A-ok

Day four of baby Max's life at home is going well! The dog and cat have been very patient with him and they may be a little jealous, but they haven't shown it much! We had Max's second doctor appointment, the first was friday (nothing special happened except we decided to switch doctors) and have determined that in four days he has gained 5 ounces! We were both relieved because it means he is eating well. So now he weighs 5lbs 3oz and is still 19" long!

Over the weekend, we had his first bath at home and David & Colleen stopped by for a very brief lunch visit as did Josh & Megan. We are inviting grandparents over this week and then we'll see how everything goes for next week and maybe invite some more people over. He has one more doctor appointment this week on friday (as do I for post-op) so we'll see how much he grows over the week!

Here are a few pictures of this weekend:

For size comparison

"Home Again, Home Again"

Ready?

...drum-roll please...

brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....

HE'S HOME!!!

Finally we have our perfect little boy at home safe & sound! He made it home by 9ish pm last night and has been doing very well so far. He's a sleeper, popper, eater, rinser repeater kinda guy, that only cries while he's hurt or uncomfortable, then stops instantly. He sleeps between slightly difficult feedings (mostly by breast, but sometimes supplemented by breast milk from a bottle), enjoys curling up in my arms to sleep and doesn't mind loud noises unless they startle him. All-in-all we are all very happy to be in one-another's company!

AS far as his health goes, we had a doctor's appointment today for him, followed by a trip to kaiser to for some labs. What we decided was that sadly, as much as we like Cameron's regular doctor, neither of us felt comfortable in their office (mostly because they rarely see infants) and have decided that kaiser will from now on, be Max's doctor. Other than that, he hasn't lost or gained anything yet, so we'll see how the weekend goes then bring him in to weigh next week. 

I will add some photo's of his last day in the hospital and of then leaving Holy Cross. He's pretty darn cute still! 

Bottle from Daddy 

Sleeping just like Daddy

Yawn big!

Tiny little elf baby all set to leave Holy Cross!

Leaving the hospital

Putting baby in the car!

In the car all ready to go home!

Home and safe!

Sleeping at home with mommy

"There's no place like home, there's no place like home..."

Good Morning Everyone!

Just a quick update; today could be the day we get to take our little man home! We are having a nice leisurely morning, then heading out to the hospital at 1-ish, where we will find out if he is able to regulate his own body temperature and therefore be able to leave Holy Cross!! We are both extremely excited, prepared, clean, about to be fed and happy!

If he comes home tonight I won't get a chance to update this blog probably until the weekend, so assume he made it! If he can't come home, then I'll post something this evening to let you know. However if they won't let us take him, we may just kidnap him and leave the country. Just kidding, but we ARE going to do everything we can to make sure we get him asap and as healthy as possible.

In the mean time, I got pictures from our dear dear friend Billy of the last weekend I was pregnant and of Little Max before he got some tubes taken out.

QUICK & IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER:

Before you get to those pictures, I believe we are going to take some time for just the three of us. I don't know if it will be a month, maybe a week, maybe two while Cam is still home...we aren't sure yet. BUT once we decide to let people over, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make sure you are not sick, will not become sick or have been sick in the last month before you knock on our door. Since he is so small, he's highly susceptible to getting sick, which would not be ideal. 

Alright, here are the pictures for your viewing pleasure: 

(ps if anyone would like better digital copies of these, I am more then happy to print or email them to you! Feel free to leave a comment here with your requests!)

Warming up the baby

Good news & bad news:

The good news is that he has met almost all of the criteria to be able to come home. He is feeding very well, increasing the amount every time which means that he no longer has the little orange tube down his throat or nose! The jaundice is about the same and standard for a baby his age (all it means is that he gets to hang out in a cool glowy blanket), but they don't seem concerned about it at all and neither are we. He also got his little penis chopped this morning. Finally his breathing is doing perfectly so thats no longer a concern!

The bad news is that he hasn't met ALL of the criteria. He's not home with us because he hasn't been able to prove he can regulate his own temperature. On monday his body temperature dropped a little bit. They put him in the incubator for 24 hours (which ends tomorrow morning) to bring his temperature up, but then they need to keep him for another 24 hours to monitor that he can regulate his own temperature.

All of this means that he is doing well, but will most likely have to stay in the hospital until thursday. :( We are bummed out but only want what's best for our little man. So in the mean time, we are trying to distract ourselves until he's home. His room is completely set up, the house is clean, I'm producing milk like crazy and we've gotten lots of pictures gathered and several printed and on & on & on...now we just wait. 

While we all wait, here are some more pictures for your (and our) enjoyment!

Starting with some pictures of us with the baby:

Then here are pictures of just little Maxfield by himself...so cute!!!

Also, I received a few more onsies that have been returned to us from the shower...Thank you ladies! They all look awesome!

Ali's returned onsie (front)

The back of Ali's returned onsie

Penny's returned onsie

Sue Minite's returned onsie

FINALLY, we would like to send a shout-out to all of the help we have received from our friends, Billy & Linnie Hughes for their pictures, Josh & Megan Virgo for watching Drama and making us food & Cam's mom for taking care of the cat and making linens for the bassinet. All of that has been a huge help in this whole process, not to mention all of the emotional support from everyone we know and love! We love all of you so much, thank you for everything!