Mom Space

Day 12... Where do I start?  Landon is doing well, he is up to eating 45 ml and today has taken two feedings of 28ml by bottle before getting tired.  The rest gets tube-fed to him.  The nurses say he is also still gaining weight and is Above his birth weight.  Thursday he hit 5 lbs and today is at 5 lb 3.5oz!  He is still small but he is tough. Yesterday when Bryan and I went to visit, Landon had a new nurse who is normally in Labor & delivery.  I had called to let them know we were coming and that I'd like to nurse him since we would be there for the 10:30: feeding.  We arrived at 10:40 and they had already given him the bottle and were hooking him up to tube feed.  I was extremely upset by this.  I'm sure it was just miscommunication but I couldn't get over it.  To make matters worse, the nurse kept interrupting our time with Landon and then came to tell us that she would be gone for a while to discharge another baby.  She...

*written from Landon's point of view Hello world! Dr. Schooly says I'm doing well. I've graduated to the "big kids" room because we got a few more newbie's in this week. I'm slowly gaining weight, I'm at 4lb 13.9oz but doc says I might lose some because my body is working so hard to stay warm. They are lowering my incubator temps every 12 hours and I should be in a regular bed by Thursday. Bottle feedings are also going well, I eat about 40% from the bottle before I get tired.  Tuesday my Lita (short for abuelita) visited me. She talks so soft and sweet and mom says she takes the best pictures. Lita facetimed Mom so I could see her. The nurse was changing my diaper and checking my weight. I didn't want to be bothered so I decided to Poop 💩 when she had the diaper off. That'll teach her! I was sleepy but when I heard my brother Hayden's be voice, I woke right up! I can't wait to come home and spend time with my big brothers.  ...

Today marks one week since my baby has been alive yet unable to come home.   I am extremely grateful for the love and support we've received but am still sad that my baby can't rest at home.   Landon is doing well.   He had lost some weight, as to be expected, but it slowly gaining it back.   Over the weekend, he was down to 4 lbs, 10 oz.   Today he weighed 4 lbs, 13 oz.   The IV is out and they dressed him in clothes yesterday and his labs are all normal.   They are increasing his feedings 4ml every other feeding, so every six hours; today he hit his max at 45ml however, I'm not sure yet how well he was able to keep it down.   The nurses are going to start weaning his isolates which means turning down the heat in the incubator 1 degree every 12 hours to see how well he can maintain his own temperature.   They said to expect his feedings or weight to go down because we are asking his body to work harder.   We visited Landon on ...

Arriving at the hospital   So, Landon Matthew Anderson decided he wanted to come early... six weeks early! My water broke at about 3:30 a.m. even though I am only 33 weeks and 4 days. Bryan was at work for midshaft so I called him right away and called my mom to come watch the boys. Hayden just happened to be sleeping with me but thankfully did not wake up.  When Bryan arrived home, we left and got to the hospital at about 4:08 a.m. The nurses thought I had just had an "accident", it wasn't until they made me get up from the wheelchair (covered in water) that they realized my water actually had broken like I told them. My contractions were about 3 minutes apart already and I was dilated to about 3.5 inches. The nurse was terrible and finally called Dr. Alumbaugh after 3 other nurses and I told her to. When Dr. A got there, she wanted to transport me to Kansas City but had to slow down the contractions first. They started me on magnesium and although the cont...

Day 3:  Yesterday was  rough and overwhelming.  I got home and couldn't stop crying.  I tried to explain to the boys that it wasn't their fault but they felt bad.  This morning I felt a little better but took a pain killer first thing in the morning then pumped and was drained.  I forgot how much it takes out of you...doing nothing but pumping.  When I woke up from my morning nap, Sammy jumped on my stomach so I've been in a lot of pain. Today has been filled with lots of crying again and feeling inadequate.  I know these emotions and hormones are normal but it doesn't make me feel any better.  Pumping is exhausting and depressing.  Because I my body is still not caught up, I'm not producing any milk.  The NICU team gave me syringes to store the milk which is less depressing than filling up an entire bottle with just a few drops, but still pretty depressing.  Bryan finished the last of Landon's nursery, now its just a waiting...

10-16-18  Day 2: 02:24 a.m. Update on Landon: he is doing well. He has stayed off oxygen all day and HR looks good. They moved IV to his head but that got infiltrated (swollen) so they had to move it again, several other times. He did lose weight and is 4 lbs 12oz. I had to stay another night due to pain and low white blood counts but will get to see him this afternoon. Bryan got to hold him today though. Thank you ALL for the support so far, it's been overwhelming wonderful. Afternoon: Today was bitter sweet. I was released from the hospital and was able to visit Landon for a few hours. I decided to come home and rest/recover rather than stay in the city so I can relax and be able to see the boys as well. While I think this was the right choice, it doesn't make it any easier.  I'm home now and thankful for great friends like Shannon Raye, Kimberly Kelly Francis and Candous O'Neil who bought us premie outfits, oatmeal and coffee 😉. Also Leanna Gonser Summers, who ...