Our pumpkins

As we got ready for Halloween tonight, we realized we made two pumpkins this year. We vote for #2 as the cutest!!

If I had delivered on my due date, Liam would have been born today. He will be 7 weeks old tomorrow and I can't imagine the past 7 weeks without him.

Tonight we celebrated Halloween, Liam's original due date, Reformation Day, and Papi's birthday.

BIG little guy

Liam had a weight check with the doctor today. Based on how his eating has changed the past few weeks we were suspicious that he must be having a growth spurt. We could tell he was getting bigger but we were not sure how much bigger. We thought he was probably gaining about an ounce a day and we guessed his weight was about 7 pounds now since the last time we were at the doctor he was 5 pounds 13 oz (2637 grams). You can imagine our surprise when they weighed him today and was 8 pounds 4 ounces (3742 grams)!!! This means he put on roughly 3 pounds in 3 weeks!!!

The doctor was thrilled with this weight gain. Liam's original due date was tomorrow. Had he remained in the womb he would have put on an average of a pound a week the past 3 weeks. This means his development remained normal despite his premature birth. His height is now 20.75 inches (55.2 cm). The doctor told us this means Liam is now completely caught up on height and weight with a full term baby born on his due date.

Overall it is still expected that he will be completely caught up developmentally by 12 months, but the doctor says his major systems are now considered to be functioning normally. To put this in perspective, the doctor told us he saw another preemie on Tuesday who was born the same time as Liam (at 33 weeks about 7 weeks ago) and this baby has not been able to put on weight since it left the hospital. We are very lucky that Liam is doing as well as he is!!!

Liam still remains a little yellow in his face and upper body. If this has not cleared up by his 2 month appointment they will need to test his bilirubin levels to make sure everything is OK, but the doctor said he was not too concerned about this.

We are so thankful for all the prayers and support that have allowed Liam to grow and develop so well. What a blessing!!

And, while we are on the topic of weight, I had my 6 week post op visit on Tuesday. I was very thankful to learn that everything has healed properly without complications and I am free to start exercising again. Along with this good news I found out I am 5 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight and I fit back into my pre-pregnancy jeans. It was a good day!!

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We are having a great visit with Mami and Papi (aka Oma and Opa). In addition to lots of fun, good eating, and shopping, we have enjoyed having extra support with the night shift.

Now we are just waiting for Christmas when Onkel Christof meets Liam Christof.

Don't worry, Annie is here

After a month of runny noses and coughing, Liam's cousin, Ann, was finally able to come meet him. She is an incredibly sweet and tender girl. The second she got to the house she looked at Liam and said, 'I love you so much.' Then she sat on the sofa, cradled her arms and told us she was ready to hold him. Bruce and Traci helped her. She gets a lot of joy from babies and her face just lit up when she got to finally hold him.

Later on she was watching Little Einsteins with Abby on the side porch and every time she heard him cry or scream she would run in and say, 'Don't worry. Annie is here.' She was able to figure out that his crying was due to problems going to the bathroom. She then looked at Oma (who was holding Liam) and said, "I think you need to make him go to the bathroom.' It was very sweet.

Hold the baby, heal the knee

Nanna had knee surgery this week and she is trying to obey the doctor's orders to stay completely off the knee this week in order to make sure she is fit enough to travel to Boston for Thanksgiving. Nanna decided the best way to heal was to ice the knee, do the exercises prescribed by the doctor, and hold Liam - a lot. She is still pulling the night shift even when she can't move. Today she watched Liam so we could take a nap and get some things done around the house. - Thanks, Nanna!!

Oma and Opa are here!!

Oma and Opa arrived this evening. Since Liam has entered the world of colic (Kolik), I was afraid they would arrive and only see his crying and yelling phase. Luckily he had a good 90 minutes before the colic kicked in to let them see how sweet he can be when he is not in agony.

We are looking forward to a wonderful week with Oma and Opa here.

Hairy Janke

My dear friend, Karen, and her daughter, Kyra, came by to visit Liam on Friday. When Kyra was looking at Liam she said, "Welcome to the world!'

Karen has also taught Kyra to call address us in German as Herr & Frau Janke. Kyra has the 'Frau' part down, but she refers to Tobias as 'hairy Janke'. :)

39 weeks

Today Liam's adjusted age is 39 weeks. Since he was premature the doctors measure his age two ways. There is his birth age, which is 6 weeks tomorrow. And there is his adjusted age, which is his age had my pregnancy gone to his due date. It's hard to believe he was not due to arrive until a week from today.

Shark attack

Tobias bought Liam a hooded towel for bath time.

Welcome to the Liam shark attack :)

We are getting very interested to know exactly how much Liam has grown since our last doctor's appointment. He is eating way ahead of schedule. The doctor said he would need 30 ml eight times a day. He is now taking between 80-120 ml per feeding and he is eating 8-10 times a day.

Liam is looking noticeably bigger so we will be interested to see what the doctor's measurements are for height and weight next week. From what we measured tonight Liam is around 21" long (53.3 cm).

Look what I can do!

When Liam first came home he was too small to sit in his bouncy chair. We tried adding a support pillow to the chair but it did not fit. Yesterday I decided to give the chair a try again because Liam is getting bigger and seemed very attentive. He is finally starting to focus his eyes on things. Tada!! Now he fits and he really enjoyed something new.

Of course learning new things can really make him tired.

Big yawn! (Note: big screaming mouth looks the same!!)

But he is still incredibly good at one thing . . .

. . . making Mommy and Papi very tired.

Caption 2

Rob and Ginger's submission for the caption contest. We love it!! (Click photo to enlarge.)

Bi-lingual and dual time zone

Now that Liam is hitting 'full-term' we are noticing some changes to his schedule (which up until now was sleeping sweetly all the time). Our theory is that he wants to live in both the Eastern time zone and the Central European time zone. So, Oma and Opa, when you come next week, we will put you in charge of the time he's awake on European time. He will also show you how he cries in German!!

We also fear Liam wants to take after his cousins Abby and Wesley and spend some time with digestive problems.

Big bottle

To us Liam is getting 'big' because we remember how small he was when he was born. It still surprises us a little when people see him for the first time and comment on how small he is. However, every now and then we do every day things and we are reminded that he is still a little guy. Today we moved up to 8oz bottles because he has outgrown his NICU bottles and we figure 4oz bottles are a bit of waste since he is an ounce away from outgrowing those. We he took the 8oz bottle today we had to laugh a bit at how big it looks compared to him.

Caption contest

Caption contest entry number 1 submitted by Connie and Terry:

'Uncle Raymond, please don't try to put me to sleep by singing in German!!' :)

Visitors and helpers

GG

Uncle Raymond
(Liam's expression makes this picture a
prime candidate for a caption contest :) )

Onkel Bruce

Liam is getting to know family these days. GG (his great grandmom) and Uncle Raymond have been by for visits. Today Liam took a nap at GG's house for the first time.

Onkel Bruce came by last night and pulled the night shift, for which we owe a big THANK YOU!! Being up with Liam meant Bruce was one of the few people who watched the entire Red Sox's game and didn't go to bed at the top of the 7th. :)

Oma and Opa Janke will be here for a visit in just over a week. Liam can then show them that he can cry in both English and German.

Fußball and drinking

This evening Tobias was giving Liam a bottle and commentating the Germany v. Wales game to him.

As we looked at this picture we were reminded of his first bottle in the NICU. Looking at these together shows how much he has grown in 3 weeks. Since his first bottle picture he has put on over a pound (453 grams) (which is 20% of his overall weight) and grown 1.5 inches (3.8 cm). And, he has watched 2 Germany National Soccer Team games. :)

1 month old

1 month old

Today Liam turned one month old. We really enjoyed watching Rob and Ginger chronicle the triplets growth each month of their first year and we decided to give it a try.

Babymaker 3000

Tobias and I find the Volkswagen Routan advertising campaign very funny. Yesterday we went online to VW's website to see the commercials etc. While we were there we found the RoutanBabyMaker3000 page. The campaign claims there is a baby boom because people want German engineering, not because they love children. There is a place on the website that uses simulation software to see what a baby would look like based on how the parents look. Apparently, this is what Liam is supposed to look like. Thank goodness God is in control of this and not imaging software!!!



If you want to have some fun, go make your RoutanBaby - http://www.vw.com/vwhype/babymaker/en/us/

Fußball

Today's was Liam's first German National Soccer team game. It was a World Cup qualifier against Russia. Germany won . . . but Liam showed little interest. Tobias is gonna work on this. ;)

Liam 'watching' Germany's game today

Today would have been the day

Well, if all had gone as planned, today would have been Liam's delivery day. He is now 37 weeks.

When I look back over the past month and think of everything that has happened, it's hard to believe I would have been on bed rest in the hospital for the past 34 days and Liam would have been born today.

Instead, he is sleeping happily on Daddy. So much easier than being born!

Liam the milk maid

Liam had a follow up with the pediatrician today. Thankfully he appears to be growing well and the pediatrician is not concerned about anything at this time. Liam has gained another 7 ounces (198 grams) in 6 days which brings his weight to 5 pounds 13.8 ounces (2659 grams).

As I was trying to get him ready for the trip to the doctor I decided to try to support his head better in the car seat since he is too small to fit in the standard head rest. Not sure Molly the Milk Maid is the look I had in mind but Liam didn't seem to mind. (I can hear Uncle Robbie now - - 'What kind of gender bending nonsense is this???? Don't worry Rob, no bows in his hair!!)

Look! I have cheeks now!!!

Nanna has been helping out a lot and providing much needed support with the night shift the last three nights. I can't say thank you enough for all the help. Tonight Poppa is coming for a pajama party with Liam.

Alright, Nanna, but I get control of the remote at night.
It's Leno then reruns of Without a Trace.

Eye'll be

Liam had his follow up appointment with the ophthalmologist today to see how the blood vessels in his eyes had formed and to see if he showed any symptoms of ROP. The good news is that his eyes have grown normally and he shows no signs of ROP.

He has another doctor's appointment tomorrow to monitor his progress after being home a week. If everything appears to be progressing well then he will not have any more doctor's appointments for a while.

Speaking of eyes, this one is for my friend and colleague, Cassundra, who asked me to turn the camera around so that she could see me with bags under my eyes and bad hair (and no lipstick!!!).

THANK YOU, NANNA!!!

Nanna came over last night and pulled the night shift, which allowed us to sleep through the night. Liam's schedule is starting to emerge and apparently he likes to sleep all day and stay awake all night.

Thanks again, Mom, for staying the night. It's amazing what a big help sleep is!!!!

All dressed up and nowhere to go

When Liam was in the NICU he had his first eye screening for Retinopathy of Prematurity (a potentially blinding conditions for preemies). His first screening was negative and he had a 2 week follow up scheduled so that the eyes could be examined when the blood vessels were fully formed. We got him all dressed and made our way to the doctor's office only to find out the appointment is on Wednesday and not today. I guess getting dates confused is only one effect of 3 hours of sleep per night.

We are reminded of how small Liam is every time we see him in his car seat.


Not having a 2-hour doctor's appointment freed up the afternoon for some visitors. Nanna, Poppa, Abby and Tante Traci came by today.

We have been getting lots of questions about visitors. Since Liam was premature he is at high risk for illness and infection. For that reason we have to be extremely careful for the first 2-3 months that he is not exposed to illness. The doctor's rule of thumb is that anyone who has a runny nose or a cough needs to stay away from preemies (even if you think it is just allergies).

If you would like to visit, we simply ask that you call before you come since we are never sure how the schedule may change from day to day (or how sleep deprived we may be). We also ask that you are absolutely sure you are not sick and that you have not been exposed to sick people. Once he's a little older the concern will lessen. But, in this case you have first time parents who also have a preemie so we are doubly cautious.

Abby was very well trained before she got here. Traci asked her what she needed to do to see the baby and she said 'wash my face, wash my hands, wash my arms and do not touch him.'

Deep thoughts with Liam Janke

We loved this picture of Liam because we have ultrasound pictures with him sitting the same way. Our caption for the this picture is 'What will I do today? How about sleep, eat, mess my diaper, and repeat.' ;)

Since Liam finally meets all the prerequisites to go from sponge baths to real baths, we have had our first bath time last night. Although it looks like he is about to lose it in this picture, he actually did very well and did not fuss or complain at all.



We had to chuckle a bit at all the required goods for an infant's bath. The body towel was a great gift from the Wagners and Mr. Cooke. I had not seen one before, but it allows us to keep his body warm and covered at all times. Also helps protect us from projectile fun.

Now, you have to picture this scene. Tobias has a hand glove/washcloth on which looks like a frog. He created his best frog voice and talked Liam through the bath. Okay, okay . . . it is Tobias we are talking about - - no funny voices involved, but he did a great job washing the little man for the first time.

Settling in

After the first couple of (hyper-vigilent) days with Liam at home, we finally feel like we are beginning to settle into a routine. We are no longer scared that he will stop breathing at any moment and we have finally realized that we really can't hold him all day.

One of my favorite times of day is early morning. Right now we have divided the night into the hours of 10:00 PM - 6:00 AM (2200 - 0600) and we split that time into two shifts of baby duty. After 6:00 AM it's no man's land and the last two mornings it has been the time when Liam can rest with Mom and Dad. So far it's been the only time all 3 of us can rest at the same time.

Morning rest time

Day 2

Today Liam had his first doctor's appointment. He has grown an inch and a half since birth and is now 19.5 inches (49.5 cm) and weighs 5 pounds 6 oz. (2438 grams). We remain grateful that he is doing as well as he is. The doctor reminded us today that an abruption is one of the most dangerous pregnancy complications and we are both fortunate to have come through as well as we did. We have to credit that to all of your prayers and the exceptional care we received from Dr. Shwayder.

Below is a picture of Liam when we got home from the doctor's office. We would like to dedicate this picture to his cousin, Charlie, who has a similar picture on Rob and Ginger's blog.

Thanks to Nanna for getting the footies for Liam. He has been very comfortable today!!


Yesterday Dad was sleeping with baby; today he has moved to multi-tasking.

The next day

I suppose all new parents can relate to this picture . . .

What is really sweet is that Tobias is holding Liam's hand to keep it warm.

Survivor - Parenthood, Night 1

It was the tribe of one against the tribe of two last night. The reward challenge was to get Liam to sleep so the rest of the island could sleep. We were nearly successful. Since he's so cute we gave him immunity and decided not to vote him of the island. :)

It was probably a very typical first night home. Liam knew he was in a totally new place and was trying to figure out what was going on. He slept well on Mommy and intermittently in his crib.

We hope to figure out his new schedule over the next couple of days so the tribes can co-exist peacefully.

Homecoming!!!

Today was Liam's homecoming. It was nice to follow the exit today with Liam with us!!! Now the real fun begins. Time to figure out how he ticks and what his schedule is going to be.

What 5 pounds looks like in a car seat.

Notice he is not anywhere near big enough to hit the headrest.

Liam's wet homecoming

First family photo at home

Liam enjoying his new swing.
(If anyone knows how to keep an infant hat on, please let us know!)

We are acting like typical first time parents. When Liam is asleep in his crib we know in our head he is OK, but we are still going in every 10 minutes to check on him to be sure.