Sammy Hiccups

Cozy Inside

The snow was falling today, but we stayed nice and cozy inside. I told Sammy a joke, which he thought was hilarious.

Debbie and Sammy cozy up later.

Health Details

I've described Samson as healthy, but I guess I should provide a little more detail for those who had been worrying/praying for him. Before Samson left the hospital, he did well on both the eye and hearing tests. Body movements and physicality are all great too. Because he was born so early, we do have to be careful of his exposure to RSV and other illnesses, as this could cause re-hospitalization. We are always washing our hands and using hand sanitizer before touching Sammy.

Unrelated to the premature birth, we had been worrying about the size of the ventricles in his brain. Prior to the birth, we had many ultrasounds and an MRI on his brain. The MRI showed the "mildly enlarged" ventricles were the only abnormality; they were isolated. After he was born, the doctors seemed less concerned about this "Ventriculomegaly", and the ultrasound performed just before we left the hospital actually showed a decrease in ventricle size (this is good). They did however see a small hemorrhage (Grade 1 IVH) that will require a follow-up ultrasound in a month. We were told this is common for a preemie and is usually not something to worry about.

Chicks Dig Handsom Samson

Grandma Vicki and Uncle Mike came out over some icy roads for a visit today. Sammy is the first grandchild for Debbie's side, so he is getting the "first grandchild" treatment, which he of course loves. Sammy was able to show off his bottle drinking and gazing around skills.

Mike brought a gift Handsome Samson decided to try out even though it is bit too big for now. Top of bib says, "CHICKS".

Sammy Scares Lloyd and Exhibits Potty Genius

Lloyd is our 20+ pound cat. When Lloyd was created, he must have been taking a nap when they were handing out cohones. "Fraidy cat" is a good way to describe him. When we first introduced our two cats, Lloyd and Annie, to Samson, Lloyd approached very slowly, crouching down cautiously in a slink. It took sometime for him to relax.

After a couple days, we put Sammy in a playpen, and allowed the cats to roam around. Suddenly, as happens from time to time, Sammy let out a thundering toot. Lloyd looked like he'd seen a ghost. He went into the low slink, eyes dilated, looking at the crib like a big dog was ready to bound outward. I think he may eventually get used to the baby sounds, but I doubt it. Lloyd isn't all that smart.

In other news, Sammy accomplished a very difficult task today. As his diaper was being changed, he peed up over his face and onto a wall and also pooped out down over his feet. This was the first time we'd seen it go in two directions. Overall, his potty tactics are quite impressive. He has figured out that going when his diaper is off means he won't have to sit in it. Potty genius!

More Pictures From His First Week At Home

First Days At Home

Sammy did excellent on his first day at home. He was relaxed and happy with Mom and Dad, even if we swaddled him up in a blanket. No more foot pokes for blood samples and no more leads and foreign objects on his person. Debbie had been at the hospital during the nights for quite a while, and I put in a few nights towards the end as well, so we had lots of practice getting up in the night to change diaper and give him his milk.

On the second day we got into the Christmas spirit a bit and had a little photo shoot. Here is one of the pictures, and I will post more later. That second day we had to venture back out into the real world for a pediatrician appointment. This went well, but was kind of odd taking him into a waiting room with lots of children, which we have been told to avoid for the time being.

Samson Goes Home

After a 39 day stay at the hospital, it is time for Samson to go home. He is 36 weeks and 1 day gestationally and doing well enough on his feeds and breathing to leave the hospital. Sammy weighs out at just a hair under 6 pounds.

Debbie and Sammy share a last moment in the room. While the hospital treated us very well, Debbie, Sammy and I are very happy to be home. We are all looking forward to having some time together without doctors, nurses, and monitoring devices. Samson is healthy (and strong), but we will need to be careful not to expose him to germs because he was born before he could get all the immunities from Mom.

Sammy Gets a Bath

This is the first time Mom gave Sammy a bath. He was a little apprehensive about the whole thing, but everything turned out okay.

I'm not sure who was more excited for the bath, Mommy or Sammy. We missed out on his first bath, which occurred in the middle of the night (before Debbie was spending the night) after a big poop explosion all over himself and one of the nice nurses.