Gavin up close

Gavin's Daily Update

Gavin was a cutie today. I wasn't able to hold him cause his temp was low but I changed his poopie diaper and got to look at him and talk to him. I cleaned the dry skin off his lips also. He was awake the whole visit and was just a watching me. His O2 was set to 23% and he didn't have any apnea all day. I'm going to wash his little halloween onsie tonight so he can wear it tomorrow.

Aunt Judy Holding Gavin for the First Time

Here is Aunt Judy holding Gavin for the first time. She got to hold him for an hour. She is coming next Monday for another visit. I'm sure Gavin loves all the attention his great aunt is giving him.

Sucking on His Soothie

Gavin's Funny Faces

Here is a video of Gavin making faces at the camera.

Gavin in Yellow & Green

Today was fun...Gavin had messy poopy for his daddy to clean and while he was doing that Gavin decided to pee two times while his diaper was off. He almost squirted Ben through the arm holes in the incubator. It was too funny watching Ben scramble trying to clean up the messy poo and try not to get hit by Gavin's pee. After he was cleaned up I got to hold him and he was making all kinds of funny faces. We gave him his soothie and he would suck a little and then rest. He was making the cute little sucking noises. He is 33 weeks gestational so next week he should be able to try nipple feedings. He didn't have any apnea spells during our visit which was super awesome! He kept taking his O2 out of his nose so we had to pop it back in. His O2 was set at 22% which is one away from room air (21%). Here are some cute pics of him from today.....

Our Little Gavin

Gavin had a good day yesterday. During the visit he only had one apnea episode and it was very quick. He had a couple earlier in the day. I was able to hold him for a long time which I was very thankful for. We saw one of his doctors and she told us about a heart murmer they have been hearing but it was very faint. She said it was probably one of his smaller blood vessels going to his lungs that was making the sound which is common in preemies. We also asked her about his oxygen possibly causing eye problems and she said now that they monitor the percentage of O2 and that its not a big problem now. He will get an eye exam at 6 weeks to make sure it hasn't affected his eyes. We bathed him, changed his diaper, took his temperature, and changed his clothes. He was weighed but lost 10grams so now he is 3lbs. Here are the pics...

Gavin's Daily Update

It was a good visit yesterday. Ben was able to bath him and change his diaper. I held him for a short time because his apnea was acting up. He was getting too comfy on my chest he would forget to breathe. His O2 sat. stayed around 90% with his O2 nasal tube in. Ben didn't have any of his IBS symptoms this time which was good. Gavin was looking so cute yesterday. After Ben bathed him Ben attempted to put a T-Rex sleeper on Gavin....once he got the feet in he tried getting his arms in and had a little trouble. :-) The nurse helped him out though. It was cute...Ben was like I have no idea what I'm doing. Gavin hates bath time. He will cry and cry like he is being tortured even when he isn't getting a scrub down. Here are the pics of the day....

Gavin Update

Yesterday we went to see Gavin....he is back on O2. His O2 saturation was going very low in the 80s and below and it should be in the high 90s so they put him back on oxygen around 23-30%. Hoping this helps our little boy. Its like taking 5 steps forward and then one back but they said this might happen. He is 2lbs 15.4 oz so he is gaining weight which is very good. Here is the pic of the day.

Video of Nana Holding Her Grandson for the First Time

Here is a video of Nana holding Gavin for the first time ever. She is the only one besides Ben and I who has been able to hold him. We were so happy that he was so close to 3 lbs to make all this happen. Way to go baby!

Video of Nana Seeing Gavin for the First Time Since Birth

This is a video of Nana seeing Gavin for the first time since he was born. He was just a wiggling in his incubator....so excited that his Nana came for a visit.

Nana Holds Gavin for the First Time

Today Nana (Ben's mom) got to hold Gavin for the first time. And yes we have pics and video! Gavin is doing great....he had a few episodes of apnea and he gained 3 oz.....so now he weighs 2lbs 15oz. Since he was so close to 3lbs the nurse let his Nana hold him. He was just looking at her and looking around. He loved being talked to and was eating up all the attention he was getting from his Nana. After his Nana and Papa left, he started having his apnea episodes...he had 3 at the end of our visit. Its so hard going through them....soooo scary. I'll never get use to hearing those monitors going off like crazy. The nurse was so calm and not even worried and here I was freaking out about it trying to stay calm on the outside. Its scary because if the alarms weren't going off then we would never know he was having apnea. Anywho....here are some pics from today.

Gavin Wearing Stripes

Gavin has been doing great as always. He only had 2 times where he had apnea for the day. He was wearing a red, brown and cream striped footed onsie yesterday and was look absolutely adorable. I know I know no pics.....but we tried! We went to two different stores with no luck of finding that battery. We are gonna go to a couple more today so wish us luck. He gained 2 ozs so now he is 2lb 12 oz! YAY!!!!! He is moving on up and so is his feedings. Now he is on a schedule instead of continuous feeds to help him recognize feeding times with eating from a nipple. So he is getting his 7mils every 3 hours (8am, 11am, etc). I held him for the whole time again yesterday. Ben was feeling his IBS so he wasn't feeling up to it....maybe he will hold him today. I'm loving all the holding time though....getting my Gavin fix. :-) He was very awake and squirmy while I was holding him. I think he wanted to look up at me but I was kangarooing him so that position is hard to do. He kept moving his head side to side....lifting it up off my chest....I didn't think babies were supposed to do that yet. I thought that was a 1-3 month milestone. He just keeps surprising us everyday. He would squirm to the side and look up at me with his tiny eyes. I just can't get enough of it. He finally settled down and slept with his little mouth open just like his daddy. He had another scrub down today but the nurse was less vigorous but that didn't mean Gavin liked it any less. He would let out these little tiny cries that just made you say aaawwww how cute instead of poor baby. lol His face when he gets all mad is too funny...he looks like a grumpy old man. His little forehead wrinkles up and the corners of his mouth go down. I definitely have to get a pic of it for all of ya'll. Oooooo his belly button/umbilical cord fell off yesterday and the nurse was handing it to me without it in a little envelope or anything....eewww. She wrapped it in some paper thank goodness cause my purse is an endless black hole. She said people put them in the baby books so I guess we will do the same. We also have his little clamp from his umbilical cord for his book. He looks like an inny but its not totally in yet cause he has no fat on him. He is sucking and holding his soother in his mouth without me having to hold it for him now. Good sign he might be a good feeder when they start his nipple feedings. YAY! Can't wait to see him today...and hope to get that battery so we can take tons of pics today!

Gavin's Daily Update

Gavin is doing good. He had a couple of apnea episodes again today. The nurse said that if they don't stop sooner they should stop around 36 weeks. I got to hold him for a long time today. Ben wasn't feeling well so he told me to go ahead and hold him. They increased his feeds to 7 mils every hour. He is still 2lbs 10oz. He wore a cute little monkey onsie today with little monkey faces on the feet. We still need to get a battery for the camera...we were at walmart and even had the battery out so we could find the right one but totally forgot to get it. Hopefully we will get one soon so we can put more pics of him up.

Gavin Wore Clothes for the First Time Today

Gavin wore clothes for the first time today. He looked soooo cute in a blue little footed onesie. The batteries finally died in mom's camera so we weren't able to take pics. We both got to hold him for a good amount of time. He had a few apnea spells today but other than that he did fine. He weighs 2lbs 10oz today. The nurse showed us how to give him a bath with soap...she called it a scrub down and she wasn't kidding.....she really scrubbed him down soooo much both Ben and I were freaking out how rough she was being with him. Protective parents already. Needless to say he wasn't happy about his scrub down and neither were we. Just our luck this nurse is gonna be around for the next 5 days. At least she let us hold him for a long time that was a plus. She moved his feeding tube...it now goes through his nose instead of his mouth....so he can suck on his soothie more and try to associate his feedings with sucking. Both Ben and I thought that he looked different today....guess it was the placement of his tube. He was really awake....looking at us a lot while we held him. In his left eye you can begin to see really light blue iris starting to appear. Our baby is most likely gonna have blue eyes.

Daddy Talking to Gavin

Daddy talking to Gavin while I hold him.

Gavin's Update for Yesterday...(sorry its late)

Gavin's report for yesterday was great. No apnea and he is tolerating his feeds so well they upped it to 6.5 mils per hour. I was able to hold him for over an hour which I LOVED! The nurse wouldn't let us share the holding time today (different nurse) so poor Ben only got to watch. He said I was hoggin the baby already. lol He gets to hold him today though and hopefully we will get that really nice nurse that lets us both hold him. They say that some of the younger nurses don't realize that thats YOUR baby in there so its tough at times. She wouldn't let us bath him either because she believes its either holding or bathing for one day. He had a little knitted yellow hat on to keep his little head warm while I was holding him. He looked soooo cute! He just curled up in my bra and slept and slept the whole time. He was all comfy and warm. We asked the nurse when he would be going into the stage 2 room and she said he basically is in the stage 2 room because he is off the o2 and IVs but he still needs to pack on some weight.....they have to be over 3lbs to get into the other room...where there are cradles and open isolettes....they are open to room air and wear clothes over there. Its the last room they are in before they come home. So basically he is doing fine medically we are just waiting for him to pack on the lbs and ozs and for him to start nipple feedings which will probably be around 34 weeks. He is sucking on his soothie pretty good now and has the beginnings of the rooting reflex....he is also trys to suck when he is sleeping which is super cute. Come on Gavy....get some meat on that little bony butt! He has no butt btw....Ben says its just a hole at the bottom of his back....poor baby needs some insulation.

Good Day for Gavin

Can You See What's Missing in These Pictures?

He no longer has an IV!!!! Something new happens everyday. We are soooo happy we don't have to worry about his skin breaking down because of that IV anymore. He is now only on breast milk for his nutrients which is one step forward for him to go into the stage 2 room. He now is getting 6 mils every hour so they keep on increasing it everyday and he is tolerating it wonderfully. Today he was 2lbs 9oz so he gained one oz. It was so nice to see that yuckie IV off his little body. The nurse said he didn't have any apnea today and was doing great. We weren't able to visit with him as long as we have been because I started having my gall bladder attacks this morning so I was sleeping off the pain. Tomorrow we hope to get to see him for longer and hold him since he is doing better. He knows when we are there...when we talk he opens his little eyes and just looks at us and smiles....its so sweet. His right eye is better...not so swollen but now his left eye is getting oozy so they are putting drops in them and doing antibiotics. Today he was soooo cute...you can kinda see in the pics how he was laying...they used a blanket rolled up around his body and he was straddling it like a mini body pillow. I love my little baby boy.

Gavin's First Smile Caught on Tape!

Here is a super cute video of Gavin's first smile caught on tape. You can see his infected eye oozing...I cleaned it up so it wouldn't ooze into the other eye. They said when they are that young that their tear ducts aren't formed yet so it happens. This is my favorite video so far....I can't stop watching our cute little boy.

Gavin's Daily Update

Gavin wasn't doing his best today. They had fully taken him off the O2 yesterday and has had a couple of apnea episodes where his little heart and O2 rates would drop down and then he would correct it shortly after (forgetting to breathe or just tiring out from breathing). We also noticed yesterday he had a crustiness in him right eye. Today it was swollen, red and oozy. When we got to the hospital the doctor was visiting him and told us they were putting drops in his eyes and putting him on antibiotics just in case. He also told us about his apnea that was happening last night and how they are going to wait and watch him because he is self correcting...they don't want to just put him back on the O2 just yet. He said that the site on his head was already looking much better from the IV mishap yesterday. They ended up having to place another IV in his head last night because the one they put in yesterday just didn't work. Poor baby! Hate that he has to get stuck so many times. The doc said that they are trying to put him on just breast milk feeds with no IVs so they upped the breast milk to 5 mils every 3 hours and lowered the TPN IV. So hopefully his little tummy will tolerate the feedings and they will get him off the TPN IV. He stayed in his incubator today because of everything going on right now with him. Hope he gets better so we can keep up the holdings and baths. His little eye was open and he was just looking at us while we talked to him. Hate that his other eye is swollen and infected. My little one eyed Willie. It seemed like his hair turned blonder over night....it looked way lighter today.....and I noticed there is less of it from where his IV tape has been....poor baby...he hates when they take the tape off...even though they use alcohol to dissolve the adhesive he cries cause it still pulls his hair. Here are more pics!

Ben Holding Gavin for the First Time Yesterday

Here are two videos of Ben holding Gavikins for the first time yesterday. Gotta love it!



2nd Part

More Pics From Today

Gavin is doing great today. He is now completely off O2 breathing room air. He is still in between the stage 3 and stage 2 rooms. We were able to hold him almost all day and I gave him another wipe down bath and took his temperature which was good....he is keeping warm while we are holding him so thats good. There was a little incident with the IV in his head today.....the TPN (nutritional IVs he is given) can cause skin break down and today the site where his IV was in his head was a little irritated and red. His doctor prescribed a medicine that forces all the negative toxins out of the the area through the skin so the break down doesn't occur but he has to be stuck like 4-5 times around that IV site (when they did it he didn't cry thank goodness). He may or may not have a scar there now. But they moved the IV to the side of his head and it took forever for them to get it in and many sticks in other parts of his body which was nerve racking. Being able to hold him the whole time was awesome though.....oooo and I got to change his poopie diaper for my first time today....he has tiny poopies so it wasn't bad at all and it doesn't stink.....yet! :-) When I was holding him he started sucking my neck like a little vampire......I knew I shouldn't have watched all those True Blood episodes this season. lol We gave him his soother and he got tired out sucking on it. I'm sooooo happy he is sucking....it will be great practice for when he gets around 34 weeks....thats when his suck, swallow, breathe reflex will kick in more and I'll be able to breast feed him. Are ya'll ready for more pics? Ya'll are gonna get tired of all the pics I put up on here but I can't help it.....he is our first and only baby boy.