Graduating the "bonus month"

Our Jacob surprised us on August 2 when he arrived 5 weeks before his due date and 4 weeks before his scheduled  "eviction".  He arrived at a good weight (nearly 7 pounds, 4 ounces), which gave him an advantage.  The usual reaction to that news is "wow, can you imagine what he would have been if he'd made it to term?"  Yes, we can, as the median weight of our seven children is 9 pounds, 11 ounces...we assumed that Jacob would definintely reach, if not exceed, that weight.  Although weighing in large was an advantage, he was still very much a preemie and behaved as such. 

The "bonus month", as a friend of a preemie refers to the month we weren't really expecting or ready for, brought some trials.  Jacob was very jaundiced, and endured daily lab tests for elevated bilirubin, "sunbathing" and forced feeds.  He was also a poor nurser, as many premature infants are, which resulted in a weight loss of over a pound his first week and a month of visits to the lactation nurse, using breastfeeding aids and force-feeding to get things going.  For the first 3 weeks, he and I lived in a cave (my bedroom) with a nurse/pump/supplement schedule going every 2-3 hours around the clock, with naps in between that routine.  Our other children wondered if they had a mother, I am sure!  Fortunately, Brian was on summer break, as were the children, which eased up our running around and allowed him to chauffer us to/from appointments.  We received delicious hot meals delivered every evening for three weeks arranged through the Martha Ministry, a group from our parish that provides meals for during difficult times for parishioners, such as illness, new babies, adoptions and the like.  We were truly blessed!

Jacob is now eight weeks old and has officially been a "newborn" and not a "preemie" for three weeks, and is behaving accordingly.  His visit at the pediatrician today had him weighing in at 9 pounds, 13 ounces (which is what both of his brothers were at birth) and 23 inches in length (over 3 inches since he was born).  He "graduated" from the lactation nurse last week because he was nursing exclusively without breastfeeding aids and was gaining weight so well.  We're getting a stretch of about five hours of sleep at night, which is a vast improvement over 2-3 hours.  And, to top it all off, he has rolled over from his stomach to his back over the past two days!  He is definitely on track developmentally and is such a wonderfully loved and cuddly addition to our family.  I am thankful that he is growing and developing, but I am also very thankful for and will miss that "bonus month" that he has graduated from.