Louis cheered the Oklahoma Sooners to a bowl win Thursday... Rah Oklahoma, OK U!

We've organized a small cheering section, for our teams this bowl season. More to follow...

Here is some more video for the BL superfan {click here}. As you can see from our posts lately, tummy time is his new interesting accomplishment.

More Tummy Time. 

Tummy Time. 

All of the others are just imitators! Introducing, the one and only true auntie- Auntie Jen!
Louis got to meet his Aunt Jen for the first time the day yesterday when she came to visit with Sittee and Gramps. She brought lots of presents for Big Louie and lived up to her promise to be a baby hog! Louis was disappointed not to be able to meet his cousin Katie. She had to stay back in Charleston with Uncle Scott because she is getting over a cold. Even though he's getting bigger ( 6 lbs 12 oz!), Louis just can't be around the germ sponges just yet! Sittee is staying for the week to help take care of her first grandson. Louis is looking forward to a trip to Charleston to meet Uncle Corey and Aunt Karen and his grand-Sittee. Merry Christmas!!!! 

Where's my baby sign language book? What was this one again? 

Merry Christmas everyone! 

I took some video on his last day in the NICU. {click here to find it} There should be two files of the same video, one small and one large.

Louis is figuring out this place pretty well. He could care less about the noise of the dogs barking and didn't mind mommy vacuuming underneath his swing while he slept yesterday! He has been pretty gassy and he is really starting to enjoy vibrate mode on his pack'n play. Dad spent the whole day yesteray underneath the house insulating to keep the little guy warm. This left mommy to fend for herself alone with the gassy, grumpy baby. After filling a few good diapers, Louis was back to his charming self and ready to hang out with dad in the evening. He slept better last night and that just makes everyone's perspective rosier! We took him to the pediatrician for a weight check today and he gained an ounce. Not alot but this is likely due to the fact that he didn't eat well yesterday due to the gas and the doc isn't worried. He is very excited about Christmas and can't wait for Santa to come!

Hooray for Louis Pumpkinhead!

Our pets are adjusting well. Gunner is highly protective of Louis already. Bizou is a bit jealous, but claims to be just keeeping the bouncer warm for him. Luckily, studies have shown that babies that live with cats in the first year of life have less allergies and asthma than those who have not.

Louis is happy to be home! The cafe is always open and there is somebody always ready to hold him! We are quickly undoing the schedule he had in the NICU (unfortunately)and starting to get into our own routine. We all slept better last night and Louis is nursing well. We did 4 loads of laundry yesterday and Louis went through 5 outfits! No, he's not a fashionista, his diapers just leak! This happened in the NICU too but we had a laundry service there (not to mention 24 hour nanny services)! It may just be due to his size but we are gonna try some other brands first. Louis had his first pediatrician appointment and weighs 6lbs 6 oz on their scale-a bit high IMHO but at least he hasn't lost any weight, not that we were worried! When Louis got this outfit as a gift soon after he was born, I was positive it would be too big FOREVER! Boy, was I wrong! Doesn't he look cute in his puppy dog hat? Thanks Bill and Joan and Molly, Hannah and Sam -as you can see, it's easy to move around in! Well, it's time to eat..again!! 

Crab Louis! 

Peace out, NICU!

Louis (and certainly Jason and I) would like to say,

Thank you to all of the doctors and nurses that have helped us through these past six weeks. The care of incredibly gifted individuals helped to deliver the miraculous.

Well, Louis got discharged today. Turning off the monitors brought tears of happiness and was a reminder of the intensity of these past few weeks. Louis was cool as a cucumber but Mom and Dad were a bit nervous and excited at the same time. Jason has decided he needs to sing to Louis in order to make up for the absence of the noise in the NICU......Louis and I miss the beeping........alot.

It is awesome to have him here with us. We have a new routine to work out, but are eager to find it. All the pets think Louis is pretty cool but Georgia can't wait for him to learn how to throw a ball!

Merry Christmas to everyone! 

How could you not? 

Big day for Louis, all kinds of crazy visitors. Auntie LJ is holding Louis, she's taking a 5 min break from being with her 3 wk old son. Auntie Christina stopped by to hold as well and brought a cute little smoking jacket-- I mean bathrobe.

The big news is that Louis is coming home sometime tomorrow. He's done well with his feeds and they think that mom and dad can handle it from here. We're looking forward to having him home, and have scheduled a few days to stare at him constantly.

No Tubes! Louis is doing great eating without the NG tube. We are almost there... More soon.

Rudolph, Louis and Frosty

The NICU had some secular christmas characters visiting. Apparantly Santa was either too religous for the NICU or he was just drunk at the corner again. So the leftover costumes from 1975 allowed Rudolph and Frosty to make it. I think there was an unfinished Stanley Kubrick Christmas movie that these costume were made for-- when I see Frosty I expect the Beethoven soundtrack to kick in. Hopefully his therapists will help him through his fear of snowmen.

Louis is up to 5 lb 15 oz today, and had a good day with his feeds. We're still hoping for christmas.

Louis and Frosty the Creepy Snowman 

Extreme Louis close-up! Big Louie now weighs 5 lbs 11 oz. The average preemie gains 20 grams a day and Louie has averaged 48 grams a day of weight gain! He had his eye exam today (preemies are at risk for ROP, Retinopathy of Prematurity. This is what caused Stevie Wonder to be blind) and he has no problems whatsoever. He didn't particularly enjoy the exam and you can still see his dilated pupils in the picture above (why did Daddy have to use the flash?) He does have a blonde fundus, meaning he likely will have light colored eyes! He is doing well with his nursing and improving with the bottle feeding. He's on track to come home before Christmas! 

Now I lay me down to sleep...

Louis is a honkin' 5 lb 8 oz now. He's naked in this picture because he grew out of all the clothes we had in the nursery! He had peed on himself and when I went to change him, nothing fit! He wore some of the clothes just 2 days ago! He's like the incredible hulk! Buttons popping, fabric ripping as he grows before our eyes! We've got bigger sizes stocked at home (6 lb preemie sizes and newborn sizes) so have no fear, the kid will be clothed again soon. But he sure does look happy naked.......
He's eating well, taking 5 out of 8 feeds by mouth(nursing or bottle). The docs think he'll be ready to come home early next week!!! Yippeee!Lots to do, lots to do...got to catch up on sleep while we can!

Big Lou has just had a bath. This is so juvenile, but it just cracks me up.

I'm OK, You're OK!

Actually, Louis is dino-mite (he has a dinosoaur on his onesie)! He continues to grow like a weed and now weighs 5lb 7 oz! He has almost outgrown some of his preemie onesies (worn once!) He is doing much better with nursing AND bottlefeeding-he had 2 great nursing sessions yesterday (mommy worked) and 3 excellent bottlefeeding sessions in which he took most of his milk without trying to die. He had a bath today and smells so yummy you just want to eat him up! Louis wasn't that excited about the bath at first and used his newfound voice to let us all know. Then he decided it wasn't so bad being in the hot-tub and relaxed for his bubble bath. If he keeps improving at this rate, he'll be home very soon!

Louis is 5lbs 3oz!! He may be the world's biggest preemie. He nursed GREAT this morning for his 6am feeding-so great that he didn't get any milk per his nasogastric tube. Mom had to work so Dad was in charge for the rest of the day. Louis did not do so great for his bottle feedings. He choked and dropped his heartrate and his oxygen sats. The nurse was convinced that Jason was merely doing it wrong and proceeded to try every nipple/bottle combo she could think of. No dice! Louis still decided that it was okay to suck on the bottle but breathing and swallowing were completely optional. Hopefully, he'll figure this out by the time he goes to kindergarten.
You can't see much in this pic but Louis has a new outfit! Auntie Jill sent it to him for his 1 month birhtday. It has a cow and a pig on the feet!! Not only is he the biggest preemie, he's the most fashionable, too. It's still a hair big but, at the rate we're going, he'll have outgrown it by Monday!!

 

I'm over 5 pounds! (sung in a dramatic baritone)

Louis is 5 lbs 1 oz! He's living up to his nickname, Big Louie. Or just BL, for those in the know. Louis finally pooped, too. And it was a good one! The nurse was changing his diaper and then he pooped on the clean diaper.... so we changed him and in the process, he pooped again and somehow managed to get it on the nurse, his blankets, and his clothes. So we changed him again and he peed all over everything! The joy of having a boy.......
Louis started back on the bottle last night. He's "a challenge", per his nurse! He gets so hungry and gobbles down the milk too fast and then his heart rate drops and his oxygen desats and he wears himself out. So, we have to only let him suck on the bottle for a few seconds at a time. Almost as time consuming as breastfeeding! He nursed 3 times today and did fairly well. This eating thing is the only thing keeping him from coming home. We still think he'll be home by Christmas-quite the stocking stuffer!

No pic tonight. I was testing google's video hosting and thought y'all might me entertained with this as well. Sorry the video's so boring, it's just that google won't publish louis' other activities, it seems they all involve topless girls-- click to follow the link

34 weeks!

Louis finally read the chapter on 34 week preemies and decided to get his breathe-suck-swallow coordinated today. He did really well nursing, he did so well that at his 6pm feeding we ended up skipping the NG feed. If he can just his stamina up he will be ready to meet his public soon. 

Momma's Boy

Is this the sweetest face or what? Can you believe how chubby his cheeks are getting? Louis was just a gram short of 4 lbs 14 oz tonight. Of course, he hasn't pooped all day so some of that weight may come out in a diaper soon. Otherwise, he has to get a glycerin suppository and I don't think he'll be smiling so much! He nursed real well at his 9 pm feed-8 minutes and he had such a full tummy that he didn't get much per his NG tube. He wore himself out completely though but he's making progress. He'll be 34 weeks gestastional age tomorrow and 30 days old! He should start figuring out the bottle soon and then he can come home!