Hello World!

So we changed course again on Thursday, September 22. I woke up in the hospital at about 2 a.m. with contractions. I laid there awhile to see if they would stop, but no such luck. I called Matt, and he was at the hospital by 4:30. I don't think either of us really thought that baby boy would make an appearance quite yet! We were coming to terms with me being on bedrest in the hospital for the next 5 weeks! They gave me a series of 3 shots again to see if it would stop labor, but LJ was determined to join us. I was lucky enough to have an epidural by about 8 am., and Matt, Mom and Dad, and I just hung out for the long haul. There was an arguement between LJ's doctors and my doctors at some point about where I should deliver, and it all had to do with the temperature in the room. It was a little odd to have the doctors arguing, but I guess they were just arguing for what they thought was best. LJ's doctors ended up winning out (which I am happy about), and right before I delivered, they moved me into the OR because it was warmer than the labor and delivery room. LJ joined us at 7:19 pm after a really long day! He is 3 lbs 8 ounces and 16.5 inches long. He came out crying, which was such an awesome sound because of the situation...they attributed his good lungs to the steroid shots I was able to get the week before. The neonatologist immediately took him away and checked him, but he was doing well enough that they let me hold him for a few minutes before they took him to the NICU.

They sent Matt with LJ, and me back to the recovery room where they fed me and made me rest until I was allowed to go upstairs. Things moved very slow at this point because I didn't know how he was doing, and I wasn't allowed to go anywhere. We hung out until we finally got the go ahead to go see LJ. Mom and Dad came with us to the NICU. We stayed with him awhile that night, but I was already going on almost 24 hours without sleep. Since I delivered, we have spent all of our days sitting in the NICU with LJ.

He is doing really well. Every day we have seen progress, which makes sitting by his side all day so worth it. He is relaxed, and we have been getting to hold him some.  He gets fed every 3 hours. At the same time, we get to change his diaper. They try to leave him alone in between feedings right now because everything he does is a lot of work. Right now, he is eating through a feeding tube, but hopefully within 3 or 4 weeks, I should be able to start trying to breast feed. The first few days he was given donor breastmilk, and by tomorrow he should be getting mine.  They still take it and add a bunch more fat and calories to it before they give it to him. Today I had my first "skin to skin" session with him, where they stuff him down my shirt and he sleeps in it like a baby kanagroo in a pouch.  We both fell asleep. Matt got peed on for the first time, so things are progressing normally :) Today he also got the big huge breathing tube out, and it was replaced with a much smaller one until he can go without one, hopefully within the next few days. He is not being given extra oxygen, it is just being forced in right now.  We can see his face now, so it was a huge milestone for him today! We also got to finally take his hat off (the old one was holding the breathing tube on), and we realized that his hair is much more blonde that we thought it was...and it just might be curly.  He is a spitting image of his Daddy right now. All he has of mine is the long and lean body...hahaha!

The nurses are incredible. They get you involved as much as they can, and each nurse only takes care of 2 babies, so they are very focused. Our first morning going to see him (Friday), we walked in and I saw a girl I used to play volleyball with in high school. She was his nurse for the day! It was kind of a good feeling having someone you are familiar with taking care of your baby for the day! I couldn't speak more highly of the nurses and doctors...they realize it is a stressful time and do everything they can to give you as much contact to your baby as possible.  LJ is already the superstar of the NICU. He is actually a lot bigger than many of the babies in there (the one next to him was 1 lb 5 oz), and he puts up a fight when they do something he doesn't like. You don't hear a whole lot of crying babies in that room, but LJ makes up for all of them!

We got home last night, and I think the adrenaline has worn off a little because I woke up this morning feeling like I got hit by a truck. I have been up and around since first thing the morning after delivery and haven't stopped. It has caught up! Even though the little guy isn't with us, I still have to get up every 3 hours to pump because getting LJ my milk is more important than ever. Tonight is an early night to rest for me because if I get sick, I can't go see LJ, and I can't imagine that. Leaving him every day is already getting harder and harder. I plan on heading to the hospital as soon as rush hour ends each morning, spending the day with him, and Matt will meet me at the hospital when he gets off work. We will hang out a bit, head home, and do it all over again. We just pray he progresses quickly (like he is so far), and he can get home sooner than expected :)

Right now they still say to expect him at the hospital until his due date. However, some of the nurses have hinted that it could be more like 7ish weeks...we are just making a goal of having him home by Thanksgiving! I will upload pictures soon!