More of the same

Unfortunately for Mommy and Daddy this is
really the only way I will sleep for any length of time.

But, sometimes they can sneak my Boppy in on
me and I don't notice right away.

When I'm not screaming I do like my play gym.

I even talk to my friends and swat at them!

As I type this little man is lying in his Daddy's arms screaming. We haven't figured out what it is, but there seems to be a pattern of sorts. His tummy really starts gurgling (is the only way I know to describe it) in late afternoon and continues into the night. The nurses always told us he was up from 2am until early morning, and given what we've discovered I do not doubt it. We knew he had tummy issues because we could hear/see it when we visited at the hospital, we just didn't know to what extent until we got him home. Obviously we are not experts but this is not normal. Friday Rhys basically screamed from midnight until mid-morning. The only time he was remotely calm was when we were holding him. That has been the worst of his "episodes", but this is exhausting! We see the high risk pedi this week so I am really hoping she has some thoughts because Rhys is miserable and Cody and I are right there with him. His apnea monitor alarms every so often, but it must be because Rhys was taking shallow breaths because we've pretty much been holding him every time it's happened and his chest was moving. Luckily Rhys didn't really have apnea problems in the hospital, so Cody and I don't flip out when it goes off, but nonetheless it gives us a little peace of mind.

Overall he continues to eat well. We are consistently within the upper range the doctor wanted him be in, at about 2.5 ounces per feed. We are slowly increasing the amount we put into his bottle (by 5-10 cc every few days). For the early morning feeds he doesn't typically take as much, but during the day he usually finishes the whole thing. We are also figuring out how to help him burp without him spitting up, although occasionally he still has the "wet" burp and spits up a tiny bit which doesn't concern me. Rhys is now rolling over from tummy to back in both directions. It isn't an immediate reaction and I think sometimes he forgets he can do it until he gets so mad, over he goes and then he scares himself. He hasn't rolled from his back to tummy yet, but today he was sideways and oh so close. He has yet to smile at us directly, but he always smiles in his sleep.

Attacking the nasal cannula seems to be a daily endeavor. Rhys constantly has his fat little fingers on the tubing, or up by his nose and has ripped the tape off his face on several occasions. He is still arching, but we correct him and make him loosen up when we see he is doing it. It seems that he isn't doing it quite so much, but unfortunately it is still a problem. Especially when he is in his car seat or swing. The other day I walked in to check on him in his swing and he had tightened his legs and somehow raised himself up against the back of the swing. Essentially he was standing in the swing while the darn thing was moving! Scared the absolute mess out of me and I immediately cinched the belt even tighter so that now he has NO wiggle room.

Today we had our first family "outing" together - we went to Sonic to get a slush! I realized on the way that this was literally the first time I've stepped out of the house save for his doctor appointment last week. Pathetic! We've been watching the weather for a good day to take him in his stroller around the block, but every time we've had the energy the wind is blowing and it's too cool outside.