Thursday, May 24th, 2012: One Month Old

Finnegan taking a little nap with his Lovee Doll.  The Lovee Doll was created by volunteer sewers for the hospital.
The mom sleeps with the doll and the doll picks up mommy's scent. Then, baby gets to sleep with the Lovee Doll so mommy is always near! :)

Christine--

Finn's new favorite thing is to smile. It's just hard to catch on camera. :)

Well, we've made it one month in the NICU so far! Finnegan is doing wonderfully after his little spell last week. They start up his feedings on Tuesday. He started on 5ml to check how he would tolerate the milk, and then they slowly increased his amount until he got up to 19ml of 24 calorie breastmilk that he started on last night. They had a lot of issues with getting maintaining a peripheral IV (our baby is a hard stick!) and the thickness of the TPN (IV nutrition) was causing his veins to be even more difficult. So, they were anxious to get him back on feeds. They kept his IV in to push clear fluids through to help replenish his veins. Hopefully they won't need to stick him again any time soon, though! He continues to be on a 3 liter high flow cannula. He has been having bradys with them, but about 3/4 of them he corrects on his own...which is good! But, he needs to have fewer "spells" in order to lower the rate on his cannula and then get him ready to bottle feed. Usually, they start bottle feeding/nippling around 31 weeks, but if the baby shows interest earlier, they may start then. So far, Finn is doing really well with his pacifier, but I'm not sure how he would do with a bottle. Also, around the time that Finnegan weighs 1500grams and tolerates bottle feeds, he will move to an open crib. The NNP thinks that might happen in about 3 weeks or so, depending on how he gains weight. It seems like a long time, but he's already been here a MONTH and he's done so well. He's such an amazing little baby.

  

Look at how big I've gotten! :)

The biggest changes out little man has made include his weight, length, hair, and activity. He's now about 8 ounces heavier. We think most of those ounces went to his cheeks, but it just makes him cuter! :) He's about an inch and a quarter longer, although is scrawny little legs and arms makes him seem that much longer. His hair lightened up and got a lot more fuzzy. This makes his hair stick up all over the place. It just adds to his cuteness. Finally, Finnegan has become a lot more alert and interactive! When you talk to him and smile at him he frequently smiles back. Talk about a way to melt your heart; having your baby smile at you for the first time... uh, it was amazing.



I grew some rosey cheeks!

 He continues to have wonderful visitors. His Grandma and Grandpa Bruckner come at least once a week to spend time with their first grandson. Finnegan definitely enjoys all the attention. :) Ian and I also really enjoy the company. Being at the hospital is what it is, but it's always brighter when you have good company to enjoy it with. This weekend, Finnegan met our friends Stephanie and Kevin and his Great Uncle Steve and Great Aunt Phyllis as well. He's pretty popular.

Yesterday, my parents came down for a visit with their littlest grandson. Grandma Doman beamed at him and just couldn't believe how big he had gotten or the fact that he was now smiling. Grandpa Doman actually let Finnegan hold his finger and touched his grandbaby for the first time (I think he was intimidated by his little size). Both Grandpa Doman and Finnegan enjoyed the quality time together! :)

My parents took me to Olive Garden for lunch to celebrate my birthday early. It's still hard to believe that I'll be 25 tomorrow. Time goes so quickly! When I got back from lunch, this is the milk drunk state I found my son in. He is definitely a fan of his pacifier when he wants it. If he doesn't, he tries to shoot it across the bed.

Later that evening, Finnegan and I got quality mommy-son time. We kangarooed for about 2 hours. I also held Finnegan during his feeding, so he had his pacifier in. He actually reached his little hand out to hold his pacifier. He did this for about 10 minutes, until he was bored and then tried to hit me with it. He's quite the little stinker. I'm so impressed with his pacifier abilities! :)

 



Finn was smiling and making faces at me.

Video of Finnegan with his pacifier. FYI, don't worry I'm covered! :)