6 months actual

Tomorrow Oliver turns 6 months old.  To celebrate Nathaniel's 6 month, we started letting him play with food, banana and avocado.  For Oliver's... nothing is changing.  Sorry buddy.  Oliver currently weighs 11 lbs and 11 oz.  And this outfit... is 0-3 months!  We've moved out of newborn size.  Thankfully my sister loaded us up on snap front 0-3 outfits, because we used almost exclusively zip front on Nathaniel.  We have more than enough now, and I'm hoping by the time he hits 6 months clothes he'll be off the monitors.

Oliver's ROP surgery got cancelled at the last minute last week.  It's currently rescheduled for March 8.  We're still assuming it'll just be one night in the hospital.  The actual surgery really doesn't require any recovery as it's all done by laser, but he'll need to be closely monitored coming off of the ventilator. 

It's still a huge struggle to get Oliver to eat.  We fight with it all day, trying to get him to take just 10 more mls after he refuses the bottle, and then at night we catch him up via the feeding tube.  We were really hoping he'd be off of it by now.  I'm surprised his pediatrician hasn't pushed for a permanent g-tube.

Oliver is smiling a lot more, and talking to us. Hi Oliver He just stares at Nathaniel when he's around.  After Nathaniel being home three straight days, Oliver did almost nothing but sleep Tuesday.  I'm sure he was thinking, "ahhhh, peace and quiet!"

We finally got a real substantial snow fall out here, and David's office was closed on Monday due to it.  Nathaniel loves the snow, or "noes" as he calls it.  Nathaniel's snow day  He loves playing outside in it, and had a major meltdown when we made him come inside, even though his poor little hands were just blocks of ice.

David has put in his vacation time for April, so we're in the process of planning our trip home.  We should be home April 18-28, and I can't wait. 

Oliver is 2 months old (adjusted)

Ugh, what a weekend.  Friday night we discovered that the outlet in the garage that the fridge and freezer out there are plugged into wasn't working, and we had no idea how long that had been.  I was in panic mode as I have a thousand ounces of frozen breastmilk in that deep freeze.  If you've ever pumped, you know how hard and tedious it is, and the thought of losing all that made me feel sick.  We finally managed to tap into the outlet on the ceiling that the garage door opener runs on, but I was getting ready to hit the internet to find homes for all that milk.

Later that night, Oliver started having trouble breathing, and was coughing.  He managed to maintain good sats, though, so we waited until Saturday morning before calling out to the clinic at the hospital.  The nurse felt that one of the doctors should see him, so we packed up and headed back out to Aurora to go to the emergency room at Children's Hospital.  The woman at registration was worried about how he sounded, so they got us right in.  It didn't take them too long to decide that he had croup, so they gave him a steroid and wanted to monitor him for several hours.  All in all, Oliver and I spent 8 hours in the ER.  Around 2 David left with Nathaniel so that he could get a nap in.  As rough as it was, Oliver was a trooper.  A few hours after he was given the meds the cough cleared up and they were able to lower his oxygen back down to what he's on at home.  Oliver didn't want to take a bottle, but decided instead he was going to nurse.  After all the struggles we've had trying to get him to breastfeed, he decided that was the day he was going to start.  He's a champ!

Oliver is doing great now, but the one lingering concern is his ROP surgery that is scheduled for Friday.  I called out to his doctor, and if all symptoms are cleared up he's ok with the surgery as scheduled. His visiting nurse was here this morning and said that he sounded perfectly clear and looked just fine.  I still need to check with the ophthalmologist, though, to see what his thoughts are. But of course, like Nathaniel's daycare, the Rocky Mountain Eye Institute is closed for President's Day.  Really?

David just left for Winnipeg for a few days.  The high there tomorrow, when he has to walk to a meeting, is -2.  He's just thrilled.  I'm just hoping that the weather doesn't delay his flight getting back in.  There's a chance of snow in the forecast for Wednesday.  My mom flew in to help me with Nathaniel while I focus on getting Oliver back to 100%.

The first four weeks home

I think we've finally managed to get into somewhat of a routine at home.  The first 3 weeks that Oliver was home was just, well, horrible.  Nathaniel was sick, then David got sick, then I got sick, then I got sick yet again.  Through all of that, we managed to keep Oliver healthy.  We had quite the learning curve, though, with managing his feedings, oxygen, and monitor.  We kept Nathaniel downstairs with whichever parent was sick at that time, so even though we were all home together, we weren't really together.  Just in the past couple of days have we all four spent time together, and we finally feel like a family.

Oliver has had two follow up doctor appointments and two eye doctor appointments since he left the NICU.  At the two week mark, Oliver was up to an even 10 lbs and was 20 inches long.  At the four week appointment, he was 10 lbs 9 oz and 20 1/2 inches long.  He's growing, even though we're still struggling with his eating.  At his first eye appointment, Dr Oliver had said that he was probably a month or two out from surgery.  At his second appointment, they went ahead and book the surgery.  Oliver will have the laser eye surgery on February 22 at Children's Hospital, which is on the same campus as UCH, where his NICU stay was.  Since he will be under general anaesthesia, they will keep him overnight for observation, but hopefully it'll just be the one night.  They said it could be anywhere from one to three, though, just so we're prepared.

Oliver eats best lying to his left

David has to go to Canada for work a few days before Oliver's surgery.  After the time we've had so far with Oliver home, I was a little nervous about being home with both boys by myself.  Plus, I wasn't sure how many doctor's appointments Oliver would have that week.  So, we're flying my mom out (for her birthday) to spend some time with Nathaniel.  It's not safe for people to get off of a plane and then hold Oliver, so she'll be stuck in the basement with Nat, but it'll give them some good one on one time.

After being separated for so long, Nathaniel is just loving being a big brother