Getting settled

Guess it's been a couple of weeks since I posted on here... Been a little busy with the babies! Life is going really good for me and my family right now. I'm adjusting to being a stay at home mommy to two wonderful and cute babies. And Shawn is liking his work schedule, 7 days off out of 14 days. So he gets plenty of time with the kiddos on his days off and doesn't see them on his working days.

Dominique is adjusting to Warren being here. I think more than anything she likes having her mommy and daddy around a lot. For those couple of weeks that Warren was in NICU she really didn't see me much, and I hated that! Whenever I ask her where is her brother or where is the baby, she goes over to him if he's in the same room, otherwise if he's in another room she goes looking for him. It's really cute!

Warren is doing a lot better! Shortly after bringing him home he pretty much stopped eating! He ate on average less than 10oz a day for well over a week! Come to find out that he no longer liked his bottles. They were the typical slow flow stage 1 nipples, narrow though. So daddy and I went out and bought 5 different bottles to see if he liked any, we found two of those five to be fine with him. So now he's eating 3oz every 3-4 hours, though sometimes longer. We'll find out tomorrow of he's gaining any weight. His doctor has him on weekly weigh-ins right now. Last Friday he was only 8lbs 8oz, that's only 7oz above his birthweight. Small for a 1 month old.

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Random words

I can't believe my Lil Man will be 3 weeks old tomorrow! I feel like I've missed out on so much. He still seems so small, still wearing newborn clothing and newborn size diapers. At 3 weeks old Lil D was already starting to wear 3-6 months size clothing and size 2 diapers. Now she's wearing 2T clothing and size 5 diapers, and she's only 15 months old!

Today we went looking at some apartments, some close to Shawn's job and some not. We found one we like that is less than a mile from his job. We're gonna go check the inside of it out tomorrow. It's in our price range, 3 bedroom, 2 baths, and best of all it's all on one floor! We've pretty much decided that if we like it we're gonna go ahead and get it. It'll save Shawn gas money, and best of all his commute to work is a few minutes so he'll have more time to spend with his family! Not to mention that he can actually come home for his lunch break and not get fast food. That'll save money I the back and keep the fat off of his stomach, and give me some cooking practice. I'm really hoping we'll like the inside if it!

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One week home

As of today Lil Man Warren has been home for one whole week! It's been an awesome week too! The first couple of days were difficult trying to figure everything out, but since then we've been able to pretty much have a schedule in our lives. I've learned how to get my shower in the morning, how to play with Lil D even if Lil Man is awake, bath time at night, bed time, and both babies going to sleep in their own beds at night.

Lil D adores her little brother, you can see it in her eyes. She's pretty good to him for the most part, every now and then she is a little rough with him but I don't think it's on purpose. He just checks her out whenever she is close enough to his face.

Shawn hasn't gotten to spend as much time with Lil Man as I would like him too but that's mainly due to him working now. He has the next two days off so he'll get some time with him.

I'm so glad that we're together as a family now. Those two weeks Lil Man was in NICU were very hard and very trying. My mind was mesing with me some and playing on my emotions. I felt horrible for always leaving Lil D, and I felt horrible when I had to leave Lil Man. A mom should never have to leave her newborn baby in the hospital! I was robbed of his first two weeks and I still feel like I'm catching up on them. There are not enough hours in the day for me to hold and cuddle with him to get those two weeks back. I know he needed to be where he was at, but he also needed his mom with him. My greatest fear is that he'll get sick again and have to go back into the hospital. I couldn't take it again! He just needs to stay healthy and star home with his family where he belongs!

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One last goodbye

I didn't get to spend the night with my son tonight. They have 5 babies being discharged from NICU tomorrow and only 3 mother and baby rooms. So they had to pick the two most qualified parents to not stay the night, I of course being one of those parents. I'm sure us having a 14 month old daughter has a lot to do with it since she's basically a baby still and that I'm pretty active in his care during the time I'm up there visiting with him. I guess I should good that they think that highly of my mothering skills but I feel robbed out of spending time with my son. I truly thought yesterday was my last goodbye, it hurt like hell tonight when I had to say goodbye to him yet again! I have no idea how my heart has made it through this whole ordeal. I wouldn't wish this experience on my worst enemy! I wish no mother or father had go to through NICU experiences. But I'm thankful there is a NICU to care for babies like Warren and babies worse off than him.

Bring on the sleepless nights! I'm ready for them! Tonight is my
Last night of sleeping pills, nights are rather hard to clear my mind with Warren away so I needed some help to get some sleep. But after tonight, no more pills, just cuddle time with my son!

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Robbed of cuddling time.

Tonight is my last night sleeping in our home without our son. The next time I lay down in our bed our son will be sleeping in his crib at home where he belongs! I feel like I've been robbed of his first two weeks of life. All that cuddling time I never got to do. I can barely remember the detail that dayhe was born cause of everything that happened. I know I got to hold him for about a minute before the NICU doctor showed up and whisked him off to NICU. Shawn didn't get to hold him tip he was three days old, that was the next time I got to hold him as well. And even then it was for a very short amount of time due to him having trouble breathing. Once he's home I'm gonna have a hard time putting him down or letting someone else hold him. I do know I need to have him sleep in his own area and not on me or anyone else. Or we'll be starting the and bad habits we did with Dominique. And we don't want to do that!

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Less than 48 hours, but who's counting!

Well today is hopefully my last goodbye to Warren! I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight, I'll be so excited to bring him home! Tomorrow I'll be rewashing all of his sheets and blankets in a mild detergent since he has sensitive skin. Eventually we'll start using Tide on his stuff just like ours, until then Ivory it is.

I just watched an infant CPR video, one of the requirements to bring him home, even had to show the nurses what I learned by demostrating it on a doll. Another requirement for us in order for Warren to be discharged was to bathe him. So here he is, 10 days old and I finally got to give him a bath and wash his hair. It was a little tricky since he still has an IV in his arm. But we managed. Now if only all the sticky stuff would come out of his hair from when the IV was in his head!

Today is Shawn's Friday at work so he'll be home for the next two days! Then he goes back for two days of work and then has a three day weekend! Doubt we'll go anywhere, we'll just spend time as a family, a family of 4! We'll be spending a lot of time at home the first couple of months so that Warren doesn't come into contact with any bugs or viruses. We are not repeating our NICU stay or trying out a PICU stay!

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Ready for the new normal!

Here I am with my son laying on my chest, he couldn't be more content. You can tell he needed some mommy time like this. Now if only his daddy and big siste were here I'd be more content. But I'll settle for this for the next few days.

Shawn's next day off is Monday, so it's going to be a long weekend. I can either spend my days at the hospital or spend then with Lil DD. Come Monday night I'm supposed to room in with Warren and take him home the next day. I wish Shawn could room in with us too but he's gotta stay with Lil D. But he'll be picking us up on Tuesday as soon as Warren's last treatment is done.

I miss my husband more than I realized. I'm so used to having him around everyday. Now that he's started working I've got to share him with Butler County Jail. Out of 14 days he's home 7, but those days he's at work are long ones, 12 hours long, so we don't get to see each other much. I'm sure I'll get used to it, it is just re first week.

Maybe my hormones arejust going crazy, but this has been a tough last several days. Shawn started his new job, our son joined the world, been spending my days away from Lil D (first time I've done that since the beginning of August), spending by days in NICU waiting to bring home our son, and yeah, also hormones. I'm ready for things to get back to normal, I know we have a new normal coming our way, but it's got to be better than this.

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Another night apart

Well tonight is the second night of having to leave Lil Man in NICU while the family is at home. I really wish I could bring him home! It's like a piece of me is gone, it's staying there with him so he always has mommy around him. I spent about 8 hours with him today, from 10am til 6pm. I hated leaving him but I loved the time we had together. I held him a majority of that time, gave him 3 bottles, changed 2 diapers, and gave him numerous kisses!

Warren will be staying at the hospital for a lil while. I was told by the doctor today that he is on a 10 course of treatment with antibiotics. So that means around the middle of next week or so he'll get to come home. Not what I wanted to hear! I do want my son coming home healthy, but I just also want him home with us where he belongs!

I sleep next to an empty crib. His coming home outfit is in it waiting to be worn by our special lil man.

I do have good news, Gris no longeron a constant IV drop. He still has an IV in his arm but it's only hooked up to somethnig when he is receiving his antibiotics. They also took the tube out of his nose which was going to his stomach since he is now disgesting most of his bottles. He is also up to 50cc of formula! That's just about what they want him at for every feeding. That's about 1 1/2 ounces. Another improvement is they put him in an open crib. The kind they put the babies in when they room with their mother after delivery. So no more scary looking hospital bed for him.

The doctors have no idea what caused his infection, they don't even know what kind of infection he has. All they know is he is responding to the treatment they are giving him. It's not unusual for a c-section baby to have fluids in IRS lungs, it is unusual for them to get an infection from the fluid, and they said even more unusual to have some unknown infection. But as long as he's responding to treatment is all I care about! I love you Lil Man, come home soon!!!

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12 hours

This is the longest I've ever been away from Warren, 12 hours and 45 minutes. And it's killing me!I just want to hold him in my arms and tell him I love him. I hope he doesn't think that we left him him! I can't wait til 10am to see him. I'd go sooner but I really need to be with Lil DD some she's been such a trooper through all of this. I couldn't of asked fora better daughter! And my father and mother in law have helped out more than they know. I'm very greatful to have them in my life. Dominique just adores them and I'm sure Warren will too. My husband has been the strong link between me and him. When I'm down he's there to tell me that Warren will be home soon and that he is in the next best hands from us. He's been my rock the last few days! I love you Shawn!

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Hardest day ever

I did the unimaginable today, I left my newborn son at the hospital in the care of NICU nurses. My time in the hospital was up, but Warren's time is not. They say he'll be home within 2 weeks, but that seems so far away! I'll be spending most of the day up there tomorrow as well as tlevery day this week. Pretty much 10am to 6pm And longer if needed.

Warren did really well for us today. He ate 10cc of formula at 11am, 12cc at 2pm, and 30cc at 5pm. Though I just called to check I on him and he only ate 5cc at 8pm, I think he likes it when mommy and daddy feed him!

I can't wait to see him tomorrow! We'll find out Tuesday wheather or not he has an infection. If he does, he's there for another two weeks. But if be doesn't he could be home this week as long as he gets his eating down pat.

Warren, mommy and daddy miss you! Your big sisiter Dominique can't wait to meet you. We'll have a big party when you get home, complete with cake and ice cream and balloons! Blue balloons of course! I mid you so much lil man and I just left you 4 hours ago. I have no idea how I'm going to make it through the night without seeing you. I'll be dreaming about you though, dreaming about our family all together again!

Wll I think my medicine is kicking cause I'm having a lot of problems writing this. Loce you Lil Man! Be strong for mommy and daddy and mommy and daddy will be strong for you!

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Warren Lucas is here!

Warren has finally arrived! He was born on 8 Jan 2009 at 2:20pm. He weighed 8lbs 1oz and was 19 inches long. He came into the world screaming, the doctors weren't able to hear each other due to his very loud crying! Seems he has some fluid in his lungs so he was taken to NICU shortly after birth where he still is right now. I've been back to see him twice, all I want to do is hold him in my arms! It's so hard having to kiss him goodbye when we leave him. If I was feeling better I would spend the entire night there, but the NICU nurses would rather us make short visits so that he doesn't get too stimulated.

The reason he was sent to NICU was because he was having trouble regulating his oxygen levels. When he first arrived at NICU they put the oxygen hood on him at 100% oxygen, as of 10:30 last night he was on 26% oxygen. Once he hits 21% they will take the hood off him to see how he is doing. Provided he can regulate those oxygen levels and his breathing we will be allowed to hold him! Which is what we're hoping for.

It will take a few days for his body to absorb the fluids in his lungs. It really sucks having him in NICU! I can hear other babies crying on this floor and I know that they are in the room with their mommy, but our room is quiet since he's not in it. Yes, I'm not getting up throughout the night to feed him, but it's not like I'm sleeping well eiter. I fell asleep at 12:30am and was awake by 2:00am. I just want to see my son! Shawn and I decided to let him rest overnight, so we said goodnight at 10:45 but plan on seeing him to say good morning at 6:00am.

He's so handsome! He has a head full of short hair, not nearly as long as Dominique's was though. His skin is so soft and a good pinkish color. He looks so small compared to how big Lil DD was at birth, but yet so big compared to other babies in NICU.

The nurses were telling us that he could leave NICU as early as Saturday afternoon if he can regulate his oxygen levels and slow his breathing down, as well as feed on his own and keep his temp normal. I'm hoping he can do all his so that we can go home together! I don't know what I'll do if I have to leave him here for some extra days!

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The day has finally come

Well tomorrow is the day... We will finally get to meet our son! I keep wondering if he'll look like his big sister when she was born, or look like his dad or myself more. Shawn looks just like his dad and his grandpa, so are those genes strong enough for the next generation too? Another thing I wonder is how big will he be? Lil DD was 10lbs 3oz and 21 inches long! Granted he has 3 less weeks to "cook" than DD, but we'll soon find out.

Our only visitor at the hospital tomorrow will be Lil DD, everyone else will have to wait until Friday evening when we start allowing visitors to see us. We plan on letting the nursing staff know all this so they'll be the one turning away people that first day and a half. We want time to bond as a family and time to rest.

On another subject, Lil DD is sleeping in her big girl bed right and did so for her nap as well today. We took the front rail of her crib off and made it into a toddler bed. She can now get on and off the bed like a big girl! I'm sure she'll end up in our bed before the night is over, but falling asleep in her own bed is a HUGE step for her towards sleeping on her own. Warren will start off in his crib from day one, that way we don't have to repeat all of this all over again in another year or so. Plus I'd like to finally be able to sleep next to my husband!

Well off to bed, if I can sleep at all tonight that is!

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Countdown

Well the countdown begins. Soon our Lil Man, Warren Lucas will be joining our family. I can not wait til I can hold him in my arms! And I can't wait til I see Shawn holding his Lil Namesake as well. Watching my husband play and cuddle with Dominique can bring tears to my eyes, I'm sure it will be the same way with Warren! I'm very interested to see how Lil DD will act around her lil brother. Is she gonna be sweet and loving to him or is she gonna be rough with him? Time will only tell... They'll only be about 14 months apart, both still lil babies in my eyes. I will miss all the one on one time we have with Dominique, but I'm sure we'll still get plenty of that since he'll sleep a lot the first two or three months, hopefully!

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First time

So I finally decided to try and keep a blog going...not sure how long this will last, or how often I'll be able to post, but you never know, I may actually surprise myself!

I'm happily married to a wonderful guy, Shawn, and a mother of a beautiful lil princess, Dominique (Lil DD), and we're about to have a lil son, Warren, within the next week and a half or so. My husband and I recently left the Army nad are moving on with our lives in the civilian world. It's been an adjustment, but we now have more family time which we wouldn't trade in for the world! Just recently Shawn found was offered a job as a Sheriff Deputy, he'll be working in the county jail for a while before hopefully moving onto street patrol. He was wanting to get a job in law enforcement, so I'm happy to watch him live out his dream.

Dominique is quite the little character! She is 14 months old and is the most precious lil girl I know (of course i'm her mother). She's learning to talk and loves getting all the attention she can possible get. Right now her thing to say is "good girl" with a big smile on her face while clapping her hands together, something her grandma Skellz taught her. But the word you'll hear her say the most is "dada". She is a dada's girl! She wants his constant attention and knows exactly what to do to get it!

As for me, I'm doing the stay at home mommy thing for now, two in diapers at daycare is too much! So I get to play with my lil girl all day long, there is nothing better. It's great watching her grow everyday, they learn so quickly! I do miss my Army life, or maybe I just miss some of the people I hung out with, but I don't miss those Army hours (24/7)!