Thursday, November 30, 2006

Good Friends

Eric has made some wonderful friends in the NICU and so have Mom & Dad. The families we have shared time with through the NICU experience are all very special, and very special friends.

Eric was born right around the same time as Ryan Karbowski and Spencer Brown. These three boys have been side by side over the the past 3 months. Their girl friend was also born that week, little Pacita Williams.

Tuesday was a big day for the Browns because Spencer was ready to go home to Novato. Here is the happy family below, Sharon, Chris, and Spencer. Very exciting.



Pacita also went home to this week. So a big week for Momma Pacita.

Eric also met Allan and James. Allan's parents, Anita and Fuat, are from Viennna and live in Washington D.C. and have been renting an apartment here for the last few months. On Friday, Dr. Kaleem is going to accompany them on a flight back home.
James lives in San Francisco and went home a few weeks ago and we hope to have play dates.


Here are some recent favorite pics





Sunday, November 26, 2006

Action packed weekend

Mom and Dad gave Eric a bath for the first time on Saturday (I don't have any pictures of the occasion because my camera was out of batteries). Eric really seemed to like it despite being with amateurs. Joe, his nurse, gave us a good step by step instruction. Eric was pretty pleased and only let out one cry when I didn't bundle him up fast enough.

Eric also took a big step forward in his feeding this weekend. Starting at 11:00pm Saturday he has decided he really likes drinking from the bottle and doing better coordinating his sucking, swallowing and breathing. He needs to be fully awake to have enough energy but he is really starting to figure this out. He is also eating whenever he wants instead of on a strict schedule every 3 hours with the gavage feeding. We will see how he likes it.

We had a nice Thanksgiving with lots of yummy food and Aaron and I even got out for a little exercise. We also took our first trip to Babys R Us. It sure is hard to sift through all the stuff you really don't need to find the things you do. We are just doing the math on how many diapers he goes through in a day and it is a lot. We figured out that we need to buy them by the case. I heard about these flushable diapers that I am going to check out see what that is all about. Aaron doesn't believe they are for real.

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Happy Thanksgiving

We have a lot to be thankful for this year. Thank you to everyone for all the love and support you continually send our way. It makes us feel so good to hear from so many of you that are keeping updated on the blog. Reading everyone's comments, cards, and emails is something we look forward to each day.

Eric is 6 pounds. He sleeps a lot which really helps him grow. He is still working on developing his nippling skills, but that will come. Like his mom he is easily distracted and has a hard time keeping his focus sometimes. When he is eating from the bottle we have to put a screen in front of him so he doesn't get too distracted.



Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Eric on the move

Eric was in a portion of the NICU called the Skybox for a few days. It is on the 4th floor and is a temporary unit while the construction in the other unit was completed. It was a little small but he didn't seem to mind. He is now back to the second floor unit with all his buddies.

Today he had a visit from the occupational therapist who says that his suck, swallow, and breath coordination isn't all organized yet, but that will come with some more maturity. Until this maturity comes he can only handle eating from a bottle a couple times a day and still needs a feeding tube the other times. He is starting to gag on the tube a little bit, but once it is in he doesn't mind it. Mom doesn't like to watch the tube go in very much.

We worked with the lactation consultant this week and she gave us a nipple shield that helps Eric pull out the nipple more and get some milk from the breast. He gets some good suckling with this.



Eric is a really good sucker and likes his pacifier. He also likes his friend the duck.

Monday, November 20, 2006

burping video

Thursday, November 16, 2006

family portrait

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

5 pounder

Eric has just blown through his 5 pound milestone and as of 11/14, he is 5 lbs. 7 oz. He is "learning" how to feed from the bottle and the breast but some of the doctors will tell you that you can't really teach a baby how to do this; they will just know how to do it when they are ready and more developed. He does OK with the feedings but he tires out very fast and only sometimes can finish without the gavage (tube) feeding.


His favorite trick to pull on Daddy is to stealth pee when he is getting a diaper change. Look away for one second and he is whizzing all over the place and messing up his preemie outfit. Here is the cute little sailboat shirt and pants that Amy Braun sent him. Thank you Amy!!


Today I took the car down to the CHP for an infant seat install and inspection. The concept of bringing him home just doesn't quite sink in until you strap that seat into the car.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Dad went clothes shopping & sticker free

Eric is eating like a champ. He is still being mostly fed through the feeding tube. Once a shift he gets a bottle and once our twice a day he gets to recreationally breast feed (meaning he only gets a few drops). He weighs 4 lbs 12 ounces and has some well deserved rolls.

Dad went shopping and bought Eric this cozy outfit.



I think Dad did a great job.

Notice anything different about him in this photo versus the other?



That is right, he doesn't have the nasal canula on anymore. He peeled off one of the stickers that held it on and was without in his nose long enough that his nurse, Ilene, and Dr. Retazyck thought they would see how he did without it. Eric is very happy with this.

Monday, November 06, 2006

Feeding Times

Eric sleeps most of the time and sometimes even sleeps through his feedings (what time saver that would be). Other times he is so antsy for food he is wide awake and doing the hungry wiggle.

He gets 35 cc's every 3 hours now, which is over a cup of milk each day. He is now 4 pounds 6 ounces and fitting nicely into his preemie clothes.

This week he also got to drink from a bottle. Aaron got to feed him from the bottle for the first time the other day. He only gets the bottle when he looks awake enough to handle. He is slowly learning the coordination involved with sucking, swallowing, and, breathing. Yesterday and today when nurse Shannon fed him, he drank the whole 35 cc's.

Here are some cute pictures of Dad and Eric hanging out.





What a smile.


Looks like Eric is winning the thumb wrestle with full-palm advantage.

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Eric's first video

Starring Eric Thies