Location is everything...

It's been a few days since I've had a chance to write anything...We've had Abbie over here with us, and its virtually impossible to find an extra half an hour to blog in the hospital waiting room, while she runs around like a crazy child. Its insane how many people have asked us "oh, is she three and a half?" YEAH! howd you guess?! oh, because shes INSANE?! yeah....shes three and a half...But shes a cute kid when shes not being a terror. We love her. This isnt easy on her either. Hopefully by Christmas, we will be home with her baby brother, and she can be appropriately annoyed that he takes all of our attention :)

As for the little miracle, he's had an eventful week. He got his air reduced to 2 liters of pressure, but that didnt work out so well, so they turned him back up to 3 liters. They think they were weaning him off of it too quickly. We dont want his little lungs to wear themselves out. So since we know we are going to be there for a while, there is no use risking it by taking him off too quickly.

He also got taken completely off the Bili lights. Then he got put back on just ONE light instead of two. Then the doctor got sick of that, so she took him back off of them, which he likes. He prefers the dark, because it allows him to open his little eyes. Which, I believe, are brown (its hard to tell, theyre so tiny and he only opens them when its dark)


We also convinced our nurse (finally!) to let us move to a spot near the INSIDE window, so that family and friends can see Rowan if they want to. Jay's mom and aunt and uncle got to peek in at him while I was holding him. Its not quite the same as being IN the NICU, but it is the best we can do for now. So next time Abbie is with us, or my parents, they can at least SEE him through the window...

They are still monitoring his head circumference, as it continues to grow a little each day. This is due in part to actual normal growth, and also due to the hydrocephalus. The neurosurgeon keeps an eye on things, and still is comfortable with what shes seeing, so that is good. We know eventually he will need a shunt, but the longer we can put it off, the more he has a chance to grow, and the better off things will be! and BOY is he growing! hes just slightly over 3 lbs now! He looks bigger, to me, too.

Hes such a little snuggler, and loves to snore and drool all over us...and we love every minute of it! The other day we were taking Abbie to the mall, and as we walked in, she says to me "Mommy! Jason bought you a necklace!" to which Jason replied, NO abbie, i DID NOT. (obviously lying hahaha). Well today, he surprised me with it during our lunch (Bacon and cheddar stuffed filet from longhorn steakhouse...foodgasm!)

The eyes of a child...

Two weeks ago today, I was working a split shift. I felt like trash, and wanted nothing more than to come home and be on bedrest like my doctor wanted. There wasnt even a seed planted in my mind that two weeks later, I would be living my life day to day, staring at machines and tubes hooked up to my tiny precious child. I'm starting to understand what they all do, and it really isnt as scary as it looks the first day you get there and can barely see your child through all the wires. Theres the PICC line in his arm, which looks like a bunch of craziness, but its just so they can easily administer medication if he needs it, and draw blood if they need it. Then, theres the NG tube up his nose. Thats easy, thats where the food goes! Theres a bunch of leads attached to him, monitoring his vitals, and thats about it. Really not that much, if you think about it!

She only looks sweet... (not really, shes a good kid)

His doctors are constantly very impressed with him. Everyday they tell us how well he is doing. Nothing makes parents happier than other people saying how great their kid is. He really has surpassed everyones expectations. Only two weeks old, and will be completely off respiratory assistance by the weekend (we hope) and also in a few days, he will no longer be recieving TPN so  he will be WITHOUT the two space-stealing poles that sit next to his bed. AND when he is off those two things, we will be allowed to carry him to the windows, so that other family members will be allowed to get a peek at him (if they feel like driving the hour + to look at him through the window)

We arent sure how long they want him to stay there once he is weaned off everything and receiving full feedings. I know they want to continue to monitor his brain and hydrocephalus, and hopefully they will be able to put the shunt in before we get discharged. Just so that we wont have to end up going back right after we get discharged. We are hoping once he is stable and eating out of a bottle, they will let him transfer to CVPH so we wont have to travel so much to see him. Hopefulyl medicaid wont mind paying for the transport!

Our little guy is starting to show us quite the personality. For instance, he hates having goop in his nose and throat and mouth. He will scream until they suction him. He likes his pacifier quite a bit too...and hes definitely a belly sleeper! Hes such a sweet baby and loves to snuggle with Jason and I. I cant wait until hes home and can really snuggle with us! Hes still so small right now, Im half afraid Ill break him by moving him...

Sweet baby boy <3

This week we are bringing Abbie over to VT with us for a few days. She cant go in the NICu so we will be taking turns watching her while the other person is in the NICU. Hopefully she is good since I cant pick her up, or run after her, or drive her anywhere hahaha. (technically Im not supposed to even be walking much of a distance either) I cant wait until she can meet her baby brother...They will love each other <3

Babies are such a nice way to start people...

Well, the blogging has gotten a little slow for me. Probably because taking two vicodin an hour before bedtime literally turns me into a zombie that drools all over herself. Not the best condition to be trying to remember all sorts of medical information and whatnot. But I have returned! I'm going to *try* to cut down on the pain meds tonight...see if I can hack it without screaming and crying like a baby. Jason is having snuggle time and story time with our little munchkin so I figured its a good time to update everyone :)

this hat = too big for HIM

Rowan has been doing extremely well, and we are expecting him to be weaned off oxygen completely within the week. He is almost done receiving TPN, and will soon be only on lipids and fortified breast milk. and he will pack on the pounds and be a cute little chubster! And hopefully in a a few weeks we will be able to bottle feed him, instead of a tube up his nose. Babies born before 35 weeks lack the suck,swallow,breathe reflex that is required to drink milk from a bottle. But we will get there! and then he will just have his PICC line and thats it! (aside form his monitors).

he likes to blow bubbles...allll day...

Sunday we were told by one of the pediatric fellows that the cranial ultrasounds they had been doing on Rowan were showing tiny cysts around the ventricles in his brain. They werent entirely sure what this meant, and wanted to get an MRI to get a better look at things. With a preemie, an MRI is concerning because its very hard for them to maintain their own body temperature, so initially, the doctors wanted to put it off as long as possible (since it needed to be done because of the Spina Bifida anyway). They decided that he was stable enough and put in the order. We were told Monday or Tuesday it would probably get done.

I, being the worrier that I am, spent that evening kind of upset, because Im worried about what may or may not be wrong with my little guy. Jason, optimist that he is, told me to shut up because everything was fine. Hes a pain like that. We woke up the next morning and arrived just in time for rounds, and we were told that they were going to be able to do the MRI around 3 that afternoon. So we spent a few hours with Rowan, and broke for lunch, and figured wed come back after the MRI was finished.

zzzzzzzzzzzzz

We got back to the NICU right as he was coming back after his MRI. He did awesome during the procedure, and only got a little cool. But thats easy enough to fix! So we held him again for a few more hours, sang some songs, told some stories, and then we had to get back to the house for sleep. I was still on pins and needles waiting for the results of the MRI. We had heard a few things from the nurse practitioner, but I wasnt going to listen to anything until we could speak to the Neurosurgeon.

finally opening his eyes a little!

I tried to wake up early so we could be there for rounds, but, alas, the Vicodin won out and I slept until after 830 again. Thankfully, when we arrived, the neurosurgeon had not been by yet, even though theyd already finished rounds. She came by, and measured his head circumference. It is a bit larger, but not really concerning. Hes a growing boy now, and his head feels virtually the same. Eventually, I am sure he will need a shunt, but we want him to be a bit older/bigger before that happens. The neurosurgeon talked to us about the MRI results. She said that while these cysts are there, they are not IN the ventricles and therefore are not restricting blood flow to any part of the brain. Also, his chiari malformation (a common issue with the brain caused by Spina Bifida), is not anything that she will need to go in and surgically fix, because it is not severe. She wants to do another MRI in a few months, and ocntinue to do cranial ultrasounds to monitor the fluid in his brain twice a week. She sounded pretty pleased by what she saw, so hopefully that is a good sign :)

Oh, and he is also Bili light FREE! which means no more crazy goggles! YAY! now he will start to open his eyes more. once he starts sleeping less that is. But sleep is the best thing for him right now. It will help him to grow.

Our little guy is such a trooper Im sure that he will surpass any expectations set for him <3

This is what happens when you overexert yourself...

As some of you may have (hopefully) noticed, I was forced to take a brief hiatus from blogging last night. This was not by choice. We forgot the laptop in the car…its kind of a hike from the NICU to the parking garage. We are both lazy, and Im technically not supposed to walk anywhere…plus we’ve had a rough couple of nights.

his hat is a bit too small now!

Don’t worry, Rowan is doing great. This time, the issue was ME! Specifically, my c-section incision. Which has decided that it wanted to be INFECTED! And if you think that sounds like a ball of fun, wait until you hear how they “FIX” the problem.

he likes to hold his pacifier...

There were basically two options. They could admit me to the hospital, and give me fluids and painkillers, and do some sort of surgical magic to drain and treat the infection, and then sew me back up, and send me on my way, eventually. This is not ideal for a few reasons. 1.) I need to see Rowan. Daily. Or I go insane. 2.) I also need to be able to be home (in Plattsburgh) to see Abbie on our days with her. 3.) SO not in the mood to live in a freaking hospital bed. Its not my style.  The OTHER option was that they could give me like 7 injections of lidocane to numb the area around the infection, then they could go in and cut open a couple inches of the incision, and stab me with more lidocane, and then use half a liter of saline to clean out the infected area, and then pack it full of iotaform, and cover it with  a non stick pad. Guess which they did. Yep. We are currently playing the lets-let-hannah-hang-out-with-her-csection-incision-gaping-open game. It’s a LOT of fun. Oh and did I mention that Jason gets to pull all the packing out and repack and redress it TWICE a day? He loves it im sure. Thank god they doubled my dose of vicodin. Or I might have ripped off his face.

This is his list of firsts <3

Now, on to the star of our show…Mr. Rowan is doing extremely well still. He did spike a little fever overnight (Saturday night), and they are assuming it may be caused by the catheterization every three hours. They’ve since decided to go ahead and only do it every six hours. We are still waiting on his cultures to come back so we can see what sort of bacteria we were dealing with. But by the time we arrived in the morning (after sleeping in since we got home from the ER at 1 am) his fever had already gone down and they were going to start him on a round of antibiotics. He seemed to feel fine, if maybe just a bit tired.

His head circumference was about half a centimeter higher today than the past four days. This isn’t cause for concern, and can probably be chalked up to the fact that our little guy is starting to GROW! He weighs 2 lbs 12 ounces now, so hes almost back up to his birth weight (2 lbs 14 oz) and it’s a 3 ounce gain in only afew short days. He must love the food hes getting, even though he cant taste it yet…

this is how he sleeps...and drools...

We bought a new camera today, so now our picture of him will be even CUTER! YAY! Both Jason and I got to hold him for a couple of hours each today. He slept the whole time on both of us. His stats remained at 99-100% the whole time he was on either of us. He loves us. He snores when he sleeps, probably because of the breathing stuff in his nose…but its still super cute. He also sleeps with his mouth wide open. Fly catcher. And he got a big case of the baby hiccups right as we were putting him back in bed after he slept on me for two hours. Such a sweet baby <3  He also got to nap on Jason for a couple of hours while I visited the ER trying to figure out if I could get more painkillers….It was the sweetest thing, and I got some AWESOME pictures…We love our little guy so much <3

hes definitely smiling :)

goodnight stars, goodnight air, goodnight noises everywhere...

Not a whole lot to say today...We only just arrived in Burlington around 530 tonight. We checked in at the RMH, got a way nicer room this week (win!), and then headed over here. Little man was asleep when we got there, and is still snoozing. So we decided to leave him be for the night even though I would personally love to snuggle with him for a few hours...

Oh, he also got bigger glasses...

The first thing we noticed upon arriving was that he no longer had on that ridiculous hat! They've moved him from the bubble CPAP to a hi-flow nasal cannula. He's still on the caffeine to promote his breathing, but he seems to be doing AMAZING all by himself! They also are increasing his feedings every day so that in roughly a week (or less) he will be weaned off of the fluid nutrition that theyve been giving him, and will be on enhanced breast milk (they add stuff to give it more calories, so he can get some pudge!)

His head circumference has also remained steady at 27 cm for the past four days! hopefully it will still be the same tomorrow (I was a little concerned that the hat may have been helping it to stay the same). He has another cranial ultrasound scheduled for monday and an MRI on tuesday. Im not going to lie, im a bit (alot) nervous about the MRI. hopefully he does well...we skated through all the potential Spina Bifida issues and now we are just dealing with typical preemie issues. Because someone was very impatient to see the world.

he was sleeping far too adorably for me to wake him to hold him...

We learned that the nephrologist (renal doctor) wants to discuss not cathing Rowan anymore (theyve been cathing him multiple times daily to make sure he is peeing all of the pee out of his bladder) It appears that he is fine in that regard, so we want to stop doing it before it gives him a UTI or any sort of discomfort.




Hes starting to look a little pinker and less veiny than before, probbaly because hes getting REAL FOOD! speaking of real food, We are heading to Outback Steakhouse for dinner NOM NOM NOM!

He is our son...

Today I received my last paycheck for a while from my job. bittersweet. It will be nice to be able to relax for a while since I was getting incredibly burnt out at work, but money is also something I enjoy having...Hopefully I can get disability, or maybe even try to go back to work a few evenings here and there in a couple of weeks, since im feeling okay...I want to be able to take time off when he comes home too...ugh...If someone could send me a money tree i would greatly appreciate it. and not one of those plants thats called a money tree...one that sprouts hundreds and fifties :)

these diapers are a bit too small for him...but holy CUTE!

Jason and I took the day to ourselves to take care of some things that we have been putting off (understandably) for the past week. We went grocery shopping, although three stores failed to supply me with carnation instant breakfast...thankfully the RMH (Ronald McDonald House) has a steady supply and we are going back tomorrow :)

We picked up an outfit for Rowan, even though he wont be able to wear it for a while. It has monkeys on it, which isnt my first choice, but its next to impossible to find preemie sized clothing ANYWHERE for a reasonable price. Hopefully once he is off the Bili lights, he will be able to wear it. We made sure to get one that buttoned up so that his wires could come through the outside of it...Im sure he will be much warmer once he can wear some clothes too!

This was the band they put around his leg at CVPH. it was big enough to go up to his knee!

I called the NICU around 1pm today to see how rounds went. His nurse told me that they doubled his feeding amount to 5mL every 3 hours. Hopefully it wont take him too long to pack on the pounds! (ounces?) Not to mention the health benefits of getting MY milk, as opposed to IV supplements.

this was the only Preemie outfit we found...

I can't wait to get back to Vermont tomorrow. We are going in the afternoon and staying until early Wednesday morning. I have my two week check up at 10 Wednesday morning....I can't believe it will be two weeks already! Not really looking forward to having my incision poked and prodded...I bought the midwife that was there on Thursday morning a Thank you card. thank you for acting quickly even though I knwo you were exhausted. Thank you for recognizing that I was terrified and helping me to calm down. Thank you for keeping me sane while we waited for Jason to arrive. Thank you for saving my life, and more importantly, Rowan's life. Who knows what couldve happened if you hadnt talked me into coming in to get checked out that night.

"He has the spirit of the sun, the moods of the moon, and the will of the wind. He is our son."

All that's happened in 7 short days...

snuggling with mommy

One week ago (and a few hours), our lives were changed forever when our little miracle, Rowan, decided to make his appearance two and a half months earlier than expected. It feels like its been months, but at the same time, it feels like it was yesterday...

Today we dropped Abbie off at school, and drove the long way around to the hospital, since we were up near the bridge anyway...we arrived around 10:30, and discovered that we were going to be dealing with a different nurse than usual...I know thats normal...but this one didnt even introduce herself to us. We had missed rounds, so she told us that rounds were "good". That wasnt really as informative as I wouldve liked, adn I was hoping we would happen upon a doctor or med student at some point during our visit.

He hates that thing taped to his wrist...

We knew we couldnt stay as long as usual, since we had to come home and get Abbie. Cant ignore one for the other...still trying to figure out how to balance...its hard for her to understand that her brother is a little sick and needs to stay over there for a while...

I got to snuggle with our little man today. It was kinda tough with the headgear in the way...I wish we couldve taken it off him since he does fine without it...but oh well. I was only allowed to hold him for about an hour, because he had to go back under his bili lights.

We are hoping the headgear goes away soon...

He got to move out into the main room today, and into a new bed! now, instead of the open bed, he gets an isolette! it kind of sucks that there are only little portholes we can put our hands in...but itll be good in the long run. it means hes making progress!

One of his doctors came to see us before we left, and she told us that they are going to be turning down the pressure on his CPAP, since hes doing so well on it. and hopefully in a few days we will get a much less intrusive apparatus on him.

This is his new bed. Its completely enclosed so its nice and quiet and climate controlled

She also told us that they are starting to see tiny cysts near the ventricles in his brain. She said they are going to do an MRI in the next week so get a better look. She said that its possible it could just be somethign thats always been there and his brain is just used to working around them. We are going to stick with that unless we hear differently. Got to stay positive for our little guy.




In the past week he has gone from completely using a ventilator, to overpowering the bubble CPAP hes on now...(hopefully that will be gone in a few days). He's had major spinal surgery, which was super successful! Hes been taken off all of his medications and painkillers, and is now only on nutritional IVs and caffeine to help stimulate his breathing...He's such a little warrior...I cant wait to see how far he gets in his second week of life!

Any man can be a father, it takes someone special to be a daddy...

such tiny fingers

My day started at 5:30...im not really a fan of these super early mornings but i suppose i might as well get used to it before our little man comes home...but boy am i exhausted! We had to rearrange our room so it was the way we found it, and we had to do laundry...exciting!

It was about 915 by the time we made it to the hospital. We knew we didnt have much time today, since we had to be back in plattsburgh to pick Abbie up at 215, so we wanted to make the most of it.

Lisa (his nurse for the past few days) told us that he had a really good night. They took his arterial line out of his belly button, in preparation for putting in the PICC line today (thats a line that goes through his arm and directly into his heart to make it easier to administer meds, and to draw blood). When they took out the arterial line, it was a little "cloudy" so they sent it off for testing, just to make sure theres no infection. The rest of his stats are great though so Im sure hes fine.

Snazzy new hat....he was sleeping aww

Hes doing extremely well on the bubble CPAP, and im pretty sure he could go without it completely, but Im sure they want to give it a few days just to be positive. He kept pulling it out though and we wouldnt notice because it wasnt showing up as any change on the monitors. so Im hoping within the week he will be breathing-apparatus free! he looks much cuter without all the headgear anyway....

why jason, thats an attractive nursing gown you have on

They measure his head circumference everyday to check for any indication of hydrocephaly (like Ive explained before), and today, for the first time, his measurement WENT DOWN! They arent doing daily ultrasounds anymore, and will probably only do them if they suspect a problem, so measuring his head is the only thing they really are doing until hes big enough for an MRI.

awwww...

They said that once the PICC line is in place, they will not only be moving him out of his isolation room into an isolet in the main NICU, but they will begin feeding him colostrum that I pumped on the first day. Hopefully once he gets some food in him, he will start gaining some weight, because hes currently down to 2lbs 9 oz. its common for babies to lose weight after birth, even preemies, especially when they arent really getting any FOOD. so YAY for feeding him!

napping on daddy <3

The other big thing that happened today was that Jason got to hold Rowan for the first time <3 The little guy slept on him for about an hour and a half...it was precious. Rowan kept pulling his CPAP out. we didnt even notice. I wish we couldve stayed longer, but we are going back in the morning after we bring Abbie to school. I really hope we can catch up on our sleep at some point before we get too worn down and end up sick or something...sick mommy and daddy are no use to anyone...

If I just breathe...

I had a very restful night's sleep, which  I definitely needed. I think the events of the past week are starting to catch up to me...I could sleep for a month...but I'd rather be with our little guy than be asleep...

Naptime <3

itty bitty tootsies!

itty bitty fingers

We arrived at the NICU around 8:30 this morning. We had the same nurse today that was there yesterday, and she told us that Rowan had a really good night, and that he was doing alot better breathing over the ventilator, and she mentioned that theres a possibility he could be taken off the vent today. I think he liked the sound of that...

I can hold my own pacifier...im kind of a big deal!

During rounds, the med student assigned to Rowan said again that the ventilator could probably be taken out, as long as the respiratory therapist and everyone else involved, agreed that it would be a good idea. Everyone agreed! So we got to hear amazing news first thing in the morning! Along with the news that everything else is going extremely well! Our little guy's lungs are strong enough to do their job without (much) assistance!

The respiratory therapist came in to take out the ventilator tube, and she showed us the apparatus thats involved with the CPAP that they were going to put Rowan on. Its quite an interesting little hat/headband system. it looks like alot more stuff on him, but really its better than that silly tube down his throat! AND we got to see his face without tape or anything on it! he was very displeased, so the pictures we got were not exactly smiles and rainbows...but hes still so cute!

This is my slick new hat...and my pacifier...we like both...I am stylish!

He even started crying a bit...so the nurse went and got a pacifier for him. It took a few minutes but he seems to really like it. Jason comforted him until he fell asleep <3 and then we went to lunch...

When we came back after lunch, the respiratory therapist told us that Rowan was doing TOO well on the CPAP machine he was on, so they were going to change it to a different smaller machine later today or tomorrow. We also learned that tonight they will be removing the arterial line thats running into his umbilical stump, and replacing it with a PICC line in his arm. He has another busy day ahead of him tomorrow!

THIS IS NOT OKAY!

He's quite the feisty little trooper! I cant wait until one of us can hold him again...hopefully tomorrow! We have to go back home tomorrow night to take care of abbie, and hopefully we will be able to balance time with her and time with him and not neglect either....thats going to be the tough thing...

I suppose I'll just stay here with you and be your little bunny...

So, sleeping on a mattress on the floor when youre 4 days off a c-section = probably not my wisest choice. My back hurt and I had to make jason wake up at 4 & 6 am to help me get up...so the mattresses are now back where they belong...I cant wait until the pain subsides a bit...maybe if I wasnt pushing myself so hard itd be better...but I think in this situation its ok to put my child before myself...

This is his Saran wrap tent that keeps him a little warmer!

We arrived at the NICU just in time for Dr. Berg's rounds. From all of the medical terminology, we learned that his sodium levels are doing really well now, so that issue has basically resolved itself, which is awesome! His head circumference has increased slightly, which is further indication of possible hydrocephaly. Again, we expected this and can handle it.

This is his incision...its very nicely done and should heal great!

No pictures, please!

The neurosurgeon came in during rounds and told us that the dressing on Rowan's surgical site can be removed, FOR GOOD! it was tough to get it off, damn sticky medical tape stuff, poor guy was NOT pleased to have that done. His little face turned all red and he was squirming all over the place...but once it was off he felt better. The neurosurgeon was very pleased with the way his incision is healing. It will make a nice scar he can impress the ladies with in about 18 years....

They would like to get an MRI for a better look at his brain, but he is too small so theyre going ot wait a while. Thankfully, we have some time. If there is hydrocephaly, it is not as dangerous in infants as it is in adults, since the plates in the skull allow for so much growth and movement. There is also a chance that any hydrocephaly could correct itself. this would be super... :)

hi

His legs were going crazy!

Mr. Rowan is still doing the periodic breathing, which they are giving him caffeine for. We know he CAN breathe on his own...he just seems to be choosing not to...hopefully he will stop being such a troublemaker soon so he can get that nasty tube out of his throat...because he really hates it...he will pull it out at some pont im sure...hopefully when he does he is ready to have it STAY out, because putting it back in would be no fun...for anyone...

Holding Daddy's Hand

I also got the privilege of reading Rowan his first story. The Runaway Bunny. He liked it. he thought it was very insightful. He said that he would never want to run away from me, and he will always be our little bunny...

I want to hold your hand...10/16/11

I wear my sunglasses at night...

So today, we took a while to get over to Fletcher Allen. We had to do a huge load of laundry…took forever to dry…it was about 3 by the time we finally got over here…I was going a little nuts…I wanted to see my little dude! We had a different nurse again today, but she was so nice, I liked her immediately. That also might have something to do with all the good news she gave us as soon as we arrived!

At some point during the morning, Rowan decided he didn’t want his foley catheter in anymore, so he pulled it out. Luckily, the balloon was not inflated, so it didn’t hurt him, but they decided to see how he would do without it in, and he was doing AWESOME peeing all on his own! Never thought id be so excited about urine!

snuggles <3

so peaceful...

She also told us that about 4 hours before we got there, they took him off sedation completely. No more fentanyl! And he seemed to be doing really well without any pain meds! Maybe now we can get him to open his eyes!

Dr Pfister came in at one point also to tell us that the sodium retention issue we had discussed yesterday seemed to be going away on its own. He wasn’t sure why, but in his own words “ill take it!” basically this means that Rowan is peeing more appropriately, instead of just peeing water, and holding all the sodium in his body.

cutest hat ever <3

I had to pump almost as soon as we got there…and when I was done, I went back in Rowan’s room. The nurse was talking to a nurse practitioner and the NP looked at me and said I hope you enjoy your holding time! I was like “HUH?!” and Rowan’s nurse said to me that they had spoken with the neuro surgeon, and everyone feels that it would be in Rowan’s, and my, best interest, if I got to hold him today and get some skin to skin contact. They had me take off my shirt, and put on a hospital gown, and I lied down in a recliner and they placed that little 3 pound miracle on my chest, and I held him for over an hour. We had a nice little chat…I told him all about his family, and all the people who love him, and that we are beyond excited to bring him home when he is ready. We sang some songs too…the Beatles, Peter Paul & Mary, some good stuff. He liked it. He slept quite soundly…. <3

Napping <3

He started getting pretty squirmy after about an hour and 15 minutes…and my back was getting pretty sore so we decided it was time for him to get back in his bed for the night. The nurse lifted him off me, being assisted by the respiratory therapist who was helping to move all of his tubes and wires…and they set him back in his bed…he left a lovely string of drool on my chest…and some pee….the little stinker peed on me!

As we were getting ready to leave, we were given the results of his daily cranial ultrasound. There is slightly more fluid in his brain than there was yesterday, but not very much. This is something we have been prepared for the entire time, so we are not overly concerned with it. It would be great if it didn’t become a real issue, but chances are he will need to have some sort of surgical intervention to stop the buildup of fluid on his brain.

this is our room at the ronald mcdonald house...jason put the mattresses together<3

Tonight is our first night staying at the Ronald mcdonald house. The house is huge! Our room is on the third floor.. thank god for elevators! And there are a bunch of cakes and cookies and cupcakes in the kitchen we can eat, along with other food haha. Our room has two single beds…which is a big change from our king sized bed….but the mattresses are memory foam! So we will make do. We have to be to the hospital between 9 and 930 tomorrow morning so we are there for rounds and get a chance to talk to the doctor J  I have no internet connection at the house, so I will have to remember to blog from the hospital before we leave….