Temperature Control....Mastered!

When we went to feed Hayden this afternoon, he had graduated to his big boy bed. His nurse turned off his isolet at 2am and he was able to maintain his temperature all day, so he is officially out of the box. Dr. Baer seems to think that he may come home on Friday/Saturday so mommy has been scrambling to get some things done around the house. He is going to have his pictures taken tomorrow, so we have to find him something cute to wear for the occasion. Daddy really wanted to buy him an argyle sweater vest this evening, but mommy would not let him.

In the past week our little cutie has mastered all of these things:
1. Breathing on his own
2. Eating like a pig
3. Maintaining his temperature
4. Methodically filling his pants
5. Spraying almost everyone that changes him, the nurses even sent home laundry for mommy to do today after one of his incidents
6. Getting really ticked off at the Physical and Occupation Therapists
7. Gaining 3 oz in the last 24 hours(Those cheeks are starting to look a little more Wilson every day)

We just could not be more proud!

Look Dad...no tube

Hayden has his feeding tube removed this morning since he is now eating between 45-55 ml at each feeding. He looks so much cuter without all of that stuff attached to him. He has continued to eat like a champ, but he is still having some trouble controlling his temperature. We are hoping that he is out of his temperature controlled environment and into a big boy crib by tomorrow, but we will have to wait and see.

Last night was bath night, so daddy got his first shot at giving him a bath. He did a very thorough job, and Hayden much appreciated the lotion after it was all done.

Dr. Baer, the pediatrician, stopped by to let me know that she very cautiously thinks he may get to go home some time this weekend. We don't want to rush him, but we sure would like to get him home.

I have been officially discharged from the hospital, but they are letting me stay in my room today so that I can be around to feed him every 3 hours. I will probably go home this evening and start to get a few things done around the house in anticipation of his homecoming, but still try to make several of his feedings for the rest of the week. I am not sure how much more hospital food I can handle ;-)

Hayden likes to eat!

Hayden has been making advances with his eating on a daily basis. This morning we started him on 20 mils of milk at each feeding. Even though that is 5 more mils than yesterday, he is not having any problems taking it down. I have been able to pump enough that he is eating only breast milk at each feeding. He is not quite strong enough to nurse just yet, but he is taking the breast milk from a bottle. We visit him in the nursery every three hours for his feedings and are able to keep him out of his bed for close to an hour. Daddy has gotten quite good at diaper changes, but mommy has better luck with the feeding and burping.

I should be discharged from the hospital on Tue morning, but we are hoping that I will get to stay in my room for a few more days so that I can continue to get his milk to him as he needs it. Daddy is going to go back to work on Wed, so that he does not use up all of his time off while Hayden is still in the hospital.

I know everyone is dying to know how long we think he will be here, but we just don't have those answers just yet. He seems to be doing quite well with his eating, but he has not made as much progression with regulating his body temperature. His nurse says that when they can set the temperature of his bed at 26 Celsius, he will be moved to a big boy crib without a heater. They did turn the temperature down just a little bit today, so let's hope he can stay warm!

HE HAS ARRIVED...a little early!!!

Hayden Cole Wilson was born via c-section on Friday, May 23 at 1:02am. He was 5lbs 1oz and 18 inches long.

Hayden is about 6 weeks early and will have to spend some time in the NICU, but so far he is progressing wonderfully. Luckily, his size was a blessing. He has already been weened off the breathing assistance. Now he just needs to learn how to eat and control his body temperature. Once he's got those mastered he can go home.

Here are some pictures we've taken so far.

More Good News!

My visit to Dr. K was quite pleasurable. The blood pressure reading was normal for me, and maybe even a little low. All of the labs came back negative for preeclampsia as well. Dr. K was quite tickled with the turn around. She still wants me resting and working from home, but I have the freedom to leave the house to run errands and do other important things.

Her report from the ultrasound shows that the little "beef pop" is in the 79th percentile for weight. Dr. K is not real sure where I am hiding all of that baby since my belly measurements are not that big. She mentioned if the baby gets above the 90th percentile we will start to worry about how he is going to get out, but I must admit almost the 80th percentile has me a little concerned.

Well, as promised above are a few baby photos of Jason and I so that you can see just how much that last ultrasound looks like Jason and nothing like me. The one of Jason in the green stroller cracks me up every time I look at it. After looking at these pictures, our child is practically guaranteed to not have hair for some time.

Baby Does Not Care Mommy Is Sick

We finished up with all of our hospital errands this morning, which included an ultrasound to check up on baby and some more labs for mommy.

Baby has been busy working out in the womb since early this morning, so he was in tip top shape for the camera. We got to see his latest profile(above), and we are thinking he just might have Wilson lips and cheeks...it may be too soon to tell. OK, let's pray its too soon to tell or maybe Baby had a big mouthful of fluid, I will post some of Jason's baby pictures and you will know what I am talking about. The Wilson cheeks make me laugh out loud every time I look at his baby photos. He was cute...but funny none the less.

They took some measurements to compare his weight with his gestational age, as well as some doppler readings to see how blood is flowing through the placenta. All of the tests checked out just fine, which was a relief for mommy & daddy. Essentially, baby does not care if mommy has high blood pressure and has to sit on the sofa all day, he is GROWING. Baby currently weighs 4 lbs 5 oz, and should gain another pound by week 36. If he reaches full term, he should put on another 2 lbs those last few weeks with a delivery weight in the 7 lb range. He is currently in the 70th percentile for weight, which will make Dr. K very happy.

Now, if we can just get good lab results again and decent blood pressure reading on Monday!

Too much rest for the weary (week 31)

As most of you know, I went to see Dr. K last week and my blood pressure was unusually high. She sent me straight to the labor and delivery department at Missouri Baptist for observation. After some time there, the pressure was back to normal so they sent me home with instructions to begin a 24 hour urine test in the morning and to stay off my feet.

I went to see Dr. K again on Monday, and the tests that she had performed showed that I was not showing any signs of preeclampsia which was a relief. However, the blood pressure is still high. She put me on some medication to help lower the blood pressure, and sent me home with the expectation that I will be on modified bed rest until Baby Wilson joins us.

We are headed back to the Wash U Women's Center tomorrow for an ultrasound to make sure that the baby is not feeling any negative effects of the high blood pressure.

We go back to see the Dr. on Monday, so we are hoping for a more reasonable blood pressure this time.

Meanwhile, I will be hanging out at the house laying around. I am able to work from home, which is a blessing since my maternity leave would begin right now otherwise. Every day I can work from home is another day I will get to spend with Baby Wilson after he is born.

Thanks to everyone that has been checking up on me and offering to help out, we really appreciate the sentiment.

Let's hope for some positive new tomorrow, at least we will get to see what Baby looks like these days.