One more night in the hospital

One more night at the hospital...

A quick update on Alex.  He had surgery to repair an inguinal hernia today.  Actually they repaired two. 

On Wednesday last week during his bath I noticed a bulge on his left side that wasn't there on the right.  Thursday we saw the pediatrician who said "Yes, its a hernia."  And on Friday we met with the pediatric surgeon who said "How does Tuesday sound for surgery?"

So today we reported for duty at 6:45 AM.  After he was weighed we met with the anesthesiologists and nurses and they took him into the OR at 7:50 AM.  The surgery started by 8:30 and was done by 9:30.  Its pretty amazing.  They made a small incision in his belly button and used a camera to see what was going on.  They found a hernia on both sides and so repaired both.  Apparently, he just has small incisions on each side.  

We saw him in recovery shortly there after.  And boy was he upset!  Too upset to eat.  After calming him down we spent a little time there and then were taken up to the pediatric floor to his room.  The next few hours were spent trying to keep him comfortable with pain medicine.  This was the hard part for us.  It's not easy to see your baby who never cries, cry and wimper without being able to tell you how he feels.  Around 4PM he finally ate a substantial amount and he settled down a little more and then slept really well.

By the time he woke again around 8:00 PM he was a totally different kid.  He was more alert, less fussy, and obviously having much less discomfort.  He ate like a champ and seems to be mostly back to his old self.  What a difference just a few hours makes.

Usually this procedure is an outpatient procedure.  But because he was premature and his gestationally corrected age is only 2 weeks, he has to stay overnight for monitoring.  He's doing great and we'll be home tomorrow.  

Photo Shoot - January 21, 2012

It had crossed my mind that it would be nice to have some of those professional newborn photos taken, but he arrived early and searching out a photographer wasn't a big priority.  I think we kind of missed the phase where you can get those sleepy baby photos.  There is no way he will stay sleeping while we undress him and get him into all kinds of cute little poses.  Today after his bath he was awake and content, so we tried our own little version of a newborn photo shoot.

This is a yawn.  I realize that it can look like crying, but he
was pretty content  during this whole attempt.

January 20, 2012

It's hard to believe that we've been home for 3 weeks already.  Whereas the 4 weeks in the hospital felt like an eternity, the weeks at home have flown by.  Alex is a good baby, crying only when he's hungry, chilly or needs to be changed.   We have managed to get out quite a bit with the balmy weather, which is great for mom!  It's been a lot of fun to show him off.

He's growing and gaining weight.  On Monday his official weight at the doctor's office was 7 lbs 14 oz.
At home on the baby scale today it says he's 8 lbs 2 oz.

One of my coworkers made this blanket for Alex.  The jungle print is on one side.  The giraffe print is on the other with the embroidery.  Its soft and warm.  He loves it.  Alex does not like to be cold.  He likes to be toasty warm.

January 9, 2012

Today is the first day that Laura and Alex were home by themselves.  Mike is working Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays through January.  We had a pretty busy day. 

It started with a weight check at the clinic.  He's 7 lbs 3.9 oz!!!  That is a whole pound bigger than when he came home from the hospital on December 30. 

Thanks Aunt Lani for the new quilt!

We went to the grocery store, played on the floor, had some tummy time and made dinner.  All in all, a pretty good day.

Tummy time went well as long as Alex was being entertained with toys.

This picture was taken shortly before the crying started.  Tummy time on the boppy pillow was not so popular.  

January 6, 2012 - First Trip to the Science Museum

After a few days at home, we thought we'd venture out of the house.  We hadn't been to the Science Museum of Minnesota for a while, so Alex made his first trip to St. Paul.  He did really well.  We also went to the Green Mill on Grand Ave for dinner.