Couldn't ask for a better husband or father

After reflecting on the first week of Andrew's life, I have so much appreciation for Justin. He's been the most wonderful husband during this most exciting/hectic time. From doing household chores (taking care of the kitty litter, vacuuming, making dinner), to watching the baby while I nap, to reassuring me through my worrying, he's been the glue to keeping this household together. I always knew that he'd be a good father, but the degree to which he really is amazes me. We're so blessed to have this baby, and Andrew and I are so blessed to have Justin.

Happy to be home

Ahhhhh.... It's good to be home. The first week with Andrew has been a really wonderful and challenging experience. When we left the hospital we knew that the concerns over his breathing/oxygen and the blood cultures for infection were all fine. It seems that it all resolved itself. We were released even though he still had a moderately high level of jaundice, although the doctor thought he would push through it without treatment. Unfortunately Andrew is a very sleepy baby because of the jaundice, circumcision, and all the trauma the first couple days of life. His sleepiness made feeding times a real chore, since I had to put him through acrobatics to wake him up. It often took 20-30 minutes just to rouse him, then I had to try breast feeding for 15 minutes, then I had to supplement with formula, then I had to pump breast milk for 15 minutes. Needless to say, the routine was very exhausting, because once I was finished with one feeding, I'd have to start the process all over again. It was such a worrying time because we weren't sure that he was getting enough food, which was critically important so that he would have enough dierI was also so concerned because I really wanted to breast feed, but I was afraid that with the bottle supplement, that he would end up prefering the bottle. Fortunately my milk supply came in and I am now breast feeding exclusively. Life has gotten easier!! I'm still tired, and don't get enough sleep, but we're getting a routine and I enjoy my quiet time with him. Feeding has become a pleasure.

It's so much fun to watch this little baby. He's just so darn cute. Justin and I are so sad that our friends and family are too far to share in his early stages of life. We'll just continue with lots of photos so everyone can keep up with his development. Motherhood is so wonderful and fulfilling.

First few days







Shhh! We are sleeping!



First sponge bath at home. We did NOT like this!

Welcome Home!

My very own car seat!



Mommy holding me on the way to the car.

Lets go home!





Quit taking pictures Daddy, and lets go!

Getting dressed to come home!

We're Home!

Well it was an eventful and very exciting week. The doctor cleared Andrew to go home this afternoon. He was not concerned about the jaundice and just wants us to keep an eye on him. So we have packed everything up and headed out the door. We are so excited to finally be out of the hospital and back home!

"Don't worry Mom!"

I now understand the futility behind that statement. Made so many times over the years as I was growing up, but it has absolutely no effect. No matter how slight the problem, a parent can't help but worry.

So here is our morning status. The blood cultures came back and everything was fine. No infections and Andrew can stop the antibiotics. Which is good cause it was a shot in the leg every 6 hours that he was never happy with.

Now, however there is a different problem. His bilirubin count is too high. (This is what is causing the jaundice and making him look like our Yellow M&M) It is supposed to at least be under 12 and it is at 12.8 this morning. So we are waiting for the pediatrician to stop by to let us know how much longer Andrew will need to stay at the hospital. It may be a thing where he just needs to be put under a light for a few hours and then we can take him home with a special blanket. Or we may have to stay awhile longer.

The good news is that he has been taking in some food. This will help him clear out the bilirubin that is making him so tired. We had problems during the day all yesterday trying to wake him up to eat. As soon as Mom would hold him, little Andrew would settle right down and go back to sleep. By nightfall however we were able to keep him awake long enough to eat and he is showing good progress. Hopefully if he continues to eat he will start to clear out the bilirubin and we can go home!

My Yellow M&M

Daddys first diaper change

Tiny Fingers

Update

We are still at the hospital. The doctors would like Andrew to stay until tomorrow morning for his blood cultures to come back and to continue his antibiotics. So we will be leaving our room this evening, but will be able to "Camp Out" in the waiting room to be with Andrew for most of the night.

He is doing real well right now, just a little jaundiced and tired. He was up most of the night with Mommy. Speaking of whom, Mommy also needs her sleep. Right now both are resting.

There is nothing more exciting than watching our son sleep peacefully.

Going Home Soon!

Susan was cleared to go home by her OB this morning and we are waiting anxiously for the doctors to say Andrew can come home. So we may all be leaving in a few hours!

Hello

Andrew doing much better

He has eaten some and the doctors say he can join us again this evening.
If everything continues to go this well then both mom and baby can go home
tomorrow evening!

Proud Poppa

Happy Momma

Long Night

Well last night started off very interesting. About 2 o'clock the nurse came in and took Andrew to be weighed. About 45 minutes later Susan woke up and the baby still had not come back. A quick call to the nurse revealed that Andrew was having difficulty breathing. (Still not sure why the nurse did not tell Susan right away what was happening.)

Apparently something got into one of his lungs and his breath rate was twice what it should be. Andrew was moved tothe Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for oxygen and x-rays. It appears that he swallowed some amniotic fluid and that is what was causing the problem. Last night he was breathing around 80-100 times a minute and should have been around 40-60 times a minute. After a little help with the oxygen Andrew was able to clear out his lungs enough to get his breathing rate back down by this morning. He is doing great now and if we can get him to feed twice in a row we may be able to take him back up to Susans room. He will have to stay in the hospital for at least two days while he has an IV of anti-biotics and waits for his blood culture to come back.

All in all it was more scary for Mom and Dad than anything else. But now everything is pretty much back to normal.

By the way, our room phone number is 513-***-****. Although we are not always in our room, we spend as much time as possible up at the NICU.

More photos tomorrow. It is time to get some sleep!

First Photos

Very Happy daddy!

Getting our first foot prints.





Off to our new room!

Please welcome Andrew Justin Turner

Born: 9 44 pm
Weight: 8lbs 7oz
Length: 21 3/4 inches

Lots of blonde hair and blue eyes.

If you would like to leave a message for Andrew, you can visit his website
at http://andrewjustinturner.blogspot.com/

26 hours and up to 6 cm.

Well we have now been at the hospital for 26 hours. We are starting to see some progress, which is good news for a change. Susan is dialated up to 6 cm now and is having contractions every 2-4 minutes. The strength of the contractions has also increased as they are now noticably visible on the monitoring paper. The baby's heart beat remains steady at about 125 beats per minute when he is sleeping and about 145 beats per minute when he wakes up. The nurses and doctors have all commented when viewing his chart that "He is a textbook example of a healthy baby." I guess I was just reading all the wrong textbooks; I assmumed "textbook example" would mean he would be born by now!

On a seperate note, the hospital cafeteria is giving away free ice cream sundaes today in honor of Mardi Gras. Neither Susan or I are quite sure if it is weird that a Catholic hospital is celebrating Mardi Gras. We are certain however that a baby on Fat Tuesday will be just fine with us.

Our goal right now is 10 by 10!

No phone number yet

Just so everyone knows, we have changed rooms, and will change to a third room after delivery. We will post a new phone number after the delivery.

3 CM.

Sorry for the delay in posts this afternoon. As you can imagine we are both quite tired right now. At about two today they inserted the epidural and then shortly after broke Susan's water. Not long after that we got up to about 3 cm. Andrew is in no apparent hurry however so both Mom and Dad were told to take a nap for awhile. It looks as if it may be late this evening or early tomorrow morning until he is ready to come out.

Getting plenty of fluids

Probably a few more hours to go before things really kick in.

Contractions have started

and the nurse just administered the Petocin. Baby's heart beat has been
nice and healthy as he takes frequent naps.

Our spacious new digs

Our spacious new digs

14 hours and little change

So after 14 hours - no change. Justin still on the phone and Susan still
one cm. This boy is too comfortable. We are now moving to the labor
section and will have the Petocin administered.

Still no progress

Well its been 3 hours since the cervatin and still not much progress.
Susan is trying to get some sleep now. In 4 more hours they will check
back in on us and hopefully more will have happened. For now though we are
just praying for a healthy delivery and a little bit of patience.

(This was supposed to be posted quite awhile ago. Now its seven hours later
and even though the socks are on - we have made little progress.)

Shhhh!

Anxious Daddy

Well it looks like it is going to be a long night. There will probably not
be much happening until morning. Tonight Susan will get the Cervadil, then
about 4 am she will get the Petocin. Hopefully this will get the baby
moving.

BTW - The number to our room tonight is 513-***-****.

All checked in

Checking into the maternity ward

The bags are packed...

Still no movement on the baby front. We have an appointment at 4 PM this afternoon to induce labor if things have not begun to move by then. We have spent the morning making sure everything is ready for baby when he comes home. The house is clean and the bags are all ready to go.

Neither of us slept well last night. The mixture of anxiousness and nervousness kept us tossing and turning all night. Somewhat like the first day of school. Every few hours we would wake up, look at the clock, and measure the hours left until we head to the hospital.

Even our cats know something is about to happen. They have both been extra talkative and playful this morning.

We have been keeping an eye on the weather. The last few days have been relatively mild and warm. We have been hoping for good weather on the day we bring the baby home, but right now forecasters are predicting snow.

More later.

Baby's Heartbeat

We had a doctors appointment this morning to check on how things are coming along. We are still just one cm. dilated and 90% thinned. We also had the level of amniotic fluid checked and Susan didn't need an oil change. The doctor says they may schedule us to be induced on Monday, but she is not exactly sure yet. We also had a non-stress test this morning and everything was fine. Here is the baby's heart beat from that test: