Outgrowing Clothes

As is standard with children of all ages, and certainly babies, Zac is already outgrowing clothes. The preemie outfits he had (sleepers and onesies) are already too short and some of the newborn-sized stuff is getting too small now as well. It's strange to think he could grow out of anything, but he is. This outfit is one Claire & Abby (or maybe just Abby?) picked out for him and brought us last weekend. He's yawning here right before his 6pm feeding.

They tell us last night he weighed in at 5 lbs, 9 oz. That doesn't seem quite right to me, as that'd mean he'd gained 2 1/2 oz. yesterday. So we'll see what holds tomorrow (Saturday) and maybe that'll give a clue. Also, they'd measured him Thursday night but the measurement wasn't accurate as it was shorter than he was last week. I don't think he's shrinking. :)

Other than that, Zac took all of his feedings today by bottle except for just a tiny bit and that's good. We're still waiting for that day when everything just kicks in. Our nurse reiterated to us today that she thinks it'll come any day now. So we are looking for a second car seat to be prepared for having one in each vehicle. We thought about buying a base for the seat and carrier we have now, but the base alone is almost $50. We can get a very nice seat that accommodates infant to booster for $80 on up, so we'll go that route instead.

For those of you aware, I'm trying to finish a room in the basement to use as a bedroom so Claire and other guests have a place to stay when they come, now that Zac is taking what was the guest room. It's going slowly. I have most of the supplies, save drywall, the ceiling system and some wiring, but what's held me up is getting the furring strips into the cement block wall so I can add insulation, then drywall.

I've never done this before, so it's all a learning experience. I've gone through two different types of drill bits, in two sizes, to get the right one. Then I found it was tough to get the right angle to drill the holes as I get near the top of the wall. To remedy this, I bought a power-actuated hammer which uses a .22 caliber load to supposedly pound a nail into the concrete. Yeah, that works REAL well. Most of the time, it goes in not perfect, is still sticking out about an inch, and when I try to pound the nail in, it just bends. So I end up using a metal cutter attachment for my drill and cutting off the nail, then trying to drill a hole for a screw just like I was before. Aaaccckkk! :) I'll get there. Thing is, that drilling is hard work, so I wear out after awhile. If the nail gun thingie had worked, I could've been onto the insulation by now.

So, looking at a little bit before the room is done. I hope to get the strips fully attached by early next week so I can move on with the easier stuff. Turns out, concrete block is really tough stuff. I had no idea! :) That's it for today, folks. Catch you all tomorrow.

Aunt Mickie Gets A Chance

Today Zac's Aunt Mickie was able to see him for the first time since his first few days in the isolette, way back at the beginning of February. With twins of her own at home, plus a 4 1/2-year-old, she just hasn't had a chance to get away. But today she began working again and, since she works just a short distance away at the Med Center, she was able to stop in and see Zac during her lunch break. Lucky for us, or unlucky for Zac, he'd spit up a bit before she arrived so we changed him into something his Aunt Mickie had bought for him so she'd be able to see him in it before he grows out of it, which will be any second now.

Last night, Zac was up to 5 lbs, 6 1/2 oz, which means he'd gained another ounce since the night before, keeping up his track record of gaining an ounce a day. He's starting to fill out a little bit more and we're curious to find out tomorrow just how long he measured tonight and Katy wants to know how big his head is now. :) We notice the first little hat he wore no longer fits, and she thinks his head seems to be getting a little bigger lately. Today we noticed his legs are looking a little more chubby, just like every other cute baby out there. :)

The only real change today was that they finally discontinued his daily dose of caffeine. He's been receiving this to help with the apnea and bradycardia episodes he'd had. However, he hardly ever has one anymore, which is expected as he gets a little older (further along to where he would've been had he still been inside mom's tummy). The nurses we have keep telling us how cute he is and how impressed they are that he is so well-behaved and so easy-going. Well, duh! :)

Weight Gain

One thing that strikes us, I suppose because we have to pay such close attention to it, is how much weight Zac continues to gain and how consistently he is doing so. As of Tuesday night, he was up to 5 lbs, 5 1/2 oz. You'll recall that he began this life at 3 lbs, 12 oz. That's a gain so far of 1 lb, 9 1/2 oz, and that's in the past 3 weeks. He continues to gain weight at the rate of about an ounce a day, which is exactly what we want, so that's good. Thursday nights are when they measure him, so by Friday we should know if he has grown more (which we think he has) and how much he now weighs.

We maintain that had Zac gone full-term, where he didn't have to work for his food like he does now, he would have been just one big boy. I wanted to get a new picture to put up tonight, as Zac was laying on his right side with his hands up by his head, one on top of the other, just like you and I might sleep on our side. Unfortunately, before I could get the camera he had moved the placement of his hands so I lost my chance at a unique picture. This is how he likes to lay quite often, though, so hopefully I can get one sometime soon here.

Tonight I'd like to share something Katy and I are trying to do for someone else. There is another couple in the NICU who had a son two hours before Zac was born. We're the same number of weeks along and have obviously been there the same amount of time. They are a very nice couple and the husband is very outgoing. He enjoys making everyone laugh, nurses included, and is just a very free spirit. They are originally from Wyoming, but now living in northeastern Nebraska. He works on farms and is highly mechanical, but the big deal is he loves hunting. I don't mean he kinda likes it and does it when the seasons come. I mean it's everything to him.

Well, Katy's mom has a cousin who has been involved with hunting shows on TV and radio and is an avid outdoorsman. We asked the dad here if he knew about him and he absolutely did. After trying unsuccessfully to reach the cousin via e-mail, I did some research online and found he still does a call-in segment on a radio station in Hattiesburg, MS. So I wrote the radio station this week, expressing my desire to get something signed by this guy to send to the son of the dad here. We know he'd love it and it would be very special to him. They wrote me back last night and intend to send a "care package" we can give to this dad and his son. Hopefully it'll arrive before they get out of the NICU, but if not, we'll make sure we get their address before they leave so we can send it along. It's a secret, so they won't know about it until it happens. Don't worry, though, as they don't know about this blog and aren't big into computers, so I know there's no danger of them finding out.

I'm just so excited we can do something for such a nice couple. Having a child in the NICU for this long, we know exactly how they must feel as well. You get punchy and frustrated at having to live in a way that's completely out of your comfort zone. You sleep more than you normally would, because it's emotionally taxing and a little depressing. I know these two don't have the faith to fall back on like we do, so it must be even harder for them. Plus, they don't have family close by and don't live here in Omaha, so it's got to be difficult. We're so thankful we live 5 minutes away. It sure makes this job of travel back and forth every day a lot easier.

Good Day

Zac had a good day feeding today. Where he hasn't been quite as active the past few days, he was more so today and certainly has eaten better on his own. He took all of his 9am feeding by bottle. At noon, they went ahead and fed him through the tube since he was sleeping so soundly after a diaper change at 11. But then he took both his 3 and 6 feedings today by bottle without issue. In fact, with his 6pm feeding, he would've taken more if there had been more food in the bottle, and that's the first time he's shown a sign of being more hungry than what he's been receiving.

Katy and I are a little tired today and maybe more on edge due to finances than we have been. Her short-term disability, which she should've been receiving for the past two weeks, has yet to arrive. For me, I'd put out a fair amount of money on some supplies for a consulting job I was to do, then didn't get to do the job because I don't yet have liability insurance. So I'm awaiting reimbursement for a check that should've been here two weeks ago. All told, we're hanging in there, but really need her checks to arrive soon so we don't run into deeper issues. :) Take care all!

Without Power

This picture isn't the best, but in it you can see the power pole a few blocks from our house that caught fire last night. This left us without electricity and things began to get a little chilly in the Benedict house. :) So Katy and I had to pack some things and spend the night at her mom and dad's. I'm sure they didn't mind, as they are in warm and beautiful Hawaii at the moment, making all of us back here in the cold and snow fairly jealous. :)

From the report I read online, people saw flames coming out of the top of the power pole. They had to shut down 60th street to handle the repairs, and we lost power somewhere around 7:45, I'd say. The biggest issue? I had cinnamon rolls in the oven rising that had to be cooked or they'd go bad. Fortunately for us, Gary & Nell's house does have an oven, so the rolls did not have to go to waste. Phew!

Step Back Before Going Forward

Well, yesterday and today Zac is doing pretty much what the nurses have been suggesting he might, which is taking a bit of a step backward with his eating. I guess that, for a premature baby, eating from a bottle is akin to working out. Do that 8 times in a day and you'd be pretty tired, too.

So yesterday and today he's taken partial feedings from the bottle, then had to have the rest given to him through the tube. Both feedings we've been here for so far today have been this way. He took half the bottle at noon on his own, then took 1/3 of the bottle at his 3pm feeding. We're going to let them give him his 6pm feeding entirely through the tube so he can continue to rest. He's been sleeping a bit more than he had before also, and I guess that's a sign of just how tired he is. :)

But, we expect him to take this step back and then go forward big-time, so I'm sure that's coming pretty soon. Probably two weeks or a little less before he's outta here, so we just have to keep being patient!

Sunday Update...A Bit Late

Somehow didn't get to this last night, so I'll tackle it first thing this morning here on Monday. Zac had a good day yesterday, though not quite as aggressive with his feedings as he had been. Mostly, he was just too tired to take the bottle as much. We arrived after lunch and they had fed him through his tube because when they checked on him at noon, he was just sound asleep and they didn't want to wear him out further.

At 3pm, he took the bottle just fine, but at 6 he only took a little bit before having to accept the rest via the tube. I'm pretty sure that at 6pm he would've been just fine except the nurse wanted us to bathe him before letting him eat. That turned out to be the problem, because he actually woke up at 5:10 and by the time his bottle was ready at 6:05, he was fading fast. :) So in the future, we won't let them give him a bath prior to his feeding. I think it'd be just fine if he half-slept through a bath anyway at this point as taking the food from the bottle is more important.

We did have a good talk with his nurse of the past two days, Pam, about how the babies generally take to the bottle. Her experience has shown her that generally babies don't go home before they reach what would've originally been 36 weeks of age/gestation. That means we're looking at a little less than 2 weeks for Zac, which is in line with what we were told last week early. But, she said, it depends on how quickly he makes this next transition. She said normally it's like the babies wake up one day and suddenly they're ready to take every feeding by bottle and they do it extremely well. This would be similar to last week when Zac, suddenly mid-day decided he was ready to try it. It was a dramatic change and obvious to us, so now we know what to look for moving forward. If he reaches this point sooner, they won't keep him just for the sake of keeping him.

He also does need to stop having apnea and bradycardia episodes, of which he's had several the past few days. Generally these are focused around when he's just beginning to eat (where he is so hungry he gulps his food and then his heart rate drops) or when he needs to, excuse the language, poop. :) Sometimes that effort, that little red face we're all so used to when babies are trying to get that out, that causes his rate to drop a bit in one way or another. The heart rate episodes are the bradys and when his breathing rate drops, those are the apnea episodes. He doesn't have as many of those at this time as he does the ones where his heart rate drops. No cause for alarm, though. :) He comes out of them just fine and is not at all in danger of anything. It's just a normal thing in premature babies and I'd venture a guess to say it's fairly normal for probably plenty of babies early on; we just don't know it because those babies aren't hooked into monitoring devices all the time. :)

So that's the update for Sunday. I'll put one out later today as well. Oh yes, and he's now 5 lbs., 3 oz., so he's gaining weight at about the rate of an ounce a day, which is good.

Meeting Big Sister

Today was a day I've been waiting for since Zac was born. With me being out of work, money has been super tight so I haven't been able to afford to meet Claire's mom half-way to pick Claire up last month or this month for a weekend with me. Fortunately, her mom came up this weekend and brought Claire and Abby with her. Along with them were their mom, Heather, her mom, Alice, and Heather's husband Jeff. I was so excited waiting for Claire and Abby to get to see Zac!

First, for Claire, because this is her little brother and she's been so excited waiting to get to see him. I know it's been hard for her to wait, just as it's been hard to not have her here to be able to spend time with him. And second, for Abby, because Abby is just so tender-hearted and so great with babies and children. The pic today shows Claire getting to give Zac his feeding tonight. She handled half of it, burped him, then let Katy finish the feeding per her request. I intended to get a pic with Abby as well, but somehow that slipped my mind. I'll get one next time she's up, though.

I would've loved to let Abby hold Zac as well, and I know she wanted to, but we've really limited how many people hold him or even touch him, to be honest, just because he is still a bit vulnerable, it's the time of year when flu and sickness is so prevalent, and because the hospital requests limiting contact just for the health of the babies. It was tough for me, personally, because I love Abby so much and really wanted her to get to enjoy this moment as well. However, I have promised her she'll get to hold him the next time she is up here and encouraged her because she is so great with children.

Claire did awesome, as I expected. She did a great job getting Zac to take his bottle, and both she and Abby helped me before that while I was changing his diaper and the nurse was taking his vital signs. Abby and Claire both made Zac some very, very special artwork that we are very proudly going to put on the wall in his room real soon. It was so sweet of them to think of him and do something special. Reminds me of why I love both of the girls so much. :)

As for Zac, he's doing extremely well. Still taking just about every feeding by bottle and needing very little assistance finishing them except when he's just super tired. He's such a little trooper, and continues to breeze through this. In a few weeks, or maybe even sooner, we'll have him home! Thank you everyone for your continued prayers and thoughts and for the gifts we've received so far. It's wonderful and humbling to know so many people care so much about us.