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Easton

Easton
Easton is the cutest little boy we know! He rightfully earned the nickname 'BEASTY' when he was a baby and it has stuck with him. He is such a sweet little mommy's boy and we are ALL at his Beck and call. Easton loves cars, snacks, and playing outside. He is talking up a storm and it seems like he learns something new every single day. He is at such a fun age. We LOVE LOVE LOVE this little guy!

Ainslee

Ainslee
Ainslee is the baby and she just turned ONE!! This child is a handful!!! She hasn't quite grown out of the difficult phase.....that she has been in since she was born, but we still find ways to find her sweet side! Hearing her baby giggles and watching her discover & learn new things make all the whininess......just a little easier to deal with. Aaaahhh, we love this Ainslee Girl!!

Avery

Avery
Oh our cute little Avery! With her blue eyes & blonde hair, she is one of the cutest 4 year olds around!! This girl is stubborn! She definitely keeps us on our toes. She is quite unpredictable, which makes for a lot of laughs! Avery is our TREAT-FREAK! We can always guess what is on her mind. My favorite thing about Avery is her smiles. She always has one for us no matter what and that makes everyones day just a little better. She attends preschool and says she doesn't like it, but secretly we know she does ;). We are so lucky to have this cute girl in our family! We can't get enough of her.

Kobe Dylan

Kobe Dylan
Kobe is our first child, born in 2004. He was 4 months early and weighed a whopping 1 lb. 4 oz.! We got to be with Kobe for 4 wonderful weeks. I feel so blessed to have been chosen to raise one of God's perfect children. We love him and thank Heavenly Father everyday that he is part of our family. We have a treasure in heaven.
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Dr. Jones

Dr. Jones

Quinnlyn

Quinnlyn
Quinnie just turned 6! She is growing faster than we can keep up with! She loves going to first grade and is doing really well! She picks up on things very quickly and LOVES learning. She's seriously a sponge. Her favorite thing to do is write notes and draw pictures for her friends & family. You should see our continual stack of papers. Quinnlyn is creative & spunky & totally independant. We love her like crazy!

Monday, April 26, 2010

The days after....

The first time I held Easton (besides it being amazing) I noticed that his breathing was weird. He sounded very stuffy...almost wheezy. It kept bothering me, I didn't think a brand new baby should sound that way, but I let it go because every time a nurse or the pediatrician assessed him, they said he looked & sounded great. Well the afternoon after he was born, I was working with a lactation consultant who was also a NICU nurse & she was concerned about his breathing. She decided to take him to the nursery to check him out. I thought "Ok, I'll just take a little nap until he gets back". A bit later she came back in and let me know they had the neonatologist look at Easton & they were admitting him to the NICU.

I was a mess. The NICU is somewhere I never wanted to go back to but there I was in the same scary position of possibly having a very sick baby. I immediately went down to the NICU to be with Easton. Before I saw him though, I spoke with the Neonatologist about what they had planned for my little guy. Basically they told me that his breathing was very rapid & he was having to work very hard to breath. The doctor was concerned that he had a problem called Choanal Atresia (click on it to read about it) which obviously affects breathing, but could also come with heart problems, eye problems, & other stuff. They did blood cultures to look for infection, a CT scan to check the bones in his nose, an echocardiogram to look for heart abnormalities, and a chest x-ray. Thankfully all the tests came back normal...but that didn't tell us what was wrong with him.

So we just waited. He was on monitors and they put a feeding tube in and we just waited. He had his own NICU room and it had a couch & a recliner & we were allowed to stay with him as little or as much as we wanted. Of course we didn't want to leave him....but we did end up going back to my room to get a little sleep (4 hours is not nearly enough after being awake for almost 2 days).

The next morning when we walked into the NICU, I could hear a baby crying and instantly knew it was Easton. It broke my heart & I decided I wouldn't be leaving him alone anymore....no matter how tired I was. That day was just spent holding him and waiting....and I was able to talk them into taking the feeding tube out so I could feed him. It was a long day.

This NICU experience was very different than my first one with Kobe. Besides having a good outcome, I was pretty involved with Easton's care. Not that I could do much for Kobe, because he was so sick & in his Isolette. But I wasn't proactive in his care & went along with everything the nurses or doctors said. I felt like I couldn't voice my concerns & pretty much felt like a child (which at 20 years old I suppose I was). But this time, I couldn't sit back and do nothing. I took the liberty to hold Easton whenever I felt the need (which we never put him down), made sure they knew I would be holding him while they fed him (even though the feeding tube required no holding), asked questions about his care, requested to speak to the doctor if I needed some answers, etc. In fact, if I wouldn't have requested his feeding tube to be removed so I could try to feed him, I don't think they would have done it--and that was the first step to seeing that he was breathing much better. Brett mentioned that he heard the nurses saying "This mom wants to do nothing (speaking of another mother with a baby in the NICU, & this one wants to do EVERYTHING." We think they were talking about me....and I felt pretty proud of myself ;).

Sunday I was to be discharged....so I had planned on just moving my stuff down to Easton's NICU room. It was a great NICU to be in. They provided free private sleeping rooms for parents, & nursing mom's even got free meals even though they weren't patients (and they had pretty good food. They had a full menu that I got to order from & I could get as much as I wanted. I even had a steak one night for dinner...but the chocolate cake was my FAVORITE...I even took a picture because it was so yummy.) It turns out I didn't need to stay any longer. After Easton's Hep B test, circumcision (so sad), hearing test, & PKU test (he was tortured that day) they discharged him. They even took him off all the monitors early that morning so it wasn't so difficult to hold him. Such a great feeling to know that he was going home at the same time as I was! We were home by 2 O'clock Sunday afternoon.

The girls made Easton a 'Welcome Home' sign. They were so excited about it ;)


Ready to go home....so tiny in his car seat.


So cute!



The only picture I got of him with his feeding tube & monitors (that you can't see).


Oh yeah, the diagnosis was basically NASAL SWELLING. They think maybe after he was born, whoever suctioned his nose irritated it too much. Whether that is correct, who knows....we are just glad he is doing well.

11 comments:

Erin said...

oh.... how scary! I'm so glad that it ended up being nothing. What a blessing. He is a handsome little guy!

Rach said...

He is so absolutely adorable! I am so glad that everything turned out well for the little guy--sorry you had to have stress. I cannot believe you had no EPIDURAL {for the second time} I honestly think I would DIE from the pain. You are wonderwoman--enjoy that sweet baby!

Candace said...

I am SO relieved everything turned out okay for him. I love feeling more proactive with mine and my babies care; especially since, like you with your first, I just went with whatever the docs said and didn't ask questions NEARLY enough. So way to go! He is SO cute, Kim! And it sounds like you love having a little boy, despite your worrying. :)

Scott and Jamie said...

I've never heard of nasal swelling, boy am I glad everything worked out fine. He's cute, love the hair!

Clenece said...

I am so glad things turned out so well in the end. Glad you guys are home now. I love all his hair!

Unknown said...

He is such a cutie! I think the second pic of him on here looks like Brett--what do you think?
Glad you are both doing well.

Bobbi Simkins said...

congrats! he is so cute! so much hair! glad things turned out ok

Phill, Allie, and kids said...

I'm so glad everything is ok with him! Having a baby is scary because so many complications can happen. Such a relief when you get to bring them home healthy! He is adorable and you look great too! Congrats!

Jeff and ReAnn said...

That is wonderful that he is doing well now. I am so glad that you have taken initiative with your doctors. I felt the same way after laboring with my first. I just did exactly what they said and didn't ask any questions but then I realized that they aren't there to just tell you what to do, and they actually like it when people are somewhat proactive (as long as it doesn't hinder them from doing what they are suppose to do). So I am glad that you did what you did. Its your baby and sometimes I think they just don't think about it sometimes. Good for you! :)

Krebs Krib said...

Kim! I am SO excited to hear Easton is doing well!! That is so wonderful! You are one strong Mommy! You have been through so much as a parent! You are such a great example to me! Hope that you are the new babe are doing great at home!! He is just adorable!!

Jenn @ My Not So Glamorous Life said...

SO GLAD you didn't have to go home without your baby boy! He is just darling, and what a good mama you are!