NICU memories

The thoughts and memories of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Huntsville Hospital for Women and Children never seem too far from my mind these days. I can still vividly remember where his small bed was on both the critical and progressive sides of the unit. The procedures that we went through just to be able to go to his bedside every time we went to see him are still vivid memories. I in great detail remember the care routine that became second nature every time we went to see him. I remember the shock and almost laughter when they told us we had to complete a checklist of baby care items and even do a car seat test. Then there was the shock of the neonatologist asking us the morning he was discharged if we were ready to take him home. The memories are pictures in my mind as well as from W’s camera that I will never forget.

I’m not saying all these things to be nostalgic about how Butters once looked so frail and now is the 35lb toddler that bulldozes everything and everyone in his path. I talk about this because in some ways I am mentally preparing for it become a reality again.

Since my doctor is already talking about this baby following in his/her brother’s footsteps in being big and possibly coming as early as 35 weeks or so hence the reason I feel that it’s best to not forget those things that happened with Butters. Sure I hope for the best. Of course I hope that we will have an uncomplicated birth and this one will be able to room in with us at the hospital then be discharged with me. But, there is a part of me that after Butter’s birth and sudden onset of breathing difficulties knows the routine and doesn’t want to forget it all just in case we see it all again. I don't want the surprise, shock and fear that all went along with his sudden admission to the NICU. I want to be prepared and remember what happened last time just incase it happens again. I am almost half way through my pregnancy and I have had these thoughts on and off since I found out. I guess I just want to be prepared for what I know could happen.

I don’t know what it is about me, but having been through the experience once before the more I know about the situation the more it bothers me. I know that what happens is out of my control and I try to keep that in mind, but it’s really hard. I’m just one of those people that want to be prepared for everything and this is no exception. I guess its an engineer thing. :0)

A change in diapers for us

As some of you know that follow my twitter feed the last few weeks have been talks about what to do as far as diapering for the next little one. After doing a good bit of research and number crunching I came to the conclusion that the BumGenius 3.0 diapers would be best due to how much they resemble disposables. The diapers say that they will fit babies to toddlers from 8 to 35 lbs and being that Butters is at the high range of that weight limit I decided that since I had a 4 day weekend I would try the four of the diapers I had out on Butters and see how they worked.

I got one of the diapers from A Nurturing Moment (shown above while Butters was napping) here in town and the other 3 (pictured) from diapers.com with a $10 off coupon. I knew I would be washing them a lot but I wanted to give it a good shot.

My goal was to go from Friday to Monday night with only using the new diapers. As of tonight I can now say that I accomplished my goal. I wanted to do this with just the diapers and liners I had to be sure that I liked them and that they would work.

So in the process I learned a few things:
1. Changing them while out isn't bad at all. I just kept a balled out Walmart or Publix bag with me and the dirty diaper went in there and was tied up. Once I got home it went in the bag with the other dirty ones or straight in the laundry for washing.

2. I got some Bummi's flushable liners but so far they are just ok. They tend to stick to his bottom along with the poop and I just take a wipe and wipe the whole mess off. No big deal but I was just hoping to be able to flush all of it. If anyone knows of any better liners or a better way to use them please let me know.

3. Butter's diaper rash all went away with no cream. I just kept the diapers on him and the red baboon butt that he gets all went away with no treatment. That was great to see!

4. Blowouts happen no madder what. I learned this Sunday night when Butter's stomach wasn't feeling to good and his diaper got nasty. While luckily most of it was contained in the liner and diaper we still had a blowout situation but I think that happens with any diaper at some point.

5. At night Butters requires at least 2 doublers. He tends to be a heavy night wetter so having the diaper stuffed a little more than during the day seems to help.

6. I really need to increase my supply of these diapers. 4 diapers is just not enough for him to get through a day. I say this but the laundry part really wasn't a problem. It took a pre-wash cycle in cold, full wash cycle in hot, then one extra rinse followed by the dryer on medium. This is what the website recommended and so far worked well.

Overall it was a great weekend experience. I would like to do laundry a little less but that is just going to require us to obtain more of them. Right now I have some on our Target registry and I am passing the word around that as far as new baby gear that would be helpful. Last is a picture of him being as active as always. The fit was still good even though he is at the top of the weight limit. At this point we haven't gone to not using disposables at all but I am starting to work these into rotation with the Huggies that we have and hopefully start saving a little money.


Just as a side note. I estimated that he uses about 5 to 6 diapers a day. So to have a good toddler supply where I only have to wash every other night we would need about 12 to 15. But I estimated this weekend that I saved 24 disposable diapers (average) which amounts to the price of one of the Bum Genius 3.0 diapers. Not too bad for a 4 day weekend!

15 weeks

So this week marked 15 weeks and another doctor’s visit. The basic stats were blood pressure 118/80 (which I was told was good), +2lbs and we did get a good heart beat that was right at 156bpm. The nurse was skeptical about getting a heart beat so early on but luckily since I’m so small it wasn’t a problem. The 2lb weight gain was kind of a shock considering how sick I’ve been in the evening and at night. I asked my doctor about size concerns. He looked at my chart from last time and after everything that happened said that he wouldn’t be surprised if I went early. He said that since Butters was big my chances of having another big baby are pretty good. He did say that he would be happy if I went into labor at 37 weeks (which would put this one being born right around W's birthday) with no intervention depending on how big this one is. I wanted to ask a lot of what if questions but I know it’s far too early for that and there’s no need to at the moment. Also we found out that we won’t find out the gender of this little one until around the first week of July. Hopefully we will still have Mac for the big day.

So far my main food cravings are tuna salad (made with low fat mayo and plenty of sweet relish), decaf iced coffee, instant oatmeal, sweet breakfast cereal, Tommy’s Pizza and anything with a strong citrus flavor (orange juice, chunked pineapple ect). The citrus seems to be linked to my nightly battles with getting to sleep. It seems as if I don’t have enough acid on my stomach so eating a few bites of citrus gives me enough acid to digest food and not get so sick. Ironically I don’t want soft drinks at all right now. I’ll normally have a couple of sips then they just don’t taste good anymore. I am much more preferring crystal light iced tea, lemonade or Capri suns to drink rather than soft drinks.

I’m still with out an appetite most of the time though. I eat last at night around 8pm and normally can’t manage to even think about eating until after 8am the next day. I know this isn’t entirely healthy but I’m doing to best I can. After around 9 I tend to snack on stuff that I’ve got at my desk to keep me out of the vending machine. Oddly enough I haven’t really wanted sweets that much. A random sweet craving can normally be tamed with a chocolate chip granola bar. I honestly do find myself snacking more at the office I think due to only having this type of food around and not as home as much. I have snack stuff at home but the stuff I really crave is at work. I don’t consider what I snack on that unhealthy. I’ve been really working to not look at a clock so much when I eat but rather eat when I feel like I need to. I’m mainly doing this so that I can not worry so much about when I’m eating but rather focus on just eating when and what I need to (with in reason).