Little B's new room is very nearly complete. A few things left to hang on the wall. We doubt he'll notice though.
Just to let everyone know (for those of you intensely following the UNC 2005 Championship frame placement vote), the picture is now safely hanging over the changing table. I don't think any amount of votes would have allowed me to win that debate, but I thank you all for helping out the cause!! At least we made it in the room!
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
New Life at Home
We brought Branson home from the hospital on Friday afternoon, which was right in the middle of a string of night shifts for Daddy Branson. Although I am so happy to be out of that small space in the NICU where I spent every waking moment for the previous 17 days, I must admit I was a bit shocked with how challenging it is to take care of the little one without a professional nurse to help me! (Praise God for those amazing nurses in the NICU.) The extra steps of mixing up his special fortified breastmilk along with the cycle of nursing, bottle, then pumping--which takes at least 1.5 hours--along with the other responsibilities of taking care of a preemie are more than I anticipated! But boy are we glad to have him home, and I am grateful for my two moms coming over the weekend and for help with dinners!
Caroline is doing ok with her new baby brother. It is really tricky since she has a bad cold, and if he gets even a little cold we will be back in the hospital. We are doing everything we can to keep her away from him (as well as me), but although she understands a lot it still hurts her feelings that she can't crawl in mommy's lap. I can't wait for her to get well so I can give her some mommy love!
Little Branson is really sweet. Rebecca Stevenson told me something about how tender and sweet baby boys are, and although I was suspicious at the time, now I see what she means! He's up to 5 pounds 4 ounces today--a bag of sugar to love! We're going to do a little photoshoot soon so we'll have some more pictures to post as soon as we can get to it.
It's hard to believe that just 3 weeks ago today I was so sick and being induced. It is truly a miracle that we are getting through this relatively unscathed. I just listened to a recording of the song 'Praise the King' that I sang in church with the choir that Sunday morning before getting called into the hospital. After what He's carried us through, the depth and vigor of my PRAISE takes a whole new meaning. I can't wait to sing it again!
Hope you guys are well, Cristy
Caroline is doing ok with her new baby brother. It is really tricky since she has a bad cold, and if he gets even a little cold we will be back in the hospital. We are doing everything we can to keep her away from him (as well as me), but although she understands a lot it still hurts her feelings that she can't crawl in mommy's lap. I can't wait for her to get well so I can give her some mommy love!
Little Branson is really sweet. Rebecca Stevenson told me something about how tender and sweet baby boys are, and although I was suspicious at the time, now I see what she means! He's up to 5 pounds 4 ounces today--a bag of sugar to love! We're going to do a little photoshoot soon so we'll have some more pictures to post as soon as we can get to it.
It's hard to believe that just 3 weeks ago today I was so sick and being induced. It is truly a miracle that we are getting through this relatively unscathed. I just listened to a recording of the song 'Praise the King' that I sang in church with the choir that Sunday morning before getting called into the hospital. After what He's carried us through, the depth and vigor of my PRAISE takes a whole new meaning. I can't wait to sing it again!
Hope you guys are well, Cristy
Friday, February 8, 2008
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Great News!!
Little B is feeding and growing well. I was doing the 8am - 930pm hospital day for breastfeeding and going home at night, but on Tuesday morning I moved into the hospital to help him along. It has been really nice to have him in a different room (a 'sleeper room') where we can act like real parents, just within the reach of all the cords that keep him on his monitors.
They pulled his NG tube yesterday since feeding is going so well, and today he is up to 4 pounds 15 ounces!! That breastmilk is powerful stuff! Today was a big day as he got 2 immunizations and a circumcision. He slept through them--tough guy!
The GREAT NEWS is that if nothing unforeseen happens, we will get to take our son home tomorrow! AND my repeat liver tests just came back as normal! Praise the Lord for he is GOOD! It will be so nice to be back at home with Caroline and Little B. She will be so happy to meet him, although it will be a challenge to keep her germs away from the little guy.
Speaking of germs, please forgive me if we are a little extra cautious about germs in the house. The Flu and RSV season is here, and we need to keep little B safe. We will want to limit visitors at first, and I will be a bit strict about hand washing, staying away if you have a cold, and touching the baby. It's just that we know what will happen to him if he gets even a little virus, and the torture of being back in the hospital with all those crazy procedures and tests is more than I can bare to think about! Thank you for understanding a mother's instinct to protect him!
We praise God for all of you who are praying and caring for us in so many ways. Please continue to lift him up in prayer. We are so grateful for everything!
Love and peace to you,
Cristy
They pulled his NG tube yesterday since feeding is going so well, and today he is up to 4 pounds 15 ounces!! That breastmilk is powerful stuff! Today was a big day as he got 2 immunizations and a circumcision. He slept through them--tough guy!
The GREAT NEWS is that if nothing unforeseen happens, we will get to take our son home tomorrow! AND my repeat liver tests just came back as normal! Praise the Lord for he is GOOD! It will be so nice to be back at home with Caroline and Little B. She will be so happy to meet him, although it will be a challenge to keep her germs away from the little guy.
Speaking of germs, please forgive me if we are a little extra cautious about germs in the house. The Flu and RSV season is here, and we need to keep little B safe. We will want to limit visitors at first, and I will be a bit strict about hand washing, staying away if you have a cold, and touching the baby. It's just that we know what will happen to him if he gets even a little virus, and the torture of being back in the hospital with all those crazy procedures and tests is more than I can bare to think about! Thank you for understanding a mother's instinct to protect him!
We praise God for all of you who are praying and caring for us in so many ways. Please continue to lift him up in prayer. We are so grateful for everything!
Cristy
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Monday, February 4, 2008
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Your opinion
I think the above framed picture should go over the baby's crib. Cristy does not. Am I crazy? Let us know what you think to the right...
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Graduating to the crib (another cp entry)
Great news! Our over-achiever child just graduated from the incubator! He is now sleeping soundly in one of those bassonets that they use for the term babies! Praise the Lord for He is GOOD. Now we've just got to work up to getting more from breastfeeding than from the tube. This apparently takes a while, so we need not let ourselves focus on the exact date of departure. BUT if all goes perfectly we might be able to take him home around Valentines day, which is less than 2 weeks away! (Please don't bring this part up to me since even mentioning a date sortof sets us up for disappointment if it takes longer.) So I'm going to keep doing the 8am-9pmish hosiptal thing to try to get 5 feeds in and then next week I'll probably move into the hospital for 3 nights or so. It will be hard not to be with Caroline (it already is!), but Branson, Sara (God bless that woman!) Becca, Courtney, and multiple sisters and brothers in Christ are giving her lots of special attention. I am grateful for that.
Anyway, that's the scoop for the day. I'll try to post a picture of him in his new bassonet at some point soon!
Love, Cristy
Friday, February 1, 2008
The boy can eat! (written by Cristy)
So here's the update: Little B weighed almost 4 lbs 8 oz today. I try to go up to the hospital by 8am and leave around 9pm in order to get all his feeds in. However I couldn't make it today. I went home for a little siesta around 4pm, and we came back around 7pm. Our strategy is to get him to take as much of his milk by breast or bottle with each feed, then what he doesn't finish they give him by NG tube. He did really well feeding this morning but by the afternoon he was too pooped so he got the rest of his feeds by NG tube. Overall we've been very encouraged by how he's doing with feeding. The goal is to get him to more than half feeds by bottle or breast before he can move from the incubator to his crib. If you know me and goal-setting, you probably know how obsessed I am with getting him up to the next level!
Several of you have requested more medical information about what happened to me. So far multiple specialists can't fully explain it as I had features of several different processes going on at once: severe preeclampsia with HELLP syndrome (Hemolysis (blood breakdown), Elevated Liver Enymes, Low Platelets - but my platelets were normal so I say I just had HELL!), cholestasis of pregnancy, and possibly Acute Fatty Liver of Pregnancy. My liver tests were rising so quickly that my doctors decided there was no choice but to deliver the baby. The delivery was peaceful, and I recall saying that I was delivering him into God's hands. What a little miracle he is!!
Thanks so much to everyone who sent their well wishes, cards, flowers, gifts, food, cheese, nursery decorating assistance, and babysitting. It's amazing how God is providing and caring for us through you! We are so grateful to Him for providing us with such an amazing community!
Several of you have requested more medical information about what happened to me. So far multiple specialists can't fully explain it as I had features of several different processes going on at once: severe preeclampsia with HELLP syndrome (Hemolysis (blood breakdown), Elevated Liver Enymes, Low Platelets - but my platelets were normal so I say I just had HELL!), cholestasis of pregnancy, and possibly Acute Fatty Liver of Pregnancy. My liver tests were rising so quickly that my doctors decided there was no choice but to deliver the baby. The delivery was peaceful, and I recall saying that I was delivering him into God's hands. What a little miracle he is!!
Thanks so much to everyone who sent their well wishes, cards, flowers, gifts, food, cheese, nursery decorating assistance, and babysitting. It's amazing how God is providing and caring for us through you! We are so grateful to Him for providing us with such an amazing community!
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