Blessed

A message from Mom:

Hello Everyone!

Just wanted to take a moment to thank you all for the prayers, well wishes, cards, gifts, e-mails and phone calls during this time. It is much appreciated, and makes me feel less alone.

Special thanks goes to my sister who has been invaluable during this time. I am not sure what I would have done without her help. Ask someone else less able/likely to assist, I suppose.

My sister has been my transportation, my helper around the house, and has been watching my daughter Racheal for me as well. Not to mention giving me a small break or two while she is here so I can post this message to you.

For the first ten days after delivery, I was told by my doctors not to drive, go up and down stairs, lift much, or do any regular exercise. Part of that is because I am still on blood thinner for my blood clots, but also I am still recovering from having Preston, which normally takes six weeks minimum.

Thanks also goes out to my parents who have helped out doing handyman work around my house, brought gifts, and celebrated Christmas with us. Even though they couldn't come by and see Preston due to recovering from illness, you all have been super.

These fine folks had come all the way from Virginia (6.5 hours) to help!

Since Christmas Eve when I came to stay 24/7 in the progressive unit at the hospital with Preston, I've experienced quite a different world than just going to visit. During this time I have especially appreciated the help with my daughter since I haven't been able to be with her.

Although being here has been kind of like being a shut-in, it has been a joy getting to know my new baby. Preston is a little sweetie, even though as a newborn he pretty much eats, sleeps, and needs his diaper changed, I have been able to bond with him and get to know his schedule and how he communicates.

He likes to look at me, at my striped shirt especially, and colored toys. He makes all kinds of faces, and is very vocal with the grunts and cooing noises he makes. After I feed him, he usually either stares at me or falls asleep. When he has his eyes closed, often he'll smile several wide, cute baby grins. Precious!

I hate the hiccups

I really really hate the hiccups. And I get them all the time! I even got them when I was still in Mommy's tummy. I don't just get the annoying hiccups; I get the ones that hurt! When I get the hiccups I cry a bit after the first one, and after the next hiccup I cry even more. Somewhere between the fifth to tenth hiccup, I'm wailing and my face is all red. It helps when Mommy or Auntie Heather pat my back and talk to me until it stops. If they keep rubbing my back I'll go right to sleep, I'm so tired of fighting the hiccups. But then, sometimes, I get woken up by--you guessed it--the hiccups. Sorry the video is so dark, but here I am with Auntie Heather and the hiccups. (Hey--that sounds like a great name for a band...Auntie Heather and The Hiccups... no? Ok, then.)

Mommy and my nurses are still waiting for me to eat enough before they will let me go. They want me to eat about 2 ounces at each meal. Usually I leave about 1/4 to 1/2 an ounce. Since they've been thickening it a bit with rice cereal, they're going to try it now without the cereal, in the hopes that I won't get full so fast. I've also been real spoiled having Mommy here with me--I'm so used to being held while drinking my bottle that I insist on that now--only the best for me! I love to snuggle, so this combines two of my favorite things--a full belly and a warm snuggly lap.

Since the video was so dark, here's another picture from yesterday of me with my auntie.

Lil' Brother & Big Sis!

Today was another big day! I got to meet my big sister Racheal! We both had been really looking forward to this moment. I was so excited I was nearly speechless, and just stared and stared. I recognized her voice, though it was a little different from what I remember when I was swimming in Mommy's tummy. I can already tell we're going to be great pals.

Racheal even helped feed me this afternoon. Mommy showed her how to prepare my bottle. My nurse Elisa says maybe I'll be released tomorrow or the next day. It all depends on how well I'm eating. They want to make sure I can get enough myself without using the feeding tube. The thought of that is so exciting to me that I think...I need another nap.

Baby's First Christmas

Merry Christmas, everyone! Wow--what a day! Here at the hospital, I got dozens of homemade cards from some local kids. Santa brought me books, a stuffed bear, and even Rudolph! Mommy even got a pretty afghan that someone made and donated. No one wanted us to feel left out of Christmas even though we were stuck at the hospital.

Back home, on Christmas Eve, my big sis Racheal and Auntie Heather had opened one present each. They opened one for me too--actually our puppy Gizmo helped open my present since I'm not zen with the hand-eye coordination yet. Here's a cute clip of that--I can't wait to meet both of them. Please excuse my elf who forgot not to turn the camera sideways for video.

On Christmas day, Auntie Heather discovered that the power was out at the house. Duke Power told her there were over 700 people in the area without power, and they were working on it but didn't have an estimated time it would be fixed. Everything else was so strange about this Christmas, that having the power out was almost funny. If worse came to worse, she knew there was food at the hospital cafeteria. Fortunately, the power came back on at about 12:30, so Grandpa started the turkey and stuffing then.


They opened gifts at the house and later came to the hospital to bring Mommy her and my gifts. Mommy was glad to see the family. I hadn't been giving her much sleep. I keep falling asleep on her when she feeds me, so that takes longer than normal. Then she has to pump milk and clean bottles. (They're using bottles for me right now so they can measure how much I'm eating.) When she changes my diaper I wake up and get mad. Last night she only got 2 hours of sleep. I, on the other hand, have been getting tons of sleep, even during photo op sessions. Are you sure breast milk doesn't have tryptophan in it?

Christmas Eve

Today I moved in to the Progressive Care Unit at the hospital, and Mommy moved in with me. This is a transition unit where Mommy will be taking care of me most of the time instead of the nurses. The nurses will still be around to help out and check on me and Mommy. I'm real excited to have Mommy here so much now. I'll get to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas with her. I wish the rest of the family could stay here too, but I'll be home in a week or so.



It's really great news that we moved here today. All of my IVs and drainage tubes have been removed, and I'm off most of the medications except occasionally for an antibiotic, and a diuretic to keep my blood pressure down. I'm even off of oxygen and my nurse Elisa says that's great since most cardiac babies are still being weaned off of the O2 when they get here. I still have my little feeding tube going down my nose to my tummy just until I eat enough from my bottle. The only other wires are just monitoring my heart rate, respiration rate, and O2 saturation. Elisa showed Mommy how to pick me up--because my incision is still healing she needs to scoop me up from underneath instead of pick me up under my arms.



I'm still working on eating more. Even though it took the better part of two hours since I kept falling asleep on her, Mommy got me to eat most of my latest meal just now. Was this luncheon, afternoon tea, or dinner? With all this sleeping the hours just run together. Mommy is late getting her lunch because of that, but she doesn't mind. I have a sneaking suspicion she's starting to like that cafeteria food. Well, the convenience of it anyway. When she gets back it may be time to feed me again. Maybe we'll watch a Christmas movie while I eat--I'm voting for "The Polar Express".

Milking It

Hi everyone! I'm still in the CVICU... still doing pretty well. They took out the IV in my neck today. Every time Mommy comes by the nurses tell her how cute they think I am and how I like to snuggle. I've been using my lungs a bit more today--showin' off my attitude a bit!


I'm trying out milk for the first time. Mommy's been pumping every 2-3 hours since I was born (one week ago!!), so there's a stash here at the hospital for me. I take about 10 cc's of milk pretty well then I'm done. That's not enough to satisfy my nurses, though. I don't get this whole working for food thing. So far the IVs have been doing all the work. I also spit up a bit, so they checked to make sure I wasn't aspirating (inhaling my spit-up), and thickened the milk a bit with some rice cereal. But my nurse Jessica said that a lot of cardiac babies have issues like this eating. The ENT people might check me out with a scope tomorrow just to double check everything. For the night I've got a tiny feeding tube to get the milk down to my tummy.


My family's been busy at home getting more stuff ready for my arrival. Grandpa helped out with some handyman chores around the house, and put together a new bookshelf for Mommy. My big sis Racheal and Auntie Heather have also helped organize things so there will be more room for my swing and toys. Grandma brought a bunch of brightly colored presents to put under the tree. Mommy says there are so many gifts waiting there that her friends and family gave me at her shower too. I can't wait to see everything. I won't be home for Christmas, but it will be an even better holiday when I do get there.

Momma's Little Boy

Today was the best day so far. I have even fewer tubes, and they even took away the pacing leads. I'm doing great! My nurse Joanne sang some songs and I like "Apples and Bananas" best. But I forgot all about that when Mommy walked in the room. She got to hold me for a long time and sing and talk to me. I had a lot to say to her, too. In fact, I didn't stop chatting the whole time. It all came out as little cooing noises though. I'll have to continue practicing that enunciating thing. But it was clear that Mommy understood.

Don't I look better? I didn't mean to scare anyone yesterday with my photos--I really was feeling better! Tomorrow I will probably start on milk for the first time and move from CVICU probably back to NICU. Joanne says I'm a really good baby--I don't cry at all when they're switching around the tubes and stuff. I guess the only thing that irritates me is when Auntie Heather tickles my feet. She should at least wait until I can focus on her better, so I can plot my revenge. At least tonight she was nice, and just held me and rocked me a bit while I slept. I was still cooing--I was dreamin' of Mommy.