Axton Dean

Our sweet little family has officially grown by one! Just like Ayson, this little man came in to this world on his own terms.  We were hoping to make it to May 7th or 8th, but he had other plans.  So, we find ourselves in the NICU yet again for longer than we had hoped, but knowing what to expect has helped ease some fears and calm a few nerves.

Here's a short version of Ax mans birthday.  Prior to his delivery, my contractions had been steadily increasing each day.  Luckily, we had been able to get most of them to stop with IV fluids.  However, last Wednesday evening (April 24th), they transferred me to labor and delivery because my contractions had not slowed.  After a sleepless night (anyone who has spent the evening in L&D knows what I'm talking about), we thought we were going to get transferred back over to postpartum because my contractions had slowed way down.  Then, all of the sudden they picked back up and the decision was made to go through with my c-section.  Because of the instability of the placenta and the cord vessesls, we could not take the risk of having and more contractions.

I was prepped for surgery and off we went to the OR.  Axton arrived at 12:52 pm, and weighed 5 lbs 11ozs and was 17 in long.  Now the journey to bring him home has begun.  Here is his first official picture :)

 
 Since he was born at 33 weeks gestation, there are a whole host of preemie issues that little man will face before he gets to come home.  His first hurdle is lung function.  Axton's lungs were not as well developed as you would expect to see in a 33 weeker.  He was immediately placed on a ventilator and given a dose of surfactant.  One dose usually does the trick...of course, not with our kiddo.  He eventually had to be given three doses of surfactant before it started to help him breathe more easily.  This stuff is seriously a life saver!!! (plug for the march of Dimes and the work they did on developing this lifesaving therapy!)  

1 day old, on the ventilator

 
He was finally weaned from the vent and put on a si-pap machine.  This is basically a step down from a ventilator.  He has been on this machine for two days now and is doing very well!  
 

Can he be any sweeter?!

We are hopeful that he will come off it tomorrow.  He has also been on photo-therapy (the blue lights) for three days because he was somewhat jaundice.

Hanging out with our little glo-worm

Which brings us to today.  They were finally able to start him on feeds today.  They do this through a tube in his mouth that runs to his stomach.  They started him out on 5mL and he has tolerated it fairly well.  They did have some residuals with this amount so they have backed him off to 3mL for now.  Good news is that his little digestive system is digesting most of his feeds and he is stooling; all great indicators that his digestive system is likely functioning like it should.

His little puppy that Ayson picked out for him keeps watch :)

If you followed our story with Ayson, you know that the NICU is an up and down journey.  There are some setbacks along the way, but it is all a function of time and allowing their little bodies to grow.  There are numerous milestones that Ax must reach in order to be able to come home...which we all will become familiar with along the way.  

Now, that I am out of the hospital, I will do my best to update this blog daily to keep everyone up to date on his progress.  This first week in the NICU has been a bit scary at times, so we are hopeful that we are over most of the "big bumps" in the road.  Only time will tell.  

Thank you for all of your love and support.  We have been through this before, so we can do it again.

Much love to you all until tomorrow... 

 

Days as a Family of Three

I miss this sweet little face already!  We had a great weekend of hanging out, and always, it went by way too fast.  Aaron made the comment that this would be the last few weeks with just Ays.  And even though I know that, I had never really thought about it.  It makes me a little sad that I'm spending that time stuck in the hospital instead of some quality one-on-one time with him.  

So, I relished every sweet little moment with him this weekend.  From our afternoon nap, to hiding from dinosaurs under the blanket, to playing cars, to riding in the "alligators" (aka elevators), to our "don't you smile" game, it was a weekend to appreciate the simple things.

And the simplest of all those moments was seeing the pure joy on his face every time he got to feel his baby brother move.  Seriously...melt my heart.  It's been a fun ride as a family of three, but its clear, we are all ready to see what a family of four feels like!

On a sidenote...can you tell I need out of this place and a tall glass of wine?  I'm becoming way to emotional and nostalgic;)        

Nothing could be more true...

I save quotes (usually Aaron and Ayson"ism" funnies) in the notes section of my phone.  Occasionally, I save other random quotes that strike me when I run across them.  

The other day I decided to clean up my notes app, and ran across this gem I had saved some time ago...

"You can do what you have to do, and sometimes you can do it even better than you think you can."  -Jimmy Carter

For some reason my brain must have known that this quote would become significant in our future.  I love it...it is the most true statement I have heard in quite some time.  I always knew WE could do this, I just never imagined how well WE would do it.

32 Weeks!

32 weeks has been our major goal all along.  So, needless to say, we are ecstatic to get to this point.  Babies born now generally have an excellent chance of survival, without any major long-term complications, though they might not have full lung maturity (which generally occurs between 33 and 37 weeks).  Because of this, I will be getting a second dose of steroids a few days before my c-section to hopefully help mature those little lungs.  Now, we are just on cruise control until May 7th or 8th and hoping for a smooth ride.

Here's to 32 weeks!!!! YAY! 

31 Weeks 5 Days

There is finally some light at the end of this very long tunnel.  I had an appointment with Dr. Blake this morning (my high risk OB).  Thankfully everything is still stable...great news!  The blood pressure in the cord vessels is still where it should be, and my cervix has not changed.  She wants to see me one last time in two weeks then it will be go time!  She officially recommended that my c-section be sometime in the 34th week.  With this information, my OB has scheduled my c-section for either May 7th or 8th.  That's three weeks people!!!  The end is in sight :) 

I cannot tell you how great it feels to finally have a date set.  I have been feeling lately like I'm running a marathon and have no idea where to find the finish line.  But now, I have something to count down to, to set my sights on, and it feels wonderful!

If we can keep this guy cozy in his current home for the next three weeks, he will be almost 35 weeks at delivery, which would likely mean a short NICU stay.  Definitely much shorter than what we had anticipated at the beginning of this journey.  And a week or two in the NICU would seem like a walk in the park to us...we will take it!

Here's a little look at the chunkster.  They estimated his weight at 5lbs today!  This would put him at the 93rd percentile for gestational age.  He's a chunky monkey!  You can actually see him fattening up now, and even the hair on his head.  Pretty amazing!  We are definitely getting very excited to finally meet him...in three weeks, of course!  As you can see, he's running out of room, and it's a little harder to get a good picture of his sweet little face.

 

31 Weeks!

We have reached 31 weeks today!  This feels great for a couple reasons...one being that each day this little guy is still baking is one day less in the NICU.  And the second reason being, we only made it to 30 weeks 5 days with Ayson, so it feels amazing to get past that day too!

Even though we are all getting tired of being here, we are still trucking along knowing that all this will be worth it!

I saw a quote on Pinterest a while ago, and it has stuck with me through all of this.  

"When you face difficult times, know that challenges are not meant to destroy you, they're sent to promote, increase and strengthen you."

Day by day, we are getting closer to meeting this little guy, and no doubt discovering just how strong WE really are along the way.

Goal #2 Reached!

We have reached another important milestone...30 weeks!  It feels great to be this far along, and even though we don't want little man to come this early, if he does, his outcome will likely be very good.  Just look at Ayson :)

We hope he continues to stay put!  Next goal...32 weeks!  And when he does arrive, we've got his first hat waiting for him.  Orange and black, of course!!!

 

 

 

29 weeks 5 days

This has got to be the coolest ultrasound picture we have ever seen (and believe me, we've seen our fair share of them!)  We were able to catch a sweet little smile today.  How amazing is that?!  Despite a few contraction episode scares, things are still looking good...still shooting for 34 weeks.