Baby's First Christmas

What a wonderful week it has been so far. Evan's been home for 2 weeks now and it is getting easier everyday.... as we both learn each other. Dan and I gave Evan his first bath in his tub and what a process. Everything was going well and smooth; then Evan decided he wanted to shower himself... in the face and poor guy didn't like that... so his bath took a bit longer than we expected.

And of course, we celebrated Evan's First Christmas. Christmas Eve was not our typical Dec. 24th... as this year we gathered around the TV for Sunday football (and Evan and I took the opportunity to nap). But Evan wearing his Pats Pj's brought luck once again to our Patriots. And of course, we had to finish preparing for the big day and hosting Christmas dinner.

Santa brought Evan an activity gym/mat and of course it is a Baby Einstein ( the latest and some say greatest in baby fads). And Evan also received a lot of developmental toys which were needed to stimulate his brain... when he's awake. He hasn't really taken to them yet, but give him time and some happy awake moments to enjoy them.

Dan and I really enjoyed our first family Christmas. We were able to enjoy Evan and our family in a "typical" Christmas dinner. Evan was passed around between Grandma, Papa, Grandpa, Uncle Joel and cousin Emma... and that left Evan spoiled and wanting to be held all day on Dec. 26th.. but we don't mind, b/c we love to hold our little "cuddle bug".

I have added some photos to the link, so check it out.

As we were given many blessings this year, we look forward to ringing in the New Year with the hopes of a year that brings health, joy, happiness and the ability to appreciate every moment as I hear they go by fast.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.

Evan's First Weekend Home

Well, it's been 1 week and we all survived. Evan's first weekend home brought a nice visit with his Uncle Joe and Aunty Tanya visiting from NJ. Evan was very taken and fascinated by his Aunty Tanya and couldn't take his eyes off of her and vice versa...

Speaking of my brother Joseph, I know it's "old news" now, but did you catch him on the Wheel of Fortune last Thursday (12/14/06)? He didn't make it to the Final bonus puzzle, but he didn't walk away empty handed and he didn't make any big flubs. For those who live locally, we have it on tape :) And plan to keep it for awhile. It makes us proud how well he did... and it can't be easy knowing all that pressure and all those people around the world will be watching you.


Back to the weekend....Sunday was football day. So Evan wore his Patriots PJs and even kept them clean for about an hour before he spit up on them. BUT he was THE good luck that propelled the Pats to a victory. So those jammies are in the wash and he'll be wearing them again this coming Sunday :) But Evan enjoyed watching football with his Daddy, and uncles Joseph and Joel. And with the Fantasy football playoffs, Evan was initiated into the animated world of fantasy sports. Plus, Evan got to visit Dan's childhood friend Jon & Sarah and their kids.

And yesterday was a fun night of making Christmas cookies with Emma. Fun was had by all. And Evan got to meet Elizabeth (Emma's older sister and hopefully Evan's future babysitter--hint hint!!) Yes, there are many more people for Evan to meet and we are looking forward to him meeting everyone :)

OH, how could I forget, Evan got weighed today and is now 7lbs 8oz... he's definitely growing and soon will be growing out of all those clothes we got... but we're not complaining. And while the visiting nurse was here today, she also showed us how to give Evan a bath and not have him scream... and he was just so calm and may have found it relaxing enough to nap afterwards.

OK.. I hear a hungry son, so I better go....

Home Life

Well, we're just about to complete our third full day of having Evan at home and, I gotta tell you, it's a lot of work! Thank goodness I'm able to take a few weeks off from work because I'm not sure what we would have done. Evan coming early caught us off guard obviously, and it's only starting to become clear to us now, now that we're both home, how far behind we are. And it takes forever to do anything with the constant changings, feedings, burpings, cuddle-time, etc. I know, all you veteran parents out there are saying "NOW you know what's like". Well, yes, now we do.

Hopefully by the end of the weekend we'll have his room setup, some Christmas presents bought and the tree put up. We're both excited about having Evan home for his first Christmas. His grandmother (my mom) personalized a stocking for him and will be dropping it off tomorrow. Christmas cookie cooking will begin soon and once the tree is up it'll feel a little more like Christmas. With everything going on Christmas has kinda got pushed to the backburner, so that'll be nice. Only eleven more days!

Finally, Emma was so excited about coming over to visit Evan. How excited? She gave up setting up and decorating the Christmas tree over at daddy's house for the night in order to pay a visit instead. Trust me, that's a big deal for her!

First Night Home

Well, Dec. 11, 2006 marks the day our little boy came home from the hospital. Originally, the Dr was going to do some tests and keep him until Tuesday morning; but plans changed and Evan came home on Monday. It was very reassuring to hear the Dr be impressed and happy about his recovery.... but he's still a preemie born 6 wks early and sick but going home at 7lbs 1oz.

Then came the fun part of parenting... Dan & I had to do EVERYTHING for him and no nurses to guide us :) It was a good start and ended up being a long night... getting up every couple of hours. But it being our first night, it wasn't as dreaded as I imagined. Just have to get the cries down... which one is hunger, dirty diaper, cuddle time and of course the most popular.... gas!!! It was funny to watch Dan basically gag on a dirty diaper... and this is just the beginning, wonder how Dan will do down the road. I'll have to try to capture the Daddy change diaper and gagging moment on video... that will be a moment to capture.

And this morning, we had a first with me trimming Evan's nails... poor guy was scratching up himself and mommy. And last night in a fit of frustration, Evan 'really' cut himself with his nail :( But he was very relaxed as I filed them down... like getting a manicure at the spa.

Well, Evan is sleeping, so I'll take advantage of this 30-45min and either sleep or do some housework... still doing Evan's laundry and now he's making more and more dirty clothes.

Day 25

Things are progressing well with Evan. Erica goes in to nurse him a couple times a day to get him used to it. Yesterday he was very fussy about it and ended up finishing him off with a bottle. He's beginning to feel like a regular baby at this point - with our worries being of the standard variety, which is very nice. Talk of him going home this weekend has evaporated - but they seem pretty confident about early next week. This works out, really, because we have workers banging around our house yesterday and today making an ungodly amount of noise fixing our chimney for the woodstove insert we didn't get to use last year. It'll be a nice, toasty winter for the Blueberry Hill Bouges' this time around.

We just received a call from the hospital this morning that they are ready to have him fed on a "as needed" basis rather than the schedule he has been on. So the upshot of that is they want Erica at the hospital as much as possible, even sleeping over on the weekend so he can have the "source" of his food at his beck and call. Sounds like a long weekend for at least one of us. They also want us to bring in our carseat so they can have him sit in it for a period of time and check his vitals and make sure he can breath properly in it. Man, they think of everything. Still, it all makes it feel like he's coming home very, very soon.

Outside the Box

So we've had a lot of news lately with Evan. Firstly, when we came into the hospital on Monday he was no longer in his incubator. He's been living in the "the box" since he first arrived on the scene - but no more! Now he's in an open "crib" - well, it's not really a crib - it's a plastic box. Think a clear version of those tubs you put your winter clothes in and stuff into the attic every spring. But still, it's a very nice upgrade in accommodations none the less.

On top of that Evan has begun nursing with his mom. Suffice it to say, that was more of a weird experience for Erica than for Evan I'm sure - but it's great to finally have him with the program after three weeks. He's been on mother's milk since Friday, but now he's drawing from the source. With that, he's finally got the feeding tube removed from his nose. Sadly, I will no longer be able to announce "Up your nose with a rubber hose" upon my arrival anymore at the NICU anymore. It was fun while it lasted.

Our hopes are that he will come home this weekend, but no one at the hospital has really said this to us, so it's just speculation on our part at this point. So that gives us only a few days to get his room together. We've had enough time, really, so it's our fault that it's not ready. We'll knock it out today/tomorrow and see if he'll be moving in soon.

Better Days

This past weekend Evan was taken off the antibiotics that they giving him to treat an intestinal issue and, hence, they were able to start feeding him from a bottle for the first time.  And it's even breast milk from mom!  Up until now (except for a brief two day period) he had been getting his nutrients via IV or through a tube going up his nose - poor little guy.  But everything seems to be getting better and better, so it is giving Erica and myself hope that he may be coming home soon.

He's just about three weeks old now - but it feels like a lot longer with all the turmoil surrounding it.  Erica is feeling much better too, getting around nearly like normal.  Erica is on leave from work so it's easy for us to visit him a couple times a day now.  His feeding times at the hospital are 7:30, 10:30, 1:30 and 4:30 so we time it so we can do it ourselves at least once a day.  They don't want you to handle the baby at any other time (he needs his sleep) so we have to time it just right.

---

Want to start your own business? Learn how on Yahoo! Small Business.

Newborn

So, yes, the exciting news is that baby Evan was born on November 14th, 2006. A tad early, Evan arrived on the scene nearly 6 weeks early and gave everyone an awful fright by showing up sick and leaving his mother in yet worse shape. Both were admitted into their respective ICUs - Evan in Yale/NH hospital and mommy back here with us at L&M. Mommy is much better and has been home from the hospital since Thanksgiving evening, while Evan was moved back from Yale the day before and is getting better every day.

Everyone thinks that their pregnancy will go traditionally and that it's "other" people who have problems that require medical intervention. Well, I'm here to tell you - it can happen to you! Our condition was rare - 1 in 16,000 pregnancy runs into this somewhat unknown liver issue. But, you know, from talking to people sharing their stories, it could have been so much worse. And, hopefully, in the end this will be a small blip on the radar, and nearly forgotten about in short order. One can only hope.

As of this moment we are thinking our little linebacker will be home in two weeks, so hopefully the weekend of December 10th.

Begin the Begin

Ok, so this is me blogging....ooh, this is fun - how did I get along without this for so long. Anyhow, I'm mostly creating this for a place to post news and family pictures now that I have a family of more than just my wife and I. My friends Sharon and her husband were my inspiration - seemed like a good idea. Of course, I'll probably use this space for rambling about god knows what (music, tech, baseball, etc), like any good blogger would, and how excited I'll be if anyone reads any of it!

So welcome, thanks for checking in. I hope you enjoy the show!