Enjoying the nice weather....

Nicholas continues to grow and is becoming more interactive on a daily basis, which we love. We haven't had his weight checked recently but anticipate his is somewhere around 12 pounds. He is tolerating his new formula well when we blend it in the blender. He's not as fond of it when we just shake it to mix it. He has quite the palate already. Yesterday, we got his labs drawn to check his hematocrit level. We are hoping for improvement and to be able to discontinue the iron supplement he gets on a daily basis. Nicholas's apnea monitor has been going off regularly for bradycardia's (low heartrate) at night. We are getting an over night study done to make sure his oxygen levels aren't dropping also. If they are, we may need to bump up his oxygen during the night. He is in a deep sleep when he drops his heartrate. We anticipate this is normal for babes and most people don't detect it because they don't have the monitor.

We are planning a celebration party for Nicholas on July 31st at our house. All of Nichola's blog readers are welcome to join us. We haven't sent out the evite yet, but expect it in the next week. If you don't get the evite by next Friday, we likely don't have your email address. So, please send us an email with it and we will send you the details: ddmm0811@yahoo.com.

Some of Nicholas's Mancuso cousins came to Madison this week to visit. They were great helpers and entertainers for Nicholas. Nicholas looks forward to meeting his great aunt and uncle, Dave and Judy, this weekend.

Still on the oxygen...

We saw pulmonary yesterday and Nicholas continued to desat when we took him off the oxygen. Thus, we are sticking with 1/8 of a liter 24 hours a day. Our next appointment with pulmonary is in August, so, we'll remain status quo until then. His weight is up to 11lbs 9 ounces and he is almost 22 inches long. They are happy with his weight gain and in discussions with the nutritionist at the peds specialty clinic, we've decided to switch to normal formula versus the preemie high calorie formula. He still gets about 1/2 breast milk and 1/2 formula and takes approximately 3ounces every 3 hours, including the night. Every once in awhile he'll skip one night time feed which we appreciate. If only we could get him to consistently miss it; in due time.

Denise R. had to be in Lake Geneva, WI for work last week, so, Denise M. and Nicholas came down for a night. After work, we spent some time walking around the shops in the resort town and found the onsie and sun glasses Nicholas has on. He's not too keen on the sun glasses just yet. We'll see how much actual use we get out of them.

We moved Nicholas into his own crib on Friday night. He has done well in there so far.

Some of Nicholas's Rasmussen cousins visited last weekend. Nicholas loved seeing his cousins and they all enjoyed their time with him.

Great traveler

Nicholas did well last weekend up at the lake. He did great traveling. We stopped a couple of times to feed him and give him a break from his car seat and in between times, he slept. We couldn't have asked for a better traveler. We included a couple of pictures from our trip. Nicholas enjoyed getting acquainted with the house and seeing his Mancuso cousins that he hasn't seen since early March. They couldn't believe how big he has gotten.

We see pulmonary on Monday with hopes of decreasing the amount of oxygen Nicholas is getting. We know we won't be off it completely, but, hoping for decreasing the amount. We'll update you on his weight and O2 status after his appointment.

Growing...

Things are going well at the Rasmussen-Mancuso household. Nicholas continues to impress us with his growth (10lbs 15 and 21 inches long). His incisions are healing nicely. We think the pressure shifted a bit for Nicholas as now that his inguinal hernia's are repaired, he has an umbilical hernia. The umbilical hernia is common amongst infants and 70% go away on their own. Nothing to worry about until at least the age of 5. While admitted after surgery, we noticed Nicholas's blood pressure was a little high. We've had it taken twice since admission and it is still elevated. We'll watch it for now. Sometimes the umbilical lines inserted after birth cause a little irritation with the kidneys (which are one of the main regulators of blood pressure). So, hopefully, something he'll outgrow.

Last weekend some of Denise's R.'s college friends came up to meet Nicholas. They came bearing gifts that Nicholas loved opening. It was as if Christmas or his birthday came early. We had a wonderful visit with the "Friends" and Nicholas looks forward to having lots of playmates soon as they are all pregnant. We are taking our first big car trip for the Memorial holiday. We are headed to Marblehead, OH to our lake house for the weekend. It's amazing how long it takes to pack for such a small little guy. I'm sure we'll forget something. We'll survive as long as we have oxygen and food.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and don't forget to honor those that have fought for and lost their lives to protect our freedom.

Holding steady

Nicholas continues to do well post surgery. His incisions are looking good. He is still on 1/8 of a liter of oxygen. We have our follow up with Pulmonology on June 7th. and we will see about starting to wean him. We did our own little experiment when Nicholas was admitted to the Children's Hospital here in Madison (which is a very nice facility); we took his oxygen off for just a few minutes to see how he would sat and he did fairly well for a few minutes. He was on a continuous pulse ox, so, we figured we'd be ok. We saw his pediatrician last Thursday and Nicholas tipped the scale at just 10lbs. This week, Nicholas will get his 4 month immunizations.

Last weekend Mommy M. went back to Cleveland for cousin Kaitlynn's first communion. We wish we all could have gone but we're not able to be air born just yet given our oxygen requirements. Nana, Papa and GG (Great Grandma) came in for reinforcement. Nicholas is never starved for attention when either set of grandparents are here, as he is typically held for the entire visit! We also got our vegetable garden planted which I'm sure Denise M. is sad she missed out on planting.

We've picked out some pictures we've taken in the last week. Nicholas still has a good set of cheeks, but he's finally growing into them. He has such a good demeanor and is such a good baby. We can't wait to introduce him to all of you as he gets bigger.

Surgery was a success

Today was Nicholas's bilateral hernia repair and circumcision. His surgery was performed at UW American Family Children's Hospital in Madison. We were the first case of the morning (always best) and the surgery went well. As you can imagine, we were most concerned about the anesthesia portion of the surgery and most relieved when they told us he was extubated and breathing well on his own. One interesting thing that we did learn from the anesthesiologist is that Nicholas's airway is constricted and smaller than normal, which puts him at an even higher risk of serious complications from something as simple as a cold. We will see our friends from pulmonary prior to being discharged. We are going to spend the night at the hospital for observation and expect to be discharged in the morning. Nicholas continues to show what a "tough" little guy he is and is slowly bouncing back to normal. He is having discomfort and pain, but these little guys are only given Tylenol (I'm sure we would all expect something a bit stronger for pain).

For those of you interested in his weight, his is now 9 lbs 13 oz. and he is solidly into 0-3 mos sizes. His preemie and newborn clothes all look so small now.

We finally have a proper nursery for Nicholas as his crib and dresser were delivered last week. We went with a "Jungle" theme and we are incorporating some of our safari pictures of mother and baby animals. He is still getting used to his crib but everyday seems to get a little easier.

We hope all the mom's out there had a wonderful Mother's Day! Our first Mother's Day proved to be very special (made even more special with the cards, flowers and well wishes that so many sent).

Nicholas's first and last day in court

Today we went before Judge Gonzalez and Denise M. officially adopted Nicholas. It was a great day and a quick judgement; the pictures took longer than the actual hearing. The hearing took place after a four hour home study and lots of paper work. The first picture is of Nicholas and the judge and the second is of our lawyer and the guardian ad litem for Nicholas in the case. We are both looking forward to Mother's Day this year as it will be extra special. Nicholas is 4 months old today - or 3 weeks corrected, depending on how you "count" the time. Overall, he is doing very well. He continues to eat about 3 ounces every 3 hours (1/2 breast milk and 1/2 formula). We estimate he is just over 9 lbs now. His next official weigh in is on Monday prior to his surgery.