Doing great

Baby Ross is still doing great! He got three things taken out today! One of his chest tubes, an IV line in his groin, and his RA line that went really close to his heart. He also got moved to a different room. Since he is doing so well, he doesn't need his own nurse. Soon, he will go to the 3rd floor. They mentioned something about tomorrow, but that seems too soon. He still needs to get two more chest tubes out, and his arterial line. Those are more than likely coming out tomorrow, but not for sure. We got to hold him today! Since his "RA" line was taken out, we can hold him. It was SOOO nice. I posted the pictures of us holding him. More to come though. His sucking technique has come back, so he is eager to suck on his pacifier again. The occupational therapist was very impressed w/ his progress. He has tried the bottle again, and he got a few drops swallowed. It wasn't a good evaluation though, because he was on morphin from the chest tube being pulled out. He was way too tired to be interested in eating. Other than that, he is usually on tylenol now. =) We will keep trying the bottle thing everyday, and see how he does. I'm not too worried about it, and when he is ready he will do it. No pressure on him. He's been through so much already. He is still just breathing room air, and his oxygen is really good. Usually it's about 82-83. This is good for HLHS babies. Well, I will try to update tomorrow. He is sleeping most of the time now because they increased his feeds, so his stomach is full. =)

Dad holding baby for the first time after his surgery

Mom holding baby for the first time after heart surgery

Baby Ross 3/18/08

Please welcome my new bundle of joy to the world!!!

He is finally here!!!!!!!!! No more waiting for this precious baby. He was born on March 5, 2008 @ 4:37pm. He weighed in at 7 lbs. 11 oz. 19.5 inches. His apgar scores were next to perfect, being 9 and 9. His stats were great, and he is doing SO well! I am so proud of him, and how strong he is. Since he did so well after the delivery, the nurse brought me my baby, and I held him. I then passed him off to his daddy. Dad held him for a few minutes, and then...he got to walk little Ross out to the hall where family was anxiously waiting! There was no big hurry to get him off to the NICU. It was more than I asked for. It was so great. It was so crazy to carry him in my stomach for 9 months, and then he came out, and it took me a minute to realize that he was mine. I'm still in shock that I have a son.

Anyway, he is still doing great, and just got a PICC (spelling?) line put in. That was a success as well. The doctors don't have a date for surgery yet, but saying for sure next week, but who knows what date. They are in no rush because he's very stable. The only thing that is bad, but not horrible is that his breathing/oxygen levels are "too good".....go figure..so they are thinking about intubating him. No final word yet, but it could happen. This is not a bad thing. It's something that we knew would happen. but, it's happening for a better reason, He's doing TOO GOOD! =) They don't want his lungs to get much blood to them or something.

I got to change his diaper about an hour ago. I also put a little speaker and his CD that he's been hearing inside the womb since October. Ever since we found out about his heart defect I bought a CD, and played if for him everyday, sometimes twice/three times a day. I knew that he would be in the NICU, so I wanted him to have this as a soothing tool. I think it's helped. He seems so relaxed, and not bothered. He was like this before the speaker was placed in his bed, but I would like to think it's helping some. He also has a pacifier. He likes it.

Ok, I'm tired, and will update later. Here are some pictures! More to come, I promise.

Baby Ross only a few hours born

This was 2am, and I finally got to got see him in the NICU. My blood pressure got high after the delivery, so they wouldn't let me go see him. I had to get better. They gave me some blood pressure meds, and that seemed to do the trick. I also spiked a fever, but that too went away. I was so upset that the doctors were "fussing" over me. I just wanted to see my baby. But...all is better now, so it's ok.

Almsot time!

Just a quick update. Well, really can't think of anything, except, here's a new picture. I am gettting SOO excited for Tuesday! Looks like baby Ross decided to hold out after all!