It's official...

Nathan is coming home tomorrow!!!! We completed most of our discharge paperwork tonight and all we have to do is wait on the Dr to complete his rounds tomorrow. WOOHOO!!!!!

Another day, another trip to Gulfport...

Now that Nathan is doing so much better, these trips to Gulfport are getting old. It is also getting much harder to leave him there. I just want to bring him home where I can look at him, nuzzle him and stroke his hair anytime I feel the urge. It's amazing how it all just still doesn't seem real. Was I REALLY pregnant? Did I REALLY have a baby just a little over a week ago? It's all been such a whirlwind, it's hard to believe any of it really happened.

We had a good visit today. He is really starting to get strong and you are starting to see some personality come out. Our little guy seems to be very laid back and he actually seems to smile a lot for such a little guy. Michael was smiley like this as a newborn and he is such a happy baby. I'm hoping this an indicator of the happy baby that Nathan will be also. This boy also seems to really like his sleep. The nurses in the NICU really like to feed him, because afterwards he is a social little bug and will sit with them while they do their charts.

We were not as successful breastfeeding today as we were last night. He would latch on ok, but did not want to stay at the breast. I guess it's too much work for him compared to the ease of drinking out of a bottle. We'll just keep trying and hopefully we'll eventually get the hang of it. I'm going to see if the lactation consultant is available to help us out some tomorrow. There are a couple of things I need to get from her also. They have quite the breastfeeding center at Memorial. OS Hospital needs to take a few pointers from them. :-)

We'll go back again tomorrow and then hopefully we'll make our last trip to Gulfport on Wednesday.

Not coming home until Wednesday...

Evidently Nathan had an Apnea episode when they first took him off the oxygen. Tonight was the first we have heard of this... :( Anyway, it was a 1x incident but they wait 5 days after something like this before they let them go home. :::sigh:::

On an up note, we were able to attempt breastfeeding tonight and he latched on like a champ. I was really concerned since he had been either tube fed or bottle fed for the last week. He didn't nurse long, too much work for him I guess...LOL But we'll try again tomorrow. Nathan is proof that I don't give up easily. ;)

We are on room air!!!

They pulled Nathan off the nasal canula yesterday and he has been on room ever since. His sats are good at 97-100% and his respirations are normal. We are getting conflicting information from the nurses about when he might go home. The Dr said that if he did well on room air for 24 hours, he could go home. Last night the NICU nurse told us that the normal timeframe is 48 hours after removing oxygen support. Of course the Dr has the last word, but we all know how that goes. So... he may go home today... he may go home tomorrow.

For those of you itching for some more pictures... here are a few to sure to satisfy. :)

Mommy's first chance to hold him.

Daddy kisses!!!


He's such a content baby... let's hope this continues!!!



BIG YAWN!!!!



My!!! What big EYES YOU HAVE!!!!

Even more improvement...

Today we got to the hospital and Nathan had been moved to the Transition Nursery and was in a regular bassinet. He still had his oxygen strapped on, but the setting was somewhere about halfway between 21 and 30%. 21% is considered the same as room air. We spoke the the dr and he will be taking him off the oxygen tomorrow and if he is able to hold his sats on room air for 24 hours, we can take him HOME. That means, if all goes well, we will be taking him home on Sunday.

WOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just a pic or two... or SIX

Jeff hasn't had a chance to go through the pics from last night yet. But here are a few from the last couple of days.

One of Nathan's caregivers... Nurse Ashleigh




Mommy's first diaper change




For the first couple of days, this was all the touching we could do.




One MAD BABY!




1st night in the NICU... gotta love the space helmet oxygen bubble.


Such tiny little fingers...

Nathan is improving every day

He is now off his IV fluids and has moved from a High Flow nasal canula to a regular canula. We were able to hold and feed him today. He slept in my arms for a good two hours and is so much more content and comfortable. His breathing is still fast, but he is not struggling as much to breath now. He is not eating as much as they would like for him to eat. So if he does not start eating more tomorrow, they will have to put his IV back in until he starts eating more. We do not know when he will be going home. He has to eat consistantly and be able to hold his O2 sats on room air. He seems to have turned a corner today, so hopefully it won't be long before he meets this criteria.

Just got home a little while ago...

Nathan is holding his own and is about the same as he was yesterday. It's amazing to sit and watch him sleep. He looks so peaceful from the neck up and his littls chest is working so hard to breath. We weren't able to hold him today, but I did get a chance to change his diaper. :-)Jeff took more pictures today, so hopefully I'll get a chance to post a few tonight. Thanks for all of the great emails and comments!!!

Pam, Jeff, Jack, Michael and Nathan

A quickie pic from last night

Here is a picture of me feeding Nathan a "lemon pop". It's a lemon/glycerin swab used to clean in and around his mouth. He has a stong sucking reflex, so hopefully he'll be able to eat soon.

Just got home from the hospital...

Nathan looks much better than he did when he left Ocean Springs Hospital yesterday. His respirations are averaging down in the 60's so that definitely an improvement. We're hoping to be able to hold him tomorrow. I've been doing my best to pump regularly so I can feed him when he's ready. I saw a little bit of "progress" today, but not enough to collect for him. I don't want to start him out of formula if I can help it. We'll be heading back to the hospital tomorrow morning and I will update when we get home.

Just a quick update...

I was discharged at 2:30 and I am heading to Memorial Hospital in Gulfport to be with Nathan. He has been removed from the tent and is on a nasal canula with Oxygen at 40%. When he was in the tent he was on 50%. He is not working as hard to breath and is retracting and grunting intermittantly now. Room air saturates at 21% so we are heading in the right direction. We will update when we can!!!!

Pam, Jeff, Jack, Michael and Nathan

Nathan is here!

Nathan arrived at 9:29 am at Ocean Springs Hospital. He weighed 6lbs., 9 oz. at 20 1/4" long. He started out strong and fighting; what a set of lungs. Unfortunately, he developed trouble breathing and was transported to Memorial in Gulfport. Pam is doing well and hopes to join Nathan tomorrow as early as possible. Here's some quick photos...

WE'RE HAVING A BABY

Woke up to a trickle of water, wasn't sure it was my water breaking or what... Took a shower, coughed and YEAH it was my water breaking. Getting boys up and dressed and headind to drop them off at a friends house.

Will up date when we can!!!!!!

Family fun on a Saturday night!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

What are you Thankful For???

Here is my short list... share yours!!!!!

1. I am so thankful this baby is stil where he is supposed to be and that he is healthy and active.
2. I am thankful that God has blessed me with a wonderful husband and two other beautiful boys that have been such a blessing in my life.
3. I am thankful for an OB that is understands my need to be home and as recovered as possible for Xmas and that we have a baby no later than date of Dec 12.
4. I'm thankful that I have a mother and sister that were willing to give up their daily lives to come help with my boys while I was in the hospital. Many women had to leave AMA because there was no one at home to care for their children.

The sick house...

Well, we officially all have the crud at my house. I started getting a scratchy throat last night, so I knew it was coming. We had company scheduled, but I called them last night and let them know that we were all germie over here. Oh well... we have plenty to be thankful for, being sick on Thanksgiving is just a small thing. :-)

The Plague has hit my house...

Jeff woke up Sunday morning with a sore thoat from post nasal drip and has been battling a bad cold ever since. Jack came down with it yesterday. Although his nose isn't running, Michael is not wanting to eat, so we can only assume he is coming down with it too. I'm the only one right now that does not have it. Keep your fingers crossed that I am able to fight this one off. I DO NOT need a bad cold right now. UGH!!!!!!!

Pregnant lady cravings...

I just made Hummus in my VitaMix blender. YUM!!!!!

The Belly Explosion

Sorry I missed the last two weeks of pics. Here is my 36 week belly pic and boy has it really POPPED...LOL

Today's OB Appt

Went to the Dr today and everything is still status quo. No changes what so ever, except for my SIZE...LOL I am now offically off bedrest!!!!! I can do anything I feel like doing. Dr even said, "You don't have to tell your husband I said this, but you can even have sex if you want too." BWAHAHAHAHAHA

I am Group B Strep positive, which is no real big deal. They'll just have to give me IV antibiotics when I go into labor so I don't pass it on to Nathan. Evidently about 20% of women test positive for GBS and never know they have it until they get pregnant.

We talked about how if this boy doesn't show any signs of turning soon, we'll schedule a C-Section, especially since he has his feet up over his head also. I don't want to ever try a Version to turn him. It's only about 30% successful and PAINFUL to do. After all we've been through, I'd rather go the path of least resistance. ;) I go back on Monday Dec 1st and we'll do another US.

I was joking around with my Dr about how, after all we did to keep him in, we'll have to evict him to get him out. My Dr laughed and said it was a real possibility. He promised me that I would not be in the hospital over Christmas, so if I am still showing no signs of labor, they'll induce me around Dec 11 or 12. If he is still breech, we'll schedule a C-Section for one of those dates. So I guess we have a "baby no later than" date of Dec 12.

It's getting so close!!!!! WOOHOO!!!!!! Now that I know he's safe, I'm getting so excited.