we didn't really like sleeping in the first place, so no problem

Over the first week or so at home, Calvin has been the center of attention like he probably never will be again in his life. His Nan and Grandad are here and are spoiling him. They are also watching him in the mornings so Sam (and sometimes I [me?]) can catch up on some sleep. This is good, because night time is not a time for sleep in Calvinland. It's a time for grunting and frenzied screaming.
he's cute when he's quiet though:

It took three adults and some clever choreography to get an acceptable passport photo. This isn't it:

Settling in

'Settling' might be a bit optimistic I guess, but things are going alright. Sleep levels are about what you'd expect, and he seems to be calming down a little more consistently with each passing night. A midwife came and checked on us the first three days we were home, and she came back again today to weigh him. He's gained a little weight after making the transition to our place, so it looks like we're really on the right track now. We found out today that his buddy from the ward (born on the same day, next to each other in transitional care) went home yesterday too, so good news all around. Here are a bunch of pictures.

He's not yet helpful at science :
crazy eyes before feeding time:tired out or happy after feeding:
exploring his city:
not thrilled about getting a clean set of pants:

Side notes:
Tomorrow night would have been our final antenatal class, where I would have had to act out calming down a doll that was crying or something. It amuses us to keep track of stuff like that.

We're extremely grateful for all the notes, comments, emails etc. we've gotten over the last several weeks, and someday soon we'll get caught up with you all a little more personally.

Midwives delivered Calvin, helped care for him at the hospital, and came to our house (four times this week!) to make sure we were ok once we were back here with him. Midwives are amazing, and May 5th is International Midwives day. If you see any, recognize them!

Home Sweet Home

We're approaching the end of day two at the expanded Moeckel household and Nick and I are exhausted. Calvin was pretty much an angel for sleeping when I was in the hospital with him but that has changed. We're wondering if he misses all the alarms and other crying babies. I know I don't.

As Nick said in a previous post, I was dying to get out of the hospital. There were days that the furthest I'd walk is from my hospital bed to the bathroom. Pretty depressing. So I'm really happy to be home even though it's been a scary transition to be completely in charge of our wee boy. You should see how freaked out we (read: me) get about the temperature in the flat and if we have enough or too many blankets on Cal. He is doing well so far despite keeping his parents up all night.

It was a gorgeous day here today so we took Cal for a 20 minute walk outside (scary!). He slept through the whole walk.

Team Moeckel Go Time!

Ok, we're all under the same roof now. Should be an interesting weekend getting organized and settled. Calvin introduced himself to the surrounding flats by screaming for a while already. I bought an awesome thermometer that measures the temperature of anything up to and including babies, so I'll probably be checking the air temperature in the room a lot. And Calvin's temperature, and once in a while my own. Not that we're, like, kind of nervous or anything.

just a few pictures

Not much to report- Sam is going a little bonkers eager to get out of the hospital, Calvin continues to eat and sleep his way through the day. He and the baby in the next bed (both born on the same day, as it happens) set each other off crying once in a while and both had a pretty fussy night from what I hear, but as usual when I got there everything looked peaceful except the mothers. If I'd been faster to react today I could have prevented him from wrenching his feeding tube out (again), but I guess he got nine hours of tube-free life because of it. We've started taking him on meanders through the hospital in a pram, too, which he sleeps through.

About to get a new tube:
Being calmed down after the (short-lived) tube was shoved down his nose:
Heading back to the ward after a coffee break:

Another week, plus or minus half a week

That's the rough estimate for how much longer we'll be in our current arrangement. If Calvin cruises along he could be coming home at the end of this week, but it could take a bit longer too. He seems to be doing well with his current nutritional regime, which is two feeds nursing then one tube feed to take a break. He and Sam will continue with that for tomorrow at least before taking the next step. He put weight on today which is nice, so he seems to be getting enough to sustain himself. Two other good updates, he had his hearing test and passed that no problem, and his heart murmur has gone away. A few pictures:

Calvin in seasonal garb-

A couple guys relaxing in transitional care-

It was gorgeous out today- this is the first fresh air and sunshine that Sam's been exposed to since Tuesday-

Windy MacCalvin

At this point, if the nursing staff were to start handing out nicknames, Calvin would be something like 'windy'. Lots of noises coming from his corner of the room. Last night he was apparently kind of a nightmare- screaming and waking up the other babies, then he calmed down after finding relief in a way that it would be best not to describe. When I walked in this morning he was kind of cute and peaceful, it's hard to believe he was so loud all night- but Sam and her lack of sleep assure me that he was.

After dropping weight for two days he gained some back today, and spent the day alternating between breastfeeding and tube feeding. This seemed to go really well, tomorrow he'll ease away a little more from the tube feeds, and maybe in another day or two we can get rid of the feeding tube.

Picture from today: every time you find a new layer, it's just as stylish as the last.

Transitional care, day one

Calvin lost a bit of weight today, but that was expected. Since he has to work for his food now instead of having it piped directly into his stomach, he and Sam need to reach an understanding about the whole feeding thing. Hopefully he'll be holding his own or gaining weight again when they measure him tomorrow, no big rush right now though. I was at work all day, but Aunt Mary kept Sam and Calvin company:
He was bathed for the first time, which looks like it was kind of funny based on the pictures I saw. Sam and the nurse gave him the bath today, tomorrow I'll get(?) to help out and Sam will show me what's going on.
(All nudity on this blog will be tasteful and sepia toned). He was wearing an outfit that was a cow print and had a tail today. Pretty hilarious. We didn't get a good picture of the tail, unfortunately. But it was funny.
Sam is doing well, except for sleep- the answer to 'did you sleep?' is 'no', when you're in a ward with four babies on different schedules, all trying to learn how to breastfeed. She is once again isolated from the outside world, but tomorrow I'll probably take over the Calvin-watch for a while so she can duck out into the main hospital, pirate some internet, and check her email. If the timing works out she'll try and call our parents too, so heads up.

Light at the end of the tunnel

Calvin is proving to be a sprinter as he approaches the finish. He was taken off of his monitors this morning and now he just has one lead taped to his stomach that checks to make sure he doesn't go into apnea. When we go in to see him, we can take him off this small box monitor (that sits inside his cot and doesn't have a screen filled with lots of data that can scare you) and take him out for cuddles more easily.

He is doing so well that they are talking about putting him into Transitional Care (TC) in the next few days. That means that I would also move into TC. This is where Cal will learn how to feed and where I will be taking care of him 24 hours a day but still having midwife/nurse help if I need it. More importantly, they will be checking to make sure that Cal is gaining weight from his feeding. Apparently I should expect to be there for two weeks. Egads! But wouldn't you do it for this adorable face?

Wow, crazy update! (from Nick): A bed opened up in transitional care today, so Sam and Calvin are going to move in tonight. Tuesday! Not Thursday or Friday. We have a lot to get organized this afternoon.

CalvinWatch2009, weekend brag edition

Hey everybody, raise your hand if you got downgraded (upgraded?) to special care from intensive care, moved from your incubator into a cot, have a tube in your nose instead of your mouth now, and basically mastered how to layer for warmth and fashion.
Oh, just me? Ok. Party over at my place.

Breathing better, escaping, artwork

Over the last day or so Calvin has started to rebel against the CPAP. Two nights ago he was fussing so much they took it off after two hours, and last night he was on for four hours. When we left today to get some dinner he had been off for 15 hours or so, and seemed to be doing fine. The plan is to give him a few hours of support if he starts to tire out, but it's looking like a nice step in the right direction for now. Here he is breathing the fresh (compared to his incubator) air of freedom for a while:
He's also been squirming around a lot, maneuvering himself a body length or so around the incubator, usually toward one of the portals. An escape attempt, thwarted by poor motor skills and lack of strength? Who knows. As an example, this is not the position we left him in:
And an only-tangentially-related-to-Calvin item. You would be forgiven if you looked at this picture and thought that I was standing in one of the great museums of the world:
No- it's one of the hallways at Ninewells. Ninewells supports local art, and this is my favorite piece. The whale is (obviously) the Famous Tay Whale, harpooned off the Dundee shore in the winter of 1883. The old man is more of a mystery, as is the forlorn woman (his daughter?) in birkenstocks. What does it all mean? What does the dog symbolize? A painting like this grabs your attention every time you walk by it.

Oh yeah, the eyes- he doesn't have ROP, so nothing to report there. Yay!