The Little Momma

Emma is doing a great job with Mac being home. I was really afraid that she would be very jealous, but she isn't. Of course, she does have her moments, like last night. I was trying to feed Mac, and Randall was trying to put Emma to bed. Since I had Mac, she wanted her Mommy. These jealous moments are very far apart. Thank Goodness!!!

Emma loves to help take care of Mac. She loves her little brother. She is constantly checking on him to make sure he is ok. If he cries, she is usually the first one to him, no matter where she is in the house. If you tell Mac everything is ok, she will echo what you say to him. The other night, she was outside when Mac started crying. She heard him and stuck her head in the back door and said, "Momma, do you hear Mac? He is crying." Apparently, I was getting to him quick enough for her. I think he is very blessed to have such a wonderful big sister as the "Little Momma."

Trip to the Eye Doctor

We took Mac back to Little Rock today for the first time since he has come home. He had an appointment with the eye doctor. When a newborn receives oxygen, there is a chance of the retina not attaching. The eye doctor visited him once in the hospital, but he wanted a check-up. Dr. Ware said everything looks great. Mac is scheduled to go back on April 27 for another check-up. Dr. Ware said that after that visit, Mac should "graduate" from his clinic. The appointment was pretty hard on me. It's just so tough to watch your child cry. I was probably worse than he was.

6 weeks old

Mac is 6 weeks old today. It is hard to imagine that 6 weeks ago I was so sick and he was born 11 weeks early. Looking at him today, you would guess that he is a newborn, not a premie. He is growing like a weed. I guess to us, he is like a newborn since he has only been home with us for a week. He basically sleeps and eats, so he is a very easy baby. He is also happy. He only cries when he is hungry (and like clockwork, that's about every 3 hours). We have given him a couple of baths since he has been home, and he seems to like them. I am sure it is because he gets to be unhooked from his apnea monitor. Overall, he is a wonderful baby, and a miracle from God.

First Visit to Pediatrician

Mac had his first visit with Dr. Luy today. He weighs 4 pounds, 13 ounces. She did notice that he has a hernia (not uncommon with preemies), so we now are looking for someone to check that out. It will probably require surgery at some point.

Mac is sleeping a lot, and eating every 3-4 hours. I know I probably am not getting enough sleep, but it is worth it if it means he is home. Emma is really enjoying having him here. She is such a little momma. If he makes any noise at all, she assumes he is hungry, and has to come and give that report to me. She doesn't want to leave in the mornings to go to daycare, but she is okay once she is there.

Home at Last!!

Mac is finally home!!! We arrived home around 2:30 P.M. on Friday afternoon. He slept on the entire ride home, then woke up as we drove into the garage. He weighed 4 pounds, 11 ounces upon leaving the hospital. He is on an apnea monitor to alert us if he has an heartbeat decelerations or stops breathing, and he has 3 medicines that we give him. Other than that, he is doing great!!! Emma is so excited to have him home. She is a great helper. She always alerts me if he is crying (and I act like I haven't heard him to keep her happy). We are so glad he is home. God has worked a miracle in our lives with this little baby!! We love you, Mac. Welcome home!!

We are coming home!!!

Mac will be coming home tomorrow!! We are so excited. He weighs 4 pounds, 10 ounces and has been eating all his feedings from a bottle for the last 2 days. Randall and I will be going to room in with him tonight. This is when they give us a room so we can take care of Mac before he is discharged. We also have to have a CPR refresher and a monitor course to go over the apnea monitor that will be coming home with us. Needless to say, I have been running around trying to get everything ready for him to be at home. We ordered a sleeper last week that fits right beside our bed. It is supposed to be delivered tomorrow. Hopefully we can get it and put it together after we get home tomorrow.

I plan on being off school a month to stay home with Mac. Randall is also going to take off some time to be home with us.

Thank you all who have prayed for Mac's well-being. He is finally coming home, and we can't wait!!! I will continue to update as he grows.

Bye-Bye Isolette

Dr. Benton said that they are to start weaning Mac off his isolette into an open-air crib. The nurse said that should take about 12 hours, so hopefully by this time tomorrow, he'll be in a crib!! We are so excited. We are scheduled to take a CPR course on March 19, but they think he'll probably be home before then. In order to bring him home, we have to complete the course. We also have to have a meeting with the monitor company so we know how to work his monitor that he'll be coming home with.

GREAT NEWS!!!

Randall talked to Dr. Nestrud yesterday. He is Mac's doctor. He said that as soon as Mac reaches 4 pounds, 8 ounces and is taking all his feedings by bottle, he'll get to come home. He expects that to be in the next 7-15 days. Hooray!!! Last night he weighed 4 pounds, 6 ounces. The nurse this morning said he had taken all his feedings from a bottle except the last one because he was just too tired. She said he had just had the biggest poopy diaper that she had ever seen a baby his size have.

Needless to say, I am running around frantic trying to get the house ready for him. I am trying to clean and disinfect since Emma and Randall have both been sick lately. I am making sure I have everything I need for him. We ordered a co-sleeper yesterday that fits right up next to the bed so I can monitor him since we are expecting him to come home with an apnea monitor.

We'll keep you updated, and let you know when we have a come home date!!

Shower

Thursday I was honored with a shower at work. It was wonderful. Mac received so many great things...from clothes to diapers and wipies. I am so grateful to work with such a loving group of people who truly care. We had a good time visiting and eating.

Out of NICU

Praise the Lord!! Mac was moved out of the NICU to the stepdown unit yesterday. He is now in a regular hospital room in the stepdown unit with 2 little girls. Apparently they had quite a few admissions yesterday, and he was the most stable, so he got the move. We are so excited. He was so content being held by Momma last night. He nursed for about 20 minutes, then just went right off to sleep. He is just a little trooper.

A Four-Pounder

Just wanted to let you all know that Mac reached another milestone…4 pounds, 1 ounce!!! He is a little toot, too. Last night, he pulled the feeding tube out of his nose twice, so the nurse decided to put it in through his mouth. He then used his tongue to get it out, so she decided just to give him an extra bottle. He took 40 mL, which is 3 mL more than he normally gets!!! Praise the Lord!!! I didn't get to go visit him last night, but Grammy and Gramps went and gave him a kiss from Momma. I can't wait to get him in my arms tonight, though!!!

A Bath

Last night we had an exciting visit. Mac was about to receive a bath when Grammy and I got there, so I got to give him a bath!! He hated it. I now know that he definitely has a set of lungs. He nursed for about 15 minutes, which was great considering it was the first time. He knew exactly what to do. He also was weighed. He weighs 3 pounds, 14 1/2 ounces. Even though he will probably reach his weight goal soon, he still will probably not be home till April. He has to be able to maintain his body temperature and be eating all meals on his own. Every time he gets bottle fed, he is pretty much wiped out for 6-8 hours. At least he is healthy and doing well.