We had all 3 boys baptized this week. Logan and Mason were baptized last Wednesday before Logan's PDA surgery. James was baptized today. Monsignor Malone was so nice to come to the hospital and baptize them for us! We will have the formal baptism ceremony at the church after they come home.
Mom and Dad:
Brian and I are still trying to get used to our new life, with 3 more kids to worry about. Some days are better than others. And some days I'm just plain emotional. I cried Sunday when James was being put into the transport bed by Angel One (that's the Children's EMT people and they're awesome). Nothing was wrong really but I cried anyways. James's doctor (Dr. Peeples) gave me a hug. She also came to check on us at Children's today and she'll be back as their doctor this weekend. Yay! She's super awesome. I told Brian I wanted her to be my BFF. Brian said no. He ruins all my fun.
Brian and I are both back to work this week. Sort of. I planned to go back to work yesterday and I had hoped to get there around 10 or 11. I got to work at 2:30. I actually worked less than an hour. Today I got to work around 11 but left after only 30 minutes or so. And I didn't make it back. The hospital is a time warp. I'm pretty sure about it. Luckily I have the best job ever. Hopefully I can get into a schedule soon and actually work a few hours a day at least. Everyone, including the doctors, said this is a good idea and that it will help.
We are still getting used to the boys' new home at Children's. Like I said before, it's not as comfortable as UAMS. We don't have private rooms, I have to go to a "lactation room" every 3 hours to pump (and sometimes I have to wait because there are only 4 spots), and we are in the way. With the jet ventilators we can't even sit next to the same baby sometimes.
I am also planning to breast feed the babies (when they are ready) so I have to pump every 3 hours, even during the night. It's not fun and I feel like a milk factory sometimes but it will all be worth it I know. Today we found out that the hospital forgot to store an entire bag of milk when they transported Mason and Logan last week. Luckily I wasn't there when this was discovered and Brian dealt with it. Breast milk is not easy to come by and I've worked really hard for every drop! Unfortunately we lost about 1/3 of what we had as of 2 weeks ago when they transported Mason and Logan to Children's. I know there's nothing wee can do about it, but I'm still not happy.
Mason:
Mr. Mason is doing better (as of today). He fluctuates a lot! He got PIE (pulmonary interstitial emphysema) over the weekend. This is where air escapes from the air sacs in the lungs and goes into the wall of the vessels. I explained it in more detail here. They put him on a jet ventilator. He hated it. But the PIE went away within a day. Yay Mason! Then today his X-ray showed that the PIE was back. So he went back on the jet ventilator. He's doing better on it today than last time.
Mason got a follow up head ultrasound yesterday. His ventricles are still dilated but they are the same as last week. So the doctors will continue to follow him every week to make sure nothing changes. Because of the swelling that's already there, Mason will be watched for a while (probably at least a year or so).
Big milestone for Mason this week - he's over 3 lbs.! Today he weighed in at 3 lbs. 0.6 oz. He's still puffy from his surgery and from all the fluids he's getting but we'll take it (and we hope his puffiness goes away soon!)
Here's Mason's 3 week old picture:
Here's Mason's 3 week old picture:
Here's a picture of Mason wearing Brian's wedding band on 3 fingers! He's really tiny! I know you can't really tell from the pictures but maybe this will give some perspective.
You can also really see how puffy Mason's face is in this picture! He has a double chin! I never knew a 3 lb. baby could be chubby. Now I know. It will go away though. The doctors and nurses promised me!
Logan:
Logan had a pretty good week . . . Until yesterday. He's a sneaky one. He was acting great but his X-ray yesterday morning showed that, like Mason, he also has PIE now. So he's also on the jet ventilator. And he also hates it!
Logan's head ultrasound came back the same as last week. So his doctor isn't concerned at this point. He'll get another head ultrasound at some point but not weekly like Mason.
Logan also weighs 3 lbs 0.6 oz. today. He's getting huge! Seriously though he looks exactly the same to me as he has all along (except that he's a little puffy today).
Here's Logan's 3 week picture.
Logan is my quiet, calm baby (as of right now). His nurse today said he doesn't seem to have an attitude like his brothers but she thinks he'll be trouble. Like he'll be being bad but I won't know it. Uh oh! I can't imagine him being bad!
Here's Logan's 3 week picture.
You can also see Logan's staples from his surgery in this picture. This is where they went in to fix his heart. He's still recovering well. And he'll get those staples out soon.
James:
James decided the start misbehaving this week. He's back on the ventilator (just a regular one) but he's already down to very low settings. Hopefully he can come off the ventilator again soon.
James is being treated for an infection. His doctors think that's why he had to go back in the ventilator after 2 weeks off. He's getting 3 different antibiotics actually because we don't know what type of infection he has. His cultures are all negative so who knows. He's getting better so that's good news.
James also peed on me today. First time I've been peed on by these guys. And I'm sure it won't be the last time either!
James is still under 3 lbs. but barely. He weighed 2 lbs. 15.6 oz. today. 1 oz. smaller than his brothers. But he seems a lot smaller to me. Probably because he isn't puffy.
Here's James's 3 week picture.
Here's James's 3 week picture.
And here's a picture of James in the transport bed before he took his first ambulance ride to Children's to be with his brothers. He's in there I promise!
Addison:
Addison had a good week. But then again, she almost always has a good week. This week was even better though because she had her first dance recital! She loved it. And she did great! Brian did not enjoy the recital as much as Addison though! Good thing we got 3 boys this time!
Mom and Dad:
Brian and I are still trying to get used to our new life, with 3 more kids to worry about. Some days are better than others. And some days I'm just plain emotional. I cried Sunday when James was being put into the transport bed by Angel One (that's the Children's EMT people and they're awesome). Nothing was wrong really but I cried anyways. James's doctor (Dr. Peeples) gave me a hug. She also came to check on us at Children's today and she'll be back as their doctor this weekend. Yay! She's super awesome. I told Brian I wanted her to be my BFF. Brian said no. He ruins all my fun.
Brian and I are both back to work this week. Sort of. I planned to go back to work yesterday and I had hoped to get there around 10 or 11. I got to work at 2:30. I actually worked less than an hour. Today I got to work around 11 but left after only 30 minutes or so. And I didn't make it back. The hospital is a time warp. I'm pretty sure about it. Luckily I have the best job ever. Hopefully I can get into a schedule soon and actually work a few hours a day at least. Everyone, including the doctors, said this is a good idea and that it will help.
We are still getting used to the boys' new home at Children's. Like I said before, it's not as comfortable as UAMS. We don't have private rooms, I have to go to a "lactation room" every 3 hours to pump (and sometimes I have to wait because there are only 4 spots), and we are in the way. With the jet ventilators we can't even sit next to the same baby sometimes.
I am also planning to breast feed the babies (when they are ready) so I have to pump every 3 hours, even during the night. It's not fun and I feel like a milk factory sometimes but it will all be worth it I know. Today we found out that the hospital forgot to store an entire bag of milk when they transported Mason and Logan last week. Luckily I wasn't there when this was discovered and Brian dealt with it. Breast milk is not easy to come by and I've worked really hard for every drop! Unfortunately we lost about 1/3 of what we had as of 2 weeks ago when they transported Mason and Logan to Children's. I know there's nothing wee can do about it, but I'm still not happy.
Clarification to an earlier story:
Remember how I said that Brian left me at the hospital a few weeks ago? If not you can read about it here. Well apparently people have even giving Brian a hard time about it (including Addison). Brian got onto me because I apparently left out an important detail - Brian went to his car and called his cousin (a jeweler) so he could get me some beautiful new earrings shipped to the house. That's when he started to drive home and left me at the hospital. I'm still not mad. And it's still hilarious. But now you know the complete story.
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