Two Month Check-Up

Harris had his two month doctors appointment today. He is weighing in at 7lbs 15oz which means that he gained a whole pound from the last weigh-in (just over a week ago). It also means that while Harris stills needs formula supplement, he has moved on to a regular formula - which is good news for Mommy and Daddy because it is a little less expensive and can be bought in larger quantities!

So here are all the stats:

Weight: 7lbs 15ozs - 5-10th percentile for his age (yeah!)
Height: 21inches - 3-5th percentile for his age (OK still on the chart)
Head Circumference - 35cm - less then 3rd percentile (so that's off the charts but some of our favorite people have small heads)

Harris had to endure multiple shots today - but he took it like a champ and after a bit of Tylenol he seems to be doing OK. When it comes to medical interventions our little man sure is a trooper! The best news is that we don't have to go back to the doctor for a whole month.

Bathtime(s)

Since we brought Harris home we have struggled with bath times -- well Mommy has, Daddy seems to have a very healthy perspective that babies cry, Mommy not so much. Up until yesturday Harris responded to bath time in the same way - he screamed and screamed until he stopped breathing for a few seconds (scaring Mommy) and then we had to console him back to regular breaths and move on. Bathtime has meant a variety of things: we have tried sponge baths undressed - hates them; sponge baths only undressing parts of him as we go along so he doesn't get cold - hates them; baths using a fancy European tub designed to keep babies warm - hates them. I am sure you get the point. Well, yesturday we had success - how you might ask - by using a disposable plastic tub that we took from the NICU when we left. Unbelievable!

Weigh in isn't until Wednesday this week - when he has his two month apt. I can't believe Harris is two months already!

Busy Weeks and Due Dates

Today was my due date - AMAZING! It is amazing how much progress we have watched our little man make in his "minus" time - today his gestational age is 1 day - we have official reached the positive end of the timeline.

It is amazing how quickly time goes - like much of the last two months, this has been a very busy week. Yesturday was Daddy's birthday and Mommy and Harris woke up early to give Daddy his birthday gifts and see him off to work. Last night Harris stayed home with Aunt Hayley and Uncle Dan so that we could celebrate. It was Hayley and Dan's first solo flight and Harris reported they were champs!

Harris officially looks big to us! Today dressed in one of my favorite outfits I looked at my son and though WOW he doesn't look tiny - he is actually starting to look big . Nevermind the fact that today, like most other days, a stranger asked the "how old?" question and I said almost 2 months and she said "he is a tiny one so precious." I am amused by people's faces when I tell them his age - it is as if they all are expecting me to say one week, or a few days, or brand new - and then I say almost two months and you can see the wheels turning in their heads. Sometimes I feel I have to explain - mostly because their responses are in the form of a question. YOu know the kind of statement that is definitely a sentence but the inflection of the sentence makes it clear that it is a question. Sometimes I don't. I have been frequently visiting a message board for mom's of preemies just the other day someone posted about this situation and asked the group how they respond - and so today I had a new way of responding - "you should have seen him before - that was tiny!"

Weigh In...

6 lbs 15ozs!!!

So it seems he has made up for last week.

8 Weeks Old & Waking Up

Harris is eight weeks old today! Up until the last day or so Harris only woke up to eat and to scream while he was taking a bath (trust me this is not a pretty site!). Aside from that the times when you could see his eyes open were few and far between and you had to catch them on the fly. Over this past weekend though Harris has spent time up, cooing, focusing on his toys and even playing with who ever is holding him.

Some of his current favorite awake activities are:

1. Spitting his pacifier at whoever is holding him and then opening his mouth up to get it back. This game was created by Harris and Aunt Hayley and seems to amuse him greatly

2. Staring at his mobile on the swing and trying to reach for the sheep - which means we now have to have the mobile - music and all - on when he is in the swing -- the little man has just a few toys and I am already wondering how much we will spend in batteries over his lifetime.

3. Watching himself in the mirror on the boppy chair or in the car.

4. Going on outings - OK maybe this is Mommy's favorite thing but Harris sure doesn't mind. This weekend we met Grandee and Grampa and got to see Daddy play Laxcrosse - and Harris must be a good luck charm because Daddy played like a champion. Today, Harris spent the day out by Grammy and Pop's pool -- OK so he was under two layers of shade and had a blanket covering him - but he was outside!

It is amazing to me that as we approach what would have been our due date (July 23rd) Harris seems to really be coming alive. It also amazes me that it has been 8 weeks - in retrospect I could not even imagine just getting to meet him now.

Tomorrow is weigh in -- do we hear 6 and 1/2 lbs?!?

Stretching, smiling and, of course, still sleeping...

While, sleeping is still Harris's favorite past time he is waking up a bit. When the little man is awake he does two things (well other then eat) -- he stretches and smiles. Harris loves to stretch - he always has and even at his small size he can arch his back and throw his head with so much force that you wonder whether he is intending to do a back handspring out of your arms. Stretching is not limited to when he is being held, but he also does it in bed, on the changing table, in the swing, and on and on. OH - and he makes these funny moans when he does it!

Now smiling -- well that is brand new. We have always thought that he smiled (mostly when he was sleeping - as if he was having some great dreams). BUT now we know for sure - today I witnessed him opening his big gummy mouth at my Pop who was calling him "Dude" in a very funny voice.

He does have a ton to smile about he keeps getting to meet more family and seems to be charming one after the other. And for friends and family who have been watching him from day one have been complimenting our little man (and Mommy) by saying how much Harris has grown.

Sleeping

Yesterday Harris had his weekly weigh in and.... (drum role please) he is officially over 6lbs!!! 6lbs, 1oz to be specific. While mommy was thrilled that Harris blasted past 6lbs (OK maybe blasted is a bit extreme, inched may be more accurate) the pediatrician reminded us that while this was great, and while Harris was doing wonderfully, our weight gain goal is 5-8oz a week, not 2 (which is what he had gained since his last weigh in). SO the doctors aren't concerned just watching the pattern closely and will weigh him in again next Monday before making dietary changes (i.e. increasing the number of times we give a high calorie formula feeding instead of nursing). So why has Harris's weight gain decreased since he came home?

Well, since Harris has come home he has been sleeping - our little man LOVES to sleep and generally sleeps for 3-4 hours at a time, which as a new mom officially on maternity leave I am definitely not complaining about -- BUT there are three challenges:

1. When Harris wakes up he is starving and goes from sleeping to screaming in about 2 seconds flat. And I mean screaming - not crying just a high pitched squak. He is screaming so hard that he has a hard time eating - go figure. But when he is done eating he is awake for a bit and is a happy little man.

2. Sometimes he doesn't wake up and then we are forced to wake him up and well then the same screaming ensues. So I know some of you are asking why ever would you wake a sleeping baby - the short end of it is the doctors told us too - he needs to gain more weight and so needs to eat more often (I wish I had that problem)

3. The pattern is only true during the day - from 9pm - 1am Harris likes to hang out -- awake!

Luckily he is so loving and cute I hardly even mind, at least not for now.

Weekend Adventures

It is official Harris loves leaving the house, even though the doctors say he should stay away from germs, he can't help himself - plus Mommy and Daddy make sure he is not in large crowds and keep him hidden away from germs as best they can. This weekends adventures included a visit to Grammy and Pop's and a little shopping.

Tomorrow is our big weigh in day -- we are rooting for over 6lbs!

Doctors visits exhaust me...

Harris has been very busy this week going from one doctor's appointment to the other. On Monday Harris had his first visit to the pediatrician, who made Mommy and Daddy very happy by reporting that other then being "petite" Harris looked great - especially for a baby who had been through so much. I was even more exciting that Harris had gained 2-3ozs since he left the hospital, which was the exact right weight gain rate and means he is weighing in just under 6lbs at 5lbs 15ozs.

Today Harris visited the eye doctor - who reported that his once premature eyes looked "normal." Unfortunately this diagnosis occurred after a very upsetting examination involving multiple eye drops and forcefully holding little man's eyes open. SO needless to say, unlike a the pediatricians office where Harris felt at home and allowed a complete examination with only a slight whine, today Harris screamed and cried - Mommy was heartbroken! As soon as the exam was over Harris fell asleep - a deep sleep that allowed Mommy and Daddy to stop for a quick lunch at the diner, with our little man in tow, before he even opened his eyes. Harris spent the rest of the day settling back and relaxing.

Settling In

Six weeks after he was born, and three days since he has come home, Harris continues to be the center of all our attention (as I am sure will not change for quite some time). Our little man has had many visitors this weekend and has charmed them all with his good looks and over sized cloths (it seems he is too big for preemie clothes and a bit to small for newborn).

As for parenting Adam and I are doing well - I was fearful I would be overwhelmed with exhaustion but I think the fact that he is home, safe and healthy has lightened the emotional tole which has really helped - it probably also helps that I had already been getting up all night to pump, and believe it or not getting up to feed the baby is remarkably more motivating then getting up for a machine to get milk that would eventually go to the baby.

Thanks to the constant noise in the NICU there is no tiptoeing around baby - yesterday Harris slept through the vacuum and Jeb's constant barking at the vacuum. Mommy and Daddy are definitely getting to expose the little man to some of our favorite past times. Yesterday Uncle Dan and Daddy gave Harris his first Lax lesson and Harris has been on two walks (Harris looks SO tiny in his stroller).

An exciting development: yesterday afternoon we noticed that Harris began to visually focus straight ahead (yeah!). He gazes directly at whoever his holding him, but one of his two favorite things to look at are his mobile above his swing and the rain forest toy on his crib.

First Day Home

Harris, Mommy and Daddy had a great first day at home. Harris got used to his new surroundings and found an excellent place to nap. The little man also realized his new freedom and immediately strayed from the amazingly regulated NICU schedule which had him eating every three hours. Instead, he demands his meals anywhere from 1-3 hours apart - Mommy and Daddy (well Mommy mostly because I am nursing) are so enamored with him we hardly care, plus he was nice enough to eat three hours apart over night.

The visitors have started to arrive and Harris is loving the attention. Aunt Hayley and Uncle Dan were so excited to see Harris without all his wires they made a special stop. Then Aunt Michele, Uncle Andrew and Harris's first friend Sarah came to welcome him home. Last night we also had dinner wtih all the grandparents - an amazingly exciting first day. Also amazingly Jeb seems to love Harris, in fact this morning when Harris was crying Jeb ran back and forth from me to him as if to say go rescue the boy!

Day 39 - I've got no strings...

...to hold me down! Harris came home today. This morning the nurses unplugged our little man's monitors and we spent the day in the hospital getting ready to leave. By getting ready I mean we waited for the doctors and nurses to print tons of information. Mommy and Daddy took the time to dress Harris up in the cutest traveling ensemble -saying "see ya later alligator" to the hospital.

After a long wait - we said goodbye to some of our favorite nurses and left amongst cheers and hugs as we headed down from the sixth floor and out the door.

Harris missed the whole production because as soon as he settled into his car seat, he was asleep - seems as though traveling makes him sleepy just like his daddy. Daddy drove carefully the whole ride home and Mommy and Harris drove in the back - perfect to get some good traveling pictures.

When we got home Harris was greated by Jeb - the two hit it off immediately and are already best friends.

And so ends the first part of this crazy journey (or second, depending on how long you've been paying attention). We are thrilled to get right into the next.