Mommy's Rockstar

After a day of rest our little guy is back!  I have been told day two is always rough.  Andrew did hit the bottle pretty hard for the first 24 hours.

Day two was the hangover.  To get Andrew to stay awake to eat we had to resort to torture.   Wet cloths under his armpits were most effective.  He would take two sips from the bottle and pass out again.  Around noon Saturday, as he entered his third day with us, his punchiness returned. 

Last night we got in Andrew's first bath.  He wasn't a fan, but he endured.  We dressed him up in some new duds and "Mommy's Rockstar" spent his time like any rocker: fondling and sucking on boobies and drinking until he passed out (repeat).

Mom and son are both getting more familiar with breastfeeding.  It's a process, an art, and a labor.  But we are moving forward.  And by we you think I mean them.  Turns out though Dad is pretty good at expressing, so I am not without utility.

Bear had a really great night.  He has been drinking lots and his blood sugars have been strong.  He is halfway off his IV and with luck and love he could get off of the IV completely by Monday morning.

Mom's blood pressure is still high, but she is off her IV and magnesium and is in great spirits.  It is a time for celebration.

Happy Easter everyone.  Rock out.  \m/

Shift

I'm not quite sure what I expected.  I know I did not expect that within five minutes of meeting my little man, I'd have given up anything to save him.  It's not something for which you can prepare.

It is an epochal shift in one's life.  One that laughs at all but the most sublime experiences of my past.  I'd heard parents joke about it.  I remember one comedian saying, "You expect you might throw yourself in front of a bus for your child.  What they don't tell you is that you'll grab your spouse and throw her in front of the bus, too."  To experience the transition was far more definitive than anything I'd imagined.

Andrew emerged, not crying but sort of gurgling, and despite the best efforts of long tubes, turkey basters and various other implements of suction, he kept struggling.  A certain urgency overtook the OR, and Mom kept repeating, "Why isn't he crying?"  I have a picture of his birth weight.  He's not in it.  They were moving fast.

Generally life is a blur in hindsight.  On this day, life was a blur in the present.  Mom was still cut open with surgeons working all around, a separate team surrounded our little Bear.  It was too much, after checking in with Mom and confirming he was our baby Andrew, I focused just on him as we quickly left the OR headed for NICU.  I stayed focused on him until his breathing was normalized and the flurry of activity around him slowed.

A lot has happened since. Andrew is battling low blood sugars, while Mom is fighting high blood pressure.  Unfortunately, that finds them separated by six floors, and their time together has been limited.  Mom had only minutes with Andrew in his first twelve hours until grandma brokered an excursion downstairs around midnight.  Today we found more time together and both Mom and my little bear are making solid progress.

Just this evening, Shelly was released from her IV's and moments ago Andrew has started being weaned off his IV.  I feel very blessed.  My beautiful wife just brought me the cutest little boy.  I am so in love with them both.

Just Drew

Fresh high quality images!

More pictures in this photoset.

Mom and Baby

Update on our little bear

The first day has been pretty crazy. Hence the brief updates. I spent almost all of bear's first day in NICU while Shelly was 6 floors overhead. She only got about 1 minute on the surgery table and 10 minutes in the NICU before they ushered her upstairs for high blood pressure.

Andrew was initially admitted to the NICU because he was having trouble expelling the liquid from his lungs, he was "gurgling". That calmed pretty quickly, but meanwhile he developed quite low blood sugars. We battled those all day.  He was normal by evening, but always on the low side (around 50).

After midnight we finally busted Shelly out of her floor for a visit but after an hour she was pretty wiped. We are hoping to all spend some time together as a family today.

Together

Sweet dreams