Wednesday, December 31, 2008

He sure is an Erre kid!












The first pic is Seth, second is Hannah, and third is Nathan.

I wanted to show you how much Seth looks like Nathan and Hannah.  It really is incredible.  He has Nathan's nose and lips Hannah's mohawk hair.

Seth continues to do well.  He is up to 45 ccs of milk (taken via bottle).  But, he is still very sleepy, so he was really into latching on today.  I am not too bummed out...  we were told that he probably wouldn't breastfeed at all, so I am excited that it is even a possibility.

Look at him eat!



You wouldn't believe how well Seth is eating.  They have been working on moving him up from 6 ccs of milk to 8 and then to 12.  Well, today they said that he could eat as much as he wanted so at the 5:00 feeding, I get to breastfeed him and let him take in as much as he can!!  Woo Hoo.  And, it is looking more and more hopeful that he will be able to come home on Friday.

Please, for those of you that haven't been part of the loop, understand that every little prayer (other than completely healing him) has come true.  Every one.  God is so amazing!!

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Our Little Buddy






Thanks, all, for your patience.  We weren't expecting to have Seth until today and didn't have access to the internet.  I got home around 1:00 this afternoon, sadly leaving Seth behind at the hospital.  Although I miss him terribly, I am so elated at how well he is doing!  The nurses at UCI Medical are amazing and I know that he is in good hands.

Seth and I didn't officially get to meet until the next day (Sat.).  He was whisked away to the NICU and I to recovery.  I had a little bit of a rocky recovery and didn't even make it back to my room until about 3 hours after he was born.  The next morning I woke up with a little bit too much drugs in my system (making me wonder why on earth people actually choose to do drugs).  This made me sick to my stomach, super tired, incoherent, etc.  Plus, I was still in a lot of pain.   When I made it to the NICU, I was surprised to see how many tubes and pokes (as the Erres call them) he had.  He had a tube in his mouth (which he hated and pulled out on his own twice) down to his stomach suctioning out everything.  He had a couple different IVs in for pain and nourishment.  He looked peaceful, but I was unable to hold him.  Plus, within a few minutes I got really sick and finally had to leave.  I was both sad and frustrated.  Thanks to the few friends that visited that day.  You had to endure a very out of it Justina.  Not a pretty sight.

On Sunday, Seth had surgery to repair his omphalocele.  (The golf ball size mass of intestines protruding out of his abdomen.) Surgery went very well and he even got a new belly button.  They had to put an intebation (sp?) tube into his lungs for surgery.  Well, he didn't like that one either and pulled it out himself.  They finally decided that they needed to swaddle his arms down.  He really is a feisty one.  He has none of the "floppy" muscle tone of a lot of Downs kids.

Monday he was a new little man.  Many of the tubes came out and he was able to take on a lot of the IV fluids without a problem.  He graduated to NICU - level 2!!  We were so excited.  He and I spent a lot of time together just rocking.  There is nothing more wonderful that the feel of your baby's skin!

Today was a HUGE day for Seth.  He took his first bottle (and second, and third....)  Mike got to give it to him before I was discharged.  He literally guzzled it down.  (Only about 2/3 of an ounce).  I came back to the hospital for his 5 pm feeding.  I also gave him the 2/3 oz which he drank in (literally) about 7 seconds.  It was astonishing!  Then, I tried to breastfeed a little.  This has been a huge worry for us because of the Downs and typical low muscle tone.  Well, Seth has proven that he is not typical.  He latched right on and ate!  I almost cried.  We were told that he wouldn't be home until next. Mon. or Tues. when we left the hospital at noon.  When I came back, the nurse said that she wouldn't be surprised if he came home on Fri. because he is doing so well.  PRAISE GOD!!

Oh, a few other things.  His heart is GREAT!!  His colon is also fine (as proven by the many poos).  Every prayer that has been lifted has been answered - right down to the red hair!  Thank you all so much for blanketing my little angel with love and prayers.  God is so good and truly has heard them.

It is late and I need to try to get as much sleep as I can before he comes home.  I love you all!!!

He's Here!

Seth is here!!  He decided to not wait until his c-section date and made his grand entrance on Fri. Dec. 26 at 8:13 pm.  He weighed  6 lb 14 oz (small for an Erre baby) and was 18.5 in.  I will fill you all in with the details of the past few days a little later.  I have added some pictures.  Thanks so much for all of your prayers. 

Love,
Justina

Monday, November 24, 2008

Five Weeks and Counting

Seth will be here soon.  As I sit here typing this, he is moving all over the place, reminding me that he is doing well.  I am so excited to meet him, but so nervous at the same time.

Twelve weeks ago, we found out that Seth has down syndrome.  He also has what is called and omphalocele.  (This means that he has a small hole in his abdomen and a portion of intestines protruding outside it.)  This means that he will be in the NICU for a few weeks after birth before coming home.  Everything about this birth is going to be different.  I am not going to be able to hold him for days, feed him for at least 1-2 weeks, take him home to our family.  So yes, I am very excited, but also sad.  Sad about what I am going to miss the first days of his life and what I am going to have to adjust to for the rest of our lives.

This site is to help keep all of you updated on his first few days of life and his milestones throughout the months to come.