Overnight

Riley seems to have grown overnight! No joke...I am there everyday and on Tuesday when I went to see him he just looked so much bigger. It kind of blew me away. I just kept looking at him in amazement, like, who is this baby?? Of course it was Riley but oman, even the next day I was still in shock. His head is bigger...his body is bigger...he looks longer...he is filling out more! He is now 3lbs 2oz so he has gained a whole pound since being born (he had a lot of ups and downs with his weight gain). So, I know it is not a lot and it has been gradual but this little guy is not so little anymore! Although of course he is still pretty little compared to newborns born full term but that's a given.

I didn't take any pictures yesterday. He had a rough day because he had an eye exam and if you have ever had an eye exam, imagine trying to give a baby an eye exam when they don't open their eyes a lot, let alone hold their eyes still when they are open. Poor little guy...I don't like to think about it. Thankfully his eyes are fine! However, he did not want to be messed with after the whole ordeal (they told me about it- I wasn't there) and was sleeping a ton. They kept the lights turned way down so it wasn't as ideal for taking pictures either. He did open his eyes to let me know he knew I was there when I was talking to him and gave me a few sleepy smiles.

They also took out his oxygen tube Tuesday in the early morning and he has been doing great breathing on his own so far! If he has problems they may need to put it in again but for now he hasn't had any. So he just has his little feeding tube going into his nose now. That will be in for a while because they won't start trying to bottle feed him for a few more weeks.

Here are a couple pics from the weekend. I will take more today and you will see how he now doesn't have the oxygen canula and possibly see the difference that he is bigger!

Is it really Friday already? can't believe it. So to catch up a little...i was feeling better monday so of course first thing i went and saw riley! love that little guy. a few things...

~He had an eye test and they found out he has no problems with his vision! yay!! He does have some vessels that are still developing but that is normal and they ruled out an eye disease that is common in preemies.

~He moved...to another wing of the nicu. He was in the~ low weight wing but they decided he was stable and good to move to a different area. He has awesome nurses and they have been really helpful and nice in answering all my questions. They also gave me a textbook size "Parent's guide to Preemies" so maybe there are guidebooks! ;)

~He may have an infection because his red blood count has been kind of low so they had to take some blood yesterday and they are going to run some tests. He did so well and i held him and talked to him and he only cried a little!

~Funny story...the nurse had him on his stomach in his incubator (this helps with digestion) and had got him all settled in and went to check on another baby. When she came back over to see how Riley was doing he had scooted all the way up to the edge of his incubator! She said he just looked at her with this little look in his eyes like, "see what i did!" It still makes me laugh.

~He loves being held and it is so nice and peaceful to be there holding him if he is sleeping and talking to him. His weight goes up and down so it's not too much different than before. They are supplementing him to make sure he is getting enough calories.

Just a couple pics from the weekend...well these were taken Friday. I had food poisoning over the weekend and felt awful so I didn't make it up to the hospital to see him yesterday :( That means lots of calls to the hospital to see how he is doing and Rocky trying to make me feel better by saying that I will be able to better see how he has changed after a day of not seeing him. He says that because he wasn't able to go up to the hospital for a day or two and when he saw Riley next he said he looked so different. Either way, I miss my Riley!

He is 2lbs 11oz. They took the feeding tube out of his mouth and put it in his nose, which means a smaller tube and more comfortable for him.

He is sound asleep in the pictures but don't be fooled...he moves a lot in his sleep and he is pretty active when he is awake as well! Either way he is so cute and we are so happy with the progress he is making!

To not get behind on blogging, let me just say that I can't believe Riley is almost 1 month old! It's true what Rocky says when I sometimes get down, that Riley will be home before we know it! He is as cute as ever and is changing as he grows. Rocky thinks he will have my nose now vs his and Riley now weighs 2 lbs 7 oz! He is on his way up! The extra ounces are plumping him up little by little!

In a couple days Riley will be getting less oxygen because he is doing so well breathing on his own. I know he is still a while away from coming home but it is a step in the right direction! I was talking to his nurse last night and there are some things that need to happen before he is cleared to go home. A lot of people (including myself to start) think that it is only about how much he weighs and after he gets up to a certain weight he will be able to come home but there is a little more to it than that.

He needs to be eating on his own (either through breastfeeding or bottle feeding), maintain his temperature in an open crib (he will go to an open crib later on), not have any dips in his heart rate (which they call 0's, A's and B's depending on how much it drops- this is normal in preemies and goes away as they get older), have steady weight gain, and they also usually send the babies home off oxygen so when he can breathe on his own.

Riley right now is breathing really well on his own. He is still getting fed through a feeding tube mostly because he is still so young. His temperature is steady but he is still too young to be in an open crib and he has had less O's, A's and B's but obviously we don't want any of those when he is ready to go home! So some things just come with time. We are being patient- although sometimes I just want to unhook him from the monitors and take him home with me because he is so cute and funny and I don't like missing moments with him! But at the same time, I know he needs to be taken care of in a way that is done best in the nicu, as hard as it is for me to say that because I wanted to take care of him through the whole pregnancy and have a normal delivery. But things happen for a reason and I am thankful that he is doing so well and we keep praying for his health and progress and really I just try to focus on that and stay positive because some things we'll never know the "why" for and I could think of all the what if's...from what if when my water broke I had known it was actually my water breaking...to so many others. But I try not to. Positive thoughts! And every day when I go see Riley and when he goes and grabs my finger or makes a funny expression while I'm talking to him or is all nice and calm when we are holding him, I think about all the wonderful times we will have together in the future and I know we have so much to be grateful for and we pray for all those babies and their families who are going through so much more than we are and also those we know who are going through some very hard trials in their lives.

Happy New Year!

Happy new year 2012! This year has a lot of new adventures in store and we are excited that Riley will be part of them. He is growing and changing and we love the time we spend with him getting to know him and seeing his personality and how much spirit he has in him! We took a ton of pictures in the last few days on my phone (some are clearer than others) and here are a few I uploaded.

It was great seeing Riley a few nights ago because we got to hold him and took our first family picture! He is doing well, and is now weighing 2 lbs 4 oz! Since taking these pictures he has plumped up a little more (I can tell in his arms).
They did start giving him a protein supplement to help with his weight gain but took him off it today because he wasn't having a very good reaction to it so they will see how he gains without it, and if he needs something extra they will try something else.

We try to go see Riley during the hours when they do his cares because he is awake and it is fun to see him with his eyes open! Although, if he is sleeping he will sometimes wake up if we start talking to him (or laughing at his cute facial expressions he makes while he sleeps!) He has given us more smiles in the last couple days, if they are jst gas bubbles don't tell me, I will still say its because he is happy to see us!

Here are some pictures! It is interesting, because when I take pictures of Riley in his incubator it is hard to compare his size to anything (they don't let us put anything in his incubator to compare) but in the pictures holding him you can see a little more his size (mostly head size because he is all swaddled up!).

Just a quick little update! We went to see Riley tonight and he was up to some tricks...he decided he didn't like the oxygen tube that goes in his nose (although who would like that?) and he learned how to pull it out! He has done it various times throughout the day and even did it once while we were there with him. He was sneaky about it though ;) He moved one hand up to his face and he likes to sleep with his hands near his face so we didn't notice at first, but he pulled out the oxygen tube and was content breathing on his own! They are keeping him on low flow oxygen which is letting him breathe on his own but opening his lungs up a little more so he doesn't have to put in as much effort breathing. So that was funny to hear about, the good part is that when he does pull it out they are alerted so they can put it back in for him even though I'm sure he doesn't want them to!

One of the best parts of Christmas was us going to visit Riley...I can't believe how he is changing little by little. I see him every day so sometimes I can't tell until I am looking at his pictures. Rocky wasn't able to go visit for a couple days and he felt like Riley looked a little different. Either way, he is just so cute! :) We are both so glad he is healthy and he is growing! He is gaining weight and is now 2lbs 2oz! He is doing well on his feedings. He has some reflux and sometimes he tries to keep it down and that affects his breathing. His doctors say he should grow out of it as he grows and his system matures.

We took a bunch of pictures on Christmas but I am trying to send them to my gmail from my phone and it hasn't finished syncing up so hopefully later tonight or tomorrow I will have more pictures ready!

Speaking of Christmas, Riley got spoiled this year from family and friends who were so thoughtful to think of him. Thank you! I told Riley all about his gifts and all of you who are thinking about him and praying for him.

Today Riley was feeling nice and feisty and wan't happy to get his diaper changed! (This isn't anything new though!) He made quite a fuss but it is just so cute because he is so little but moves around so much and his face scrunches up and I can't help but laugh a little as I try to calm him down. He just fusses for a little bit and then decides to chill and watch everything going on around him.