Things are going well with the three of us. Nicholas continues to be a good eater and is getting bigger every day. He took his first commercial flight last week. We flew one way to Cleveland; a quick, one hour flight. He did great. We had his bottle ready for take off and landing and in between, he slept. We were impressed. He is eating cereal two to three times a day and is learning how to blow bubbles which is fine unless he has a mouth full of food; then, it's not too funny for the Mom feeding him.

We are both back to work full time. It's been a transition, but, Nicholas's nanny is working out well. She helps keep the house in order when Nicholas is napping, which helps us out. Their favorite pass time is going to the park, lying on a blanket, and looking up at the tree and clouds.

Some of Nicholas's Rasmussen cousins came to visit for the weekend. We had a nice time and were reminded of the importance of a schedule. Missing a morning nap can create a bit of a breakdown mid afternoon, even for a 4.5 + monther. Nicholas can't wait to visit them to watch them play hockey and soccer.

We hope you are enjoying the last days of summer and for those that are still in school, good luck with the school year. The summer really flew by.

Denise, Denise & Nicholas

A lot of firsts...

A lot has happened since our last blog, which I realize was 3 weeks ago. We had a wonderful party on July 31st. We had a nice gathering of family and friends and were happy to see everyone and thankful for all the love and support we've received over the last 7 months. We had a photographer come for an hour and will share those pictures once we have them. Nicholas got baptised at our church the following day. It was nice to have our family in town for that event.

Nicholas saw his pulmonologist on August 2nd and was officially taken off the oxygen. We anticipated him coming off during the day and still being on it at night. Although, he was sleeping at the Dr. office and his oxygen saturation was great, so, they decided to discontinue it all together. What a relief to be rid of all the tubes. Not sure who was happier to get rid of the tubing, Nicholas or us. We did an overnight study to ensure he would maintain his levels and so far so good. He weighed in at 14 lbs 3 ounces and was 24.5 inches long. We talked to the nutritionist during this visit and discussed starting rice cereal which she agreed was a good idea. Nicholas now takes a little cereal a couple times a day along with a handful of 8 ounce bottles. He's a good eater. He has also been sleeping through the night (8-10 hours), which is great.

We've been to the lake house a few times in July where Nicholas went into the pool for the first time and went on his first boat ride last weekend. He loved it. The sound and vibration of the waves put him right to sleep.

Mommy Mancuso goes back to work next Monday. We're thankful to have had her home for the time we did. She'll be working in Chicago, so, close to home which will be nice. She has been working with Chelsea (the nanny)to familiarize Chelsea with our routine at home. We sure will miss having her home!

We hope you are all having a wonderful summer. Enjoy it now as fall is right around the corner.

Denise, Denise and Nicholas

Who's ready for some summer fun?

Things are going well at the Rasmussen-Mancuso residence. Nicholas saw his pediatrician last week and is up to 13 pounds 8 ounces and is 23.5 inches long. That puts him in the 50% for weight and 25% for height for his corrected age of 3 months. He is tracking well on the growth charts. One of the only milestones where they use his real birth date, is for immunizations. He received his 6 month shots on Thursday. That is never a fun time for either Moms or Nicholas. He did well with them thanks to a little bit of Tylenol.

Nicholas is doing a great job of holding his head up these days and sits fairly well with little support. He is also smiling and giggling more, which is fun. He is still on 1/8 liter of oxygen. We see pulmonary on August 2nd with hopes of decreasing the amount or only having him on it at night and when he eats. Speaking of nightime, in the last week, Nicholas slept 7-9 hours at a time a few times. We look forward to many more nights like that. Now, if only we could get to sleep when he does...Nicholas is all decked out in Hawkeye gear compliments of his great aunt/uncle in Iowa City. He wore the outfit to the farmers market in Madison and got by with it in heavy Badger country. We assumed it was because of his age :).

We hope you are all tolerating the heat. We look forward to seeing a lot of you at the end of the month for our "thank you" party.

Denise, Denise and Nicholas

Monday, July 5, 2010

Happy 4th of July and Happy 6 Month Birthday

We hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July! We had a great time at the lake house last week. Nicholas celebrated his 1/2 birthday on July 3rd. Rainbow and our time in Cleveland seems so long ago. Nicholas is doing well. We haven't had a Dr. appointment for awhile, so, don't have an official weight check but think he's close to 13 pounds. We see his pediatrician in a couple of weeks for his 6 month check and pulmonary in August to check his oxygen saturation. We anticipate being on oxygen for at least a couple more months. We had his hematocrit checked and it is much better. So, we decreased the amount of iron Nicholas is taking. That was great news.

We have been searching for a nanny to watch Nicholas when Denise M. goes back to work in the middle of August. We decided on one we both like last week. So, we are in the process of getting things finalized for Chelsea to start. While we're happy we found someone we both like, we're a little apprehensive about leaving him with someone else. I'm sure we'll get used to it, but, it will definitely be hard at first.

We hope you are enjoying your summer!

Denise, Denise and Nicholas

Friday, June 18, 2010

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.

Monday, June 7, 2010

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.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

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.

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