1 month stats

We took Andrew in for his 1 month check up and here are his stats:
Weight: 10 lb 12 oz, 65%
Height: 22 inches, 60%
Head circumference: 38 centimeters, 40%

Also, to update, his hair is still as thick as at birth but has faded from black to a dark brown. His eyes are still grey but may be turning brown.

The Next Generation of Computer Hackers

I got a smile!

I elicited the first spontaneous smile I've seen from Andrew today. And it's quite a smile...let me tell you. :) I look forward to more in the future. So far Andrew has been a very mellow, relaxed baby. He doesn't cry much - just when he's hungry. He does a fair bit of grunting as his digestion progresses, but he's often content to sit and watch Mom make dinner or his brother bandy about. When he sits, he is always waving his little arms or looking around actively when awake. He still sleeps about 16 hours a day, so our routine is still eat, poop, get changed, eat, sleep, sleep, sleep, repeat. He's also quite strong and has incredible neck strength for a baby his age and doesn't object to tummy time like his brother. I'll post his 1 month stats soon, but I will say he gained 1 ounce each day from the time he was one week old, so he's growing healthily.
-Christine

Do other parents do this with their kids?

Thanksgiving 2008

First bath!

Three weeks for a bath....does that seem wrong?

I could get used to this

Jose and Andrew get some quality time together.

One on two

This was my first week alone with the boys starting on Wednesday. So far I've survived and it hasn't been too bad. It has been lots easier because friends have brought over dinners this week and I haven't had to worry about cooking or grocery shopping. I'm learning the art of timing their sleeping so I can nap. Ideally I nurse Andrew and get him to sleep around 11:30am, just before I put Sam down for his nap so I can sleep for as much of Sam's two hour nap as possible. So far I've managed 0 minutes one day, 1 hr the next and 45 minutes today. The nights are still rough (asleep 2 hrs, awake 1-2 hrs, asleep 2-3 hrs, awake 1 hr, then Dave lets me sleep in 1 hr and I'm up for the day), but I'm managing alright.

Houdini Pee

Andrew has mastered the art of leaking pee out of the middle of his back. Don't ask me how, but often just after you've finished changing his diaper, you go to pick him up and "Pow!" he's wet all over the middle of his back. Makes for lots of laundry...

I guess they are brothers...

...the resemblance is a bit uncanny.

Good name...

One Dimple

I'll try to get a picture of Andrew smiling in his sleep, because one of the cutest things is he's got one little dimple in his right cheek, but none in his left. He's just charming when he smiles and flashes that one dimple.

No diet for me!

Today Andrew was weighed at the doctor's and he's managed to regain his birth weight (8lb 9oz or 3.885kg) in 9 days. They usually want to make sure they do so by 14 days, so he's doing really well! It made me feel reassured because he has turned out to be a super efficient nurser. Babies take anywhere from 1o minutes to 45 minutes to complete a nursing and Andrew knocks them out in an average of 7 minutes. Sometimes he'll eat often, every hour or hour and a half, but other times he nurses for 7 minutes and then sleeps for three and a half hours! Not that I'm complaining, and apparently he's getting what he needs to grow. He's also a champion sleeper (knock on wood) and spends much of his day and night sleeping, with minimal fussing. So far he's been a really easy baby to care for, which is a blessing as I'm learning to balance caring for Sam and Andrew.

Sweetpea & Daddy

I get such a feeling of peace and inner joy holding either of my children when they are asleep.

Cute...and part Klingon?

Is it just me or does he look a little like Worf?

Homeward bound

Andrew is coming home with us!

Real clothes

No IV, no wires, no UV lights...
Woohoo!!
Just a hearing test to go.

Biliruben no more!

No more club ICU for Andrew!

Coming home!!

Biliruben at 11.5!
Its time to blow this popsicle stand!

Bililrubin is down!

Bilirubin level is 11.2 - low enough!

Now we wait to talk to the doctor and see if he gets discharged this AM or PM. Yay!!

Goal 2 met, but struggling on Goal 3

Andrew ate enough breastmilk through the night to significantly decrease the sugar solution they were feeding him through the IV, so he met Goal 2! However, his billirubin level was 15.2 this morning (he needs to be below 10), indicating he's still struggling with jaundice. So he won't be released today and they'll move him under the big lights in his own incubator. This is the "baby club med" that his brother Sam also visited in the NICU in his early days. The good news is I can start breastfeeding him in addition to the bottles and they'll take his billirubin levels again tomorrow and hopefully they are low enough they can release him.
-Christine

Goal 1 met & sleeping like a baby

Andrew is now off the forced air and maintaining good oxygen levels, so goal one is met. He ate 35mL of breastmilk from the bottle, so he is making good progress on Goal 2. Lastly, he is snuggled up with his glow blanket and sleeping like a baby so hopefully bilirubin is decreasing. We will check back with him tomorrow at 9am after a night in our own bed. -Christine

Billiruben boy 2

Not to be outdone by his brother, Andrew got into the spirit of Halloween by dressing up as a Waitmo Caves Glowworm. Notice that he no longer has supplied air delivered and is not in the warming chamber....all good signs. Hopefully the little guy can come home this weekend, just as long as his billiruben doesn't spike. -Dave

Breathe deeply

Andrew is still breathing rapidly, but it is clear that he is breathing more deeply with each breath. We find out more later this morning, Regardless, Christine is being discharged this morning, so we will have to commute from home to visit the little guy. It is really a shame they discontinued the parent boarding program they had - it was really a great service to families, esp. for mothers that need to pump milk regularly.

Chest clearing and ok to eat

After waiting all morning, we finally got to talk to today's neonatologist and the chest xray looked better, he sounded like he was clearing. Good news! That plus no sign of infection in blood means antibiotics are ending. Furthermore, the doc okayed nursing and bottlefeeding. Unfortunately, a little jaundice has set in, so he's going on a bilirubin blanket as soon as he is weaned off the forced air. Sound complex enough yet? My summary is this:
Goal 1: Come off forced air at 3pm and maintain high oxygen saturation.
Goal 2: Eat 45mL of pumped breastmilk every 3 hours which allows IV sugar solution to be decreased proportionately and eventually eliminated.
Goal 3: Reduce bilirubin levels so jaundice goes away and they will release him.

If all goes well, he could be home tomorrow, but keep praying. We'll update more as we know it.
-Christine

Resting and Waiting

I'd forgotten how sore and tired you are after labor (not to mention helpless when you can't feel your legs after your epidural), but I'm steadily making progress and feeling better. Opting for some stronger pain medication made a nice difference.  Perspective is a funny thing: I felt so civilized to be walking the hallways freshly showered in my pajamas and own underwear (as opposed to a hospital gown, robe and bizarre fish net disposable underwear...don't ask). 

Andrew is still in the NICU due to his faster than preferred respiratory rate. His chest xray yesterday and today came back a little fuzzy showing 'wet' lungs but blood tests showed no signs of infection. Hopefully his chest clears up tomorrow or they may start him on antibiotics for fear of pneumonia and he'd have to stay in at least another 48 hrs. The saddest/most frustrating part is the doctors don't want him to eat while his respiratory rate is elevated for fear of aspirating so he's only had an IV of sugar solution since he nursed yesterday morning. What a welcome to the world! I've been pumping away and saving up a store of breast milk for when they allow it and am on call to come nurse. I get discharged from the hospital Friday at 10am and my guess is we'll still be waiting to get the word from the pediatrician on duty as to their orders for Andrew. We'll be waiting and praying until then.

As for the time being, I'm resting while Dave's out eating dinner and enjoying all the wonderful emails and blog comments we've received from family and friends - thank you so much! I spent time this afternoon talking to Andrew and passing along the well wishes from everyone. I can't express to you enough how happy and blessed all your messages make us feel. Thank you thank you.

Brothers

Sam got to see Andrew for the first time today and was scared of him!  I guess it is understandable - I think Sam saw all the wires and hoses hooked up to Andrew and thought we were going to do the same thing to him.  He did not want to look at Andrew, nor stay in the room, so he left with Grandma.  I brought him back 1 hour later and tried to explain that the wires and hoses were there to help Andrew.  We sat and looked at Andrew for about 10 minutes and I explained what the wires were for and had Sam point out all of Andrew's fingers, feet, hands, toes, hair, and nose.  We sang the Wheel on the Bus and the Itsy Bitsy Spider for Andrew which Sam enjoyed as well.  Sam even said a nice "bye-bye" to Andrew as we left.  -Dave

Best things ever for parents of the newborn

So, it might seem a simple thing, but the best thing ever for parents (and especially the father) of a newborn at the hospital is to bring food.  Kevin was great yesterday, bringing us taquitos and horchata for lunch right after Andrew was born.  Boy was that fabulous timing - Christine was hungry, I was hungry and the nursing staff forgot to feed Christine.  Oh yeah, he also brought us flowers, but it is awfully hard to eat flowers. :)

Then last night, Jetta and Peter brought us a virtual feast of sushi.  YUM.  Talk about a nice alternative to hospital food.  I think the nursing staff and our neighbors were probably jealous.

Of course, having my aunt and uncle watch Sam when we went to the hospital and now Christine's mom and dad take care of Sam and the house (hooray!  our new garden is going to be watered!!) is also an incredible blessing.     It sure would have been a lot harder without their help.

Finally, it has been nice for us to have visitors.  The hospital is a tough place - especially when we miss having Sam with us and have only gotten limited time with our newborn.  The nursing staff is nice, but time seeing friends has been great.

Dave

NICU Thoughts

You might think that after having Sam in the NICU when he was born, I would be more comfortable having Andrew there.  No.  Same impatience as to why they have him there when he looks fine, why they don't let us hold him, why they don't let us feed him.  I'm sure that they know what they are doing and are trying to minimize all potential health risks to him, but it sure is not easy to watch, nor to easily accept.  Something inside me thinks that the best thing for him right now would be for mom and him to be together, having him feed on mom's milk, and rest together.  But inside the hospital, what either mom or dad think is not important.  But the care that he is getting and the concern that all of the staff has show us in terms of explain what they are doing and why they are doing it, has been top notch.  Guess I still have a bit to learn about patience....

Dave

Kid comparison

Baby photos of Sam and Andrew...can you tell you who is who?

Mom and baby

Christine visiting Andrew in the NICU. He's sleeping peacefully.

Intensive Care Unit

Andrew's respiration has been running a little high, so he has been in the NICU since yesterday. All his vitals are fine, but he has to get his breathing rate below 50 before he can be released to us.

Andrew's Head of Hair

He certainly has a good one!

tiny toes

Proud Daddy and son

What a blessing he is!

Tiny fingers, tiny hands

Sleeping like a baby

Great job Mommy!

Full body shots

Resting peacefully

And he only has one facial dimple...

Vitals

20 inches
8lbs 9oz
big head - guess it runs in the family

Welcome to the world!

Andrew Carta

Andrew David is here!

Hooray!!!

Hair

Is longer than Dad's....

Baby's head is visible!

pretty soon now sweetpea will be here!

Pushing has started!

stay tuned...

Resting peacefully

Mom is resting peacefully before the final push.

Sam Update

So Dave and Angela are watching Sam while we are at the hospital. Sam did just fine, eating his banana for breakfast without us. (See here) Angela took him out to see the trash truck and was pretty surprised that the trash truck guy said hello to Sam by name. O'Dell the trash guy was probably wondering who this new person was with Sam. :)

All through the night!!

I got my one hour nap from 1 am to 2am while Christine dealt with her initial contractions and sent out her announcement e-mails so you all would have this site available. We stopped by the donut shop for Christine's final meal of a maple bar and old fashioned since she would not be able to eat again until after delivery.

Checked into the hospital with no problems and we walked around to speed up labor until 5:30 am, but the pain started to be severe enough that Christine opted for an epidural. Christine and I both got 1.5 hours of sleep after that, while her contractions continued, but now without pain. We were lucky enough to get the same nurse, Kelly, that we had for Sam's birth, who we loved. Coincidentally, she lives in Mission Hills on another stretch of Falcon!

At 8:00am, the doctor broke Christine's water. Contractions are coming faster now, so I imagine it is only a matter of time.

Hey, I read that

Well, the contractions are still 5 minutes apart and lasting 45 seconds each, which gives me 4 minutes and 15 seconds to do things like check the blog and send out the address to people. And yes, I did make him do all those things, but it's like leaving for vacation, right? Clean the dishes, take out the trash, leave it like you'd like to find it.

Dave's Aunt Angela and Uncle Dave are over and ready to take care of Sam when he wakes up. We'll be heading to the hospital shortly (I gave Dave his hour nap, now it's time to go get checked out) and we will give updates, though you are all probably asleep and not going to be reading this for a while.

Wish me happy laboring!

Final Nesting!!!

So Christine is starting labor and here it is midnight. Somehow she feels it is important to get all of our todo items complete before Sweetpea is born. So in between contractions, she has had me:

1. Wash all dishes in the kitchen
2. Put away all of her items for Craig's List
3. Change the comforter
4. Tidy up

This in addition to the things we HAVE to do to get ready for the hospital.....but you know what they say - never argue with a pregnant woman in labor! :)

Dave

Still Braxton-Hicks contractions

I'm still getting "practice" contractions every day that aren't strong or frequent enough to count as labor, but enough to be uncomfortable. I'm starting to wonder when Sweet Pea's going to decide to make his or her appearance....

Still in the belly

But coming out soon!

Christine is starting to feel contractions.  Braxton Hicks or the real thing???

Kicking!!

Sweetpea has been kicking up a storm inside mommy's belly....and as of today Christine is as pregnant as she has ever been, since Sam was born two weeks early. It's getting close!