17 weeks corrected - (7 months old),

Well the tiny little baby boy isn't so tiny anymore! He has changed so much in the past 5 weeks it is amazing.. He rolls from tummy to back, has almost rolled from back to tummy, has great head control with his tummy time now (holds head 90 degree's), imitates us when we are blowing raspberries, talks more then us put together, almost feeds himself with his bottle, chews on his hands, has just discovered his feet in the past 2 days and many many more things..

He had his paed checkup 3 weeks ago and everything is going along great! Nothing to be concerned with and apparently his head is the size of a 6 month old hence why he was having trouble lifting it but the paed was really happy with his brain growth and over time his body will catch up with his head size.. We don't have to go back to see him for 3 months..

He hasn't been weighed for 5 weeks and will be weighed next Wednesday so it will be interesting to see how heavy he is now.. He is in 00's now and at his last weigh in 5 weeks ago he was 5.9kgs however he drinks at least 950mls of milk a day now so im very excited to see if i am fattening him up enough! He is still sleeping 10hrs each night..

He is a very happy and content baby and we couldn't have asked for a more placid child.. He is just perfect in everyway..

12wks Corrected,

Woohoooooooooooooooo we have a roll!!!!!!!!!!!

Ronan has been a real piggy with his milk the past week as he's now taking 200ml bottles each feed and drank almost 1 litre of milk yesterday alone and it's finally showing! Poor thing, here is mum talking about his roll of fat!

He is still sleeping 10hrs at night though so that's a relief and is growing and changing everyday.. He lovesssss to play with his hands now and pokes the tongue out a fair but too.. We are going to our Preemie Mums Group today and will be weighed next Monday so i can't wait to see how much weight he has put on.. 

10wks Corrected,

Ronan had another weigh in yesterday and his measurements are as follows;

Weight: 5.4kgs

Length: 58.5cms

Head: 41cms

He is just the perfect baby! For weeks now he sleep 9 to 10 hours a night! He is always so happy and loves to smile and talk, my gosh does he love to talk! He also loves sticking the tongue out and rubbing his eyes when tired, so it's never hard to miss his tired signs..

I have also joined a preemie mothers group so it was nice to meet other mothers of prems and see how normal they grow up!

Just wanted to give a quick update on Ronan's growth & weight as he is now the following at 5 months old (9 weeks corrected age):

Weight: 5.1kgs

Length: 58cms

Head: 39cms

He is putting on approx 190 grams per week so we are happy about that result.. He is also now sleeping all the night through anywhere from 7-11hrs so it's great to actually be getting the sleep at night again!

First Month (corrected 4 - 7wks old)

Well i thought i should update you on how Ronan is going at home! It is hard to believe it's just past a month since he has been home, gosh time flies..

Well i will start with Ronan's appointments and the outcome of those over the past month.. He saw the Respiratory Specialist and they do not want to see Ronan again as his breathing is perfect (amazing considering how long it took for him to come off oxygen).. He had a follow up with the Hernia Surgeons and he has healed perfectly so no need to see them again.. He also had his first Paed appointment and he was astonished at how great Ronan is going! He doesn't need to see Ronan for another 2 months.. The Paed said he was expecting to see a Chronic Lung baby who was just getting by ie: not thriving as quickly as a non premmie baby but couldn't believe his eyes when he saw how well he looks, so that was great to hear..

In the first 2 weeks we had ALOT of fun with sleeping patterns.. Whilst it takes a normal baby time to adjust it does take a premmie just that bit longer as being in hospital and having constant stimulation 24/7 they need to realise quite time means sleep.. He is only waking for 1 feed during the night now and has finally realised day time = play time..

His weight gain has been fantastic! Over the past 4 weeks his weight gains have been; 60g, 120g (in 3 days), 160g (in 2 days), 220g, 280g etc.. He now weighs 4960 grams!

He has been smiling HEAPS and now follows us around the room.. He giggles alot and lovesssss talking to himself.. He loves any attention and is the most placid baby i have seen in a while so we are forever grateful.. He holds his head up high and has quite strong neck muscles & also likes to stand on his two feed whilst on your lap so he seems to be on par with his milestones..

It is so warming having him home and life just gets better everyday, even if he's kept us up all night! I will update again around his 2 month mark for those that would like to see his progression..

Make sure you look at his latest pics as you will see how much he has grown!

We would like to thank you all for the support & well wishes throughout our journey.. It means the world to us that so many of you have watched & read his journey through the good and the bad days and Ronan sends his thanks to all of you who prayed that he would thrive & make it to the end!

Days 110 - Present,

This journal entry is longgggg and overdue and i apologise for the lateness.. 

First off Ronan is HOME! He came home on Tuesday 4th July at 110 days old.. We got the results from the download and he came home with NO oxygen which apparently is fantastic for a 27wker.. We had Respiratory Specialists check over Ronan & doctors from all other departments view him before they gave the OK and he passed with flying colours! 

It has certainly been a fun 10 days with Ronan settling in at home.. He has his night and day mixed up so he tends to have his "play time" at 2 - 5am in the morning but he is slowly realising it's sleep time.. He is a gorgeous baby and only cries for a reason, so he is lovely and placid.. He came home on a program called HITH (Hospital In The Home) because of the prematurity where the nurses came over to our place everyday for a week, but we had a follow up appointment with the doctors on Tuesday and he has now been discharged from the hospital because he is going so well! Putting on the weight (he is now 4320 grams), temp is OK and we are coping well so they were happy to let him go..  

It is still sometimes hard to believe we have our beautiful son at home with us, but we wouldn't have it any other way as it was a long wait but worth every minute..

(there have been new photo's added to the site)

Days 106 - 109,

Well we have been waiting since Thursday and Ronan still isn't home! They did a download on him to see how is breathing was going to see whether or not he needs oxygen and the data was incorrect by my assumption. The data was saying that he did REALLY bad and desatting to 70% when i know he wasn't.. I told them to do another download with another machine and the results have come back GREAT! He desatted on the new download no lower than 88% but stayed above 95% majority of the time.. When it was saying he was desatting to 70% on the first machine he was pink in colour and was thrashing his feet about and i even got the nurse to check him because i didn't believe what the machine was saying and she agreed with me, that he was FINE..

With two nurses backing me up they decided to do another download and whilst the results are in they need 1000 people to look @ it before we get an answer as to whether he comes home on the oxygen.. Personally we don't care if he does but get on with it! Throughout the 17wks we have been there they have gotten results on ALL of his tests within 2 days but they have dragged it out for another 5 days and we are sick of the wait! He has been off oxygen totally for 3 weeks now and even had a Hernia operation and coped 100% without the need for it afterwards..

I told the doctors today that they are really unfair to parents because they are told their baby can come home on a particular day and then they change (which they changed it from Thursday to Monday) and we are still waiting and hubby took holidays especially so he can spend some time with his son.. We keep getting different comments about when he can come home and i don't get it! I have been getting really annoyed over the past 5 days because they are taking their sweet time on getting things finalised and there is no need for it.. I don't know if they are testing our patience but i think spending 17wks in the hospital is dam long enough and there are no other medical reasons why he can't come home.. arrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh

Hopefully we will find out the results tomorrow..