Connor had his first Thanksgiving and may still be recovering from overindulging on formula.... ;) On Wednesday, before Thanksgiving, Connor weighed in at 11lbs. 15oz. If he is maintaining a fairly constant rate of weight gain, he should be about 12.5 to 12.75 lbs by now. For thanksgiving, Papa, Uncle Jeremy, and Aunt Elizabeth came to visit. Papa brought Connor a t-shirt with a tractor on it and Uncle Jeremy & Aunt Elizabeth brought Connor his first Christmas ornament. Connor is now eagerly awaiting Santa and the opportunity to rip apart wrapping paper.

11 oz. per week.......

.....is the rate at which Connor is gaining weight. I wonder what it would be if he had actually been able to eat like normal that one week he was refluxing so badly and only gained a few ounces. As of today he is 10lbs. 1 oz.

I think it is obvious he is letting some of this weight gain thing go to his head......just look at his cheeks!

9 lbs. 7 oz.

Connor had a few days last week without any significant problems. His gas problem is no longer a problem, but now he has very bad reflux. He is taking a few medications to help and we've divided his feedings into smaller amounts given more times per day.
Other than that, the past week has been somewhat uneventful. Connor has gained weight well since coming home. He is now up to 8lbs 5 oz. Hopefully that trend will continue even with the reflux problem.

Connor's trouble with being gassy has dramatically improved leading to an increase in sleep for us. The pediatrician changed his formula on his first visit Wednesday and it seems to be helping a lot. At his visit, Connor weighed in at 6 lbs. 13 oz.
We've found that Connor really likes "belly time". During belly time we lay him on his belly (obviously) so he can work on strengthening his muscles. Victoria also reads to him during this time. He is stronger than I would have thought. He can hold his head up looking straight ahead for 2 & 3 minutes at a time. He can also kick and push with his legs pretty well. Wednesday during belly time it appeared as though he was attempting to roll over. This all gives me some hope that he may only have some minor neuromotor effects from the cyst.
This weekend Connor's Nonna is coming to help out while I study for a final exam in one of my courses. Hopefully that will give Victoria a chance to get some rest.

Home at last!

After 103 days in the hospital, Connor was finally discharged. We all stayed in a room together last night at the hospital before we could come home today. Victoria and I were both a little nervous. He had gas and was very uncomfortable last night because of it (so we didn't sleep much). The hospital sent us home with some diapers and disposable bottles which was nice (we/our insurance probably had already paid for that stuff). Connor won't get to go anywhere except to the doctor for his first winter. He has too high of a risk for getting very sick if he comes into contact with others who are sick.

Coming Home?

After three months of calling the NICU home, Connor may be coming home this weekend! Notice I said "may". He has to get through the rest of the week without any bumps. It will be nice not having to drive to the hospital to be able to see him. We'll know for sure Friday afternoon or Saturday morning. We'll stay at the hospital with him overnight in some special room they have and go home the next day.
Victoria and I spent most of yesterday putting together furniture and arranging his room. We still have some decorating to do, but I think all of the necessities are in place.

Update

Connor had another eye exam today. The ROP had advanced to stage 2 sometime b/w the last exam and now, but the ophthalmologist says it looks like it has already started to regress. The Dr. will check his eyes again in 10 days, but doesn't expect any problems.
The neonatologist also said today that the only thing keeping him in the NICU is the jaundice. His bilirubin has come down 50% in the past week, just slightly over half way to where it needs to be. They have switched to feeding him with a bottle only. Sometime after 6p.m. tonight they are going to remove his feeding tube. It will be the first time since the night he was born that he doesn't have some foreign tube, line, etc. going into his body.

Unfortunately not all of today's news is so good. Connor's last 3 head ultrasounds have shown the development of what appears to be a fluid filled cyst just inferior and lateral to the lateral ventricle on the left side. The doctor says it is difficult to see and has scheduled an MRI for next week. The MRI will allow us to see exactly where it is and how big it is. There is no way right now to predict what symptoms this may cause down the road. We just have to wait and see.

3 months old

Today Connor made it official. He has committed to LSU (see the photo taken during the announcement).

So apparently the weight I listed yesterday was from a few days ago. Last night Connor checked in at 6 lbs. 1 oz. He is 17.75 inches long. I've been told that length is one of the things preemies are slowest to catch up on. They have started to increase the number of times he is bottle fed, and hopefully he will soon be off tube feedings.

Victoria and I are currently (and very slowly) working on Connor's room. I put together his crib and his stroller last week. It seems like such a big bed for him, but I'm sure before I know it I'll be talking about how it is too small for him. I'll put up some pictures of his room once it is finished.

Connor

Connor will be 3 months old tomorrow. He now weighs 5lbs. 14oz., so that is a gain of 4lbs. in 3 months. He has been through so much in three months, probably more than I have in 26 yrs, but he his doing very well. He is definitely a fighter. We hoped he would be home sometime between now and the end of the month, but he still has a fair amount of jaundice and was diagnosed with stage 1 retinopathy of prematurity last week. Since he developed it this late, he has a low risk for progression and a higher probability that it will fix itself. Because of this, the neonatologists have told us to not expect him to come home till sometime in October (at the earliest).
I will try to post more pictures and possibly a slide show of Connor when I have more time next week.