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!!!
