Simon: One Month

On Simon's due date he turns one month old - October 20

Trying out this format, might need to add different categories as we go along...

Weight:  Simon was 7lbs 14oz at his doctor's appointment last Wednesday.  At his cardiologist appointment he weighed 8lbs 3oz

Height:  At his doctor appointment he was 20.5 inches

Medical Issues:  Oh Simon, already had so many medical issues in his little one month of life.  The good news is none of these issues are long standing ones and all have been resolved.  I've talked about how he was in the NICU and finally was eating well enough to come home.  One day we went into the NICU and our angel nurse, Cindy, had simply changed the nipple in his bottle from newborn to size one and that seemed to be the magic equation since he's been eating and not looking back.

Simon had his first pediatrician appointment last week at 3 weeks... which isn't normally a weekly appointment, but we were instructed to go a few days after he got discharged from the NICU.  As a side note I really stressed about how to pick a pedi, like how do you do it when you don't care that much (that sounds bad, but I'm not a picky person so it's not like I had very specific needs or wants) I ended up deciding somewhere close to us was important and went with that.  I looked at pedi websites and ended up picking the one we did.  It was really nice when I was at the hospital and the NICU and the staff there saying how good this office was and how much they liked that doctor. The doctor visited Simon in the hospital quite often so he totally knew all about Simon when we went to the office which was really nice.  The doctor said this is the first time he's had a patient with an atrial flutter and the first time he's ever entered his medication into a chart.  He said he could only pick a tablet form instead of the liquid that Simon is on. He told me that we should continue to have the medication made at Mercy instead of a local pharmacy since it's normally in tablet form and we wouldn't want them messing up making it special for him.  While this might make some people nervous, really I think it just makes Simon special... he had this really weird condition that makes him unique.  I guess it's easier to say that since I know this isn't a lifelong issue and it's under control.

Simon sees the cardiologist today. Everything is looking good.  Simon had to get another EKG - which takes longer to get set up than it actually takes to run it.  They have to stick all these sensors on him and with his squirmy body sometimes it's hard to keep all the sensors stuck at the same time and long enough to get a good reading.  Eventually it all worked.  Simon is looking good and the plan is to keep him on the medication for roughly 6 months when we will go back to the cardiologist.  The idea is that we won't change the dosage but he will get bigger so he'll basically wean himself off the medication.

I want to give Simon mad props regarding taking his medication, Flecainide.  We have to give it to him twice a day.  They showed us in the hospital by squirting it in the side of his mouth while he sucks on a paci.  This has worked out beyond perfect.  He sucks it down each time and hasn't spit it back out (don't jinx me by putting this out on the interwebs).  It must not taste bad because it's not a problem at all!

I hope that Simon's medical issues are squished into his first month of life and it's smooth sailing from here on out.

Sleep:  We decided that since Simon was already sleeping in a crib in the NICU we would continue that.  I'll say we've done ok with that and he does sleep in his crib sometimes, but I've been bad in the last week with him sleeping in rock n play and me sleeping on the couch.  But getting out of bed to put the paci back in his mouth only to walk back to our bedroom and just get back into bed before he starts crying again and I have to get back up wears on you a bit.  I'm going to try to be better this in the next weeks.  We were keeping him on the same eating schedule he was on in the NICU, but I started to let him tell me when he's hungry - especially overnight.  Sunday night he gave me a four hour stretch of sleep - amazing.  He sleeps pretty much during the day as well. although I'm noticing he's waking up more.

Clothes/Diapers (Sizes):  I've been putting him in newborn diapers, although at the end of his stay in the NICU they were putting him in size 1.  I had packages of NB and wanted to use them... I think we have one package left to go through.  The same goes for clothes.  I try to put him in newborn things since let's do it while we can, but we put him in three month stuff too.  The footed newborn jammies feel like his legs are all scrunched up so I guess maybe he's long?  Around the house we normally have him in onesies (either long or short sleeve) and wear the footed stuff when we go out.  I dress him in gowns typically at night and he sleeps in a swaddle or a Halo sleep sack.

Diet:  We tried to do the nursing thing, but every time I tried he'd give a couple of sucks and then give up... so I guess that makes me an exclusive pumper.  So far that's been going well and I've been able to keep up with his feedings (giving him fresh milk) and still have some left over to freeze.  When he left the NICU he was getting around 60ml (2ozs) and now he's up to close to 3oz.  He normally finishes all his bottles and is eating about 8 times a day.

Baby Gear Love:  For this month, the rock n play for sure as he's in that a lot!  We also like the paci and sometimes he uses the Wubbanub pretty effectively.  The Born Free bottles have been working for us (I forgot his Dr. Browns bottle at the hospital grr, luckily he'll use the bottles we have).  The swaddles/sleep sacks are great. 

Milestones/Firsts:  First first trip out was to visit his grandma Charlotte and he does pretty well in the car.  His head control is getting a lot better too.  His first doctor's appointment.

Likes:  His paci, eating (finally!), laying on his chest on us, sleeping, the vibration of the rock n play.

Dislikes:  Being naked, diaper changes, being hungry, hiccups

Things I Don't Want to Forget:  Simon can sleep - I wouldn't call our house a quiet one with the bird and the dogs barking, but he sleeps right through it - does not phase him.  The dogs really want to be close to him, although we've slowly been integrating them.  The dogs don't like when he cries and they seem concerned.  At the end of the month we've had them both out at the same time under heavy supervision.  Quina will look at him, but that's about the most interest she has and the cats could not care less about him (such a cat thing).  We end up changing his outfit at least once a day, but sometimes more.  It's funny to hear him fart.  When he cries it's so dramatic (wah wah wah wah waaaaaaaaahhhhhh) and I mostly just laugh.  His hands and feet seem so big for a small baby.