Needles are No Fun

Friday night, Henry met several of our neighbors. Everyone is on the same page with the "Look But Don't Touch" policy. Everyone stands back and doesn't breath on him, which is a must. Our next door neighbor Hal is a doctor at UMC. We ran into his wife Swani walking with another neighbor Yvonne and their dogs. Between our two dogs (Marley and Roger), Swani's dogs (Annie and Luke), and Yvonne's dogs (Banjo, Chocolate, and Precious), it looked like we had our own dog park going on...all off leash. Everyone of the dogs (with perhaps the exception of Annie) comes when called. Hopefully, Henry will be a dog lover. I think that it is a prerequisite for living on our street. On our way back to the house, we ran into Hal and yet another neighbor Karen. Henry has met just about all of the neighbors, with the exception of Nick, who was on vacation with his wife Janice (who met Henry a few weeks ago).

Yesterday morning, my Dad held Henry for a long time. Nurse Michael stopped by. Henry weighed 7 lbs 11 ozs! Just about as much as his Aunt Erin weighed when she was born. We were really happy that Henry has been able to put on weight, despite the lack of oxygen supplementation. His pulse-ox measures weren't as high as we'd hoped. They hung around 84% for a while before popping up to 90%. Michael said that was OK, as long as he popped up to 90%. I really hope that Henry's lungs develop more. It is 100 times easier taking care of a baby who isn't on an oxygen tank. Parents who get to bring their kids home without oxygen are really fortunate.

Grandma Kenski came in the afternoon to hold Henry. We got a hold of Jill, the nutritionist. She said not to worry about the formula fortifier change, while Dr. Tsai is out of town. The Neocate should still give Henry what he needs as long as we are making his breast milk at 24 calories, rather than the mere 22 calorie supplementation.

Jeff and I took turns holding Henry in the evening. We began watching "Firewall." At some point, Henry was rather alert, so we turned off the movie and did some tummy time on the floor. Henry, as usual, wasn't excited about tummy time. Jeff got Henry to play with some rings, which was nice to see. We didn't finish watching the movie. Jeff had gone and called his sister. By the time he got back, Henry and I were passed out on the couch. I went to bed around midnight, and Jeff took the night shift. I gather that Henry wasn't sleepy last night.

We went for a walk this morning around 6:45AM. The weather was beautiful. Henry likes the walks. I think that he gets bored being in the house (specifically the living room) just about all day long. When we got back from the walk, we weighed Henry: 7 lbs 12.25 ozs.

Around 10AM, we headed to Sonora Quest labs to get Henry's blood work done. He needed a follow-up on his thyroid tests plus a BMP (basic metabolic panel) and hematocrit. We had to wait about an hour before we were called into the lab room. We waited outside because the waiting room was packed, and I didn't want a bunch of people breathing on Henry. Luckily, it wasn't too hot outside. The staff had a difficult time finding veins on Henry. They ended up putting hot packs on his arms to help locate good veins. The first two technicians stuck Henry but got no blood return. Henry was very upset. I wasn't too happy either, especially after one of the technicians commented that they should have used a smaller needle. Ummm....it is a small baby. Doesn't the necessity of a small needle seem downright obvious? Then, they called another technician into the room to help. Her name was Miranda. Jeff and I wish that they'd start with the big guns when it comes to Henry. Next time, I'll ask for Miranda by name. As it turns out, Miranda is the mother of a 27-weeker who is now 2. She spent 3 months in the hospital. I held Henry and fed him a bottle while Miranda stuck the needle in. The blood return was good. He didn't cry. We didn't leave Sonora Quest until 1PM.

My mom was home when we returned. She took Henry, while Jeff took a nap on the couch and I graded exams. Then, Jeff and I got our flu shots. My mom and dad did it this morning. Anyone who takes care of Henry has to have flu shots...per doctor's order (the pulmonologist). Henry had an active afternoon, while we were out. He was pretty fussy in the evening. But Grandpa Kenski is over now, and Henry is taking a snooze on his chest. Grandpa and Henry seem to have an understanding.