Life at Home

Hi Folks!

The three of us (and Grandma Marla) are adjusting to life at home. Zachary has discovered that it's fun to stay awake at two a.m. and make noises until someone comes to hold him. He knows that he rules our household. It's true, he does. He is awake more of the time than he was in the NICU. He seems to like his new surroundings.

With Dr. Gray's approval we have changed his feeding schedule from eight times a day (like he had in the NICU) to six times a day. Zachary seems to like it more. He eats on the sixes, twos and tens. He has been drinking 75 mls at each feeding. He is nursing once a day although today we are going to try him nursing twice a day (on the tens).

Tomorrow he goes to see Dr. Gray and also to his opthamologist to check on his ROP. We are hoping for an improvement. He'll see the same opthamologist that he saw in the NICU. On Wednesday he is going to Granny Marie's for a few hours while Mommy and Daddy look at houses closer to downtown and the med center. Mommy doesn't want to commute if she doesn't have to. Plus once Zachary came we immediately outgrew the duplex that we love so much. We are looking in the Willowbend/Meyerland area (which is off 610 and Post Oak to those of you that are local).

Tonight Zachary will get a bath (so he looks nice for his appointments tomorrow). He gets a bath every two or three days. He isn't big enough for a big boy bath yet so we put him in a small tub (that we got from the hospital) and give him a sponge bath. It worked well the other night when we did it.

The heart/lung monitor isn't going off as much these days, thank goodness! It doesn't always detect when Zachary breaths shallow and that is the bulk of the alarms. It went off three times last night and three times today. Not too bad...much better than the first night when it off like thirteen times.

Grandma Marla is such a blessing. She has been so helpful with Zachary, making sure that Mommy and Daddy are well rested, and has she been cooking! It's so nice to not be eating out all of the time. Thanks Grandma Marla!

We are enjoying having our sweet baby boy at home. It is so nice to be at home after months in the hospital and at Granny Marie's (while Zachary was in the NICU). We miss our friends in the NICU, the parents, the babies, the nurses, doctors, respiratory techs, and the others that make that hospital so excellent. We keep all the babies in the NICU in our prayers, but say special prayers Brinson, Noah, Aubrey and James. We know those babies and their parents so well. Prayers go out to Brinson's folks and Grandma, they are all sick and are unable to see Brinson until they are feeling better. That's rough - get well soon Zaldivar family!

On this Memorial Day we give thanks and say prayers to all the soldiers that protect our country. Love to all!