Friday, November 13, 2009

Surgery aftermath; Loki's cheesy smile (photos)

We have been home now for over 24 hours, and things are finally back to normal, after two weeks of mayhem. Well... normal by our standards. Physically, Loki is fine, and is tolerating his feedings, although at a slow rate and not yet at full calorie concentration.

Mentally and emotionally, though, Loki is clearly different. Although this most recent procedure was the mildest one, Loki is much more self-aware than even a month ago, the time of his previous surgery. This time, when he slept in the hospital, he would occasionally wake up and look around nervously. Once Mom would say, "I am here, Loki," he would fall over and go back to sleep. During these two days of recovery, Loki has been extremely clingy. He cries easily when put down or walked away from, and quickly stops crying once picked up. Clearly, Loki was more traumatized by this hospital stay than the previous ones. Hopefully, this was the last night that he will spend there.

In better news: Dutch people sometimes comment that Americans are quicker to flash a fake smile for a photograph. Many of them find this to be cheesy. Loki seems to have learned how to flash a quick, fake smile of his own. When we pull our a camera and call his name, he often does a particular smile, with his brow scrunched down--NOT his normal smile. Once the camera is down, he stops. See these:










Notice anything in common?

13 comments:

berkeleygal77 said...

Lots of standing up?!?

Unknown said...

Ah, Loki is a ham. And contaminated by America. Oh well, you have a lot of time to undo that, mom and pop...
Welcome back to your version of "normal".

Richard en Maaike said...

Ja, weer een stap dus op weg naar groot worden. Ik begrijp dat het voeden nu weer makkelijker gaat (in elk geval een onderdeel van het voeden). Erg grappig zeg, die American smile.
X Maaike

marieke said...

Wat een ontzettend lekker ding zeg!!!

Unknown said...

Oh, so sorry, he reacted with fear. But I remember that Anna was more clingy after her procedures, too. I am convinced, he will be back to normal quickly with so much love surrounding him.

We have equally forced smiling pictures. Still not sure if I should find them funny or sad.

Hopefully feedings will get easier now.

Hugs

Unknown said...

Wow...he's standing up! He's grown so fast! :)

Eric Rubin said...

ok, thats it. its time to meet this little guy. we need to make some plans.

fransje melief said...

HA that's hilarious! America tends to be a powerful contaminator I know, but my guess is that Loki is for real and just wants everybody to crack up on saturday mornings! Maybe he is also getting older, that being the reason he is more self-aware..? Glad you guys are home and it's done! X Fransje.

Suzan said...

Arme Loki,

Hopelijk beseft hij snel weer dat zijn papa en mama altijd bij hem zijn! Heel fijn dat het geslaagd is! Phileine wil heel graag een keer naar Loki toe!

Heel veel liefs,
Johan, Suzan en Phileine

Piapie said...

Oh my, what a cutie!

Kyra said...

well, I recognise the 'pleaser' period with both our kids. Muus now doesn't want anything to do anymore with cameras.

Unknown said...

hahah! Loki's camera smile is so scrunchy and cute. I love his energy.

Anonymous said...

how cute! he seems to be standing up a lot?! what a great little man he is. xoxo courtney

About Loki Sky

Loki Sky is a special little man. He was a very early micropreemie, weighing only 610 grams (1 lb, 5 oz) after 24 weeks, 3 days gestation, born to an American Father and a Dutch Mother in Berkeley, California on October 18, 2008.

On January 11, 2009, while still in the hospital NICU, his one kidney stopped working. It was repaired after three surgeries. After spending time in three hospitals in three cities, Loki came home on February 17. He struggled with eating, and then stopped in July, leading to 8 days in the hospital, a failure-to-thrive diagnosis, and a NG feeding tube. On October 10, a minor surgery installed a G feeding tube. Another procedure replaced it with a new one, and then again with a Mic-Key button in Jan. 2010.

In August 2010, he and his parents moved to the Netherlands.

Read about his first name.
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