday, June 22, 2009

Father's Day

Father's day was a wonderful day on the "lilly pad"! Ned & Kelly spent the day with Zane and Dan and I came up in the afternoon so Dan could have some quality time with his favorite little fella! He was amazed at how you can just sit and watch him for hours and the time seems to fly by! Grandpa Dan also had another gift for Zane, his own pair of cowhide chaps!

He is doing GREAT! His doctors change on a weekly basis and this weeks doctor was very pleased with his progress and said he was advanced for his age. Gestational age that is. He has been increased to 2 bottles per 24 hours, one per shift. Saturday he took the entire bottle. Today he took over half before he fell asleep. This afternoon he had a bath. He's had several baths but this is the first one where I was the assistant. It was fun for me and Kelly....Zane not so sure.... he is a boy though! Tomorrow, bath photos!

Here are some photos from the weekend. Enjoy!

Ned getting his "how to give a baby a massage" lesson.






Once again, massage then nap! Oh what a life!

Ned's first Father's Day...... one I'm sure he'll never forget.
Have you noticed Ned's cap? It says "I'm Zane's Dad". Ned wears it to the hospital everyday and everybody around here loves it. Dan made it for him right after Zane's arrival.
This shirt says it all.......
All little buckaroos have to have a pair of chaps! When your grandfather can make you a pair you get 'em early!
Doesn't he look proud?

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Don't forget to ENTER!

I think I've said this millions of times in my (rodeo) life! But today I'm referring to my June Giveaway contest. Click here for details. You can't win if you don't enter......It's really easy too. You only have to leave a comment at the bottom of the "June Giveaway" blog entry telling me if you were born early, late or on the date. If you don't know you can make stuff up. I don't care. I'm not going to research any of the answers. I'm taking your word for it. Have you been reading the comments? They are very interesting. Hayes Ludwig's really impressed me! He's another over achiever for sure. If you are having trouble leaving a comment simply leave it as "anonymous" and add your name in the content. If that doesn't work email me. I'll help you out. I'm nice that way. Well, we are fixin to close for the day at the ole Shamrock and I'm heading to Sam's with my mom to pick up a few things for Ned & Kelly. I'll be heading back to Nashville tomorrow. Two days without seeing Baby Zane is 2 days too many!! Have a GREAT weekend and DON'T FORGET TO ENTER!

Friday, June 19, 2009

Ahhhhh..... Zane's first massage!

Pampered for sure! Zane got his first massage yesterday! I'm pretty sure he loved it. Tasha the occupational therapist came by and taught Kelly how to give a baby a massage. This technique is very important for preemies. When babies are in the womb they stretch out. As space in there gets cramped they start to "ball" up. Hence the term "Fetal Position". (Not just a blog, but a real learning experience!) Unfortunately preemies aren't in the womb long enough to start "balling up". Although Zane was in the "pike" position at birth. (that's a diver term for all my rodeo buddies) In fact Dr. Lombardi signed Zane's board and gave him a perfect "10" on delivery! He's a real comic! Being in the womb in zero gravity aids in the baby's ability to ball up and stretch out. When they are born gravity takes over and they lay stretched out a lot....see photos from other blog entries below. At around 32 weeks gestational age the baby begins this 'balling' up process. In the NICU at 32 weeks Tasha starts coming around and teaching the massage techniques. Ned will get his lesson today at 2:30. Tasha actually said the daddy's tend to do a better job! Isn't that amazing! They not only learn massage but they learn relaxation and calming techniques. Today's babies are soooo lucky! At 34 weeks (gestational age) the speech therapist will come by and work with Zane on his suck, swallow and breathing, all necessary to eat from a bottle instead of his feeding tube. He is 33 weeks today. That is something we have had to get used to, using his gestational age as opposed to his birth age. He is 2 weeks old by his birth age and it has been a wild and crazy 2 weeks. We all have learned so much. Not the least being how many wonderful friends and family we have been blessed with. Zane was weaned out of his giraffe bed again Wednesday. Was moved into the open air crib during the night Wednesday night. Thursday night his body temp dropped again and it was back to his giraffe bed. He just can't decide where he wants to sleep. He may be a little too young to go to open air but by weight he qualifies. He weighed 4 pounds and 10 ounces last night!!

If you haven't entered our June Giveaway you need to now. Just click here June Giveaway read all about it and enter! It's easy, it's fun and somebody is going to win, it might as well be you! If you don't know if you were born early, late or on the date. Make something up. I'm not going to call your mother and verify your answer!

And by the way.... I'm back in Alabama today working at our store. We don't have air conditioning. It is hot. I am hot. I am sweating. It's definitely not like this on the 'Lilly Pad' at Centennial Women's Hospital. We get to the hospital early and leave late so we've missed all this heat wave mumbo-jumbo that I kept hearing about. Now I get to experience it first hand. My weather bug just started blinking....Heat Advisory.... I knew it! I'm going to melt......


I do have photos today! Can you believe how much he has changed since birth! It totally amazes me! Enjoy!













Moo Moo the cow is still a little bigger but not for long!