Bean

Our child has really made it big in life and has become a real person because he now has a blog name.  The only thing left is a Facebook account, and then a few smaller things like a social security number and birth certificate.  We were going to call him Little Ricky (what we called him before he was born), but Ry keeps slipping and calls him that anyway.  Bean really does suit him well for now because that is what he looks like.  I guess you can be the judge of that one.

This also helps to show how big he is compared to Ry's hand.  Ry does have big hands, but that is still a little guy.  He doesn't even fit into his own skin on his thighs.

The biggest obstacle to breaking free of his "plastic egg" (incubator) is getting his eating figured out.  He has a feed tube that goes into his stomach.  We are happy to announce that he no longer receives any other supplements except for momma's milk.  I really don't think he will have a problem gaining weight, especially when I looked back at others who have had that very same diet.

LE had rolls on her rolls, and could really compete for baby sumo.  Her thighs were so big, she got stuck in her bumbo.

Pumping is not very fun, but we do all sorts of unpleasant things for those we love.  We have to give Bean a binky when we let the milk drain into him so he starts to learn that sucking means happy tummy.  As you can see, when we keep him fed, he sure is happy.

"Milk Coma"

The closest thing to a smile that we have documented

It is common for babies to lose weight after they are born.  Bean dropped to 3 lb 4 oz, but is starting to climb on the charts.  Since these photos were taken, he has also had all but two of his chords, and pipes detached.

Getting some sun

The nurses were not sure at first, but we found out we don't have a pneumonia issue, so that is good.  He does have jaundice so he needs to catch his rays.  It happens to a lot of new people, so that is not too crazy.  He will probably have to bring a "light suit" home with him when he comes.  They rotate him every half hour in the "sun" to make sure he is taken care of.  

This is a picture of him with his fancy super suit on.  It is mostly a birthday suit, but he does have a nice mask.  Most super heros leave their eye slots open, but I guess he is not really into that.  Hopefully his eyes will mature properly, but it is way too far out to tell that for sure.  If you look closely, you can see that he is pretty furry.

 I do have large fingers, but my ring could definitely work as a bracelet.  The tube by his neck goes into his mouth and into his stomach.  They give him mom's milk when they can, but otherwise they have this sugar/protein/carbo drink for him.  I want to see if I can get some for race days.

Since he is not around, we made a little corner of the house for the little tyke.  With LE we just put her in the corner of the living room, so it is not too odd that he gets a corner of the kitchen (or is it the dinning room?).

Two new events

The title could also be written "too new", but we will get to that later.  The first item of great interest is that we will most likely be signing on a house in Kaysville at the end of July.  We are pretty excited, and I am sure we are going to be asking many of you for help (shameless plug).

The second item is that we have a new member of our family.  We are just as surprised as you are to hear this news.  Early Friday morning Ba noticed some leaking, so she went to the doctor when the office opened up.  At LDS hospital, the doctors verified that her water was broken.  LDS does not have the facilities to take newborns under 32 weeks and we are at 31.  Our insurance is not accepted at the University hospital, so we were sent down to Murray.  The doctors gave the baby some steroids to help develop his lungs and that helped greatly down the road.  Ba also received a priesthood blessing that we are certain was helpful in this whole process.  We got to Murray around 3:00 pm and nothing was happening which is what the doctors wanted. Until about 10:00pm… 

Ry’s perspective:  I took LE home and put her to bed in the evening and felt I should head back to the hospital.  About 2min before the sitter arrived in Bountiful for LE, a nurse called me and said Ba was having some very severe contractions and was going to receive a C-section to get the baby out.  I drove very fast to the hospital (and if I say very fast, you know that is cookin’) and I may have not obeyed several traffic signals.  Once I arrived I put on some fancy gowns, and watched from a distance as the doctors worked on Ba.  They finally let me go into the room, and I realized that she wasn’t cut wide open, and actually delivered naturally.  This is quite a relieve as far as recovery time goes for Ba.  After being with Ba for about 2min they kicked me out of the room and made me wait for 45min until she was all done.

Ba’s perspective: The doctors checked me at 10:12pm and I was dilated to 1 cm which is technically not in labor.  Shortly after being checked my contractions became very heavy and uncomfortable.  I called the nurse to tell her things were getting rough.  Once they arrived at 10:40 they found I had progressed to a 6 cm.  This is when you are in active labor, and they said I needed to have a C-section because the baby was breached.  I heard an announcement over the intercom for “all hands on deck”.  As they were prepping for the C-section, I thought I needed to push, and the nurses told me to hold back.  I was wheeled into the ER and the babies bottom was poking out.  I heard the doctor say “No C-section today, the baby is on its way.”  The baby was born at 10:50 and I was at a 10 cm.  There were shrapnel pieces of the placenta left so I needed a DC done, and they gave me a spinal tap to do it, but the baby was born natural without any anesthetics.

Bean was born on July 20 (9 weeks early), and weighs in at a husky 3 lbs 13 oz, and 17.5” long.  He has “old man hair” that is brown, and he seems to like hanging out in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU).  He first received oxygen and had this soapy foam stuff to inflate his lungs, but he took that off and decided he didn’t need it anymore.  He can breathe on his own which is nice.  Some other major concerns right now are that his immune and digestive systems develop properly.  He might also have some vision issues, but glasses are a great invention.  It is a slow process and we have been told to expect him in the NICU until his mid September due date.  We will have to change our budget for gas money for a little while.

 Baby with oxygen hook up.

 Baby body size compared to Ry's ring.  It could work as a bracelet.

We like to do this with LE where she holds both our fingers and we swing her around.  We will forgo the swinging for a while.

This will be his substitute for the womb for the next two months?