Drew's Turn on Cloud 9

Aaron continues to do very well. His chest xray is much improved again today, however it still is showing some crud in the lower parts of his lungs. Dr. Hertz decided to given him one more day on the vent to wean the oxygen he requires. Right now he is at 25%- the goal is to be at 21% tomorrow so they can take him off the vent at that time. Once he's off the vent Dr. Hertz would like to see him skip the tube-feedings and go straight to breastfeeding. Yay!! I'm so sick of bonding with my breastpump- I'm ready for my baby!!

Drew got to hold Aaron today for about on hour- this is only the second time he's been able to hold is son. I know it was therapeutic for both of them. True to the Tooley name, Aaron didn't waste any time pooping while in daddy's arms. This is quite a feat considering the kiddo hasn't eaten for 2 days.


I was able to take a few pictures of Aaron this morning- his swelling seems to have reached a peak. All of the nurses and Dr. Hertz say that on day 3 babies start to get rid of all the excess fluid they've been storing.








Micah came to visit her little brother yesterday- she loves that baby. In fact, that's the only word she says the entire time she's here, "Baby. Baby? Wuv baby." What a great big sis!

I'm on cloud 9...

I got to hold my baby today for an hour!! Aaron is doing really well- holding up his O2 sats and keeping his breathing under 60. I talked with Dr. Hertz, the neonatalogist, about the plan for the next few days. It has changed a little since Aaron's last chest xray still showed a little something in the base of his right lung. Here's the current plan-

**IV nutrition will begin this evening.
**Vent weaning will start tomorrow as long as he continues to do well.
**Tube feedings will start later tomorrow, with oral feedings starting after he is weaned off the vent.
**IV antibiotics will continue for a total of 7 days.
**Go home and live happily ever after.

On another subject- I'm thinking Micah's birthday party will have to be cancelled. I'm looking forward to having Micah's 3rd and Aaron's 1st birthday party together next year!!!

And his name is......

Aaron Daniel Tooley

Aaron is doing well this morning. His respirations are in the 50's (we want him to be less than 60). When he was placed on the vent his respirations were 140's, so this is a huge improvement. All his blood work is coming back exactly where it needs to be. He's very relaxed and sleeping peacefully.

The next step is to start feedings- as long as his breathing remains stable. Initially he will get tube feedings to avoid the stress of having to suck/swallow/and breath. As he proves able to do that (and doesn't need the assistance of the vent to breath) then I can start breastfeeding. Hopefully this process will start sometime today.

Thank you all for all of your kind words, thought, and prayers. I can't imagine going through this without your support.

More later...

He's Here!

It's a BOY!! Drew and I feel so blessed to have this little man in our lives. He entered the world at 12:07 on June 27th-- just a little less then 3 weeks early. He weighed 7lbs 7oz and is 20 3/4 in long. A few hours after he was born he was transferred to the NICU for closer monitoring of his breathing. He needed a little bit of oxygen at that time.

Long story short- the neonataologist felt that he needed the assistance of a ventilator to breath after seeing his chest x-ray and blood work. He was sedated and put on the vent at around 4am this morning. Please keep him, Drew and I in your prayers. It's so hard to see my baby in this condition-- I can't even begin to explain to you how my heart aches. I want more than anything to hold and kiss my baby and I can't.

His blood work and chest xray from this morning seem to be pointing towards pneumonia, which is routinely a 7-day course of antibiotics.

Here are some pictures of him from this morning. His face seems a little swollen- he's getting some fluids to keep his blood pressure up. His breathing seems much more relaxed.





Please forgive Drew and I for not responding to all the phone calls and text messages- we appreciate all of your support and love. Visitors are welcome to come to the hospital-- just know that we won't be able to let everybody go up the the NICU.

I'm going to keep all significant updates posted here. ... like when we name him. :)

A Day at the Zoo

Drew and I took Micah to the zoo on Tuesday. I had been wanting to take her there for awhile. It finally worked out that Drew had a day off and the weather was perfect! We started our little adventure at the dolphin show. Micah loved watching the dolphins jump out of the water and swim around the pool playing with their toys.

Drew and Micah watching the dolphin show. (The pointing finger was very active while we were at the zoo.)

After the show we went to the underwater viewing area. I think Drew enjoyed this part more than Micah.


In the desert building Micah was fascinated with the Meerkats. She kept saying "Hi, kee kee kee!". That's her version of "kitty, kitty, kitty".




Next was the plains exhibit-- the giraffes were very active and so pretty!


After lunch we saw some Canadian Brown Bears-


And our day ended in the Oceans Building (By the way- this is the coolest part of the zoo. I could spend hours in that place.)


Sorry- didn't get any pictures of Micah in this part. She wasn't as thrilled with it was I was.... plus nap time had already been delayed by over an hour.

UPDATE: 35 weeks

**WARNING- This belly is a little out of control. Viewer discretion advised**

**WARNING- The owner of this belly is slightly hormonal- no comments are to be made about the large size of this belly- she already knows. Should such comments be made, the owner of this belly reserves the right to comment on the size of the commenter's belly. However, you may repeatedly comment on how great the owner of this belly looks.**

Impromptu photo session

Do you ever miss your camera? Like, really miss it? Sometimes I feel it calling my name from the closet- "Jen.....JEN.... you need to fill my memory card with pictures of your beautiful growing girl!!".

It was especially loud today. I grabbed it on my way upstairs with Micah- she wanted to play in her room..uh um....I mean get out all of her shoes and try them on. She gets her fascination with shoes honestly... although my shoe and clothing wardrobe lately is in serious need of a make-over.... that's a whole other post.

Anyway.

I was skeptical of how well this little impromptu shoot would turn out. From my experience- the little that I have- unplanned picture taking can go 2 directions- bad or worse.

But I had a breakthrough today!

ADORABLE!!! These are some of my favorite pictures of her to date!