the latest news from h151

{january 1&2, 2009}

being at the hospital with a sick newborn is stressful to say the least, but having sweet friends come over and visit make it tolerable! due to the holiday, the hospital allowed siblings to come visit again. the kids were so excited to see their brother. before we went to see brandon, we stopped and had lunch at mcdonald's. when we went back to brandon's room, the nurse stopped us and handed us a box from one of my favorite stores janie and jack. the nurse said we had just missed the visitors. i ripped open the card to find out that it was our sweet friends jimmy and melinda. unfortunately since my cell phone was mia, i couldn't call them. fortunately for us, they wandered the hospital and eventually called james' cell phone. they were able to come and visit with the baby.

after spending some fun time visiting with them, the kids went and visited with their baby brother. they got to hold brandon with the help of daddy for the very first time. they are starting to refer to brandon as "my baby." it's so sweet to see them love on him. they are so gentle and for the most part behaved around him. i keep telling them they have to be a good example for him. we'll see how long that lasts...

funny story {although a little tmi}...i nursed brandon for the first time in front of the kids. they were coloring star wars pictures for brandon's room and jared looked up and said, "mommy, why are you feeding brandon with your tummy?" then lauren looks up and says, "mommy isn't feeding brandon with her tummy, that's her boobies!" of course then she pulls up her shirt and wants to know if she has milkie in her chest. what a goof! only my daughter...

overnight brandon and i had a rough night. he kept trying to pull his cannula out. he was up half the night. cried for several long time periods. just generally unsettled. i then start getting frustrated because i'm exhausted and just need a little sleep. after his 3 a.m. feeding, i swaddled him up and held him. it's against hospital policy to sleep while holding the baby, but i did it anyway, and we slept until 8 a.m. hallelujah!!!

his day shift nurse had just come on and i spoke with her about readjusting his cannula because he had made such a mess of the tape. she decided to go ahead and try to take it off and see how his saturation levels did. as of 4:30 p.m., he was still off of the oxygen! he even maintained his oxygen levels during/after his circumcision. as if that wasn't enough excitement for the day, he had his auditory screening and then we had our infant cpr class and carseat safety training. by the late afternoon, i had had enough of the hospital and just wanted to come home for a little while and see my big kids. i'm going back in a little while, but i just needed a little break from all the beeping monitors and seeing sick sick babies every where you turn.

here are a couple of pictures of the little man with no tubes! it's so exciting to see him doing so well.

thanks again for all your prayers and sweet notes/emails/voice mails. i have been reminded over and over how blessed i am to have such wonderful people in my life. i am humbled by everyone's love and support during this time.