Reed's feet are Bigger

Sorry for the delay on posting but we have been busy with life. I feel like our life semi-stopped in March but we are now back where we should be. Home with two little boys. Everything is continuing to go well. Gaines is doing great on his oxygen and had a good check up with our pediatrician who we L-O-V-E. He endeared himself to us even more at Gaines’ appointment. Before we left, he asked if he could pray for Gaines. Knowing that the people who have been caring for Gaines are believers really make my heart smile.

I’ll try and remember the details…The plan is to get Gaines the RSV vaccination at his next appointment Oct. 2. The nurse is working with the insurance company to get it approved. The shots are about $1000 apiece and he’ll need one once a month through the winter months so hopefully the insurance company won’t have a problem with it. He’s considered high risk so it should work out fine. Gaines is one of their top customers I’m sure so hopefully they’ll push it on through. It will be a drop in the bucket compared to everything else they’ve paid on him.

The only mild cause for possible concern is that Gaines has gained a good bit of weight in the last few days. The question part of this is that he has been weighed three times since he was released and once right before…each time on different scales…so four scales. First he was 10.1 then 9.15 then 10.6 then 10.10 (those are ounces after the .) His SATS seem to be the same, he doesn’t look like he’s retaining fluid (puffy) and his lungs sound great (or as great as his lungs can sound) so HOPEFULLY it is just good real weight. Our pediatrician spoke with one of our NICU doctors and he wasn’t concerned so I think it will just be something that we watch. He’ll get a few weight checks in the next couple of days so maybe that will tell us more.

We are settling into a sort of routine at home. I don’t know if you can ever have a good routine with small children but we have some sense of what’s going on when. I’m not really sure how we are going to manage things when my mom leaves on Friday but we’ll figure it out somehow. The house just might not stay as straight, the dishes my not be washed as often and we might make it down to our last pair of underwear before the laundry gets done (and lets not forget those thank you notes)…but isn’t it great? Not too long ago I had all the time in the world to do that sort of thing but Gaines wasn’t home with us. I am really trying to embrace all the frustrating parts about a new baby (nighttime feedings, spit-ups, diapers, etc.) because I know just how close I came to not having those parts.

Reed is still doing great and actually touched Gaines for the first time last night. Its not that we haven’t let him…he just hasn’t been that interested so for the sake of Gaines’ health, we haven’t pushed it. Last night he touched Gaines’ foot and put his foot up to Gaines’ to compare size. We had to take of the orange and pink fuzzy socks of mine that Reed was wearing up to his thighs to do it, but feet were compared and unsurprisingly Reed’s were bigger. Reed also helped with Gaines’ bath last night (and by help I mean he squirted soap in my hand) but he was really interested in what was going on.

Brittany

PS-A few questions were asked in previous comments. Gaines does not have a SAT monitor belt...it is probe that wraps around his foot. Also, Reed does still attend daycare. We thought this was best for Reed and would allow Gaines' nanny to focus on Gaines.