2 month pediatrician visit

It is official, Connor is now 2 months old! That's if you count from the day he was actually born, but if you count from the day he was supposed be born, then I guess he is one month old.
So, at 2 months old, it is time for the second pediatrician visit!

First, the stats... Connor is now 12 lbs 5 oz, 21.5 inches long, and 38.7 cm head circumfrence. That puts him in the 95th percentile for babies born at 35 weeks for weight, 80th percentile for length, and 92nd percentile for head circumfrence. As a matter of fact, he is at 75th percentile for weight for full term babies. Yay, Connor, you caught up!

The pediatrician told us that he is doing well, his neck is getting stronger, and he looks good. He has a little bit of acid reflux, so she prescribed us some antacids for that. We haven't been able to try them yet, because Wallgreens was out of stock. They also checked his jaundice level again, and it turns out he has a little bit left, but not much, and nothing to worry about at this point.

Now, the "aww poor baby" part. During the second month, they do a second round of immunizations for various things. As I mentioned before, they also had to check him for jaundice. I think he may be used to the jaundice test. Of course he cried. Well, maybe we are used to the jaundice test, but we had him calmed down pretty quick after that one.

But, the immunization shots are another thing entirely.We had him calmed down and laying on the table, because I knew that Ann wouldn't want to see him get the shots. They looked like fairly small needles, but of course they should be, because he is small. The nurse stuck the needle into his inner thigh. Connor got so mad that he couldn't even cry! His face turned red, his mouth opened, but nothing came out. I knew that he was very pissed off. There was a good 5-10 seconds that he was so mad, he opened his mouth and nothing came out. I told Ann while it was happening, and after that a nasty scream came out, but by that time the shot was over.



We managed to calm him down, and it was sad to see him like that at the time, but now it is almost funny to think that he got that mad. On the car ride on the way back, as to be expected, he fell asleep, and was fine when we got home. We have had a good weekend with him. It is always nice to be able to spend some time together.

Middle Names

Connor has two middle names. When he's a little older, he may wonder why, this is what I'd explain.

"Connor, you have two middle names: Pascal and Chen.

Pascal is your great grandfather, your grandfather, and your daddy's middle name. Mommy and Daddy didn't get a chance to meet your great grandfather HP but we have heard so much from your grandparents what a even tempered, gentle, and good man he was and we hope that you will be like him, kind, gentle, and with a good heart.

Chen is your mommy's family name. China is a vast country with one of the world's oldest culture and longest history. Mommy will tell you all about it when you grow up. Mommy is proud to be Chinese and wants you to learn and carry with you this part of your heritage. Chen is also for you to know and remember Grandpa and Grandma Chen are so very proud of you.

Middle name is not usually a name people use to call you with. These names are not for others. They are for you. Mommy and Daddy came from two different worlds. Both very proud of where we come from. Mommy hopes you will grow up to embrace and enjoy the best of both worlds. These two middle names carries Mommy's hope of who you can grow up to be."
- Ann

Going back to work

Last week, my Maternity leave ended and I started going back to work. It was one of the hardest thing I had to do. We are lucky that my mom is here helping us taking care of him. She is very patient and careful with him. Connor is well taken care of. But I miss him so much. I don't want to miss anything. Son, mommy and daddy love you very much. You are the reason we work so hard for. You are the reason. We want to spend as much time with you as possible. When we are at work, we are thinking of you too. You are growing so amazingly fast. Everyday is a new moment we want to remember. I used to think birthday to be just a day Mothers suffer. I didn't understand. Now I know. Your birthday is the day that we are blessed with you.
-Ann

Home Sweet Home

Well, Connor has been home for 3 weeks now! His due date was August 30, so he officially full term now, and is doing all the things (we think) that normal babies do. Crying, pooping, crying, burping, pooping, repeat.

Luckily, both my mother and father have gotten to come visit us. Mama actually came while we were still in the NICU, and was a wonderful help for us during a very hard time. Daddy actually came last week, we really enjoyed having him here also.

We are starting to settle in to having him home now. This week, he has been a little more cranky than normal, and takes longer for him to get to sleep. It is tough when you are tired, but we love spending time with him.

Coming Home!

On August 20, Connor was released from the hospital. But first, I had to take off work (I had already gone back), and we ran some errands. We cleaned the house, we bought some supplies, and got ready to take him home.

In the NICU, though, it is not just a matter of taking a baby home. First, you watch a baby CPR video, then you watch a video entitled "Don't Shake the Baby". The CPR video is useful, although it would have been nice to have the practice doll they kept showing. The "don't shake the baby" is an 80's videotape, and 30 minutes of viewing pleasure that I can sum up pretty easily Don't shake your baby! I did learn that men are more likely to shake their baby's than women, although when Connor cries I think it is so cute that I don't see how anyone could get angry enough to do that.

We finally took him home, and the feeling is a mix of joy and nervousness. We were excited to have him home, but we realized the safety net was now gone. In the NICU, the nurses are there to help you out. I don't think we slept at all the first day, and I personally went to Baby's R Us, Wal-Mart and Target several times each, buying stuff, returning stuff, and buying stuff again.

ICU (through week 2)

Two and a half weeks passed with Connor in the NICU. During these two weeks, we got very used to the routing of hand washing, feeding every 3 hours, and seeing him attached to all sorts of wires and monitors. Some days were harder than others.

We also learned of stories of babies that were much worse off than Connor and little miracles that had happened, but knew that for some, the miracles probably wouldn't happen. It is heart wrenching to know that some of these babies wont' make it. I can't imagine the pain.

In some ways, it is also hard being the parents of one of the least sick kids in the NICU. You can't help but care more about your baby and worry more about them and their care, but the Doctor's and nurses obviously pay more attention to the sicker ones. But, you also can't be in the ICU 24 hours a day, so you have to trust your baby to their care. The hospital that we were at was great, don't get me wrong, but some nurses seemed to pay more attention to Connor than others.

On August 19, after having been in the NICU for over 2 weeks, the Doctors and nurses had weened Connor off of both the oxygen and the heat of the incubator, and the Doctor told Ann that he could go home that day. Ann wanted to be extra careful, so asked them to keep Connor for another day and do a 24 hours sleep study, and they agreed to do so. We knew that he would probably be going home the next day.

NICU

For the next portion of Connor's young life....
Connor was with us for 4 days in the room with us at the hospital. During this time, we prepared to take him home, as we were told that what what we needed to do. We had the car seat study done, we filled out the birth certificate. I called around and found out how to get the car seat base in my car. We called the pediatrician for a Thursday vist. We bought some clothes and diapers for home. We borrowed a crib mattress. None of that mattered, because we were so
happy to have a wonderful little baby boy coming home with us.

But, 2 days turned into 3 and they told us to stay a little longer. 3 days turned into 4 and they told us to stay a little longer "just in case".

After 4 days of being in the room with us, Connor's temperature dropped below 74 degrees in 24 hours. The pediatrician came in looking very concerned and told us that this meant that Connor had to go to the ICU automatically.

The week went from being the best week of our lives to being one of the scariest.
After being in the room with us for 4 days, in which we all fell deeply in love with him, he was taken to the ICU. Connor was wheeled into his crib and put into an incubator in the ICU. After being in there for a short period of time, they noticed his Oxygen saturation was too low as well.

Connor was then put onto oxygen with a nasal canula within a few hours of being taken into the ICU. Those next few days were some of the most difficult days Ann and I have ever been through.

Hello Everyone!

Since Connor isn't able to make posts right now, I am going to be his guest writer.

Connor Pascal Chen McKenzie is now 3 days old. He was born on July 27, 2009 at 8 :50 am.
He was 5lbs, 14 oz and 18 1/2 " long. Connor was born earlier than expected (35 weeks instead of 40 weeks).

This is the story of his birth (and some events leading up to it).

On the weekend of July 25, Ann and I moved to north Austin from south Austin. We knew that we had to move soon because Ann was 35 weeks pregnant and the baby was coming at the end of August, so we hired a moving company and moved over the Saturday. The moving company, Advantage Moving showed up and were absolutely wonderful. I was amazed how hard they worked, and we hardly did anything that day besides get out of the way. I really wanted to make sure that Ann didn't do too much.

On July 26, that night, we were moved in and everything seemed to be moving along fine. A lot of stuff was in boxes, but no problems.

Then, at 4:30am on July 27, Ann woke me up, telling me that she was basically "leaking". She actually told me later that she almost didn't wake me up, but it is obviously better that she did. So, we called the on call number, and they told us to come in.

So, having just moved, and the fact that we were only 35 weeks along, I assumed we were just coming in for a checkup, and going back home. Ann was worried, but I think she was thinking the same things.

Connor was born earlier than expected (35 weeks instead of 40 weeks), so he had to be watched in the nursery for about 3 hours before Ann got to see him. Those 3 hours were hard for me, because I knew how much she wanted to see him. To make her feel better, I took a few pictures of him with my camera phone and took them to her to see.

Finally, he came into the room with us and he was just beautiful.