Moving in again

When I came to the hospital yesterday, this was the onesie Titus was wearing:  

I have to say, I completely agree! (p.s. do you see the beginnings of a double chin?!)

Well, I've got a room at the hospital again, this time voluntarily.  The Drs. wanted Titus to be able to begin nursing at night, which (obviously) requires my presence.  I figured staying at the hospital would be much more advantageous to getting as much sleep as possible (the NICU is only a short walk down the hall), and preventing any catastrophic 2 am car crashes that would likely occur, given my sleep-deprived nature at the moment.  I am residing in the Pediatric ward this time, which is nice because I have my own room again, and am sharing a bathroom with baby Kennedy's mom.  This bathroom has a shower, too, so no trips down the hall for that.  The only bummer about it is the view is, well, rather unappealing, especially on a day like today where it's completely overcast (*gasp* again?!!)  I do wish the snow would have stayed on the ground longer.

Titus is progressing very well still.  His weight last night was 2610 grams or 5 lbs., 12 ounces.  He is nursing well, averaging about 15 minutes or a little more.  As long as he's still gaining weight, that's what matters most.  They had me nurse him every other feeding for the last 12 hours to make sure he could tolerate "working" that much for his food, since I would be here at night as well.  We didn't want to overwhelm him (preemies can get stressed by nursing, which can cause their stats to go down).  He handled it very well, and now today we're free to nurse every feeding.  The Dr. also changed the order on that from feeding every 3 hours to ad lib every 2-4.  That way, when Titus is hungry and awake, he can eat, instead of waiting until "it's time" or just not waking up because he's not hungry yet.  This makes me feel a lot better, as he knows when he's hungry or not, not me (or the Drs. for that matter).  I won't feel like I'm force-feeding him when he really wants to just sleep, or wake him up to start eating, nor will I feel like I'm almost neglecting him when he wakes up earlier than "feeding time" and wants to eat. The staff can just call me and I'll be there.  (Just got Jackson 5 in my head, "Don't ya know baby, yeah, yeah, I'll be there..." anyway!)  Now that he's bigger, especially, he can vary a bit in his nourishment and it's not as big a deal as it was when he was so little.  Hopefully he will be able to room in with me in a couple of days (I REALLY look forward to this!!!).  The NICU got really busy yesterday--4 new babies, so they moved us up to "Level 2" instead of "Level 3," which is also a huge step for Titus.  Level 2 is for babies who are on the way out of the NICU.  His buddy, Kennedy came, too.  

(This photo is of the Level 2 room, and through the doorway is Level 3.)

Back home, Stella and Ezra seem to be doing well.  Ezra is pretty much over his cold, and Stella has not shown signs of catching it, so that's good.  They are back at Kindergarten this week and have a Fasching party (basically Mardi Gras) on Friday.  Their theme this year is "Circus," and Stella wants to dress up as a trapeze artist (one of her ballet outfits should suffice, I think).  Ezra does not have an opinion yet, but I think just painting his face like a clown would work!  

Nick went back to work yesterday (just for one day), and said it went well. He's still feeling pretty yucky, which will hopefully be over soon.  It's hard to care for kiddos when you feel nasty, and can't go visit your new baby on top if it.  He's going to go get some of our paperwork done regarding Titus' birth and our move, so hopefully we can get some moving stuff in the works and planned (like when our stuff will get packed up!) soon.  We've also been slowly making progress on getting the house ready for Titus' homecoming.  The cradle is out of storage and just needs to be wiped down and put together, baby clothes are in the wash, and the car seat is almost ready (it had to be cleaned, too!).  I have some videos from the hospital that we have to watch in order to be discharged.  Unfortunately, it's protocol, and having two other children that are healthy does not exempt you from watching, "How to care for your newborn," and "How to install a car seat properly" videos.  It's a small price to pay after all of this!

Current prayer requests:

*That Titus would continue to do well nursing, and still have greater stamina to get enough milk at every feeding.  Also, his hematocrit numbers were down (red blood cell count) a little bit, so they're giving him some stuff to help his body produce more. This is not unusual for preemies, but please pray that his body would be able to keep up with is growth and it would not cause a problem (like needing a transfusion) or delay in his discharge time.

*That Nick would get better ASAP, and have patience and endurance in being "Super Dad." Please pray also that we would be able to spend some time together with Titus this week.

*That I would get enough rest now that I will be "on call" for Titus around the clock, and he's not right beside me in the room.  It's a little odd for me.  

*For the kids to continue to endure Mommy not being home, and the soon-to-be adjustment of Titus being home, too.