Quinlan's Due Date!

      Quinlan was due to be born today. Based on his current size, it looks like mom might have had a longer and harder labor than she did as we think he might be close to 9 lbs now. He will be weighed next at his 2 month follow up with the pediatrician next Wednesday. Yup, our little man is almost 2 months old!
     What a crazy 2 months. We could not have made it without all of the amazing support from hospital staff, colleagues, friends and family. We are truly blessed and appreciate everything that people have done for us. In fact, this blog started as a way for mom to cope and reach out to many regarding the trials of Quinlan's NICU stay, and is now maintained to show everyone how far we have come and the strides we continue to make because of your support.

      We decided to celebrate the Estimated Date of Quinlan's birth with a nice long walk in beautiful New England spring weather. Quinlan wore his favorite duck outfit with great grandma Mary's sweater. We walked over 2 hours and picked up ingredients at the store to make pizza (mom walked around the block while dad popped in quickly as Quinlan is still banned from indoor public places). We thought it only fitting to make pizza, enjoy a glass of read wine, and watch a movie as that was what we did the night we went into labor.
     Dad is also brewing a commemorative California Style Pale Ale "American IPA." Please suggest a name for this beer, and your favorite Quinlan picture for the label!

Working on Quinlan's Development

      Quinlan now weighs enough to carry him in the Moby Wrap or the Baby Bjorn carriers. This allows mom or dad some hands free holding time with our little milk pup, and allows Quinlan to be close to mom and dad while they tiding up the house or make dinner. It also allows Quinlan to work on his head control and eye contact as you can see him doing in this first picture.
     Another way that we work on Quinlan's ability to pick up is head is to have him lay on the floor or on top of us when he is awake, or tummy time. We do this daily although some days he tolerates it more than others. We also drape him over the Boppy pillow to accomplish this as well. Recently Quinlan has started using his strong legs when draped over the Boppy to almost launch himself over it. Since this would result in his head hitting the floor, we have switched to these other positions.
     We should learn some more strategies to help Quinlan develop as he should when Early Intervention starts, hopefully in the next few weeks.   

Mornings with Mom

      Quinlan wakes up with a big yawn in the morning. His routine is that he stays up with dad till his 2 AM feeding, then he comes to bed in his co sleeper where mom is "on duty" through the morning. Dad usually has him either in the living room asleep on dad's chest, the dining room in his favorite swing, or in Quinlan's room in the crib. Dad usually is asleep nearby in case our little man needs anything.
     On some nights Quinlan will be good and sleep until his next feeding at 5 AM at which point mom will bring him out of our bedroom to change and feed him. However, if Quinlan is fussy and making a lot of noise, mom will bring him out of the bedroom sooner and usually assumes the usual position on the couch with Quinlan placed on her chest as this tends to sooth him quickest. In this position, Quinlan can usually return to sleep for another 1-2 hours.
 

     We usually let dad sleep until 10 or until he is rested. Quinlan has watched the sun rise with mommy many times as we listen to the bus out front that used to take mom to work and wait for dad to get up and make us breakfast :) All of those early mornings having to get up to bike in for a 7 AM patient have prepared mom well for being up and alert at this time, just as many late nights downloading techno or playing at WZBC have prepared dad for his shift.
     Quinlan is starting to sleep up to 4 hours at a time, usually from 12-4 or 11-3. From what we have read, babies usually are sleeping through the night by 9 months but some can start earlier. We are hoping for earlier, but will continue on the schedule Quinlan sets until he is able to snooze for longer stretches.

Helping Dad

     Mom and Quinlan helped dad last night to organize the student work he needs to submit for his final teacher performance assessment. Mom's job was to read out the criteria for selection and analysis, to help with thought organization, and to be a sounding board for all of dad's great ideas. Quinlan's job was to quietly look cute.
     Overall this thorough assessment has been a great learning experience helping dad to realize what his strengths are in a classroom setting and how he can continue to improve. It has been a lot of work and self-reflection that we feel will payoff in not only completing his requirements for his national license but also in guiding how he approaches future lesson plans.
     Once this is completed and fully submitted by tomorrow, we will be looking at applying to local area elementary schools to start in the fall.

     Anyone know of a district looking for an amazing elementary school teacher this fall?

Looks Like Mom?

     Dad was going through the pictures on his phone and came across this one of Quinlan with a semi-scowl on his face. Unfortunately this is the only picture where mom thinks he resembles her, as she is pretty sure that dad receives this face on occasion (there is likely photos to prove that as well).
     Mom and dad have spend little time outside the house over the past few days due to not wanted to expose Quinlan to foul weather and extensive time spent finishing up dad's teacher performance assessment that is due Friday. Both parents are a little stir crazy today and have taken turns running errands by foot or bike today to soak up some much needed sun.
    Quinlan received "days of the week" socks as a gift, and mom now realizes it is so she can keep track of what day it is... never thought such a lack of time orientation could happen, or that one could spend more than 3 days in their 700+ sq ft apartment without setting foot outside (and not realize it).

Quinlan's Early Intervention Evaluation

     Three women came today from Criterion Early Intervention to evaluate Quinlan's development compared to other infants his age (1 month old, as they round down) without correcting for his gestational age (-4 days old). They assessed him in 5 domains: Adaptive, Personal-Social, Communication, Motor and Cognitive by asking question regarding his feeding and interactions with mom and dad as well as performing physical tests and observing his reactions. Each domain was scored resulting in a "developmental quotient" with average scores being between 85 and 115 and scores below 77 qualifying Quinlan for early intervention services. This was his score card:

Adaptive - 90 (this was related mainly to feeding, which Quinlan is excellent at)
Personal-Social - 70 (this had to do with making sustained eye contact with the observer)
Communication - 84 (this related to how well Quinlan responded to touch and mom's voice)
Motor - 69 (this appeared to be a general assessment of his movement including head control during the session)
Cognitive - 61 (here they looked at his ability to track light, which he showed little interest in. They told us this was common with NICU babies who were exposed to constant lights during their hospital stay making them less attentive to them)

     The end result of this testing is that Quinlan demonstrates developmental delay in 3 of the 5 areas and qualifies for home services for up to one year working towards improving his development and supporting mom and dad through the process. Most of the cost is picked up by the state and likely only a $250 fee for the year will be needed from us. Of course, if adjusting for his gestation, Quinlan is a rock star for being 4 days from his due date!
     We look forward to working with these women weekly to help Quinlan progress towards his developmental milestones. He will be assessed at 6 months.

A Rainy Sunday

     Mom and dad have been good about getting Quinlan outside for some fresh air daily, but today it is pouring. It looks like mom and Quinlan will not be getting out today. Dad will be out all day working on his final teacher performance assessment that is due at the end of this week. We have found that it is hard for dad to get work done in the apartment with an adorable Quinlan around. Here he is accepting kisses from mom after a long day yesterday.
    One of the most challenging things to accomplish when dad is gone is the inability to do laundry. Quinlan is now going through 8-10 cloth diapers a day, and we just started using cloth wipes as well. We were even able to find a good wipe solution recipe online, and now Quinlan smells faintly of lavender. We are really liking the cloth diapers and wipes, and Quinlan is also seeming to enjoy them. He is definitely fitting into them better as he has continued to grow.

     Quinlan usually gobbles up his bottles and we now find that we need to slow him down when he eats to decrease his spit up and reflux. However, he still sometimes goes into a snacking mode and refuses to take more than 1/2 the bottle. This is a challenge as it wastes precious breast milk that mom works hard to produce, pumping up to 8 times daily to keep up with Quinlan's growing needs. This can sometimes be quite challenging to juggle: feeding Quinlan, soothing him, changing him, and finding time to pump around everything else.
     So, here dad is trying to encourage Quinlan to wake up and finish his bottle. Dad has been using the Boppy pillow that you see in this picture to prop Quinlan up into a good feeding position.

At Play

     Quinlan is spending more time awake these days discovering the world around him. So, in addition to tummy time, we are spending time in the bouncy seat or propped up in the Boppy pillow. While he is taking little interest in any of the 0+ toys that he was given, he is starting to discover movement and recently started kicking his legs about in addition to waving his arms.

    Here he is wearing his Friday socks. He has a pair for each day of the week. It helps his mom remember what day it is!

Resting on Mom

     Quinlan and mom spent the morning yesterday resting up for their big afternoon walk. We walked for 3 hours with our friends Rachel and baby Nora. Quinlan did really well only fussing a couple of times, and we were both ready for food and napping afterwards. Today we actually ran 20 minutes together on the bike path around the Mystic River with our friend Matt.
      Quinlan and mom both like the outdoor exercise and it helps them sleep better. Hopefully the run today carries over into the evening as our little man was quite restless last night ensuring both him and mom did not get more than 2 hours of straight sleep at a time. We are hoping for more tonight!

Little Boy Blue

      Our little man weighed in at 7 lbs, 7.5 oz at his visiting nurse appointment yesterday. This puts him in the newborn size range, gaining 2 oz/day and potentially decreasing his need for home nursing services. Apparently once they are "newborn size" and are continuing to gain weight, they are no longer in need of such constant monitoring. The nurse plans to call the pediatrician's office to determine if yesterday was actually her last visit. We would then just follow up with his doctor at his next scheduled visit on 5/2/12.

     Both mom and dad had medical appointments as well on Wednesday. Mom has been cleared for all activities by her midwife and has been scheduled to see a maternal fetal medicine specialist in early June. This is a meeting for both parents to discuss why Quinlan may have come early and what this means for any future pregnancies. Any future pregnancies may be considered "High Risk" as having a preterm baby puts you at higher risk for a second preterm baby.
     Dad went to the dentist to figure out the source of some recent tooth ache. Turns out dad will need to have his bottom wisdom teeth removed as soon as possible. Dad has decided to wait until after all of his school work is completed and the appointment with the oral surgeon has not been made yet.
     Quinlan is excited that most of the planned medical visits moving forward are not for him. His photo was proudly displayed at both mom and dad's appointments, and everyone is excited to hear how well he is doing.

     Quinlan is lying on a blanket made for him by our friends Fiona and Steve. We use it on the floor in our living room for tummy time. It just happened to match his shirt beautifully. Our boy does look good in blue!