4.12.08: HOME!

We brought you home today! We were so surprised that they let you come home today. They had given us the impression it would still be a couple of days, I guess they didn't want to get our hopes up! They took out the NG tube this morning right before your hospital pictures and then we put you in the car seat and brought you home! Grammy and Grandfather brought Ethan up to the hospital so he could be a part of it. We wanted to ride home as a family and bring you home with both boys in the car. This is the first time we have seen you without something taped to your face, it is so great! Putting you in the car seat and in the car was surreal. It felt like this day would never come. I am a little scared, but I know God is watching over us and we will be strong for you! I have never welcomed sleepless nights quite so much. I am so glad to have you next to me. We are working on getting you to nurse more.

Before we left....

At home:

Precious baby, asleep at home. All is right with the world.

You always sleep in this position, it is so funny! Your daddy does the same thing when he relaxes.

Aunt Katie waited so long to see you and she finally got to meet you!

Kinsley meeting you for the first time! She was so excited to hold you.

Ethan Holds "his baby" every chance he gets!

A few weeks later we had a welcome home party so everyone who had been praying for you could meet our precious miracle!

We love you Aiden Joseph Hand and we are so glad to have you home where you belong.

4.11.08 - rooming in

Mommy and daddy are spending the night tonight at the hospital with you to "room in". This allows us to show them that we can care for you and take you home! If you do well then they take out the NG tube and possibly let you come home this weekend. You have been doing great with the bottles every since we started them back and you nurse like a champ every time. It is like it finally just clicked and you are eating great. It is amazing having you all to ourselves in this room and not asking anyone permission. In order to pass the rooming in you have to gain weight overnight. We have to make sure you eat enough every feed. We are setting an alarm and getting up every 3 hrs to feed you. we are going to use bottles tonight so we know exactly how much you ate. It is hard work because when you are sleepy it is hard to get you to eat. We are praying hard that we are only a few days away from home!

4.6.08 and 4.7.08

You ate really well today; nursed for 30 mins! Hopefully you will continue that every time now! Daddy came up and held you for a long time this morning. we are hoping you are home soon! You are doing well off your oxygen and you only have a rare brady or desat.


4.7.08
Today they took you off your continuous feeds at put you on 40 cc's every 3 hrs. We are starting you on bottles along with the breastfeeding and the goal is to feed you by mouth every other feed and then NG every other feed. I hope it works!!

4.4.08 and 4.5.08

You are 4 lb 6 oz today! Way to go little man! You also are off your oxygen. We are so excited to see you off the oxygen and we are praying hard it stays that way. Seeing your beautiful face is so great. Grandma, Grammy and mommy all came to see you today. It was mommy's first day back at work but I got off at 3 and came to see you. Today was also Ethan's first day with a nanny. They all got along fine and Ethan seemed to do well! I thought about you both all day. It is hard to be away from my boys. You are doing so good precious boy!

4.5.08

Good morning! I am here this morning to feed you and snuggle you. You are still off your oxygen and doing great!

4.2.08 and 4.3.08

You are a "feeder and grower" now! They moved you to the intermediate nursery last night after your bath. They took you off your caffeine and lowered your oxygen. They say it may only be 2 weeks before you come home! They hope to get you off oxygen soon. We have to get you off the continuous feeds and get you to take a bottle too! Daddy and I have been putting up the swing and bassinet and washing clothes and blankets. We are ready!

4.3.08
They put you on prevacid today to help the reflux and hopefully get you off the continuous feeds! We are praying that this does the trick!

3.31.08 and 4.1.08

4 lb 2 oz today, good job. You are nursing everyday now and starting to get the hang of it. I come for at least one feeding a day. Grammy, Grandfather, Mommy, Daddy and Grandma all came to see you today! It is so great to have the family up here, they are going to be a big part of your life and they love you so much.

Grana bought you this outfit from gymboree.....too cute!


4.1.08
Mommy is hanging with you today and daddy is at the firestation. You are having a good day. You ate well and they are talking about moving you to the intermediate nursery tomorrow. That is great! One step closer to the door.

3.30.08

Well, after Grana heard that the grandmas' got to hold you, she decided she better get to today! Don't worry, when you get home, you will never get put down : ) It was great. Mommy and Daddy and Grana all came up today and Grana got to hold you.

We are all excited to see you growing and maturing. They went up to 11 cc's on your continuous feeds today. Hopefully you will keep gaining weight. It is so nice to hold you whenever we want so daddy and I don't have to keep tabs on who's turn it is, now we can share : )

3.28.08 and 3.29.08

Today they decided to put you on continuous feeds. That feels like such a huge step backwards because you have always tolerated your feeds so well. They are hoping that is settles your reflux and therefore helps your respiratory issues. Time will tell. You are now eating 10.5 cc's every hour. They are going to keep the continuous feeds until you keep your 02 sats up all the time. I feel like you may not be coming home in the time frame they had estimated. You have to grow to learn to eat and struggle less with your breathing so we understand it; it doesn't make it any easier though. No parents should have to come home without their child. No more bottle trials for awhile either. On a good note, Grammy held you for the first time today! She was so excited! It is so great to share you with the family. We all love you so much. You also got to move to an open crib and get dressed! It is like dressing a little doll! You are so tiny! I love dressing you up so I am bringing up clothes every day. The nurses always have your crib and outfit all matching.

3.29.08

4 lb now! I feel like this is such good news after yesterday. The continuous feeds seem to be helping your reflux.  Grandma came up today and got to hold you. The nurses said now whenever we come up we can just pick you up whenever we want! That is such an awesome feeling. Before we could hold you on a good day and the nurse had to get you out and hand you to us. And we could only hold you if we were there during a "touch time". (every 4 hrs when they take your temp, change your diaper, and do the assessment). When you were so small it was to keep you from getting overstimulated. You are a big boy now and need your snuggles!

I am so glad you got to snuggle with your Grandmas' , They are pretty awesome and will spoil you rotten!

3.26.08 and 3.27.08

3 lb 12.8 oz now! You are getting bigger! You are a month old and that is so hard to believe. While I feel I can't believe you are a month old already I feel a little sad that I have missed out on this month. While I got to be with you as much as I could it is not the same as you being home and caring for you. I know you are where you need to be, but the more time that goes by the less patient I find myself. God is teaching me knew things everyday and I hope I grow through this experience. I hope I find myself more patient, more faithful in knowing that he is in control and I know I will take less for granite. Like healthy children. You nursed today; you did okay. You are just not quite getting the hang of it.

3.27.08

3 lb 14 oz last night. Today the nurse tried to give you a bottle and she said you weren't really sucking. We will have to keep trying. They are getting you down to room air a lot on your oxygen but you reflux during your feeds and they have to go back up. I hope you can get this all worked out.

3.24.08 and 3.25.8

Today you weigh 3 lb 10.4 oz. Mommy came to see you twice today. I really miss you and I am having a hard time with you being away from me. This is just not the way it is meant to be. Since you lost a little weight they increased your feeds to 33 cc's every 3 hrs. You gave mommy 3 poopie diapers while I was here!

3.25.08

You gained weight and you are 3 lb 11.7 oz today. Daddy and I came up this evening and gave you a bath. We also fed you your first bottle. You were not very interested and only took 7 cc's. It was harder than I thought o get you to eat. You looked so sweet after your bath with your fuzzy hair. I wish you were eating better but you just don't seem to get it yet. You are on 23 % oxygen right now but refluxing with your feeds.

Happy Easter 3.23.08

Happy Easter little man. Mommy brought up your stuffed animals out of your baskets. You got a big basket from Grandma, Grandpa and Grana and one from Grammy and Grandfather. You got all sorts of new stuff. You weigh 3 lb 10.7 oz and you breastfed. You are still requiring oxygen, but hopefully not for long.