Hayden’s Week in the NICU

Tuesday morning I stopped my office to do a few things knowing I would be out of the office a while and then helped Wendi get discharged from the hospital and we headed down to the hospital first thing. Hayden was hungry & needed his Momma! :)

  
We got to the hospital and made it up to the NICU with Hayden. He ate really well first thing. Momma Wendi was happy to be with her boy again!
I feel like there is always something do to with Hayden! Making sure he eats at the right time, doing his checks every 4 hours, diapers, and helping Wendi w/other things! We're staying pretty busy! :)
In the afternoon we took a short drive to the Ronald McDonald House to line up a room.
The doctors are saying very positive things about Hayden, which is great! He is eating well and his respirations are closer to where they need to be.

Hayden is doing so well, but still has some progress to make! This little guy isn't even 2 days old and I already love him to pieces!!!
Wednesday I was in the NICU again with my sister, Wendi, and nephew, Hayden. If you missed any of the posts you can catch up on what I’ve been up to this week.

We had to say “good morning” to Hayden! Just melts my heart!

Grandma loving on her very first Grandson!!

Cannot get enough of this lil guy!!

We had some great news this morning…Hayden was strong enough to have his oxygen taken off!! He looks even cuter without it!

Every 4 hours Hayden has to have an assessment and Wendi gets to help! He’s always a good little patient, so tough!

Thursday I worked 1/2 day and then headed back down to the NICU to be with Wendi & Hayden. I couldn't pass up a $0.59 Kum & Go fountain pop for the road trip.

I couldn't wait to see Hayden again! He was getting pretty jaundice so he had to wear his shades...
and work on his "tan"!

My Dad & Grandma also came down Thursday evening to see Hayden & Wendi. We went to the mall foodcourt for a change of pace! Wendi was excited for some Chipotle!

Hayden was a little more fussy Friday. But I think it is because he was circumcised Thursday night. (I'd be fussy too!) Get this though, he didn't even cry when they did the procedure! He's such a tough guy!

He is doing so well though. His blood sugar levels are good so they were able to remove his IV fluids. They just need to get his jaundice under control! He has no more oxygen, no more antibiotics, no more IV, just need to get rid of that light & we'll be good to go! :) Thank you God for answered prayers!
All 3 of us were able to nap late morning into the early afternoon, so by the time Wendi fed Hayden, got him settled in again under the light, and pumped we realized it was going to be a late lunch! More like lupper!

Saturday Hayden’s levels weren’t low enough to take the photo light therapy off so we knew were there till at least Sunday. He did well though and we made sure to keep him under the lights as much as possible! Hayden did get a few visitors on Saturday. Wendi’s friends Heidi & Kelsey came to visit!

Sunday came Hayden’s billy levels were low enough for us to go home!

The decorations I made for Hayden’s door!

Wendi got to help, for the first time, give Hayden a sponge bath Saturday night!

Finally getting some cuddle time with Hayden! The photo light therapy was turned off at 7:30pm Saturday!

Sunday morning we said good bye to the NICU at Mercy. We were happy to leave, but very thankful for the great care that Hayden received.

Ready to go home!!!

Hayden did really well on the hour car ride home. My Mom, Step Dad, Kyle, 2 sisters & their husbands all greeted us when we got home!

Happy 1 week to my sweet nephew, Hayden!

I’m proud to introduce…

My first nephew, Hayden James!

Click here to read about how he came into this world!

I finally got to bed about 2am early Monday morning, but I was ready to go and see my nephew first thing in the morning!

Isn’t he SO cute!!!

My little sister, Wendi’s, motherly instincts kicked in right away, she’s a great Mom!

And of course, I’m not the only Aunt…here’s Aunt Mindi!

And Aunt Stef!

This little boy is greatly loved!

If you recall from my post about the birth he wasn’t breathing right when he was born. They thought it was fluid in the his lungs, but then they detected a heart murmur on Hayden.

They ran tests today and found out he has pulmonary hypertension, which means he is breathing like he is still in the womb and not like he should on his own. At birth there are some valves that are supposed to close and then the baby breathes through his lungs, but that didn't happen with Hayden. He was life flighted this evening by helicopter to a larger hospital with a NICU about 2 hours south.

The nurses and doctors said they have seen this before and comparing Hayden to recent cases he was the most stable, so at least that was reassuring. It was a long, emotional day. My sister, Wendi, had to stay in the hospital here. I am staying with her and hoping to go down to be with Hayden Tuesday morning.   

He’s Here!!!

Sunday was a BIG day!! Kyle and I went to church, but Wendi decided to stay home. She wasn’t feeling the best.

Of course when Wendi said she wasn’t feel well my first thought was “OMG is she in labor?”

Got home and Wendi said she was “uncomfortable”, but not in too much pain. The key thing I heard when she was explaining how she was feeling was that it was coming & going. Instantly I thought she was having contractions. She wasn’t sure though, so we timed them, and they were about 3 minutes apart lasting about 45 seconds.

Wendi was worried she would get there and they would say it’s false labor & send her home. Kyle finally said Wendi didn’t have a choice and we were going to go to the hospital, at least to get checked out to see what was going on.

We got to the hospital and the nurse said “You’re having a baby today!” Wendi was dilated to 7cm and 80% effaced!

We made the calls and my Mom and 2 other sisters rushed to the hospital. Wendi wanted us all be with her during the delivery!

I couldn’t believe how far along she was and how incredibly well she was doing. She decided to get her epidural to get her relaxed and it did just that!

Wendi’s nurse decided she thought Wendi should have her baby for the shift change! We had specific goals!

It was crazy we were all sitting around, Wendi was relaxed, and just chatting away! I enjoyed a baby sized can of pop!

Wendi was still pretty relaxed, but hadn’t progressed too much. The dr decided to give her pitocin to get things moving.

My sister Stefanie did a good job keeping Wendi relaxed!

Mom did too!

The petocin was working, but nurse wanted more! So she brought Wendi the squat bar and had her lean back & forth to help move the baby down.

By this time Wendi was feeling the urge to push and feeling a lot more pressure. So 2 of my sisters held one of Wendi’s legs and I was up by her head. My job was to count to 10 each time she had to push.

The dr kept telling me to slow down with my counting, but it was so hard because I was focused on Wendi and I could see the pain in her face with each push.

I have come the conclusion that Wendi is the strongest one of us sisters! She was so tough and strong throughout the entire process.

Wendi only had to push for less than an hour and at 11:27pm he was born! She did SO incredibly well!! It was such an amazing experience and I’m so glad Wendi had me be a part of it.

He is absolutely perfect!

He measured 20 1/2” long!

He weighed 8lbs 10 3/4 oz and has a full head of beautiful dark hair!

He wasn’t breathing right when he was first born, so Wendi didn’t get to hold him for about 3 hours.

They said he must have got a lot of fluid in his lungs and he was breathing too fast.

By this time it was after 1am and everyone was worn out! Obviously it was a long day for Wendi, but everyone else was pretty tired too!

More to come later…

Bragging rights for the Hawks!

Saturday morning, 5am to be exact, we hit the road to Iowa City for the state rivalry football game between the University of Iowa Hawkeyes and the Iowa State Cyclones.

We walked around to see a bunch of friends that were down for the game. Look what we found for sale, a Hawkeye motor home!! Too bad it was over $100k!!!

Me and my favorite Hawkeye!!

Me and a random Herky statue! Like my outfit? My sister asked if everyone dresses ridiculous! lol

Kyle and I planned on eating out for lunch. We picked the Vine just a few blocks from the stadium.

We loved their decor!

Finally game time!!! We were pumped!! It was a great game and we won 35-7!!

After the game, we hit the road right away for our 3 hour drive home. Kyle & I listened to comments on the game on the drive home. Hoping to keep the win’s coming!! :)

Garage Sale Finds – Revamped!

Remember these shadow boxes from this post? Well they were a garage sale find and I knew just what I wanted to do with them!!

I spray painted the white one black so they would match and used them to display our memorabilia from our first year of races!! This one is from our 1st two 5k’s last year. I also included just a little “blurb” with details about the race!

Our basement is already a sports type theme……well ok…it’s all Iowa Hawkeye! I figured our running memorabilia would fit in perfect! And this one is from our first half marathon that we ran together in October 2009!