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!!!
8 comments:
Thanks for sharing all the details with us! Praise God for his AMAZING faithfulness. May the Lord give you much needed rest and bring Seth home the first weekend of the year.
Justina & family, congratulations on the birth of your beautiful, beautiful Seth. What an amazing first few days! God is so good! I am crying with joy for you and your family. Indeed rest while you can even though it is so hard to be apart from baby Seth. Our thoughts and prayers remain with you, your family and especially your little angel Seth. xx
I love when God proves bigger then medicine and the doctors are left scratching their heads! Praise God! I had a feeling this little man would surpass everything...afterall he is an Erie! So thrilled to hear how well nursing is going. You all are surrounded with prayers! Much love to you all
the Gauss Family
He's beautiful! Praise God for all He is doing, you are not walking this alone (although I know you know that)!!!! We can't wait to meet him. The boys were excited to see pictures of Nate and Hannah and Alex thinks that Seth is much cuter than he was when he was born! We will continue to pray and look forward to all the praises we get to send out!
We are so excited for you! He is beautiful and amazing. We will continue to cover you with prayer and love. I can't wait to meet him and oh that hair. oh so cute! Thanks for keeping us in the loop! Love Patti
Congratulations!!
I am typing through tears of utter joy! The power of positive thoughts and prayer - there is nothing like it! Justina, I know you have a beautiful soul, and I can see that the rest of your family exudes the same characteristic...Seth included. Continue to rest and we will continue to send our positive thoughts your way. I am so happy things are going so well! All I can say is AMEN!
What a beautiful, beautiful baby! I love his sweet mouth. I am so thankful for every answered prayer, especially the red hair! It seems silly for me to be so thankful for that one, but I know that was your "Lord, could you just show me that you love me and give my little boy red hair like his siblings" prayer.
I cannot wait to meet this child!
Many blessings on you guys!
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