The Cubby Chronicles XVIII

Note: Jacob Raymond Walker was born 12 weeks prematurely at Duke University Hospital the morning of Monday, May 19 2008. The following are updates, notes, & observations on his growth & development.

Well yesterday was my first official father's day & opening a card addressed to 'Dad' was kind of wild. Kristin got me some cookies from a local bakery & she worked with some of the nurses to secretly pose the little guy with an outfit for a photo which she framed for me. As you can see in the picture above I'm holding the snuggly he's wearing and its for preemies up to five pounds--if you can't tell its huge on him....

Not for long though; Jake recently joined the 'Kilo Club' which means he now weighs over a kilogram (rather than he's smuggling cocaine out of Bolivia). His current weight is 2 pounds, 5 ounces which isn't too shabby. The nurses & doctors say that once a baby reaches over a kilogram they start to put on weight at a quicker & steadier pace. I suppose we'll see what happens.

Jake's doing much better than the last time I posted which is always a good thing. As I mentioned in the last post, the acid reflux isn't doing him any favors in the breathing department which is common for babies his size. After some trials though, it seems that he might have more issues with the milk fortifiers than the milk itself. Human Milk Fortifiers are thought to give preemie babies extra calories & minerals to help them grow faster.

However, some babies don't tolerate it well & the HMFs can create extra acid reflux. Since Jake had some issues with the standard fortifier, they held him to just breast milk for 24 hours & he did wonderfully. This evening they changed the type of fortifier to see if it reduces the reflux--the initial signs are promising so we'll see how it goes.

Speaking of father's day, my mom & dad were in town for the weekend (yes, we really do have an endless stream of relatives coming to visit) as they're heading out of the country for a few weeks cruise through the Baltic sea. They (rightly) figured he'd change quite a bit in the time they'd be gone so they flew in for the day Saturday & left early Sunday morning (its easy to do these kind of impromptu trips when one can fly for free). My dad got his own copy of the Jake photo & they actually had a few of their own framed for us.

Quick Fathers-day-related aside.....As I was driving to the hospital last week, Pearl Jams' remake of the song 'Last Kiss' randomly popped up on the iPod. Pearl Jam is my favorite band & in a circumspect way hearing the song always reminds me of my dad. The story goes that back in 1999 the 2 of us flew out to the west coast for the wedding of our good family friends Casey & Greg in San Diego. Due to the particular challenges of flying stand-by, we had to fly into the John Wayne/Orange County airport & drive down the coast.

On the way down I-5 ('The 5' if you're Californian) the PJ version came on whatever top 40 station we were listening to & my dad immediately recognized it. He said it was a big hit when he was younger and it led us to a few hours of good old fashioned father-son bonding. We talked about what kind of kid he was, what his interests were, and the kinds of trouble he got into as a teenager--essentially who he was before he became a dad.

I'm not sure how he remembers the trip but I always think of it fondly. Its also a reminder that nothing stays the same as I transition into becoming a father. I often wonder how I'll change & grow and how my priorities will shift as he gets older. I'm looking forward to making those kinds of memories with Jake and I can't wait to tell him the kind of guy I used to be......