Jude and Liam - the First Weekend Home

It is our first weekend home with both of our boys! It is so great to be home. Liam has been doing great...mostly eating and sleeping of course. He slept a ton last night which was great. And nope, I did not wake him up to eat every 3 hours...I slept as well. ;) Just don't tell my pediatrician that. Jude discovered Liam's pacifier so for the past hour he has been crawling around the house with it in his mouth. He finally stopped sucking on it about 5 minutes ago. I think it was just a fun thing to find for him, I don't think it will stick. He never took a pacifier before so I doubt he will start now. Liam likes his baby papasan and he likes the vibrating feature on it. He sat in there for about 20 minutes today just looking around. He is such a good baby. Jude has been really good this weekend too...the past week was a little rough though for some unknown reason. I don't know if child care was just wearing him out or what. My classmates have been bringing us dinner for the past week which has been awesome! Now, starting tonight, our church's care team is bringing us dinners. I am not going to remember how to cook or grocery shop. ;) It has seriously been such a blessing to us though...we are so grateful for the wonderful friends that we have.

Jude's First Time at the Zoo-December 26, 2008

I just realized I never put the pictures of Jude at the Brevard Zoo up. He absolutely loved it! He loved the girafftes and the aviary. He keep swatting at the giraffes because that is his way of petting them. They didn't seem to mind as long as we continued to give them food. He was laughing at them; it was so cute. We went with Grandpa Gary, Uncle Chris, Aunt Karen, Mommy and Daddy. Here are a few pictures...

Welcome Home Liam!! - January 18, 2009

We are home! Liam's bili was 10.4 which was still ok to let him go with. Our nurse was so awesome, she was a major advocate for us and she really helped the nurse practitioner see that we could handle going home. The drive home was funny because Liam was the most awake I had ever seen him. He kept his eyes wide open the whole time and he didn't make a peep. Maybe we will have one kid who likes the car. ;) When we got home, I fed Liam and then put him down in his bassinet. Of course, he is a night baby so he woke up basically every hour to an hour and a half to eat but I was just happy to be able to hold him in my arms in our own home! Since bringing him home, he continues to sleep most of the day and is up a lot of the night but I am working on correcting that. Hopefully he will learn soon. ;) We went to the pediatrician today and they made us get another bili drawn. This one was 13.6 which is still ok so they didn't make us get anymore phototherapy. We have to get it rechecked Thurs though. He is 5 lb 15 ounces which means his feedings are going well. He is just so tiny. I know Jude was that small but it is hard for me to remember that for some reason. Every time I go to pick up his car seat with him in it I about throw it up to the ceiling because I am expecting it to be as heavy as Jude is now. Jude absolutely loves Liam, he just cracks up at him the whole time. He gets mad when we won't let him poke or pet Liam hard though. So, we are working on that. ;) I think he is going to be a great big brother though. Tonight is my first night alone with Liam and Jude so we will see how it goes. Liam sleeps so much that it should be fine though. Thanks so much for all of your help and prayers!

Day 7 of Life Outside the Womb-Liam

Baby Liam heading home from the hospital!!

Today is Sunday. I was woken up at 7 am to the sound of the nurse bringing Liam to me! He is in an open crib now and his bili was down to 8 so he doesn't have to be under lights anymore. He is able to stay in here with me now. It is so great to see him in a normal environment. He has a scalp IV though for his antibiotics but the last dose is at 9 pm tonight. They said they wanted to keep him for another night so that they can check his bili in the morning but I asked the nurse practitioner if I can just follow up at the doctor's office because 8 is really low. She said they will just recheck it tonight and if it is ok, they are going to discharge us after his last dose of antibiotics at 9 pm. I am so ready to be home!!! This has been the best day. Having Liam in the room with me makes all the difference in the world. I just keep holding him and feeding him, it is great! Jude and Jeremy came and visited and Jude was laughing at the baby. He kept trying to poke him though and pet him like Eli. It was really funny. It seems like he likes him as of now. ;) The great thing is that tomorrow is a holiday for Jeremy and Jude so we will all be home together for a day. Tuesday though I will have both boys all night until around 11 pm...I am a little nervous about that but I guess I better get used to it. Liam sleeps so much right now that it probably won't matter. I am just so thankful that I have 8 weeks off! It feels so great to know that. So, it looks like we should be heading home tonight as long as the bili is stable. Thanks so much for all of your support and prayers!

Day 6 of Life Outside the Womb-Liam

Today is Saturday. When I came in this morning they said I could breastfeed!! YAY! He latched on really well and he eats for about 20 minutes each time. He is still under the lights but they are letting me take him out to feed of course so it is much better than it was. I still miss him and I never want to put him back when the feeding is over. He is so cute and we can see so much more of his face now when we get to take him out for feedings. He looks somewhat like Jude but I think he maybe looks more like me than Jude did when he was born. He seems to have a really good disposition at the moment. He opens his eyes so wide and looks around whenever we take the bili mask off of him. That must be why he always tries to rip it off in the isolet. He is still passing meconium which means he must have just been full of it when he was born because it is usually gone by now. He is eating every 3 hours as of now but the nurse practitioner said I could start feeding on demand. They are weaning him off of the TPN and it should be stopped by tonight. He has been maintaining his temperature good so far but the real test will be when he goes to an open crib. He still has to get 3 more doses of antibiotics tomorrow. They gave me a nesting room so that I could be here for all of the feedings. I was actually able to sleep which I wasn't really with Jude so that has been nice. It is great being right here at the hospital. I do miss Jude a ton though so I can't wait to go back home so that I can be with both of my boys.

Day 5 of Life Outside the Womb-Liam

Today is Friday. Liam is now on a regular nasal cannula and he is doing well. They are letting me bottle feed still and the plan is to start breastfeeding tomorrow. I can't wait for that because I know it would make him so much happier. His bili is down to 11 today so they are going to keep him on the lights but they say it shouldn't be much longer. We have the same great nurse today so that is reassuring. Liam seems more comfortable than before. I am usually here just about all day except for the 3 am feeding. It is hard to not be here all the time but it has been about 50 below here so getting up and driving at 3:30 am didn't seem like an option. I can't wait until I am breastfeeding and can maybe nest here like I did with Jude. We shall see when that happens. He is still getting antibiotics so his little butt is so raw. He has two more days of antibiotics so that means we will be here until atleast Sunday. Boo.

Day 4 of Life Outside the Womb-Liam Scott Wolter

He has a name!! It is Liam Scott Wolter. Scott is Jeremy and his father's middle name. I think it has a nice ring to it. ;) He definitely looks like a Liam. He has little round cheeks that are adorable! Today they are weaning him off of the nasal cannula onto room air. I happened to ask our nurse why he was still on antibiotics and she said the chart said he had pneumonia. Wow, seriously...no one told me this? Everyone knows I am in med school and that I want to know about everything...what the heck?! So, I asked to speak with the doctor of course and they explained that they couldn't figure out whether he had it or not so they were treating it anyways. His WBC was not elevated, no left shift, no lab signs of pneumonia. So, four days have gone by and no one thought to mention that to me. Crazy. Then, at night, the night nurse said there were findings on the abdominal x-ray that indicated he might have something wrong with his bowels. So, at 10:30 at night, I asked them to call the physician because that was the first I heard of that too. So, this really strengthened the bond between me and the medical staff for sure. ;) The doctor did call us and said nothing was wrong and he basically didn't know what she was talking about. Needless to say, I began reading the chart myself from that point on. And, I asked 1 million questions everyday since apparently that is the only way I will find out what is going on. AHHHH! So frustrating. I do love our nurse today though, she seems to be a real advocate for Liam. She got him a stronger bili light, began weaning him off the nasal cannula, and was very supportive of feeding him. He has a diaper rash from all of the antibiotics he is getting and she ordered him some special cream. She seems really great. She took care of Jude for a day or two as well. Liam's bili is down a little but he is still under the lights. He is a lot more active at night and is more hungry at night. Hopefully we can get that switched around once he is home. He makes the sweetest little faces. He loves his pacifier too.