3/7/07: Day 236 (Wed.) Test Completed

We ran Evan's pulse oximeter test last night. We couldn't get a steady good reading on it trying both his foot and his hand. We ended up leaving it on his foot and wrapped it on there tight to try to get the highest reading possible. We had to leave it on for at least 4 hours. I ended up taking it off around 4am, so there was at least 6 hours of testing. The best reading we could get was around 94%.

I returned the pulse oximeter to Apria and the nurse said the doctor would be in touch if they needed us to do another test to get a better reading. She told me the doctors like to see readings in the higher 90's, so we'll wait and see.

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Chronological age: 33 weeks and 5 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 5 months, 2 weeks and 5 days
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3/6/07: Day 235 (Tues.) Testing tonight

Tonight we have to put the pulse-oximeter on Evan for at least 4 hours to get a good saturation reading. Hopefully the last step so we can turn in all the oxygen equipment back to Apria!

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Chronological age: 33 weeks and 4 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 5 months, 2 weeks and 4 days
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3/5/07: Day 234 (Mon.) My new toy

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Chronological age: 33 weeks and 3 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 5 months, 2 weeks and 3 days
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2/27/07: Day 228 (Tues.) Visiting the Tucson Doc again

Evan had a follow-up appointment in Tucson with the Pediatric Pulmunologists. We met with Dr. Daynes (the same doctor he saw the last time). Evan got a clean bill of health from her (he lungs sounded perfect to her). One last hurdle to jump over to finally be done with all the home oxygen equipment. Dr. Daynes wants Apria (the home oxygen company) to do an overnight pulse-oximeter test on him to make sure his nighttime oxygen saturation is good. We're waiting for the call from Apria to get it set up. Dr. Daynes said Evan doesn't have to come back for about 6 months. We anticipate having to do a few follow-on appointments as he gets older to make sure he doesn't have any asthma/allergy issues.

**Vital Check**
Weight: 13 lbs. 5 oz.
Length: 24.25 inches

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Chronological age: 32 weeks and 4 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 5 months, 1 weeks and 4 days
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2/24/07: Day 225 (Sat.) Visting Dolores

My good friend Dolores snapped this picture of Evan when we were visiting at her house. His hair isn't as red in real life as it looks in the picture. It must have been the flash.

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Chronological age: 32 weeks and 1 day
Adjusted/developmental age: 5 months, 1 weeks and 1 day
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2/23/07: Day 224 (Fri.) Making Funny Faces

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Chronological age: 32 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 5 months, 1 weeks and 0 days
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2/19/07: Day 220 (Mon.) Helping With the House Cleaning

Here is a video of how Sadie helps clean up around the house:


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Chronological age: 31 weeks and 3 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 5 months, 0 weeks and 3 days
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2/18/07: Day 219 (Sun.) Jumping!

Dad went a bit crazy with the videos today. Here are a plethora of videos featuring Evan in his Jumperoo.













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Chronological age: 31 weeks and 2 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 5 months, 0 weeks and 2 days
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2/16/07: Day 217 (Fri.) 5 Months Adjusted Age

A new vid of Evan...it's a bit long since we were trying to get him to "talk". I posted a video on the January 27th posting of Evan dancing with his Grandma.





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Chronological age: 31 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 5 months, 0 weeks and 0 days
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2/14/07: Day 215 (Wed.) 7 Months Old!

Time is flying by...7 months old!!
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Chronological age: 30 weeks and 5 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 4 months, 4 weeks and 1 day
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2/13/07: Day 214 (Tues.) Seeing the Eye Doc

Evan had his follow-up appointment in Tucson with Dr. Miller. He's the pediatric ophthalmologist who checked performed his eye exam when he was in the NICU. The medical assistant first used drops to dilate his eyes. We didn't see Dr. Miller until about 30-40 minutes later (I guess the rain made everyone late).

His exam took about 10 minutes and Evan did great. Dr. Miller used a little magnifying lens and checked the back of his eye. He was able to determine that Evan is far-sighted right now, but not to worry. Since he doesn't have any cross-eye or lazy-eye problems, he expects Evan to end up being near-sighted just like his parents! He still is officially diagnosed with ROP, but is expected to grow out of it.
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Chronological age: 30 weeks and 4 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 4 months, 4 weeks and 0 days
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2/7/07: Day 208 (Wed.) Diaper Change!

I forgot to mention in the other update that Evan in now in size 2 diapers. It's a little thing, but shows he's growing bigger!
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Chronological age: 29 weeks and 5 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 4 months, 3 weeks and 1 days
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2/5/07: Day 206 (Mon.) A Little Update

Apologies on not posting so often...things have been hectic. So many people have been asking how the little guy is doing that I need to give a little update! He's doing great!! Knock on wood...no illnesses at all so far this winter. His latest achievement is sticking his tongue out (as evidenced in his 6-month old pictures). He is still waking at least once during the night to eat. We've pushed him to taking 5 ounces at least every four hours or so to try to get more weight put on him. He was a little less than 12.5 pounds at his doctor's appointment last week. His pediatrician didn't seem too concerned about his weight.

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Chronological age: 29 weeks and 3 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 4 months, 2 weeks and 6 days
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2/4/07: Day 205 (Sun.) Congrats to the Colts!

O.k...so the Steelers couldn't be in the Super Bowl...I can still be happy for a fellow AFC winning team. At least some of the commercials were entertaining. Evan slept through the second half of the game (as did most of the world).
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Chronological age: 29 weeks and 2 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 4 months, 2 weeks and 5 days
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2/2/07: Day 203 (Fri.)

This weekend I am traveling to Los Angeles for a sorority leadership conference.
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Chronological age: 29 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 4 months, 2 weeks and 3 days
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1/27/07: Day 197 (Sat.) Dancing With Grandma

A video of Evan dancing with his Grandma.

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Chronological age: 28 weeks and 1 day
Adjusted/developmental age: 4 months, 1 week and 4 days
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1/26/07: (Fri.) 6 Month Picture Day!

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Chronological age: 28 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 4 months, 1 week and 3 days
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1/22/07: Day 192 (Mon.) Wow Did It Snow!

We woke up this morning to a major snowfall! They ended up closing post, so we couldn't get to work.





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Chronological age: 27 weeks and 3 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 4 months, 0 weeks and 6 days
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1/21/07: Day 191 (Sun). Snowing!

The snow is starting to fall tonight! The vid is a little dark.


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Chronological age: 27 weeks and 2 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 4 months, 0 weeks and 5 days
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1/17/07: Day 187 (Wed.) I Love Bouncing!

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Chronological age: 26 weeks and 5 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 4 months, 0 weeks and 1 days
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1/16/07: Day 186 (Tues.) 6 Month Check-up!

Today was Evan's 6-month well-baby exam (and shots, yuck). Dr. Ettinger was happy to see how big and chubby Evan is getting. We filled him in on the info we got from the pulmonologist yesterday, and he suggested we take him completely off the O2. When they were taking his vital signs, they did a pulse oximeter reading on him, and he was registering 97%, which is excellent.

Evan didn't like being poked and prodded, but did well during the shots. He only got 2 injections this time. Funny to find out that Dr. Ettinger is also a U of Florida graduate. He saw T's Gator lanyard and commented on the Florida win last week. The Gator Nation is everywhere!

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Chronological age: 26 weeks and 4 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 4 months, 0 weeks and 0 days
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1/15/07: Day 185 (Mon.) Another Trip to the Pulmonologist

We made our third trip to the pulmonologist in Tucson. We had our fingers crossed that we would get the green light to take Evan off the O2. When we got there, I overheard the nurse saying Dr. Brown wasn't there that day (he was the second specialist we saw, the first was Dr. Morgan). This time, we saw Dr. Daines, the third different doctor. They didn't even have a nurse there to take his pulse oximeter reading, so it was a quick visit.

Dr. Daines played cautious and told us to take him off the O2 during the day, but put him back on at night. We have to come back in another month (aargh). The receptionist had me call a different number to get an appointment since they were already booked up for the clinic a month from now.
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Chronological age: 26 weeks and 3 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 months, 3 weeks and 6 days
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1/12/07: Day 182 (Fri.) Half-way To A Year Old!

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Chronological age: 26 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 months, 3 weeks and 6 days
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1/8/07: Day 178 (Mon.) Gators Win!!

Getting ready for the game:


Celebrating the Gator win with a nap on Dad:


Sleeping with Mom after the game:



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Chronological age: 25 weeks and 3 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 months, 3 weeks and 2 days
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1/2/07: Day 172 (Tues.)

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Chronological age: 24 weeks and 4 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 months, 2 weeks and 3 days
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1/1/07: Day 171 (Mon.) Ringing In the New Year

Happy 2007! So weird to be writing that year since it makes me feel so old! Amazing how the time has flown:

- Almost 6 months since Evan was born (after almost 3 years of trying)
- Starting our 7th year of living in Arizona
- Almost 10 years ago we were living in Germany
- Almost 12 years ago we both enlisted in the Army
- Almost 15 years (ahem, 14 for T) since we've been out of college
- Almost 19 years since we've been out of high school

Here's to kicking 2006 out the door and bring on 2007. I didn't really make any resolutions, but I am hopeful that these things will happen:

- Evan will come off the oxygen and be illness-free
- Evan's weight and length will catch up to his chronological age
- T and I will both get down to our basic training weights ;-)
- The Gators beat Ohio State for the National Championship
- The Steelers will be competitive again

We'll see how all that works out!


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Chronological age: 24 weeks and 3 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 months, 2 weeks and 2 days
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12/31/06: Day 170 (Sun.) Ending the Season With a Victory!*

Evan watching the last Steeler game of the year

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijxod4wnbg4

We were experimenting trying to see if we could make it look like Evan was on the tv screen:




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Chronological age: 24 weeks and 2 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 months, 2 weeks and 1 day
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12/30/06: Day 169 (Sat.) Hiding from us

We gave Evan a break from his oxygen the past 2 days. His new trick is to cover his face with the burp cloth when we're feeding him his bottle. We'll try to catch it on video.
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Chronological age: 24 weeks and 1 day
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 months, 2 weeks and 0 days
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12/29/06: Day 168 (Fri.) RSV Shot and Weight Update!

Evan had his 3rd Synagis shot today. You can read his latest weight/length below (he's becoming a chunker)!. He had gained 1 lb. 5 oz. since the last Synagis shot in November, so the nurse said she had to add a cc to his injection (a good thing). He was a trooper again during the injection. He cried for about a minute and then was fine.

He has his 6-month well-baby exam on January 17th (which also means his 6-month shots also). We asked the nurse to do a quick oxygen saturation check on him also. We turned off his oxygen and he was in the upper-90's, which is excellent. We can tell the pulmonologist in Tucson that he is finally at a normal level at our altitude.



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Weight update!
11 lbs. 4oz; 23 inches long
Chronological age: 24 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 months, 1 weeks and 6 days
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12/28/06: Day 167 (Thurs.) Snow Again

Another snowy day! The snow level wasn't quite down to our level, but it made for a nice view of the mountains.
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Chronological age: 23 weeks and 6 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 months, 1 weeks and 5 days
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12/25/06: Day 164 (Mon.) Christmas!*

Evan has a message for Bop (Jen's Dad):


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Chronological age: 23 weeks and 3 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 months, 1 weeks and 2 days
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12/24/06: Day 163 (Sun.) Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve at Tom & Ann's house along with other friends and co-workers. We didn't bring Evan along for fear of him getting sick around all those people. :-( My friend Stacy was there with her baby (I blogged about her back in September, she gave birth to Nathan when Evan was in the SV nursery). Nathan is a big boy! He's over 16 pounds and is about 3.5 months.

We had a "white elephant" gift exchange amongst the ladies. It didn't get too mean and nasty. :-)
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Chronological age: 23 weeks and 2 day
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 months, 1 weeks and 1 day
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12/22/06: Day 161 (Fri.) X-mas Pics

Today we took Evan to Sears for his first Christmas pics. We're getting his six-month pictures done next month, but I figured we'd kick ourselves if we didn't get Christmas pics done. We didn't purchase a whole bunch of them (so I didn't buy the photo cd), the pics should be in after New Year's. Since T's mom is staying with us, we got a nice picture of her and Evan together.

While we were waiting to get his photos taken, there was a family in front of us with twin boys and an older brother. I found out that the twins were in UMC (not sure how old they were but they were walking and talking, maybe 2). The mom said Dr. Tsai took care of her boys also. Small world! I don't think her twins were as preemie as Evan since she said they caught up really quickly to their chronological age. Sort of funny that the parents noticed the tell-tale tape marks on Evan's face from the nasal cannula.

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Chronological age: 23 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 months, 0 weeks and 6 days
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12/20/06: Day 159 (Wed.) Visit By Az EIP

Today we had a home visit by a representative from the Blake Foundation. The local office of the Blake Foundation is a part of the Arizona Early Intervention Program (Az EIP). The Arizona Early Intervention Program, also known as AzEIP (pronounced Ay-zip), is a statewide system of supports and services for families of children, birth to three, with disabilities or developmental delays.

Since Evan is a preemie, he qualifies for the program. Today was just a paperwork day with the case worker. Dulce (the case worker) is scheduling a physical therapist to come out and check on his development. That probably won't take place until after the holidays.

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Chronological age: 22 weeks and 5 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 months, 0 weeks and 4 days
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12/19/06: Day 158 (Tues.) Snow Day!*

A rare snow day in Arizona!!

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Chronological age: 22 weeks and 4 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 months, 0 weeks and 3 days
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12/16/06: Day 155 (Sat.)*

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Chronological age: 22 weeks and 1 day
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 months, 0 weeks and 0 days
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12/14/06: Day 153 (Thurs.) 5 Months Old!

Today marks Evan's 5-Month birthday! Amazing how the time has flown! Now that he is hitting close to the 3-month adjusted age mark, he is starting to get a happy personality. Some of the things he is doing now: kicking like a crazy-man in his bouncer chair; smiling at us (when he's not just gassy); drinking 4 ounces every feeding; and sleeping a lot more through the night.
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Chronological age: 21 weeks and 6 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 4 weeks and 0 days
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12/13/06: Day 152 (Wed.) Avid Sports Reader

I've found that Evan has a particular fondness for Sports Illustrated magazine. Not sure if it's the texture of the pages..s but he loves sitting on my lap and trying to turn the pages. :-)

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Chronological age: 21 weeks and 5 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 3 weeks and 6 days
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12/12/06: Day 151 (Tues.) Doctor Visit!

Evan had a follow-up appointment at the Children's Multi-Specialty Clinic in Tucson. We thought we would be seeing Dr. Morgan, but it was a different doctor (I think it was Dr. Brown). Our appointment was at 8:30am and we hoped we wouldn't have to wait as long as we did at the last appointment.

The nurse called us back to do his stats...he weighed 10 pounds 5 ounces; was 22 inches long; and his head circumference was 39 cm. I plotted his latest stats on that image, so you can click on it to see a bigger view. He's still just below average, but that's o.k.!

The doctor suggested we increase his amount to 4 ounces every feeding. He's been taking about 3 ounces every time. We have to get him to about 28+ ounces a day in order to plump him up more.

The nurse came in with the "magic" pulse oximeter. Of course Evan maxed out on the pulse ox while on the oxygen. Now, the moment of truth...we turned off the oxygen flow. He did great! He averaged about 96-97%. That was a big improvement from two months ago when he was averaging the low 90s.

We were hoping to hear the great news that he could come off the oxygen...um...didn't happen. At least we can stop the Lasix in two weeks. The doctor didn't want to make too many changes at once since he's wanting us to increase the amount of his feeds. When he comes off the Lasix, we have to watch for any major changes in his breathing. While he's sleeping, we have to do periodic respiration counts to make sure he's not laboring harder to breathe. He should be breathing between 30-40 respirations per minute. If he is breathing more rapidly, it's a sign that there may be moisture build-up in his lungs and we have to start the Lasix again.

We have to come back (again) for follow-up in about 5 weeks. The doctor anticipates that he will get the green light to stop the oxygen. The next time we take him to see Dr. Ettinger, we need to get a pulse oximeter reading on him to see what his true oxygen saturation is at our altitude.

So, we continue with the oxygen! Bummer!

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**Weight Check: 10 lbs. 5 oz.
**Height check: 22 inches
Chronological age: 21 weeks and 4 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 3 weeks and 5 days
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12/11/06: Day 150 (Mon.) It's a Record!

Check out this sleep-time record! 7 straight hours!

Sleep check:
Bedtime: 10:30pm
zzzz-Sleep-zzzz
Feeding: 5:30am

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Chronological age: 21 weeks and 3 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 3 weeks and 4 days
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10/10/06: Day 149 (Sun.) Crazy kicking*

I tried to catch a vid of Evan while he was kicking like a crazy-guy. These are a bit more mellow than what he was doing.





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Chronological age: 21 weeks and 2 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 3 weeks and 3 days
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12/9/06: Day 148 (Sat.) Some vids*

Sleep check:

Bedtime: 10:30pm
zzzz-Sleep-zzzz
Feeding: 2:30am
zzzz-Sleep-zzzz
Feeding: 7:00am

Evan drinking his bottle


Drinking some more


Trying to get him to babble (long vid)




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Chronological age: 21 weeks and 1 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 3 weeks and 2 days
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12/8/06: Day 147 (Fri.)

Sleep Check
Bed time: 9:30pm
zzzz-Sleep-zzzz
Feeding: 12:30am
zzzz-Sleep-zzzz
Feeding: 4:00am
zzzz-Sleep-zzzz
Feeding: 7:00am

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Chronological age: 21 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 3 weeks and 1 day
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12/7/06: Day 146 (Thurs.)

Sleep check:

Bedtime: 9:30pm
zzzz-Sleep-zzzz
Feeding: 3:00am
zzzz-Sleep-zzzz
Feeding: 6:00am

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Chronological age: 20 weeks and 6 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 3 weeks and 0 days
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12/6/06: Day 145 (Wed.)

Sleep check:

Bedtime: 9:30pm
zzzz-Sleep-zzzz
Feeding: 2:30am
zzzz-Sleep-zzzz
Feeding: 6:30am

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Chronological age: 20 weeks and 5 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 2 weeks and 6 days
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12/5/06: Day 144 (Tues.) We're in Double Digits!

Evan had his 4-month shots today...and he is finally in the double digits on his weight! He weighed in at 10 pounds, 1 ounce! He had 3 injections today (not fun), but he did fine. He cried for about a minute and then he was fine.
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**Weight Check: 10 lbs. 1 oz.**
Chronological age: 20 weeks and 4 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 2 weeks and 5 days
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12/2/06: Day 141 (Sat.) SEC Champs!

Evan and his dad enjoyed watching the Florida - Arkansas game. Luckily, the Gators won (or it would have been a bad evening in the household). With the USC loss...could the Gators play in Arizona for the national championship? We'll see!

Earlier in the day, the Theta girls held their annual Chapter Leadership Workshop. The girls presented me with a special gift for Evan...his own mini-Ben jersey. I'll post a photo later. It was great working with this old group of officers!

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Chronological age: 20 weeks and 1 day
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 2 weeks and 2 days
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12/1/06: Day 140 (Fri.) Sleeping Longer

I'm starting to keep a running log of Evan's nighttime sleep/eat patterns. Not exciting, I know, but it's some filler on these days where not a lot is going on.

Sleep: 10:30pm
Feeding: 12:30am
zzzz-Sleep-zzzz
Feeding: 6:00am

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Chronological age: 20 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 2 weeks and 1 day
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11/29/06: Day 138 (Wed.) Getting My Shot

Evan had a last minute doctor run to get his Synagis shot. This is that crazy-expensive once-a-month shot he needs to help prevent RSV. He received his first shot back in September, so this is just his second shot. He's supposed to get them monthly during the cold and flu season. He'll get his next one right before Christmas. He did relatively great during the injection. He was all happy until the nurse poked him. He turned bright red...no sound came out like it took his breath away...and then the cry let out. He didn't cry for too long and within a few minutes, it was as if he was back to normal.

We get to do this again next Tuesday at his 4-month well-baby visit with Dr. Ettinger. He'll get his next round of immunizations. Fun!

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**Weight Update: 9 lbs. 15 oz.**
Chronological age: 19 weeks and 5 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 1 week and 6 days
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11/27/06: Day 136 (Mon.) I Want My MTV!

A weird picture I know...but it was funny. Evan was in a really good mood this morning. I put him down on our bed while I was taking a shower. He was really enthralled with watching VH1 Classics. He's been awake a lot more recently and has really taken to watching football and cartoons. When he drinks his bottle, he likes to have his head tilted off to one side so he can watch the action.
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Chronological age: 19 weeks and 3 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 1 week and 4 days
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11/26/06: Day 135 (Sun.) A Lost Season...

I guess it was too much to ask for to have the Gators and the Steelers win in the same weekend! The bright hope is that the Gators will win against Arkansas in the SEC Championship Game. I have accepted the fact that the Steelers will not win their division this year. :-(
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Chronological age: 19 weeks and 2 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 1 week and 3 days
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11/25/06: Day 134 (Sat.) Gators Win (Whew)!*

A picture of Evan doing what he loves to do...sleep in his swing. We gave him a break from the O2 since his skin was looking rough. Later in the day, Evan watched the Florida-Florida State game with his dad. Evan gave the Seminoles his Gator Chomp!



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Chronological age: 19 weeks and 1 day
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 1 week and 2 days
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11/24/06: Day 133 (Fri.) Off We Go!

I ran across some websites that help parents choose how to save for their children's college education. One website calcuated it will cost at least $50,000 year for an in-state public university by the time Evan goes to college (CRAZY)!! So, we decided that he has to attend a service academy (preferably the Air Force Academy since it's closer). So, here's the link to Evan's future alma mater: U.S. Air Force Academy

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Chronological age: 19 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 1 week and 1 day
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11/23/06: Day 132 (Thurs.) Happy Thanksgiving!*

It's been really hard finding time to blog lately, so apologies to those of you missing your Evan-fix for the day!

Evan on his surfboard tummy mat


The pups helping with dinner (I have no idea why T is only wearing one sock)!


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Chronological age: 18 weeks and 6 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months and 1 week
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11/18/06: Day 127 (Sat.) Trying to Get a Smile *

A little milestone I've noticed is that Evan is smiling more (when he's not gassy). Dad can get some good smiles out of him when he makes funny noises at him.






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Chronological age: 18 weeks and 1 day
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months and 2 days
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11/17/06: Day 126 (Fri.) Bath Night

Evan's bath night! Always an exciting event...lots of screaming! With all the screaming he is doing now, I will laugh if he ends up being a swimmer.
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Chronological age: 18 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months and 1 day
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11/14/06: Day 123 (Tues.) 4 Months Old!

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Chronological age: 17 weeks and 4 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 4 weeks and 1 day
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11/12/06: Day 121 (Sun.) I Missed The Steeler Win!

Today was one looong day! My Theta girls held their nominating committee meeting to create the slate of new officers. In the past, these meetings last a few hours...but this time we set a record I hope will never be broken...12 hours. Thanks to my right-hand-lady Catherine for sticking it out with me!

Since I was sequestered away all day, I didn't get to watch the Steelers finally win a game!
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Chronological age: 17 weeks and 2 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 3 weeks and 6 days
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11/11/06: Day 120 (Sat.) Bath Day For Pups!*

Bath day for pups is always such a fun day! The dogs know when it's coming when Dad gets the "special" towels out of the closet. I added a "*" in the title of any posts with video in case you want to revisit old video clips without having to click on each post.

Earlier, Evan was in the lotus "Ohm" position....feet crossed, hands on his knees with his palms facing up. I couldn't get a picture of it in time.

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Chronological age: 17 weeks and 1 day
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 month 0 weeks and 0 days
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11/10/06: Day 119 (Fri.) 17 Weeks Old!

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Chronological age: 4 months 1 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 3 weeks and 6 days
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11/7/06: Day 116 (Tues.) Doctor Visit

Evan had his "well-baby" check-up with Dr. Ettinger today. When they weighed him, he was 9lbs. 4oz., which is less than when I weighed him on our home scale on Friday. I would guess my home scale is off a bit. We had thought Evan would get some shots today, but that has been put off for a few weeks. He is due for his Synagis shot...that is the shot to help prevent RSV that is crazy-expensive (over $2000 a shot). The nurse said they are waiting on word from our insurance to o.k. the shot. Once they get the o.k., we'll bring him in for that shot. He will get his 4 month shots at the start of December. I am anticipating that will not be fun.

The doc said his lungs sounded great (yea)! He predicted Dr. Morgan will take him off the O2 when we see him again on December 15th. When Evan hits the 10 pound mark (which I think will be in about a week and a half), we can stop giving him the Lasix dose. He is still getting the Poly Visol vitamins once a day. During feedings, we have been mixing his formula to equal 24 calories per ounce to give him a bot more calories per day to help boost his weight. Dr. Ettinger says we can back off on that and just mix his formula to be 22 cal/ounce, which will be a bit easier on his digestive tract.

So, he's doing just great...slowly (slowly) catching up to where he needs to be on weight and length. Dr. Ettinger commented on how he is getting baby fat, and that's a good thing. His cheeks, arms and legs are getting chubby! He is starting smile a bit more also.

On a different note...Evan slept AGAIN from midnight until 6am...two nights in a row! Fingers crossed it will last!
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**Weight check: 9 lbs. 4oz.**
Chronological age: 4 months 0 weeks and 4 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 3 weeks and 3 days
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11/6/06: Day 115 (Mon.) 6 Hours of Sleep!

O.k....a little milestone...Evan slept from midnight until 6:15am...completely missing his 3am feeding. We'll see if this was an anomaly...or could he be getting into the routine of sleeping longer?
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Chronological age: 4 months 0 weeks and 3 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 3 weeks and 2 days
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11/5/06: Day 114 (Sun.) Me and My Buddy

Evan and Sadie were watching football games from their perch.

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Chronological age: 4 months 0 weeks and 2 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 3 weeks and 1 day
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11/4/06: Day 113 (Sat.) Updating the timeline

I've updated Evan's timeline of significant events from a previous post:

October 17 (Day 95): Appointment with Dr. Morgan at Pediatric Pulmonary Clinic in Tucson (Evan still on O2)
September 19 (Day 67): Evan discharged from Sierra Vista Hospital! Comes home on oxygen
September 16 (day 64): His original due date
September 14 (Day 62): Got his Hepatitis & Synagis shots
August 29 (Day 46): Transferred back to Sierra Vista Hospital
August 25 (Day 42): Started bottle-feeding
August 18 (Day 35): PIC line removed; off the IV; up to full feeds with gavage
August 15 (Day 32): Passed hearing test; had ROP test done
August 13 (Day 30): CPAP removed; put on nasal cannula; classified as Level II care
August 11 (Day 28): T gets to hold Evan for first time
August 9 (Day 26): Got his first bath by mom
August 8 (Day 25): Moved into the 3rd pod/condition downgraded
August 7 (day 24): Respirator removed; put on nasal CPAP; held by Jen for the first time; moved into a crib
August 5 (Day 22): Oscillating respirator removed, put on conventional respirator
August 2 (Day 19): Arterial line removed
July 31 (Day 17): PDA healed
July 28 (Day 14): PDA discovered
July 25 (Day 11): Off the bilights; bi-carb burn on his right foot discovered; Jen's first diaper change
July 23 (day 9): PIC line inserted
July 21 (Day 7): mild IVH grades detected in brain
July 18 (Day 4): Pulmonary hemmorhage detected; put on ocillating respirator
July 14 (Day 1): Born by emergency c-section in Sierra Vista Hospital and air-evac'ed to University Medical Center in Tucson

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Chronological age: 4 months 0 weeks and 1 day
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 3 weeks and 0 days
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11/3/06: Day 112 (Fri.) TGIF!

Thank God It's Friday! It was nice that I started back to work mid-week. It made the week go a little faster. I found it hard to keep up with posting this week...I hope to not be so lax in the future! This weekend I'll get caught up on posting some vids of the little guy for those of you who need your Evan-fix! ;-)

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** Unoffical Weight Check Update: 9 lbs. 10 oz. **
Chronological age: 4 months 0 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 2 weeks and 6 days
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11/2/06: Day 111 (Thurs.) Sleep? What's that?

Rough sleeping last night now that we are both working at the same time! Of course Evan didn't want to sleep in his playyard...so he ended up in the bed between us. Shocking...he slept like a baby. Now, before all of you blast us with your comments on how bad it is to have a baby sleep in bed with you...rest assured that we're not going to suffocate him since he sleeps with the apnea monitor! Let me tell you...at this point...it's all about getting a good night's sleep for everyone (Evan and us)! We'll work on getting him to sleep in his crib at a later time!

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Chronological age: 3 months 3 weeks and 6 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 2 weeks and 5 days
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11/1/06: Day 110 (Wed.) Back to Work (Again)

Back to work.....again...bummer! It's just like I never left!
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Chronological age: 3 months 3 weeks and 5 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 2 weeks and 4 days
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10/31/06: Day 109 (Tues.) Halloween!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays (even though we did no decorating this year). Arizona Halloweens are nice since you don't completely freeze your butt off waiting for trick-or-treaters. The area where we live makes trick-or-treating very easy for kids...too easy that you'll see vehicles with Mexican license plates parked all over. It reminds me of those Halloweens when we were in Germany when the locals would arrive in droves to the American housing areas.

I didn't put Evan in a Halloween costume...just a little romper with a Halloween design. He had red-eye in the pic, so when T edited it, he sort of looks like an alien-eyes now! ;-)
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Chronological age: 3 months 3 weeks and 4 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 2 weeks and 3 days
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10/30/06: Day 108 (Mon.)

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Chronological age: 3 months 3 weeks and 3 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 2 weeks and 2 days
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10/29/06: Day 107 (Sun.) Will the Steelers ever win? :-(

Wow, another Steeler loss today (and to the Raiders of all teams...thugs)! Evan is getting used to our new house guest, T's mom. She'll be watching Evan during the day when I go back to work on Wednesday. T has been able to get Evan to take about 3.5 ounces during a feeding which is a good increse in volume. He never finishes that much when I feed him. He slept really well last night, he only got up around 4:30am after going to bed around 11pm. Of course he always sleeps well when it's T's night to take care of him. ;-)

A reminder now that the rest of the world fell back an hour, Arizona doesn't...so we're on back Mountain time zone (2 hours behind the east coast, 1 hour ahead of Cali).
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Chronological age: 3 months 3 weeks and 2 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 2 weeks and 1 day
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10/28/06: Day 106 (Sat.) Baby Einstein

This picture is actually from last night. Luckily I was able to snap it before Sadie had moved. We had Evan sitting in his Bumbo chair watching a Baby Einstein video (I'm lovin' these)! It was the Baby Beethoven one. Anyway...Sadie comes in and plops herself right down beside him to watch the video also. It helped that T was sitting there, since Sadie is always wanting to be near him. It was a funny sight! Evan was pretty attentive to parts of the video.

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Chronological age: 3 months 3 weeks and 1 day
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 2 weeks and 0 days
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10/27/06: Day 105 (Fri.) 15 Weeks Old!

Since Evan didn't have a weight check at the doctor's office, I did an "unofficial" weight/height check at home. The results are listed below.



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**Weight Check (unofficial): 9lbs. even
**Length (unofficial): 21 inches
Chronological age: 3 months 3 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 1 week and 6 days
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10/26/06: Day 104 (Thurs.) Sleeping In My Crib

So proud of Evan! He has slept the past two nights in his crib in his room! Now, sleeping through the night is a whole other matter we're not even close to yet! It's interesting to listen to him through the monitor when he is sleeping. There are times it sounds like he's waking up to demand his night feeding, but it's like he is just dreaming and goes back to sleep. He makes lots of grunts and whines when he sleeps. :-)

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Chronological age: 3 months 2 weeks and 6 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 1 week and 5 days
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10/25/06: Day 103 (Wed.) Picture Day!

We had Evan's pictures taken today at Sears. We were worried we wouldn't get any good pictures out of him since he isn't a very smiley guy. The pics turned out pretty good. I had a handful of the pictures done in black & white since it seemed to tone down the redness in his cheeks from the cannula adhesive.
















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Chronological age: 3 months 2 weeks and 5 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 1 week and 4 days
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10/24/06: Day 102 (Tues.) The Bumbo Chair*

We got Evan one of those Bumbo baby seats that allows him to sit upright. Today was
the second time I put him in the seat. At first he cried (when I snapped the still picture), but a few moments later, he was just fine (when I took the vid). He is still small for the seat, so I had to bolster his back up with a towel. He is always enthralled with the ceiling fan, as you can see. Thanks to Sadie-pup for trying to make a guest appearance.



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Chronological age: 3 months 2 weeks and 4 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 1 week and 3 days
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10/23/06: Day 101 (Mon.) "Maxstoplicking"

Don't get us wrong, we love our dogs...but Max our German Shepherd can be very annoying when he licks his feet all the time. He's always had this allergy problem since he was a puppy when we lived in Germany. My big worry at this point is that Evan is going to think his name is "maxstoplicking" since we seem to say it all the time! It takes saying it at least three times before Max will give you this look and a groan as if to say "I wasn't doing anything".
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Chronological age: 3 months 2 weeks and 3 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 1 week and 2 days
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10/22/06: Day 100 (Sun.) Triple Digits!

Wow! Evan finally hits triple digits on his age! He's come so far in 100 days! Here's a toast to many, many, many more great days ahead! We hoped to also celebrate a Steeler win today, but we came up short against Atlanta.

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Chronological age: 3 months 2 weeks and 2 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 1 week and 1 day
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10/20/06: Day 98 (Fri.) 3 1/2 months old!

Today was just a weight-check at the pediatrician's office. I wasn't expecting a big weight jump from Tuesday's appointment in Tucson. Evan weighed 8 lbs. 3 oz. today, a 2 oz. jump from Tuesday. It's always good to see a steady increase in his weight. We didn't try to test his O2 saturation off the O2 since his original reading wasn't at the usual high percentage. The highest the nurse could get was 96%. He usually registers at 100%...the nurse thinks it was because his hand was so cold. No worries!

His next appointment is November 7th with Dr. Ettinger. Since Dr. Vedock is moving away, Evan will just bump over to him. He will probably get his next Synagis shot at that appointment (another $2,000 shot, ouch). He's also getting close to his next round of shots at 4 months. He also is due for his second Hepatitis B shot. I am anticipating that will not be a very happy appointment for Evan. :-(

I tried getting Evan to nap in his play-yard, but he was not happy about that. Instead, he fell asleep in his swing which doesn't look as comfortable to me, but I guess he likes it!



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Chronological age: 3 months 2 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 4 weeks and 6 days
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10/19/06: Day 97 (Thurs.) Kicking the fish!*

In the last post, I talked about Evan hitting milestones a little later than usual. For the past two days Evan has been hitting a great milestone in my mind. While sitting in his bouncer, he knows to kick the fish to make the music/sounds go! It's a little milestone, but it's something! I was finally able to catch him on video doing it. he seems to be more enthralled by the bouncer now (even though he still doesn't like the vibration).



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Chronological age: 3 months 1 weeks and 6 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 4 weeks and 5 days
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10/18/06: Day 96 (Wed.) Smaller than your average...

Being the parents of a preemie, there are things you have to get used to...such as your child not reaching those growth milestones like the other full-term babies. At least we'll get a lot of wear out of 0-3 months clothes! For instance...Evan's Jumperoo is supposed to fit babies from 3 months upward (or not until a baby has full head control). I had to snap this picture so you can see how he measures up. He's not quite on target for his chronological age...but he's getting there! He can use the Jumperoo with some slight modifications such as putting a box under his feet so he has something to jump off of and tucking some towels down in the sides. Before you know it, he'll be jumping like crazy. :-)





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Chronological age: 3 months 1 weeks and 5 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 4 weeks and 4 days
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10/17/06: Day 95 (Tues.) Tucson Doctor Visit

We were hoping for good news from the pulmonary doctor (Dr. Morgan)...it wasn't the news we had hoped for, but it was good news. We had hoped to hear the words "he doesn't need the O2 anymore"...we didn't. :-(

His appointment was scheduled for 11:30am and we got there about 15 minutes early. We were so happy when they called us right away and they did all the usual stuff (weight/length check, took his temperature). Well, they put us in one of the exam rooms and we waited, and waited. T's stomach growled louder and louder. Then Evan was hungry, so we gave him his bottle.

Dr. Morgan's nurse finally came in about 12:30pm to do all the preliminary paperwork (stuff that we though they should have had already such as his birthdate, when he was discharged from UMC, etc..). She gave us much of the same information we already knew such as not taking him into malls or crowded places to reduce his chance of picking up any funk. She tested his O2 saturation (the thing we have all been waiting for) while he was on the O2. He was maxed out, as we expected. Then, we took the O2 off, held our breath and watched the monitor numbers. He averaged about 92-93% on room air in Tucson. Pretty good! The nurse thought maybe the doctor would allow us to take him off the O2 during the day and put him back on at night to give him a little push.

Dr. Morgan came in with a medical student by his side. Nice guy, very friendly. He checked Evan's lungs and said they sounded great. Yeah! No crackling! I am assuming from the results of Evan's O2 saturation that the doctor did not give us the green light to take him completely off. He would rather keep weaning him down (at least that will save us a little on switching out the O2 tanks as frequently). When we take Evan to Dr. Vedock's for his weight check, we'll have them test his O2 saturation at 1/8 liter (he's on 1/4 right now). Dr. Morgan said he is really close to coming off the O2, but he still couldn't give a definitive time frame. It's all due to altitude at this time. If we lived closer to sea level, he would already be off.

So, our little guy is still tethered to his tank. We have to go back to see Dr. Morgan in December. I would hope by then he would give us the go ahead to remove the O2.

Here's the weight check for ya Joey!!

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** Weight Check: 8lbs. 1 oz
** Length: 20.25 inches
Chronological age: 3 months 1 weeks and 4 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 4 weeks and 3 days
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10/16/06: Day 94 (Mon.) A Day without O2

O.k...I do admit that I can sometimes have little patience for things. (That admission will make T happy). Recently we have been impatient about Evan coming off the O2. If you remember back to previous posts, when he was discharged from the SV Hospital, he was on about .1 liter of O2 (that's almost on room air). They sent him home on .25 liter of O2 just to be sure (since his O2 saturations would drop during feedings and diaper changes). There have been times we have caught him with the cannula totally out of his nose and he hasn't shown any signs of distress.

Last night about 1am, he pulled one side of his cannula off his face (thanks to the new adhesive we used that doesn't keep it on as tight). Prior to him pulling it off, he was making noises through his nose as if the cannula was blocking his nostrils. Since he had the cannula halfway off, I decided to take the whole thing off and see what happened. He was on the apnea monitor, so I had double reassurance that he was still breathing. Well, it has been over 13 hours and the kid is doing fine (no retracting of his rib cage, no straining to breathe), he looks normal as usual. When T gets home from work, we plan on putting his cannula back in since we have that appointment tomorrow.

Tomorrow we have an appointment with Dr. Morgan at the UPH Children's Multi-Specialty Center in Tucson. We're not sure what will happen at the appointment, but we hope he'll get the green light to come off the O2. A lot of what I have read on line says that if an infant with BPD is on O2 during the RSV/cold/flu season, they usually stay on the O2 until the end of the season. That would be very disappointing (especially since Evan doesn't venture out into public places). We'll post more tomorrow after the appointment.

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Chronological age: 3 months 1 weeks and 3 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 4 weeks and 2 days
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10/15/06: Day 93 (Sun.) Steelers Win!

Evan cheered on the Steelers with his new snuggle-ball. Thanks to my advisory board Theta-ladies for the gift!

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Chronological age: 3 months 1 weeks and 2 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 4 weeks and 1 days
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10/14/06: Day 92 (Sat.) We Miss Marianne! 3 Months Old!

Today was the UMC NICU annual picnic at Udall Park up in Tucson. This was the first time having Evan in the car for an extended period of time. He did great! We found out about the picnic via e-mail from Marianne...the NICU forgot to send us an invitation. :-( Anyway...it was great to see Marianne again since she was on vacation when Evan was transferred to the Sierra Vista Hospital. We got caught up on lots of stuff...it was great to hear that some of the babies who were in the NICU for a long time finally went home. We also learned that Marianne is a finalist for the March of Dimes Arizona Nurse of the Year! Fingers crossed she wins!
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Chronological age: 3 months 1 weeks and 1 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 4 weeks and 0 days
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10/13/06: Day 91 (Fri.) 13 Weeks Old!

Friday the 13th! I experimented with Evan napping in his crib in his room. He did pretty good after screaming his head off for about 20 minutes. I ended up using one of the swaddle blankets and that helped to calm him a lot.
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Chronological age: 3 months 1 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 weeks and 6 days
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10/12/06: Day 90 (Thurs.) Visitors!*

I gave Evan some tummy-time today on his playmat. He wasn't too happy about being on his stomach, but did enjoy laying on his back looking at the lights. He was pretty happy until I decided to capture a vid (typical). He's been better about napping in the bassinett in his play yard. We need to get him to sleep in there when T's mom comes to stay (since I don't want to be sleeping with him on the couch forever)! It's still rough getting him to sleep in his crib in his room. I think he's been so used to sleeping on cushier mattresses, that the mattress in his crib probably seems too hard for him.

Evan had a visit from Joe and Deb today. Thanks guys for the baby gifts!

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Chronological age: 3 months 0 weeks and 6 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 weeks and 5 days
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Evan always looks so mad...or maybe he's just concentrating too hard

10/11/06: Day 89 (Wed.) A trip out*

Today I decided to get out of the house since the weather was so nice. I had to go to the medical supply store to try to find that stuff to keep Evan's nasal cannula in place. I never knew that babies are people magnets when you being them into a store! The people at the medical supply store were very nice and gave me samples of a different type of adhesive. To buy the stuff the hospital was using would have been over $100 since you have to buy the whole box. Hopefully we'll find out next week if he even has to stay on the O2.

We also went to Target to get some diapers and stuff. Evan was great and slept most of the time in his carrier. I have come to the realization that when you are toting an infant, you can't make quick little trips to the store. And I want to know why does the Target parking lot in Sierra Vista have such a slope? It was tricky getting his carrier out of the shopping cart before the shopping cart scooted away down the parking lot.

O.k...so I was feeling a little adventurous...when I was switching out his cannula, I decided to see how he would do without it. Shhh, don't tell the doctors, but he was doing fine for over 30 minutes without his cannula.
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Chronological age: 3 months 0 weeks and 5 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 weeks and 4 days
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Evan having a happy day in his bouncer

10/10/06: Day 88 (Tues.) Another trip to the lab

Evan had to get blood work done again...so I toted him off to the draw station at the hospital. He did great...just cried a little when they pricked his foot. After that, it was like...been there, done that. He's had blood drawn so much that it probably isn't phasing him anymore.

On our way out, I stopped by the medical records office to get a print out of both mine and Evan's itemized bills. It was amazing to see all the drugs I was given the day of my c-section! I was even more shocked that the RSV vaccine that Evan got was over $2,000. He has to get that shot every month for the next year. Costing that much, it better work! ;-)
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Chronological age: 3 months 0 weeks and 4 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 weeks and 3 days
Lab Charges: $13.34
Running Total: $368,274.58
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10/9/06: Day 87 (Mon.) Is the well going dry?

Evan is eating and growing like a champ! Just today I noticed his head isn't looking as small as it did. :-) According to his weight, he needs to eat about 400 calories to gain weight.

My BM supply is starting to dwindle and I've resorted to the wives' tales to try to increase my supply: warm compresses, herbal tea, Fenugreek herbal supplements. None of those are making a big difference. We used up all my frozen supply, so we now have to supplement with formula. I have to pump about 3 times to equal one of his feedings, it's getting hard to keep up.

Evan is drinking a formula for preemies (Enfamil Enfasure Lipil). It has 22 calories per ounce versus regular formula which is 20 calories per ounce. We have to adjust the powder to water ratio to make it 24 calories per ounce just to give him a bit more calories. Throughout the day, those extra calories add up. Since the formula is thicker, Evan doesn't drink it down as quickly as he does expressed BM. During the night, he is b-feeding pretty well, but I don't think he is getting enough volume and he ends up being hungry the next hour. I hated having to give him formula, but the well seems to be going dry!
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Chronological age: 3 months 0 weeks and 3 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 weeks and 2 days
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10/8/06: Day 86 (Sun.)

Watching the Steeler game, hoping for a win!

O.k...so they didn't win (again)! :-(
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Chronological age: 3 months 0 weeks and 2 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 weeks and 1 day
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10/7/06: Day 85 (Sat.) Sticker Shock

Now that Evan has been home for a bit, the medical bills are starting to trickle in. Since my blog is being used as an educational piece for some people, I wanted to lay all the numbers out there for people to see just how much healthcare for a preemie costs. In the preemie book I had, they say you estimate about $1,000 a day...um..not even close in our case!

- The final bill from UMC was $291,708.45
- The final bill from Sierra Vista Hospital was $41,401.47

I added the daily amounts to past posts with a running total of everything. By the time Evan was discharged on Day 67 the running total was $368,096.54. That adds in the AirEvac services, Southwest Ambulance, and the intial bills on his birthday from the SV Hospital.

That amount is sort of mind-boggling. Now is the nightmare of navigating the insurance game. We have Evan covered under both of our insurances, so we're not sure if that will make things harder or easier on us. This amount certainly isn't the last of his medical bills. We have the trips to the pulmonary specialists in Tucson, the normal well-baby visits locally, and his home oxygen services.

When I think of the other family circumstances we encountered at UMC, our case is mild. I think of baby Olivia who has been in the NICU for 9 months or the families of twins and triplets where those families could potentially hit over a million dollars in bills. When you anticipate the birth of child, this isn't even in the realm of one's imagination.

One of Evan's UMC nurses had asked me about the whole preemie birth experience (she was not a mother herself) and it was hard for me to put into words. As the mother of a preemie, you don't get to experience all the joy that comes with giving birth. You really feel like you get the short end of the stick. You go through the ups and downs and the what-ifs. You blame yourself and think back to what I had done wrong during the pregnancy to bring this upon myself. From day one you are in hyper-drive; there were some days I would just forget to eat. It's hard to explain when you are discharged from the hospital still in pain from surgery, but you go home empty-handed since your baby is in a hospital 80 miles away.

We are blessed that Evan has turned out so well. He won't be without some lung problems along the way early on, but he's expected to be just fine as he gets older. He's doing great compared to the preemie growth charts. We so appreciate all the gifts, cards, e-mails, well-wishes, blog comments and hand-me-down clothes (Debbie, you are a saint for parting with all those clothes...I can't thank you enough).

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Chronological age: 3 months 0 weeks and 1 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 weeks and 0 days
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10/6/06: Day 84 (Fri.) 3 Months Old!*

Today was bath day for Evan since he was going to visit his favorite doctor today, Dr. Vedock. I managed to give him a bath by myself since T went back to work today. I'll still be home until November 1.

We don't have to go back to the doctor's office for 2 weeks. We're sad that Dr. Vedock is moving away! I have to take him to the hospital on Monday to get labs drawn again.

I was uploading the video I posted on yesterday's blog when Max, our German Shepherd, comes into the room panting. It was the tell-tale sound of a thunderstorm approaching. I had to get a vid of him under the computer desk. This big 80-pound dog is frightened of thunder and when a storm is near, he tries to get under the desk (usually when we are sitting at the desk).
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*Weight check: 7 lbs. 6 oz.
*Length: 20 inches
Chronological age: 3 months 0 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 weeks and 6 days
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This is our early-warning system for thunderstorms






Here was the storm that lasted all of about 5 minutes

10/5/06: Day 83 (Thurs.) Thumb Sucking*

Evan has hit another "milestone" today....if you would call this a milestone...he has discovered how to suck his thumb.
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Chronological age: 2 months 3 weeks and 6 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 weeks and 5 days
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Earlier, Evan was trying to hold the monkey's hand. By the time we got the camera out, he started to fall asleep.

10/3/06: Day 81 (Tues.) Going for a walk

We went for a walk today since the pups were going crazy. This was the first time putting Evan in the stroller and he did great. We did the long walk out El Camino Real by the horse farm which is a little less than a 2 mile round trip walk. Evan slept through most of the trip.

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Chronological age: 2 months 3 weeks and 4 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 weeks and 3 days
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10/1/06: Day 79 (Sun.) October already!

Hard to belive how fast the months are going by! If you notice in the picture, Evan does not have his oxygen cannula in. We changed out his cannula today and I thought since he didn't have anything on his face, it would be good time for a picture. :-) He did just fine without his oxygen, so hopefully his days are numbered on the O2 tank. We won't know until we go to the pediatric pulmonary clinic in 2 weeks in Tucson. There have been times where he is sleeping and he moves the cannula completely out of his nose, and he does fine.
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Chronological age: 2 months 3 weeks and 2 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 weeks and 1 day
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9/30/06: Day 78 (Sat.) Another Gator win

First off, glad that Gators won..it makes the house much more calm! Max and Sadie didn't have to run and hide since T wasn't yelling as much at the television.

Today was bath day, a day Evan used to enjoy while in the hospital. Now he doesn't seem to like it as much. I think he likes his body being under the water; but with the baby tub we have, he hovers over the top of the water (like a hammock). Maybe he isn't feeling warm enough like he would be under the water.

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Chronological age: 2 months 3 weeks and 1 day
Adjusted age: 2 weeks and 0 days
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9/29/06: Day 77 (Fri.) 11 Weeks Old!

Doctor's visit today went well. We found out his lab results were all within the acceptable ranges. Evan almost slept through the entire visit (but he won't sleep at nighttime...what is up with that?)! Anyhoo...Dr. Vedock is wanting him to gain a bit more weight every week, so we'll be bumping his feedings up to about 80-90ml (about 3oz.). He gained 5oz. from last week's visit. We're still fortifying his feedings to add some extra calories.

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** Weight check: 7 lbs. 2 oz.
** Length: 19.25 inches
Chronological age: 2 months 3 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted age: 1 week and 6 days
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9/28/06: Day 76 (Thurs.)

O.k...advice here...what makes a kid scream and not sleep during the nighttime hours...but then he'll sleep like a "baby" during the daytime hours?? So much for sleeping through the night I posted about earlier!
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Chronological age: 2 months 2 weeks and 6 days
Adjusted age: 1 week and 5 days
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9/27/06: Day 75 (Wed.) Happy Bouncer

Evan finally likes his bouncer...it's taken a few days, but he seems happy with it. For the past few days when we put him in it, he was not a happy guy. He lasted about 10 minutes in it and started crying, right after I took the picture. Nothing much to report on today. Evan is doing much better sleeping for about 5 hours through the night.

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Chronological age: 2 months 2 weeks and 5 days
Adjusted age: 1 week and 4 days
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9/26/06: Day 74 (Tues.) Napping in My Crib

Evan finally took a nap in his crib in his room! I've been worried about getting him to sleep in other places than just with me on the couch. I wheeled his oxygen tank to the other side of the house and laid him down for a post-meal nap. He slept for a good hour or two, so fingers crossed we'll be able to transition him easily.

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Chronological age: 2 months 2 weeks and 4 days
Adjusted age: 1 week and 3 days
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