Trying my New Stuff

Although Chase is still adjusting to his crib, he has enjoyed his time in the swing. We haven't yet tried out the pack-and-play, and the bouncer after eating was a bad idea on mommy and daddy's part!

What is this thing?

Sunday-Race Day:)

This was the best pic I could get of the boys watching the race. Well, Jas watching the race and Chase sleeping after breakfast:) I tried to get an actual track shot, but they all just ended up looking like the image projected on their bodies! The pit crew in action was as good as I could get and since Jas had just woken up, he wasn't exactly wanting to pose for pics.

HAPPY "BIRTH"DAY!!!

Happy "Birth"day Speed Chase'r!

Today was my due date. Can you believe we finally made it? Jas even forgot he set it as an event in his calendar back when I found out I was pregnant-it said "Baby's coming". Despite everything we've been through in recent months, we wouldn't trade this experience for anything.

Looking forward to many, many more wonderful milestones with you peanut. Mommy and Daddy love you more than you know...

First Road trip

Today we decided to take a road trip to Annapolis to walk around a little bit and see "aunt" Francesca. It took us a while to get ourselves together and Jas is running on even less sleep than me. I have never had a problem falling back asleep once my head hits the pillow. Jas on the other hand, has never been a napper. Chase has decided his favorite places to sleep are on the boppy lounger during the day, and in our arms at night. As soon as he falls asleep and we put him in his crib he fusses and cries, and we are trying hard to not give in and take him out!

Anyway-since it was such a beautiful day there were lots of people down by the marina, so we chose a place to eat outside away from the crowds and had just short visit with Francesca. Its always good people watching down there!

Tomorrow is a race day-so Chase will be able to have his first F1 experience! He sleeps through the surround sound, so I'm not worried for when they start their engines. I'll take a picture of my two boys watching the race together tomorrow:)

Running to Outings

We've had two outings to doctor's appts. this week, and we were late for both of them! Luckily we were only a few minutes late and each time they were understanding. Wednesday's visit with the pediatrician was at 3pm so it didn't conflict with meds, but this morning's eye doctor's appt. was at 10am so I had to prep extra.

I neatly packaged his medicine and milk for the 11am feeding, and the staff graciously gave us a private room after our appt. I still haven't nursed in public, and since he needs to get his meds in a bottle I figured we'd continue with the current setup. Two things I learned today however...pack more than you think you'll need and don't forget something to put the dirty diapers in! I guess I could have read up on what to pack in the diaper bag in my parenting magazine or one of the plethora of baby advice websites, but I figured how hard can it be? Luckily, the little man only had one gigantic blow out requiring a change of clothes. I however left the plastic bags for soiled items in the car. So Jas needed to run out to the car to get them after I finished getting him dressed. Lesson learned.

After our appointment and an outfit change we decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and head into Towson to grab a bite to eat at DiPasquales since they have outdoor seating. Since Chase had just eaten, and loves the car ride(Jas says its because of the rumble of the V-8 in my car), he was passed out for much of our lunch. As many of you know the Towson circle(or roundabout as Marylanders call it) is quite a busy place. I'm please to report Chase slept through the noise of delivery trucks, honking horns, and some obnoxiously loud music. I'm still amazed that people can't drive around a circle down here. If they were from South Jersey they would have needed to learn how to navigate our famous circles and jug handles during driving lessons!

After lunch we walked around Towson and headed to the park in front of the courthouse to give Chase a break from his stroller. While we sat in the shade only two grandmas stopped over to say hi, and as I write this I'm thinking about how we need of those hang tags for his stroller that say-"hands off" or something a little more nicely put:)

First Days Home

Bath Time-Yum my hand tastes good:)

I love being home and held all the time!

Love my boppy lounger

What is this thing?

Out for my first walk

We've had an eventful first few days since Chase has come home. We gave him the tour of the house and introduced him to Summer. She has been great with him, and is very concerned when he cries. She likes to sleep on the rug in front of his crib, and has only gotten in a few quick licks in the past two days.

Monday night was an adjustment for Mommy and Daddy, and Chase was awake and fussy about every 1 1/2 hrs. Drawing up medicine every three hours in the middle of the night was also a task in itself! Thank goodness one of the nurses made us a med chart for us to track the 3 hr. intervals.

The hospital had a home health care nurse visit yesterday, and she had some suggestions that made things go a little more smoothly last night. While I had all of the syringes labeled and organized in baggies, she suggested we draw up all of his night meds before heading to bed and separate them into baggies by feeding. This suggestion helped alot, since measuring out .67mL of one medication in the middle of the night requires you to be wide awake! We also limited his space a bit in the crib. In addition to swaddling him like the first night, we also used the sleep positioner piece from our snuggle nest to give him some more boundaries in the crib. He slept much better last night, and we even had to wake him up for his 5am feeding and medication this morning. He has at times enjoyed eating on demand though!! He also got his first tub/sink bath yesterday and only managed to pee on me once!

We are still settling in to a schedule and Jas has been taking the 11pm and 8am feedings. I've been doing the 2am and 5am. This will be subject to change when Jas goes back to work of course. So when Jas took him for the 8am this morning I went back to bed and slept til about 9:45. It was wonderful:) After some peanut butter chocolate chip pancakes(Summer got some plain ones) I tried to get some stuff done around the house, and Jas worked on documentation and work phone calls before our first outing to the pediatrician. Today was his initial evaluation. Everything looks good, he gained two ounces, and we go back for another checkup next week. The doc said maybe in a few weeks we can look at weaning his med schedule once he gets more labs done. Only one more appt. this week. We see the eye doctor on Friday for another follow-up.

After a busy day, we took a short walk with Chase and Summer to enjoy the nice weather, and test out the stroller. He didn't seem to mind the bumpy sidewalks or potholes of Baltimore today!

Welcome home finally!!

Chase Holden Swanson was finally discharged from the GBMC NICU at 12:50pm on August 23, 2010 weighing in at a whopping 6lbs. After 81 days he's finally home!