Toby Robert Conger

Merry Christmas to everyone! Toby is “officially” 37 weeks gestational age or 10 weeks corrected age. He’s now 5 lbs., 13.5 oz. and 18 1/2 inches long! No word yet about discharge dates since he’s still on a tiny bit of oxygen and the doctors really want him to go home without it.

Hope this Christmas finds you and yours healthy & happy. All of our thanks for the well wishes, thoughts and prayers for our little boy. Have a very, Merry Christmas!

It’s been incredible to watch Toby grow and put on weight over the last 10 days. Today he weighed in at 5 pounds, 2.2 ounces and is now 17.25 inches long. Compare all of that to when he was born 2 months ago at 2 pounds, 1.8 ounces and 14.5 inches long. God sure is incredible (and so is everyone’s prayers!)

The doctor has also changed his feedings from every 3 hours to every 4. In addition, to make sure Toby gets enough calories, he now received 60 mL (2 ounces) of Mommy’s milk at every bottle feeding.

Toby also seems to have “grown” out of his apnea – at least he hasn’t had an episode since November 27th. The doctors have also discontinued his caffeine as of December 4th. The caffeine was used since he was born to prevent the apnea all preemies suffer from.

I’m sure a lot of you are wondering when Toby will come home. Discharge requirements have changed a lot and the 5 pound rule is no longer used. Here is what the doctor’s look for before Toby can come home:

• Be able to keep his body temperature normal in an open crib.
• Be on complete breast and/or bottle feeds, taking in an adequate number of calories.
• Be gaining weight on all breast or bottle feeds.
• Not have any apneas (pauses in breathing) causing slow heart rate (bradycardia) or change in color for 7 days.
• No oxygen supplement for at least 5 days (but some infants who will need oxygen for a long time are sent home with it).

It would be great to have him home for Christmas, but we’re not rushing things. We want Toby to be healthy when the big day comes so we’ll just be ready when he is!

This past Sunday Toby was moved from his Incubator/Isolette into an open crib. The doctor wanted to do a “trial run” and see if Toby would tolerate being able to maintain his own body temperature. Toby’s done great and there are actually times when his temperature runs a little hot (which is normal with all the clothes & blankets the nurses keep on him.) When he’s in his crib, the nurses bundle him up even more to keep him toasty warm.

As a bonus being in an open crib, we were able to dress Toby in his first outfit. We thought it was only fitting that it be the outfit Lucy purchased the day before she passed away. It’s still a little big, but we think Toby looks fabulous. He is now 4 lbs., 6.1 oz. and getting 38 mL of milk in each bottle feeding.

Toby continues to improve in big steps. He’s now 3 lbs 14 oz. and filling out quite nicely. When Toby was born, my wedding band would fit over his upper arm; now it fits over a couple of fingers.  He’s also maintaining his oxygen levels with minimal assistance and is quite taken with bottle feeding – so much so that they took away the feeding tube and just feed him like a regular baby (the photo is from the 26th before they removed it.) We’re gonna have to get a pair of scissors soon for his hair it’s getting so long!

It’s been a landmark couple of days for Toby. We hold him every chance we get (when the nurses says it’s okay) and last Saturday Toby turned 4 weeks old. As of today, he now weighs over 3 pounds and is now 16 inches long!

Also last Saturday, we noticed that Toby had something in his mouth – turns out it was his thumb.

Lastly, to put the icing on the cake, Toby’s great-grandparents (Colleen’s mother’s parents) from North Carolina came for a visit. They are both in their late 80’s and Toby is their 9th great-grandchild!

What a day! Mark got to hold Toby for the first time outside of his incubator today  Mark has been a great husband, father and all around Superman this last month letting me spend the majority of the time with Toby. But today, Mark got to spend our visit holding his son!

Toby now weighs 2 lbs., 11.4 oz. His feedings are holding steady at 24 mL. Today he got some extra red blood cells to help him grow big and strong. The doctor might have to repeat this procedure because Toby was born before his body had a chance to get a head start growing his own red blood cells. As the weeks progress however, Toby’s body will be able to make all the red blood cells he needs.

Toby has been growing steadily over the last week. Last Sunday he weighed 2 lbs., 7.2 oz. and now he’s at 2 lbs., 9.2 oz. I know that 2 ounces doesn’t seem like a lot, but in the preemie world, it’s fantastic.

The neonatologist also increased his feedings from 23 mL to 24 mL every 3 hours. For those who are “math challenged” as I am, the nurses tell me that 30 mL is equal to 1 ounce!

We haven’t seen Toby for 2 whole days due to being out of town at my first Baby Shower (beautifully given by Mark’s side of the family), so when the NICU nurse asked if I wanted some “snuggle time” with Toby, I jumped at the chance. Doesn’t Mark take beautiful photos!

Toby is now 2 lbs., 8.8 oz. and still 14.5 inches long. Even though his length has not changed since birth, Toby’s head circumference is growing at about 1/2 cm per week which is right on track per his neonatologist.

As many of you know, Mark’s mom Lucy had a stroke last Christmas. She has been recovering in an assisted living facility in Aberdeen since April and today we brought her to Tupelo to see her FIRST grandson, Toby!

When Lucy finally got to see Toby, all she could say was, “He’s so tiny.” Her expressions during her visit with Toby were priceless. She has waited almost 10 years for a grandchild and now he was finally here – even though it was earlier than expected!