Happy 1 Week Baby Easton!

In honor of Easton's first week of life I thought I would do a photo recap of the journey we went on to get him here!  This is the white board that was in my antepartum room.  I stared at my goals everyday, #1, Stay pregnant, #2 Have a healthy baby.  

I feel very lucky to have kept Baby E inside of me for 5 extra days!  He was born almost 3 weeks later than Logan.  Logan visited me everyday!  He was a little weirded out by my IVs but after a couple of days he got used to them.  We made strips of paper with stickers on them and he made endless trips to the nourishment room across the hall!  In the picture above you can see Logan and I being tough!

Ugh.  This is a rough picture.  This is how I was feeling after being hooked up to magnesium for the second time.  72 hours of mag is miserable.  I couldn't move, I felt like my brain was swimming in jello, I couldn't eat anything more than ice chips, and I was still bleeding and contracting.  I hated having to deliver Easton early but at this moment I knew that there was no more that my body could do.  I was scared as the doctors and nurses prepared me for surgery that could end up with a hysterectomy and loosing a lot of blood.

 Easton's birth was as perfect as it could be!  He filled the OR with his strong cry and Kasey and I both got to see him right after he was born.  My eyes filled with tears knowing that he was going to be okay.  The next hour and a half was scary, really scary.  I am so thankful for the many prayers that were sent my way!  I lost half of the blood in my body.  I am so grateful for talented doctors!

Easton has been doing amazing!  He needed one dose of surfactant and some support from the high flow nasal cannula.  He has done great with his feedings and is slowly gaining weight.   

We are also quite lucky that Kasey and my school have organized for people to bring us dinners!  This night we had spaghetti and meatballs, salad, homemade bread, vegis, and cookies!!  It was my first time out of the hospital in a week.  Logan loved having our picnic.

After a few days Easton needed to be under the phototherapy lights to lower his bilirubin level.  He spent 3 days tanning!

A volunteer at the hospital knitted this hat!  I may be a bit partial but I think he is just adorable!!  After battling a sinus infection Daddy final got to hold him when he was four days old.

 Big brother Logan has fully accepted his responsibilities!  He talks to Easton, reads to him, and is very anxious to be able to hold him.

 One of the best parts of having your mommy in the hospital is that you can cruise around in a wheel chair!  When I was being discharged he asked his B if I was going to bring the wheel chair home with me!

 He also is very excited to get big brother presents!  The day I was discharged we took him to Toys R Us to get his Big Brother Big Boy Bike!  He has ridden it everyday since then.  He is very proud to show it off to his friends at the park.









Here I am with my handsome boys!  I couldn't be happier this Mother's Day!  Things don't always go as planned but I have two healthy boys that I get to watch grow!  I am the luckiest mama ever!

 Today Easton is doing great!  He is down to 1/2 liter and 21% oxygen (which is what you and I breath or "room air").  If he continues to do well on this setting then his nasal cannula will be discontinued!  He had his oral feeding tube replaced with an NG feeding tube that goes through his nose.  It is so good to see even more of his sweet face!  He is up to 32 mL (a little more than an ounce) of breast milk every 3 hours.  He is tolerating it well and pooping up a storm!

 Tonight he will get his last dose of antibiotics and then they will be able to pull his umbilical IV.  He still has a few bradys (heart rate drops) during a 12 hour shift but this is normal for a preemie.  As he grows and matures he will outgrow this.  The great thing is that he is able to recover on his own without stimulation.  He is gaining about an ounce a day.  He is up to 3 lbs. 14 oz. just 3 ounces less than his birth weight!

We are so grateful that we have had a pretty uneventful NICU stay thus far!  We hope that we can continue to ride this wave for the next month (or maybe less?!?).  The next steps for our big guy are maintaining his temperature and transitioning to an open air crib and learning to feed (suck, swallow, breath).  Hopefully we will get to try breastfeeding by next weekend or early next week.  Thank you for your continued prayers and support!  It is very obvious that they are working!