New Bed

Eric is a big boy now and has successfully maintained his tempature. That means he gets to move to an open crib.

Check out his new bed.


He was busy checking out the world around him, looking all over and responding to the new sounds of the NICU.


His primary evening nurse is Donna. Eric really likes her. Eric was really alert while she was feeding him and was totally fixated on his little ducky. It is the perfect size for him to focus on (thanks Michelle & Sheryl).

Gramps Visits from Montana

Grandpa Ralph and Eric meet.




Eric slept through most of the visit, but Grandpa Ralph got to see him growing ( he grows a lot while he sleeps) and watch me fumble through a diaper change.



Here he is snoozing. I like this picture because it captures the view I see as I sit next to his bed watching his every move. You might notice there is no feeding tube (also called the OG tube) in his mouth. They take it out between feedings now that he is a little bit older and getting fed every 3 hours.

cute pics that I love

Eric's hair is getting so much thicker. I can't tell yet if it's going to be brown or blonde....



Look at that CHUNKY leg!!! He is filling out rapidly.



Grandpa Ralph and grandma Jeannie are visiting this week from Montana and we cruised Union St with frozen yogurt in hand. Believe it or not, this was Tara's first excursion outside of the home or hospital!

Big Day

Yesterday was a big day for us. Eric got to meet Grandpa Ralph and Grandma Jeanne. They were excited to finally meet each other.

Eric and I also experimented with breast feeding for the first time. I was a little nervous but Eric was very eager. Around 33 or 34 weeks (Eric is 33) is when babies are ready to begin developing the coordination to breast feed. Our nurse, Barbara, helped us get organized.



Our time was more of an exploration of the area to see what Eric would do. He found the boob no problem, but latching on was little more difficult for us. He needs to be a little stronger before he can suck hard enough, but he did get a few drops. When I tryed to move him back to my chest for kangarooing he wanted nothing to do with it and moved himself right back down to the boob. He has the right idea but it will definitely be a big learning process for both of us.



Eric also graduated to the next unit. They move babies to NICU West who don't need us much attention in the way of things like IV's or breathing machines. Nurses Saddam and Barbara, and respiratory therapist, Martha moved Eric over to his new room. He will have the same nurses and doctors, which he is very happy about because he has come to really like them. In fact these nurses are a lot like family. They are amazing and so supportive. The work they do is so special and huge. I hope they all know how important of people they area. I tell them all the time.

His new room is filled with a lot of his friends that were born around the same time as he was. He is still on monitors and receives oxygen through nasal canula. He is down to one liter of pressure on the oxygen. He started at five and as he grows bigger and stronger has needed less pressure.



Here is a picture of his new room. There are many more windows in this room and they begin cycling day and night by turning down the lights in the unit at night. They are able to do this more often in this unit than in NICU East because they aren't as busy. The nurse in the picture is Mary and you can see her shaking her hands dry after washing them, which they are doing constantly (and so are we).

One of My Favorite Pics

He looks great with his puppy dog socks. Note this was a couple weeks ago and he now has a roll or two on those long legs.

Learning More

Mom and Dad are learning how to handle Eric a little more. Dad turned him over for the first time today and I have been settling him back into bed after our holding. Today nurse Mary also showed me how to sit him up so I can slide his shirt underneath him when I am dressing him. These may sound like simple tasks but after days and days of not really being able to handle him much these are a little intimidating but exciting things for all of us.

Eric is definitely learning how to tell us what he wants. He likes to be held for about an hour. After one hour he starts to fuss around and "de-stat" as he struggles for a new position. Once we put him back to bed he settles right down. He eats every 3 hours and about 20 minutes before feeding time he does the "I am hungry squirm". This is also when he get his temperature taken and a diaper change. The squirming makes this challenging but Eric is very patient with us.

Eric is a fan of his pacifier (aka pacey) and today was sucking on it so hard I could hear smacking noises. He gets the pacifier while he is being fed so he can learn to associate sucking with having a full belly.

Here is a picture of us hanging out. Eric's got the softest hair and all the nurses comment on the beautiful color.




Here is a picture of his cute socks with his pulse oximeter shining through. Thanks GA Kathy for the new socks. I have already washed them twice.

Click on the pictures

If you click on a picture, it will open up in a larger version. The larger version is better to download to your computer for ordering prints. ~aaron

I can see his legs fillin out

Eric's cheeks and legs are noticeably chunkier. He's up to about 3 lb, 4 oz.

When mom is holding him he will sometimes strain his neck and lift up and turn his head an inch or two. I'm not sure what he is trying to do but my theory is he is trying to pull out the annoying nose tubes. Sometimes it looks like he is intentionally pushing out the nose tubes by moving his head. I love his little shirts; red, yellow and blue. He looks sharp in those. and the ducky socks that aunt Kathy & uncle Rick sent him, even though they are smaller than you can imagine, are still too big. (as modeled above by the handsome kid). He is also growing lots of hair which looks blond-ish but maybe has a small bit of red...??? It's hard to tell yet.

Joe and Kate visited us last night and brought pizza. Um so yummy. I think I will go eat me a leftover slice right now. Thank you for the flowers and cookies and Lana's recipe home cooked stufferoni casserole!

Snoozing in Style

Eric loves his blue, fuzzy blanket from Joel and Shirin. He has managed to keep it pretty clean too. Well, I have washed it once or twice.



Nap time with Mommy

Eating It Up

Eric reached his goal of 27 cc's of milk every 3 hours today. That is almost one ounce of milk 8 times a day. Mom is busy keeping the milk machine stocked.

Here is a picture of a little under a weeks worth of milk production in our freezer.



Pumping the milk every 2 to 3 hours is the easy part. Washing the pumping gadgets adds to the fun. Here is Mom happily washing her pumping gadgets. If you call me and I don't pick up the phone it is likely because I am occupied with pumping (our napping, or with Eric) tasks.



Dad got so tired of my dish-soap hands that he decided to buy me a dishwasher just for the pumping gadgets. Look how nice it is.


Now I can update the blog and while washing the pump stuff.


Eric and I hung out again today.


He looks good in his yellow robe. Just cozied in after getting a clean diaper.

Snacks Switch for More Nap & Play Time

Today Eric's feedings inched up again. First he went to 21 cc's every 2 hours and after tolerating that well he went to 23 cc's. Then Dr. Slagle switched his feedings to every 3 hours with a slight increase every so many feeds until he hits his goal of 27cc's every 3 hours. Now he can take longer naps between snack times. Like a good DelloIacono Thies, he likes to eat. He even gets a little fussy right before feeding time.

Eric's breathing still "swings" as the medical folks say. That means he swings between shallow and deep breaths. He was swinging a lot and had an increase in his "A's & B's" since Dr. Slagle turned down the amount of pressure the hi-flow oxygen was delivering. This is common preemie behavior. She challenged him a bit to see if he was ready to turn it down, but he told her he wasn't ready for that yet. He likes to hold his breath when he poops & when he gets to comfey with a full belly.

His eyes are a little goopy again so he getting eye drops again, which don't seem to bug him to much.

Today when I was holding him my hand got a little cramp, a good sign that he is adding weight. He listened to me babble a bit and then fell asleep for a good while. He usually tells us when he is tired of being held and wants his space back in bed by getting squirmy and scrunching up his eyes.

More Clothes, More Holds, & Grandma & Grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa Thies and cousin Sam swung by for a visit. Eric opened his eyes and said hello to Grandma and Grandpa, which was nice of him because he sleeps a lot, unless of course he is getting changed, eating, or checking in with his nurse and doctor.





Eric really likes mommy's milk and is tolerating it well. He is now up to 18 cc's every 2 hours. He is weighing in at 2lbs 14 ounces. He enjoyings being held. He stays awake for a short time and we chat (I should really learn some lullabies), and then he falls asleep right on my chest. He is very curioius looking all around and grabbing whatever his hands come across, which is generally the nasal canula in his nose that I ever so gentily slide back in before he knows what he's done. One day I was so focused on the diaper changing that when I looked at his face I found the nasal canula in his mouth. He seemed to like it there but we put it back in his nose.








Eric is sporting his blue shirt in this photo and seems comfortable in his new duds! They get dirty pretty quickly so it looks like I will be doing a lot of little clothes laundry.

Dad Holds Eric

Yesterday Dad held Eric for the first time. They both enjoyed it very much. Dad held him while Eric got has dinner and during Eric's after dinner nap.

Eric's Wears His First Clothes

At 30 weeks (Eric is a 31 week big boy now!) it is time to turn the tempature down in the isolete and keep Eric warm with clothes and blankets. So Mommy went shopping for the tiniest shirts & socks money can buy.

Eric seems very happy with my selections. Check out his yellow robe and blue socks with puppy dogs on them.





Eric continues to work on his breathing and is managing on hi-flow oxygen. He continues to inch his way up to the 3 pound mark and is eating like a champ.

Dad has some exciting pictures to share that he will post soon.

Mom Holds Eric

On Thursday Dr. Slagle said that it was time we think about holding Eric. (Of course I have been thinking about this for a while and wondering when Eric and Mom would both be up for it.) Thursday evening nurse Camile decided that we could set me up to hold for about an hour and while she fed him. I called Aaron and he came over to join in the event and took some great pictures.



Because Eric was still on the CPAP the best way to hold him was on a pillow in my lap. Both Eric, Dad, and I enjoyed this very much. Eric seemed so comfortable and opened his eyes and looked up at me in response to my voice. Every little movement and baby noise was amazing.





Yesterday afternoon, the respiratory therapist, Martha, and Dr. Slagle decided it was time to try Eric on "hi-flow nasal canula" for his breathing. This is similar to the CPAP but with a little less pressure. It delivers the same amount of oxygen as the CPAP but it is not as tight of a seal around his face. It looks a lot more comfortable, and he doesn't have to wear that big hat with all the tubes over and around his head. Also, with hi-flow, I can hold Eric on my chest skin to skin. This is called Kangarooing. It is really good for both of us.



Having Eric so close to me feels so good and he snuggled right in. Nurse Lisa put a little (big for Eric) shirt on him to help keep him warm and then covered him with a nice warm blanket. Who wouldn't snuggle in, right?. I bet it is like getting out of hot shower and curling up in a warm robe. Eric did really well with this and kept up well with his breathing.



Eric is a hungry boy. His feedings got bumped up to 15 cc's every 2 hours and he really likes it. His weight is now 1175 grams, about 2 pounds 9 ounces. So if he looks bigger in his pictures that is because he is. One of the nurses, Shannon, told me the other day how " huge" he is. They actually want me to try and find him a shirt that fits.

No Tube

Eric pulled his feeding tube out. He has a really good grip with those little hands and likes to grab things. While his tube was out Dad got some cute pictures where you can see his little lips.

Eating, breathing, & pooping

Eric continues to drink and digest his milk up like a champ and that is key to helping him get stronger. Below you can see nurse Kathy gavage feeding him. Gavage feeding is when the nurse lets the milk flow through the tube that leads to his stomach. Eric can not feel the feeding tube in his throat as you and I would because at this age the do not yet have a gag reflex so it is perfectly comfortable for him.




Remembering to breath is Eric's biggest challenge right now and something all preemies need to grow into. He is still getting oxygen throught CPAP, which gets delivered either with a tiny mask over his nose or these tiny little nasal prongs. The resipatory therapists alternate between the two to keep his skin healthy. When he needs more oxygen they can turn it up a bit but he needs to take a breath for the oxygen to get where it needs to go. We are definitely his cheer leading squad for this.



Today Eric also gave me the pleasure of experiencing changing his diaper before he was done with his business. I now know what projectile poop is and know how to prevent it from getting all over his bed.

Free Right Arm

Yesterday the doctor decided it was time to remove the IV (central line) from Eric's right arm since he no longer needed the IV nutrition and had finished up his antibiotics. This is good news because this is one less place for infection. Now Eric can freely move his right arm without that darn blue pad on it (which kept his arm straight). Eric likes to stretch out from time to time so I am sure he is happy with this new range of motion.

In the photo below he has his right arm tucked underneath him so you can't really get a good look at it, but you can clearly see how happy he is with his big eyes looking in Mommy's direction.



We notice subtle changes in him every day. His hair is even long enough to get a little messy when he has his hat off. The nurses are going to begin fortifying my milk with more carbohydrates to give him a little calorie boost so he is sure to have all the energy he needs to grow.



Eric was very happy to see his Aunts and Uncles last week. Uncle Sean and Aunt Courtney ran some errands for us! Thank you! It was great to see everyone.