Weekly Update Pictures to Follow (when our SD card starts working)

So we made it through a week, although a little ragged, we survived. Sebastian is for the most part a perfectly wonderful child. He does not cry often and has the most lovely expressions. Two days after getting home we had a tremendous rain fall and some of our house flooded as well as a fairly new roof that is leaking. I guess for some when it rains it pours. It was a bit too much for us and put us at the end of our rope. The insurance company has stepped up to the plate and the rooms have been deconstructed and are presently drying with about five large fans on for the last four days. We have a constant flow of people in and out accessing things and looking for mold as Sebastian room was also affected.

Mom has been a huge part of me staying sane as she is over for three hours a day to allow me to get some sleep. Also she makes sure that Steinar and I have our meals prepared. I realized just how much I depend on her and I am indebted.

Sebastian went to his first doctors appointment on Tuesday and got a clean bill of health. He is having some digestion problems which is not unusual in prems and his tummy is full of gas. If that is the only issue then we are doing ok.
For the most part we are ok other then I am suffering from a side effect of the strong antibiotics I was on for the pneumonia and I am now being treated for something that is wreaking my system. Fun and games.

I will have pictures but at the moment have not found the time or the help to rectify the computer problem. Maybe when grandma is over we can work on that as I will have both hands free.

SEBASTIAN IS HOME

Hi all Sebastian's followers. Sebastian arrived home on Thursday and is doing well. I will try to post some pictures this weekend but I have had some issues with the computer and the SD card. Steinar will look at it between shifts in Sebastian's care. I have to catch up blogging the many activities over the last week but I am finding that time is not available. Thank you all for your continued interest, love and support. We are grateful.

Kathryn and Steinar

Awaiting Sebastians Arrival Home

Alot has been happening this past week. Sebastian has passed the weight of 3333 grams or roughly 7 pounds 8 ounces. He is a big boy. He is feeding by the bottle every three hours and is doing well except the minor forgetting to take a breath occasionally . He no longer has the feeding tube in his nose so I can now look at him and see what he looks like without tubes and gauze stuck to his face. We are told that he will be ready to come home next week towards the end of the week possibly my sister Anna's birthday on Friday. I have been away from him for the past few days on bed rest as I have a sinus infection and have pneumonia. So I am trying to get as much rest as possible.

Prior to this weekend I was advised that he would be about a week and a half to going home so this has been a bit unexpected that he is coming home sooner then expected and I am a bit anxious. Next week the hospital is requiring me to stay overnight in a care by parent room for two nights so that I get the experience of taking care of Sebastian on my own and doing feeds every three hours for 48 hours. If needed I have a call button to get a nurse on demand.
Also before going home Sebastian will do a car seat test in order to see if he can travel sitting in a car seat. They put him in our car seat and attach him to monitors to see how he does for a time period of about an hour and a half.

I will try to remember to get more pictures of Sebastian so you can see our beautiful boy without all the tubes. He is looking healthy and like a real little baby. It amazes me how far he has come from April 10th and how far he has developed as of today. We are truly thankful for everyone who has prayed for us and cared about us and always remember how lucky we are on a daily basis. Thank you all.

Quick update

Hi everyone,

I realize that when I don't post people think things are not going well. For the most part we are all doing fine although I am really tired. Sebastian is over 7 pounds as of a couple of days ago and is gaining weight rapidly (for those who need the measurement in grams he is 3180 grams). I am spending so little time at home as I am at the hospital most of my days. When I do have time I am doing chores and trying to prepare for our little angel to come home. We are guessing that it will be about two - possibly three weeks to him arriving at home.
Breast feeding and bottle feeding are the main issues that are keeping him in the hospital. I arrive at the hospital at 8 am and wait for his feeding times 9 am, 12 am, 3 pm, 6 pm, 9pm and so on in order to offer him some feeding from the breast. So far Sebastian is only awake enough at 3pm and apparently his magic hour is 3 am in the morning when he is fully awake and active. I was going to start making my visits at 3am but have been told by the nurses that I should get sleep when I can. Sebastian does manage to take the bottle when he is sleepy as it is alot less work for him to get the milk from the bottle then the breast. I did not realize how difficult breast feeding was although it is a very natural thing. I guess that is why they have lactation consultants.

Lately I have been going through a phase of being anxious about getting everything ready for him. I think I am starting nesting and my instincts that he is going to be at home sooner then we think.

Thanks everyone for keeping tabs on Sebastian. We both feel really blessed to have so many friends and family caring for our son. I will try to take some pictures this week and post them when possible.

My friend Meredith who is next to me and has been for the last three weeks

Meredith is my little piece of sunshine at the hospital. She has an awesome family. He husband Victor spends alot of the evenings at the hospital and I see her three year old son Kai(who I adore)all the time and her beautiful prem Keoni. You never know who your neighbor is going to be and I feel really lucky that we are next to each other. She makes me laugh and is a little bit of sunshine when I am having a not so perfect day. It makes the visits to the hospital tolerable and I look forward to us feeding, bathing and looking after our children together. Meredith has been giving me constant updates on Sebastian as I have been unable to go to the hospital the last few days because of my cold and she has met me at the doors of the hospital to deliver the fresh milk I bring for Sebastian to the NICU on a daily.

It will be nice to have someone to spend my days with when I am on maternity leave and since she has previous experience she has been alot of help in giving me advice.

These photos were taken the day Lorraine left as we all helped her on her way. It was a bitter sweet day as we were so happy for her to be going home but sad to be missing such a big part of our NICU lives.

My friend Lorraine and her son Matthew get to go home.

I wanted to capture the memories of Lorraine and Matthew who left this week. This is the day they went home. All our babies are known for different things and Matthew was the child who always cried for his mom (for feeding). You would think that as soon as she walked into the hospital Matthew smelled her milk and he would cry like he had been starved for days.
I have touched base with Lorraine who was so eager to get home and have since discovered that life is not a bed of roses as Matthew has colic and has not slept in the past two days. Although I am in a rush to get Sebastian home I think I will slow down the urgency just a little bit. :)

Prior to being able to take the babies home they are given a car seat test to make sure they can tolerate the ride home. They are put a car seat that has movement in order to simulate they ride home from the hospital. The babies are left in the car seat for approximately 1.5 hours to determine if they are able to do the journey home. If they do not react well then they are kept until they are able to take and pass the test.

My friends in the NICU

When Sebastian first got admitted to the new hospital he was put in a separate area which holds four cribs until he was checked and cleared of any type of illness. He was cleared after three days yet we remain in this area (which is fine with me). My cell mates are Meredith and her husband VJ who have a son Kai(3 years) and her prem Keoni who has the same due date as me but was born at 27 weeks instead of 25. My other cell mate until earlier this week was Lorraine and her son Matthew who is due around the same time as both of us but was born at 28 weeks. This week Matthew was able to go home as he was breast feeding on a regular basis. Our cozy little group of three has now become two and both Meredith and I are both ready to go home with our children. We (the mothers of babies in the NICU) share a very unique and common bond that only those who have gone through it have had. We will remain life long friends and have counted on each other for the support we so often need. I am grateful to both of these ladies.

Today Friday June 10th Sebastian is 3 month old. We have been in the NICU for 91 days as of today and I am ready to have our little boy home. It has been a tough struggle but all I need to do is look at Sebastian and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

Looking a little milk drunk after the big feed

Most times babies take some time to adapt to the bottle. In the case of Sebastian it took him one try and he guzzled 59 ml of milk in 20 minutes. To date the fastest he has finished his full feed in a bottle has been 10 minutes flat. Everyone has said that Sebastian has adapted easily to bottle feeds which should help with his breast feeding. After his milk he gets this woozy look (nurses say he is milk drunk)and like a typical man he falls into a very heavy content sleep.

more bottle feeding with nurse Mary Jo

Sebastian gets his first bottle feeding and is very successful

Sebastian gets his meds and chills out

My cell mates at the hospital

Some of Steinar's Norwegian friends visit Sebastian

Sebastian is 6lbs 13 ounces as of today or 3080 grams

It has been a very busy few weeks and time is not something I have alot of. Today I am able to post as I am sick with the flu and I am not able to be in the NICU. It is very hard day as I am having a bit of stress over not being able to see Sebastian but I can assure you that I am calling the NICU on a regular basis and annoying them for regular updates.
Our seven Norwegian guests who had been staying the past two weeks have left for home and had a great visit. We enjoyed the time with them and wished things had worked out a bit differently so that I could have spent more time visiting with them rather then at the hospital.
Sebastian is growing well and I am now focusing on breastfeeding. Sebastian is now also being bottle fed to help him develop his suck and swallow as prems have a hard time coordinating both. He was given his first bottle and managed to hoover his full feed of 59 ml in about 20 minutes flat. Very impressive.

We have health related issues happening all the time with Sebastian and are still facing many ups and downs (far too many to blog). As of today things are "stable" and our little boy is growing stronger and not dependent on any more machines to help in his breathing.

Thanks for all who are praying for the little guy and reading the blog. I will try to blog more often.