Not So Fast

Well, our little rascal has been a bit sassy and they've revoked his off campus privileges. Apparently he's not quite ready to leave the cozy confines of the NICU.  Not that we blame him, it's a pretty cushy set up here with his personal assistants and round the clock all you can eat room service.  Still, we're bummed we can't make lots of SuperCole Sunday* jokes.  I mean, he's super every day of the week, but SuperCole Wednesday (or whatever it's gonna be) just doesn't have the same ring to it.  

To clarify for the worriers (you know who you are, hi mom!), Cole is fine.  This is a nuisance, but not an indication of anything negative.  He just needs a little more time, it's common for micro-preemies born as early as he was.  Better he be safe here in the clink than out in the world and at risk.

Anyway, the countdown has been reset, five days (ish) and counting...

* Copyright Andrew Graham 2009

T Minus 2 days and counting...

Cole's new potential release date is Sunday! We were sad when they said it wouldn't be Friday, but also a little relieved that we had another weekend to get the house ready, get more "baby stuff" and go out clubbing with college kids on a 3 day bender. We just had the Merry Maids come and clean the hell out of our house, and they did an amazing job. Cole is no longer susceptible to attack by dust bunny armies. Hold the phone; what's up with the phrase "dust bunny"? That makes them sound cute when in fact they are grody to the max. Just sayin'.

We have had a tough couple nights because we've had to say temporary good-byes to our favorite nurses at the NICU. Now in fairness all of the nurses we have had over the past 3+ months have been amazing, compassionate, brilliant, thoughtful, sweet, and have each in turn saved our son's life at one point or another. Saying they are angels and miracle workers is an understatement, and they have our eternal gratitude and respect. The reality though, is that there are a few nurses who took him under their blue scrubbed wings and really nourished him and guided us through this whole ordeal. They became our friends and his extended family and we can't wait till they move in with us after Cole comes home. Stacy, Liz, Grace -- you are our shining stars and we adore you and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all that you have done for us. This post is a tribute to you and your everlasting kindness.

Stacy



Grace



Liz



We really can't say enough about all that you have done, and we really look forward to continuing to have you in our lives. As Cole grows, know that he is a product of your love.

Sounds Good

Good news!  Cole had his hearing screening today and... he passed!  Cheers to his ears!  Which reminds me of an odd preemie quirk from way back in the beginning.  When babies are born as early as Cole was, they're still growing, and important parts  like cartilage aren't fully formed.  So his little ears were sort of floppy, not super floppy like Homer's ears (remember those ears?  They were awesome.  Sigh) but if he slept on them wrong, they'd fold over like flower petals.  No worries though, you could just mush them back into place.  Anyway, Cole's ears are now officially, doctor approved perfect, inside and out (plus adorable) so hurrah!

Anyway, we got to thinking, if he's just laying around, listening to stuff, what should he hear? Soon he'll be free of the hustle and bustle and beeps and boops of the NICU and then what? Clearly, a mix tape is in order.  The song list is pretty important, music being a powerful and influential medium and all.  Does Jack Johnson = mellow dude baby?  Would hair band rock breed a tiny aggro tot?    We've got some ideas of our own, but we're opening our playlist to you, our grooviest friends.  Send us your suggestions for Cole's first dance party soundtrack.  He's already getting good at throwing his hands in the air, and waving them like he just don't care.

Unsigned Integer

Now here's a conundrum. Cole's due date was the 25th, so he's no longer negative days old! Awesome. He's 2. But I don't REALLY want to start counting his days until he comes home, which may be Friday, so he's negative 3. But Friday is a moving target based on his stability, so maybe he should be x - 25 days old, with x being the date. Unless he comes home in February in which case it would be more like x + 6 where x is the date in February. This is why we never talk in absolutes when it comes to Chill, because it just gets silly. Anyway, I think when he comes home he'll be 0 days old in my head.

Speaking of 0 days old, I would like to mention that though Cole is technically still premature (because he's x-25 days old), his eyes are officially mature! His risk of ROP is gone and as he gets older he'll eventually be able to read the giant mini billboard screwed into the wall above his crib. We are so thrilled knowing that his eyes are all growed up! Good stuff little guy.

The whole giant mini billboard thing is actually a really good segue into the next topic. It's also just an awesome thing to say because it's ridiculous. Kate's sister Maggie came up and helped us buy a ton of stuff and prepare the house for Chill's homecoming. His room is all done and waiting for a baby. Wanna see?

The first thing you see on Cole's door is this super awesome teensie onesie we got from Stacy, one of our most awesome nurses.





Sorry it's so dark, I need to do some color correction. Or be a better photographer.







And now some detail shots of the silly things all over the place.













One of the buckets in the ikea thing under the window is full of toys and stuff which we've gotten from our wonderful, generous friends. I'm looking forward to finding out which of them Cole gravitates to, and which stuffed animal(s) he falls in love with. So much fun! I can't wait till we can just hang out in there and read books with cardboard pages.

C•HILL

We got a package from my old college friend MiRi today. It contained a really nice note and a dope little blue hat (pics to come). Written on the hat in big block letters is the word CHILL. I thought that was pretty cute, until I did a double take and noticed that there was a bullet between the C and the H ... C•HILL ... Cole Hilliker ... that is so awesome! MiRi, you are a superstar and I love the dope nickname you just gave Cole.

Chill.

You know what's freakin' amazing though? Yesterday they took his feeding tube out! He is now 100% baby. No more bionic parts, no more support, no more invasive stabby things. Just little human parts. He seems much happier too, but that might just be me projecting. Who knows, but he sure looks cute without any crap obscuring his face.







About to sneeze....


SNEEZING!


Grover is free too! AAA!

NICU Centennial

One of the things that has always been interesting to me is how baby's ages are measured. People say things in weeks, days, months, and some other units that I'm completely unfamiliar with. I used to think it was strange, but now I totally get it. Babies change so much in so little time that even a week, or sometimes just a day can present you with a totally different little dude. If we were measuring in grand metric units of 100 days, Cole would be one unit old. That's nuts! And boy has he changed a lot!

One of the most significant recent changes is his ability to breathe room air. This is so huge and exciting! He has now been off oxygen since Saturday at 11am. That's three and a half days! I am over the moon with joy about his strong little lungs.

Of course Cole couldn't be satisfied with all this good news, so he has decided to have elevated blood pressure for some reason. He's had this problem on and off for a couple weeks, and everybody's stumped. His kidneys look great, and he hasn't been anywhere near the salt lick. He is taking a little medication for it and has another ultrasound coming up to check out his gizzards. All the doctors are saying that it's no big deal, just a curiosity. Indeed.

This evening we had a lot of fun goofing around. Here's proof.













YAWN!


After the festivities, Cole was pooped and he fell asleep cozily beneath this beautiful blankie that Kate's aunt Gale made for him.



Is he fashion forward or what? I know, totally! Kate liked the blankie too. And is adorable.

Easy Breathie Beautiful

Today they are doing another test of a cannula free Cole. It's totally awesome! It's so great to see his little face without tubes all over it. I bet you're going to be surprised to know that I took some pictures.

Fixed! A photo essay.

I don't know what a photo essay is, but I kindof assume it doesn't have any words. Therefore I don't think this is technically a photo essay because there will be words. I hope that's okay with you.

We woke up this morning a little late, knowing that we wouldn't have to get to the NICU till the early afternoon. We checked in, and there was a cancellation at Children's Hospital, so there was a chance he'd be shifted up to around 10am or something. That would be sweet! We could get this all overwith super early!

That didn't happen. We goofed around all morning and planned for the original 3pm time. What we didn't plan for was Cole's new hat.







What the crap is that?! Turns out it's his IV. They tried to get one into his arm, his wrist, his leg, his foot, his everything. He's too chubby though, which is a great problem to have. Weird, because the result is a huge puffy hat with a giant needle going into his brain (it's not actually in his BRAIN, but that's fun to say if you're juvenile like me). Our nurse Liz said that it's actually a pretty awesome spot for an IV though, because this way there's no arm or leg that needs to be bound. It looks scary, but is really great for Cole. Definitely deserves a high five.



We hung around till 3, and then 3:30, and his appointment kept getting pushed back. It was totally like this:



But it was cool because we got to spend time with the nurses we love. This is Grace.



This is Grace and Liz, and Kate holding Cole with something on his noggin. Special shout out to Liz -- she came in on her day off, during her "working nights" rotation, or whatever it's called, just so Cole could have a friendly face at his side in the OR. How great is that? Liz rocks; it's a fact.



Finally, our time came. The ambulance came and we began packing Cole into the very fancy Pizza box. Special delivery!



There's a baby in that calzone:



Off you go buddy.



Precious cargo, waiting for the elevator.



The back of the bus is where all the cool kids sit.



Good thing you have all this hardware to bring you all the way to across the street!



Here we are finally at Children's. As you can see, if it comes down to it, Liz is ready to kick some ass on Cole's behalf. You may notice that Cole got a Curious George to keep him company in the OR, courtesy of the Children's staff. That's pretty awesome.



Clearly there will not be any ass kicking required, because everybody at Children's is awesome, and they fawn all over Cole. They think he is adoreable. I think they're right.



Cole was actually having a good time. If you click this picture you'll see he was all giggles!



He must have known that there were not going to be any flammable anesthetics used. Good thing.



Into the OR you go! Have fun in there!



Kate and I head over to endure the 2 hours the procedure requires in the waiting room.





We didn't have our Dinosaur stickers, but it's cool because we're over 12.



This was our view.



And then suddenly this!



Yay! How'd it go everybody? Very well thank you. Cole slept through the whole thing thanks to sleeping drugs and local anesthesia. And super kick ass surgeons.

When we got back to the NICU at BI (home sweet home!) they pulled him out of the pizza box and he looked great.



Curious George remained at his side as he reacquainted himself with his room, temporarily from the new perspective of a warmer rather than his crib. The nurses were sweet enough to shield his eyes from the lights 'cause they're bright! Ow!



Cole was fairly uncomfortable for a little while and Kate did a really wonderful job of comforting him. She is a kick ass mother.













And that's the story of Cole's surgery. He was inconsolable for a little while, but Kate hung in there and made sure he was happy and snoozy. He should be back to normal in like a week or so.