Well, we have officially been at home with Shiloh for one week. This past week has been trying at times and blessed at others, but overall the week has been wonderful. Shiloh has had to get used to his new environment and that isn't always easy. First, there was the problem of the quiet he wasn't used to. Then, we had to get used to the idea of true demand feeding. The NICU version of demand feeding was to only feed him every 3 1/2 - 4 hours unless he was so demanding nothing else would soothe him. The real version means he is eating on average every 2 hours, whenever he starts showing the signs of hunger. This seemed like a lot until we pulled out the sewing tape yesterday and measured him from the crown of his head to the heel of his foot. The boy shows to be 19". Not an official doctor figure, but pretty close. That means he has grown almost 2" in 1 1/2 months. Takes a lot feeding to become a big boy! So, most of the feeding issues have been resolved. Then there was the getting him to sleep. The only way the kid would sleep is if we were holding him. Problem is, I could only sleep sitting up on the couch for so long. We struggled with this every night until last night. Our habit had been Carrie would be up most of the night with him. Then at 5:30-6 in the morning, I would take him with me to the living room where Carrie would get her 3-5 hours of sleep in the bedroom. Last night we rearranged. The glider rocker was brought into our bedroom. So, when he wakes to feed at night, Carrie takes him to the nursery to change him which helps him to wake even more before feeding. She then came back to the rocker for feeding. Once he was fed, she would burp and then swaddle him. Once swaddled, she returned to the rocker to rock him for about 5-10 minutes. At this point, he is sound asleep and is able to be transferred to the bassinet where he would sleep uninterrupted for 2-3 hours at a stretch. Carrie woke up this morning and said, "I actually got to sleep last night." So, if everything goes well, we may have a good schedule now....fingers crossed.
We only have two real issues. First, he is a very hard burper. Sometimes you can do everything under the sun to try and burp him and it just won't happen. Of course this means he will spit up a little later. Still trying to find ways to make that easier, but no trick we have found or been told has worked 100% of the time yet. Also, we still are having problems mastering the temperature taking, and we are considering one of the temporal artery thermometers. He can feel warm and only shows a temp of 96.9. Happened all the time in NICU also, but they were able to retake it and get a better reading. Us, not so much. Now, we must talk with the NICU about the schedule he is to be on for shots since it is slightly different because of his prematurity. All in all, our days are easier and better. Shiloh even took his first car ride yesterday. Since everywhere we go is a drive, we want to make sure he is used to riding in the car. We went to the little town 20 miles over to get groceries (I got groceries while Carrie and Shiloh stayed in the running van). Not out in public, but it got Carrie and Shiloh both out of the house rather than being cooped up all of the time. We are expectantly waiting for the end of September so Shiloh can be introduced to the world. On August 29, we will be going to Midland for his circumcision. Not going to be a fun day overall, but it is the best time to get it done.
I know this post has rambled, but I wanted to be sure I covered everything I could.
Prayer requests:
- Pray we keep making advances
- Pray that he continues to grow and hits benchmarks on time
- Pray for the circumcision - healing time, financial aspects
- Pray for rest and perseverance for us all.
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