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<< Back to Simeon's current news
May 7, 7:45 am: Not much news this morning. Everyone is sleepy: Mom/Mum, Dad and Baby, but we are surviving. Simeon had digested all his food again at 5:30 am. YAY!
May 7, 12:35 am: This evening at 8:30 pm, Simeon was the most active that we have seen him yet.
(See the photos below) His eyes were open quite a lot and he was looking around, looking for people's voices
and touches. He must have tired himself out, because he was then fast asleep at 11:30 pm. He has fully
digested his food the last two feedings, which is very good. If he can keep that up, he will be able to do
without an IV soon.
Natalee and I are now back at home, and glad to be back in our own bed, although it is not so good to be
away from the hospital. It is good to have Natalee's parents here at the house to take care of things here,
as our attentions are focused at the hospital.
May 6, 6:48 pm: I haven't had a chance to get any more photos together, but here is a quick
update. We are about to get Natalee checked out of the hospital -- probably around 7:30 pm. We'll head
home and drop stuff off, and then come right back for Simeon's 8:30 pm feeding. He is going to be
fed every 3 hours. Our plan for the next little while is to try and be here for each feeding except
2:30 pm, 11:30 pm and 2:30 am. This will allow Natalee to get some sleep at night and a bit of an
afternoon nap. The routine for each visit is to arrive about 15 mins before the half hour, change
Simeon's diaper, get the neccessary cords disconnected and get him out of his bed. Then he is ready
to eat at half past and we can snuggle with him for about an hour. We then have just under two hours
for Natalee to pump his next meal and relax/eat/sleep/etc before the next round.
Simeon has been digesting his food well this afternoon and his bowls are starting to function. He didn't
do such a good job maintaining his temperature on his own, so he is now in an isolette. I'll have to snap
a picture for those of you who aren't sure what an isolette is like (a little glasshouse for babies!).
He is still perfect.
May 6, 11:19 am: Simeon continues to make great progress (I expect no less from my son!)
His Bili count was low, so he does not have to spend any time under the Bili lights. After the 8:30 am
feeding, they turned off his warmer to see if he is able to maintain his own temperature. We are going
back to feed him again in a few minutes, so we will see how he managed.
Natalee will be discharged today. They are not too concerned about when we are out of the room, however
we will need to wait until she is checked out by her doctor.
May 6, 6:47 am: When we went down for Simeon's feeding this morning at 5:30 am, he was wide
awake and very active, looking around at the world! This is the most active we have seen him so far. His
eyes were wide open (as wide open as the little newborn could get them, anyway) and his hands, mouth and
tongue were wiggling around. He seemed hungry! Of course, five minutes later he was fast asleep again!!
We'll find out later this morning whether he will need the bili-lights. Also, they may try taking him off the
warmer and see how well he maintains his temperature.
I told my sister a couple of months ago that I'd post some pregnancy photos for her to see. I didn't get
to them then, so here they are now:
May 5, 11:55 pm: Simeon has had a good day today. He is now getting regular feedings (every
three hours). Mostly he is fed through his feeding tube, but twice a day he is fed with a bottle. We
go down to the NICU for each feeding, and are allowed to hold him and snuggle. This makes up for the
lack of holding yesterday!
Tomorrow morning the nurses are going to check Simeon's biliruben level. If this level is too high, he
will need to go under the blue biliruben lights for a couple of days.
Natalee should be discharged tomorrow around noon. We are then allowed to 'go home', although I'm sure
that we will still be spending the majority of our time here at the hospital. Good night all!
May 5, 4:46 pm: Natalee has just fallen asleep (afternoon nap) and so I thought I'd post
a quick update and a few photos. Simeon started feeding today and we got to spend some fun time with him.
He will keep his IV for a while yet (which was moved from his hand to his head this afternoon), but is
also being fed through a tube down his nose into his stomach. Natalee got to try breastfeeding him as they
simultaneously fed him throught the 'gavage' tube. It will be a while before he is strong enough to breastfeed
properly.
About half an hour ago I was able to lay Simeon face-down on my chest for about 15 minutes. At first he was
a little upset about being disturbed, but very quickly got comfortable and fell fast asleep!
May 5, 5:10 am: Simeon had a good and uneventful night last night. Natalee was able to go down and see him twice yesterday and she was able to hold him for about 20 mins at 4:30 pm yesterday. His breathing is doing well, but is still a little eratic at times, so we are not able to hold him very much. He has not needed to be on a ventilator yet.
May 4, 2:28 pm: His name is Simeon John Raymond! Simeon: "that hears or obeys," John: "the grace or mercy of
the Lord".
Natalee is recovering well, and is much more alert. We hope that she will be able to get up and hold Simeon
this afternoon at 4 pm.
Simeon's breathing is much more relaxed and he has been sleeping well. Earlier this afternoon I watched him
fall asleep in the midst of a bout of hickups!
May 4, 7:30 am: To our great surprise, Baby Raymond was born at 6:28 am this morning
(May 4th, 2004). Thanks to modern technology, here are his first portraits, taken only a few minutes
after birth.
Being 5 weeks early, he is now getting snuggled into the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) here
at Trinity Medical Center and is doing well so far. He is 5 lb, 2 oz (2273 grams) and is 18.5 inches
long! Long and thin like his father!
Natalee is doing well -- she lost a little blood, so is currently napping with an IV/drip and is
looking a little pale. She is in good spirits, however, and is extremely excited about our new son!
We have not yet decided our son's full name. We have some ideas, but want to spend a little more time with
him before making a final decision. It is likely that we will need to keep him here in the NICU for a
couple of weeks.
A name and more photos are forthcoming!
