March 28, 2009

The first bath at home was quite a success. Although, Vann did pee all over me...hey, it was only a matter of time. At first he wasn't sure about the bath and then he loved it. 

We also had some tummy time this afternoon. This is something that is going to be really great for Vann's development, so we want to try and get a routine down. 

Vann also had some cuddle time with Daddy...it was so cute, I couldn't resist taking some pictures. As you can see, Vann's big sister Ally stays pretty close to his side. She is a big helper, always watching over him!

Vann loved his snuggle time with Grandma Kathy. He slept the entire time and it was great to see the joy on her face when she held him.

March 28, 2009

Oh my gosh, Jeff and I can't tell you enough how happy we are to have Vann home. It is just wonderful. He has been so good and has been eating great since we have gotten home. We took some video of him yesterday with the hiccups. We will write more later as we have some cute pictures of him getting a bath this morning. Vann is so excited because his Grandma Kathy is visiting and hasn't seen him since the week he was born!

March 26, 2009

There are two reasons why today is one of the most special days of our lives....1. today was my original due date  2. WE GOT TO BRING VANN HOME TODAY. We are just so excited. We have been home for a couple of hours now and couldn't be happier. Our friend Jen Navest had balloons and a cute little sign in our yard to make the day extra special. Vann did come home on oxygen and a little monitor, but the doctor said he won't need to be one it for very long. We wanted to share this special day with you and thank everyone once again for all the love and support. We really couldn't have made it to today without you. Thanks and we love everyone!

March 23, 2009

There is bad news and good news....the last thing Vann has to do before they send him home is pass a car seat test. Well, he failed. He had too many desaturations with his oxygen. So, it looks like they will try and put him back on a nasal canula and try again. If he passes then they will send him home on the oxygen until his pediatrician feels he doesn't need it anymore. The little guy is trying so hard to come home, but all these dang tests are getting in the way! Well, hopefully by the end of the week we can all 3 be home and in our pj's!

March 22, 2009

Okay... Jeff and I stayed overnight in a room at the hospital with Vann. HOLY MOLY, we are tired. Vann did pretty good, but it was the monitor in the room that was possessed and beeped all night long. The beeping is to alarm you when a baby is either dropping his heart rate or oxygen level. The funny thing is Vann was just fine, but everytime he moved or wiggled the beeping would start. So to make a long story short, Jeff and I slept for about 1 hour and decided we can't wait to get him home with no beeping. He is such a calm and quiet baby, we are really lucky. We still haven't gotten word on when we are taking him home, but they asked us to bring in his car seat tonight so they can do his car seat study...that is a pretty good sign. Vann also got to spend some quality time with his Papi Rod and Grandma Denise this weekend. They are amazed at the progress he has made and are excited to spoil him. 

Well, you can count on Jeff and I being in bed super early tonight and thankful that we don't have to listen to those dang monitors.

March 21, 2009

WOW! I can't believe we are already 5 days away from Vann's original due date. Time is flying. Jeff and I will be staying at the hospital overnight tonight to help with Vann's feedings. He took a full bottle last night, which is awesome. Feedings from Mommy have been great, so we are just waiting for the bottle feeds to increase a little. If he has a good couple of days, we may actually be able to take the little guy home this week. So keep all of your fingers crossed!!!! We thought you might enjoy seeing this little video of Vann getting burped after a meal from Mommy!

March 15, 3009

WOW! We can't believe it is already the middle of March. Actually, I think we are so excited that it is the middle of March. We are getting closer to bringing Vann home. Both Jeff and I are on our last leg of energy...pretty tired from the last 3 months. We are looking forward to getting Vann home so we can all relax. The doctors told us this past week to plan on him coming home close to his due date, which is March 26th. Jeff and I will have to spend 2 nights in the hospital before we take him home, so we will have a couple of days notice. YEAH!!! The little man is 6 lbs. 2 oz. He got his stitches out yesterday on his head and that is healing very nice. We thought you would enjoy seeing this photo of the card they made when Vann was first born...you are able to see how tiny his prints are.

March 8, 2009

Vann is 5 lbs. 11 oz.! He is really doing good. This eating thing is the most frustrating part, but Jeff and I have gotten this far, we aren't about to give up now. Vann is doing really good with oral feedings, so hopefully in the next few days he will continue to succeed and get closer to getting his feeding tube out. Once that happens, then we know we are getting close to the big day...we can't wait! The thought of actually being able to take our little guy home is amazing, we never thought we would make it to this day. We are just so proud of him. Hopefully we only have a couple more weeks of going to the hospital 2-3 times a day. We will definitely miss the staff, but will make lots of visits.

March 5, 2009

Well, Vann is back on the nasal canula. He was starting to tire out and not have enough energy, so the NICU team thought giving him a little help might help him progress. The nice thing is that he is on very very little settings. We are working hard on trying to teach him how to eat. When I am not able to be there for his feedings, they will start to introduce a bottle. They tried for the first time today and he did great. Once we go home, Vann will have to take some feedings from the bottle as he will have some vitamins that he will take daily.

Vann had another head scan today.....and the ventricles look great. They are very small compared to what we are used to seeing which is awesome. Jeff talked to the Neurosurgeon today and he was very happy. He said we will continue to do head scans every month. Once we go home, we will continue to do routine follow ups with Dr. Cherny (the Neurosurgeon). 

We haven't had a chance to take too many pictures, so sorry. We will make up for it!