James and his oxygen tank are home

Hallelujah! We made it out of the NICU (and that was no small feat!) James is gaining weight ... now that there is no feeding protocol defining his schedule, he doesn't seem to want to stop eating! This is going to be one chubby preemie in just a few weeks. Hopefully he can kick his small oxygen addiction soon, and as long as he doesn't catch the nasty virus his brothers have, we'll be feeling normal again soon. In the meantime, we're saying our prayers!

Exhausting

Learning to eat and breathe is a lot of work.

Wrinkly elbows

Day 12

Someone show this post to Owen tonight. He'll appreciate seeing that his brother's NICU crib tag has a "chugga chugga choo choo twain" on it. I want to play trains when I get home, Owen! James will be playing trains with us soon, too.

Many a time as I've sat in my chair next to Baby's crib I've thought how ironic it is that the company that makes NICU cribs is called HARD (and in black, bold, all caps lettering, too!) Sheesh, we don't need a reminder that this NICU stay is HARD ... someone should put a cute sticker over that or something.

And here's one of the hardest parts. If you've never used one of these before, congratulate yourself.

At least he has a nice view of the mountains out his hospital room window.

Sweet Baby James

Still here

Sweet little guy just needs his rest. Feedings are progressing slowly, still hanging on to a little bit of oxygen. Maybe a few more days. Hopefully not much longer or Mommy will go crazy. Nice to see Daddy smiling, despite this tough NICU stay:

A blog post between feedings

I wish I could sleep through this NICU experience like James does. Actually, he is getting a little stronger and wakes up to complain every once in awhile. I keep telling him that it's much better at home without all these horrible beeping monitors going off all the time ... much more restful. Still trying to figure out how to breathe on his own. He's decreasing his oxygen requirements slowly. Starting to learn to eat ... he can suck very well, just can't quite figure out how to suck, swallow, and breathe all at the same time, poor guy. Hopefully we can get all of this figured out within the next week or so.

Thanks to great babysitters!

The only way we're alive this week ... babysitters. The kids are handling the NICU experience pretty well. They play a crazy amount of Wii, but it looks like Aunt Bonnie came up with a fun alternative for playtime. Thanks for the pictures, Bon.

James and Daddy

Hangin' out in the NICU

Almost 1 week old!

Starting day 7 now. Trying the Hi-Flo Nasal Canula again today ... hopefully he does well with it this time. Breathing is hard work!

Even more pictures of James

Well, in the NICU it's always two baby steps forward, 1 baby step back. Baby James wasn't very happy without his C-PAP, so we're back on that today ... I guess his poor little lungs just need some time to heal. He did get rid of his jaundice, though. It's nice to have the lights off and the blankets back on.
Fortunately, Mommy and Baby finally got a chance to snuggle yesterday, before the C-PAP came back.

More pictures of James

After 4 days of C-PAP, James is now on a Hi-Flow Nasal Canula, which is much better looking. This shot was taken just after they made the switch and took out his scalp IV, but before they put his bili-lights and face mask back on (for getting rid of jaundice). I think we might be able to hold him for the first time today.

Baby James is here!!!

Baby James arrived two days ago, January 11th. He was 5 pounds 11 oz. and 19 3/4 inches long (pretty big for a 6-week early baby). He'll be in the NICU for a little while, just like all of his big brothers were, learning how to breathe and eat. He is so sweet and we love him so much!
This shot is James on his birthday. The tube in his nose is a C-PAP which gives him oxygen and pressure to keep his lungs open and help him breathe. Hopefully it will be just a few more days before he's breathing better on his own. He has very cute brown hair which you can't see because he has to keep his hat on with the C-PAP next to his head. He also has very long limbs and fingers and toes ... he's definitely a Greenhalgh baby.