Happy New Year's Eve!

Happy New Year's Eve!!

Holidays are always a big deal around our house. Add in a new baby and it becomes even more special. Christmas was pretty hard this year since we spent it mostly at the hospital with Noah and didn't see any of our family until the next day. We were so glad that we were going to be able to spend New Year's Eve with him at home and with family too! We relaxed most of the day and then went to dinner at Chili's. Afterwards, we came back to the apartment and were joined by Greg and Angie. We watched some TV, enjoyed a few drinks and snacks, played a few games, and rang in the New Year. Welcome 2008!

Also, if you want to see more pictures, both from tonight and from the year, email me or leave me a comment and I'll send you the link to my Shutterfly collection.

These are my "New Mommy" flowers from Ben that he got for me today. I love them (and him)!

The New Year's Girls - and no, we didn't plan to all wear green.... it just sort of happened!

Nana and Papa before the festivities began.

A sleeping Noah... who has no idea he has a hat on!

A New Year's Kiss from Aunt BB and Aunt Jessie.

There's no other way that I would want to start off 2008 than with a kiss from my son and my husband.

A Full Day

This picture is really from last night, but I couldn't resist adding it.... Ben scored his highest game ever (234) on Wii Bowling while carrying Noah around in his Snugli. I think that Ben thanks you even more for that Michelley!

Today was a pretty full day for us. We ate lunch at Whole Foods (don't worry, Noah stayed in his "bubble" (his carseat/stroller) the entire time) and then ran to Target to get a few more baby blankets and other necessities.

Afterwards we came back home....

Noah and Papa reading the newspaper before we left for lunch.

Noah getting some quality time with Aunt BB.

Daddy and his Mini-Me.

Noah's first bath at home!

Ben and Daddy-Man's first time ever playing Wii Boxing!

Life is good.

THREE OUNCES!

That's how much weight Noah has gained since he was discharged on Thursday night! Yeah!

(Daddy burping Noah while we were at the doctor's office... he's holding the burp cloth with his mouth after Noah spit up on Greg last night!)

We're so glad - babies are suppose to gain about an ounce a day at this point, so he is right on target! He's been eating well and we couldn't be happier!

Also, Noah's Very Hungry Caterpillar quilt came today in the mail from Chanel - she finished quilting and binding it! It looks great and Noah seems to love it! (Thanks for finishing it up for me Chanel!)

Getting some loving from Aunt Jessie!

First Day Home

Noah is finally home! Our first day has gone very, very well. He slept pretty good (he woke up every two-three hours to eat during the night) and enjoyed being held by his grandparents, aunts, mommy and daddy, and, later in the evening, the Frey's. He loves his swing too! (And sunglasses.... thanks Great-Aunt Connie!) He even took a whole two ounces from a bottle too!

Nana, Papa and Noah.

Swinging during dinner!

Enjoying some time with Angie too.

DISCHARGED!!!

Accomplishments of the day: Noah was circumcised and FINALLY discharged!!!

When Dr. Davis came in and found out that Noah had taken all of his feeding orally the day before, she was willing to allow us to take him home! Of course, we have to take him into the pediatrician on Saturday for a weight check to make sure he is eating well and gaining weight, but we're just thrilled to finally take him home! We had to wait for Dr. Bickman to be able to do his circumcision, so we didn't actually leave the hospital until after 11PM, (he had to pee first after the circ), but it was worth it!

Noah in his carseat! FINALLY!!!

Video taken when we first arrived at home!

NICU Watch Day 17

Accomplishments of the day: ALL of Noah's feedings during the day today were ORAL! He did so good and we're hoping that he'll be released soon!

My family came into town today and arrived just in time to see Noah during his 8PM touch time. Everyone was SO excited to get to finally see him in person and hold him.

Meeting Nana.

Proud Papa!

Aunt BB loves him!

Aunt Jessie could hardly contain herself!

NICU Watch Day 16

Merry Christmas from the NICU!

Accomplishments of the day: Noah did great with all of his oral feedings today!

We spent most of the day up at the hospital with Noah and celebrated Christmas there. In between his touch times we watched our new Christmas presents (we watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) on his laptop in the cafeteria. And, when we got back home, we put his first Christmas Baby ornament on the Christmas tree. While it wasn't the ideal Christmas, at least we got to spend some time with him!

The Smith Family

Noah's Christmas Hat (it has a reindeer on it!)

Noah's First Christmas Ornament

NICU Watch Day 15

Happy Birthday Noah! Two weeks old today!

One of the nurses got all the kiddos in the NICU Christmas clothes.... Noah's says "Naughty or Nice".... Ben thinks he's pointing at the naughty, but we all know Noah is nice!

Accomplishments of the day: Today was another good day. Kari, another occupational therapist, came by during our morning breastfeeding session to check in on Noah. And, FINALLY, someone listened to us when we said that we think the amount that he is receiving in his feeding tube is too much and is making him too sleepy to latch on properly or to take a bottle correctly. To make things even better, she spoke to our nurse and the on-call doctor (who called Dr. Davis to confirm the decision) and we decreased the amount that he is gavaged. At our afternoon breastfeeding session it was like he was a whole other kid! He was hungry and awake and ready to eat! And he did! And the same for our evening session. We're anxious to find out how he'll do at his two o'clock in the morning bottle feeding.

Merry Christmas Eve!

NICU Watch Day 14

Accomplishments of the day: Today was a MUCH better day. Ben talked with Dr. Davis (the neo-natologist) and we are all on the same page now - she knows that we want to bring Noah home as soon as it is safe, not necessarily ideal or perfect and she agrees with us! Also, the morning breastfeeding session didn't go so great, BUT the afternoon and evening one did! I've finally got my little champ back!

This is the outfit that his (Great-) Aunt KK got for him... the back and the front! Isn't he adorable in it?! (And sorry... I forgot to turn the picture before I uploaded it... and I'm too tired to go back and fix it.)

He just looked so peaceful when we came in that I made Ben run back out to the Jeep to get the camera!!

Every time we go in for a touch time with Noah, we start it out by waking him up, taking his temperature and then changing his diaper.... and, just so everyone knows, Ben is a great poopy-diaper changer!

NICU Watch Day 13

Accomplishments of the day: Nothing major to report, except for the neo-natologist finally set Noah on a real schedule. Every other feeding is going to be by mouth (either bottle or breast) and the remaining ones are to be done through his feeding tube.

Big yawn after finishing up a feeding!

We tried to get him to smile for everyone!

NICU Watch Day 12

No major accomplishments to report today.

This morning was a rough morning. We called (as we were told to do) to see what Noah's touch times were suppose to be. We were told 9,12,3, & 6. When we got to the hospital however, we found out that they were set for 11, 2, 5 & 8. We missed the first one and they were already feeding him through his gavage - I bawled. I'm so over all this. I'm just ready to take my baby home where he belongs and he'll get all the "mommy milk" he wants and needs and nothing ever again through that dang (I used a nice word) gavage tube.

On a much happier note, I came back from pumping after the 2 o'clock feeding to find my two favorite guys enjoying some much needed sleep and skin-to-skin time.

We're still not certain when he'll get to come home, so please continue praying that it is before Christmas, or at the very least, Christmas Day. We're both ready to have him home and feel that he is ready to be home too -- pray that he starts taking all of his feedings by mouth and not the gavage tube.

NICU Watch Day 11

Accomplishments of the day: Noah is now done with the special medication that will help relieve some of the fluid in his body and Dr. Davis asked us to go ahead and call Dr. Bickman about getting him circumcised - she didn't want us to miss out on having the person we want to do it, do it, just in case we are released over the holidays. So that's a very good thing.

We couldn't resist dressing him in his BDU-style onesie that Angie and Katy (and Greg and Landon) got for him. We forgot to put the bib on him for the picture - it says "Daddy's Little Sidekick"!

NICU Watch Day 10

Accomplishments of the day: Sada (the OT) increased his number of bottle/breast-feedings from one per shift to every other feeding after he sucked down a whopping 83cc/mL! At one feeding, he refused the bottle from Sanna (his nurse for the day), but happily went to Mommy for a little breast-feeding!

They told us that we could start bringing in some of our own clothes for him and dress him, as long as they were only onesies or t-shirts (to make it easy to get to his tubes and cords). So we picked out this one from my sisters:

We figured we better start putting to use any of those 0-3 month clothes that might still fit!

NICU Watch Day 9

Accomplishments of the day: Jessica (the lactation consultant) helped me get Noah properly latched on for the first time - and now he is a pro!

Mommy kisses are his favorite kisses. ;)

My two snuggle-bugs.

NICU Watch Day 8

Happy Birthday Noah! One week old today!

Accomplishments of the day: Noah's jaundice level has gone down so much that he no longer needs to be under the Bili lights! Also, he's moving into a "big boy" crib - he no longer needs to be in the incubator bed! And, finally, the OT has given him a "prescription" for how often he should feed from a bottle - he took 41cc/mL (of his required 91) from a bottle today!

Noah's new crib - though we wish it was at our home, we know that this is a good sign that he is making a lot of progress!

NICU Watch Day 7

Accomplishments of the day: Noah was moved to NICU East! (NICU West is the first stop for all NICU babies. Babies in the NICU East are there for care after their various conditions have been stabilized.) Also, his jaundice level has started to drop!

Noah sleeping under the Bili lights in his incubator bed.

Noah's Project Linus blanket - Project Linus is a non-profit organization that gives handmade blankets to seriously ill children (such as all the babies in the NICU). We really like Noah's because it looks like a "cowboy" blanket.

Daddy's favorite hairstyle for Noah - all spiked up.

More snuggle time with Daddy.

(After yesterday's vent, I thought I should post this too.)

Top 5 Things You Should ALWAYS Say to a NICU Parent

1. Congratulations!!

2. This sucks - I'm sorry you are having to deal with this.

3. What can I do to help?

4. He's SO adorable! I love his (fill in the blank with anything).

5. I/We love you and am praying for his time in the NICU to be short.

NICU Watch Day 6

Accomplishments of the day: Ben finally got to hold his son for the first time. Noah's jaundice level is starting to stabilize, though it is still high. He also opened his eyes and stayed awake with us for nearly an hour while we held him.

It's finally "guy time".

Noah always seemed to get the hiccups in utero and now that he is out in the world, it is no different!

(Here's my vent for the day:)

Top 5 Things you Should NEVER Say to a NICU Parent

1. When are you having your baby? (Seriously. The security guard asked me that after we had already explained to him that we needed a NICU parking pass. I know I still look five months pregnant, but weren't you just listening to what we were saying??)

2. Enjoy this time because when you get him home, you'll be SO tired. / Sleep while you can! (Are you flipping kidding me? I'm tired now because I have to come up here to the hospital just to see my child. And I can't sleep because he's not here with me. I'll sleep much better, thank you very much, once he is home.)


3. Use this time to get ready for him to come home. (I'm already ready for him to come home - seriously. All the important stuff has been finished. Everything else can and will wait.)

4. Aren't you glad you didn't have to carry him to full-term? He would have been SO big! (WHO CARES!? I don't care how big he would have been - at least he wouldn't be in the NICU.)


5. Did anyone tell you that diabetics have bigger babies? (I can't even respond to that one. See previous blog/vent.)

NICU Watch Day 5

This has been one of the hardest days of mine and Ben's life. No parent should have to leave their child alone at the hospital, no matter how good of care the child might be in. There's really nothing more that I can say than that. (Needless to say, I now understand how my parents must have felt all those times I was in the hospital.) I was discharged early in the morning (about 9ish), but since we lived so far away and the occupational therapist was coming to work with Noah in the afternoon, my nurse allowed us to stay in my room as long as we needed (well, up until 6:30 at shift change).

Accomplishments of the day: Sam and Noah had some "Kangaroo Care" time (skin-to-skin... it helps promote healthy brain development and, well, just makes everybody involved feel better).

Noah lying "prone" in his incubator bed under the Bili lights. Notice how his legs are splayed out like a frog! That's due to him being breech in utero and will correct itself quickly and naturally.

His Daddy's hands always calm him down when he gets upset. He loves the firm touch that Ben gives him.

Noah and Mommy enjoying some skin-to-skin time after attempting to breastfeed. Look how relaxed he is when I get to hold him!

The tube/syringe on the side of the rocker is giving him the rest of his formula (I'm not making quite enough milk yet). It's called a gavage tube and it allows him to be fed without having to "suck".

Thank goodness for a sweet lady at the Pump Station who met us at her home to get us our rental breast pump - Rita, you helped us in so many more ways that you will ever know!

And, just as helpful and spirit-lifting were Greg and Angie who brought us dinner and sat with us until we drove back up to visit Noah during his late night touch time. Thank goodness for good friends.

NICU Watch Day 4

Accomplishments of the day: Noah had one of his two tubes in his umbilical cord removed. Sam had a full day on a regular diet! ;)

The morning view of Santa Monica from our hospital room.

My two favorite guys.

Noah is still under the Bili lights for his jaundice - the only time they turn them off is during his special touch times every three hours.