A New Day

On Tuesday Jaden got to spend his first little bit of time outside. It was SO nice out, warm and no breeze, that Grandma had to take him outside to enjoy the southern weather. Of course, Jaden liked to snooze in the warm air and Grandma made a GREAT pillow!

While Jaden snoozed, mom and dad opened a gift from Great Aunt Karen and family. LOTS of fun stuff!

We also took our first family picture!

On Thursday Jaden made his first trip to the office so mommy could help daddy finish a recording project. He hung out with Grandma most of the morning but, when dad came over for lunch they had some fun together too!

Thursday night Daddy had his first class since Jaden has arrived with us. There was only one point where Jaden was making enough noise that mommy was worried daddy's classmates on the other end of the phone might wonder what was going on. After class the whole family just curled up for a few minutes. Ahhhh....just me and my boys....that is the GOOD LIFE!

I don't remember what day this was but, this is a good picture of Grandma and Jaden. They've been playing a lot. I think Grandma gets more of Jaden's awake time than anyone else. They have lots of fun reading the Babycakes book, playing, and wandering around the house.

This isn't Jaden's sad face, it's more his look of trying to take in whatever is going on around him. Grandpa H. had him here.

On Friday, Jaden played with his first toy. Grandma has been showing him different toys and he's been checking them out but, he actually grabbed onto this one. He apparently got his little fingers wrapped around it and was waving it around (accidentally bonking it into his face once or twice along the way). Somehow he then managed to flip it onto his opposite wrist and wore it as a bracelet for a few minutes. Then, in one quick arm thrust the toy ended up smack on his face. Grandma thinks he looks like a scuba diver and said that when the toy landed Jaden's eyes opened up wide in shock trying to figure out what was going on. Grandma set him down, went to get the camera, and by the time she got back he was still big-eyed trying to figure this new toy thing out!

Jaden had to go to the doctor on Wednesday and Friday to check his oxygen saturation levels. So far everything is looking great! We have been reducing the amount of supplemental oxygen he receives and his saturation scores are still going up! They also came to download the information from his night monitor and everything looks good. The doctor still has to interpret the data but since everything looks so good we should have a wireless baby by Tuesday! (that means no more monitors OR oxygen!!!!)

Jaden is also doing a GOOD job of growing. When he was born he weighed 6lb 13.9oz (without a diaper). At his two week checkup (Monday) he already weighed 7 lb 11oz (with a diaper) and by Wednesday he already gained another few ounces weighing in at 7lb 14oz. WHEW....mommy did think that he seemed to be eating a LOT on Tuesday! I know babies grow fast but, hopefully he doesn't continue steadily at that pace or mommy's muscles aren't going to have time to work into lifting the car seat!

At my two week checkup everything looked great. The doctor was pleased and said I could start driving again. Of course, having 3 chaufers around means that I haven't had to yet. I also haven't had to lug the car seat to the car. They are all doing a good job of making sure that I don't overdo it. It's starting to make me wonder how we'll be able to do all of these things on our own after Grandpa and Grandma leave! At least we have a few more weeks to figure that out!

Home Sweet Home

Ahhhhhhh......let's just say that there is nothing like having your baby boy at home and being able to take care of him on your own schedule without a new nurse every shift looking over your shoulder!


Here is Jaden, all ready to come home from the hospital. We finally got to bring him home on Monday, February 11th - one week after he was born. They noticed that his oxygen saturation level dropped a little lower than it should when he was in a really deep sleep so, as a precaution, he was sent hom on a low level of supplemental oxygen and a monitor that he is hooked to when he is sleeping and we aren't holding him. The monitor beeps REALLY LOUD and checks for sleep apnea (stopping breathing during sleep). So far it only goes off with the wires are loose. That's a good thing because it means that probably there is nothing wrong. But, it is a bad thing because it is REALLY LOUD and a rude awakening in the middle of the night!



This is Jaden's first picture at home. He promptly initiated the house with his first dirty diaper! When we got him home we realized that he looked pretty scrunched up in this outfit. We opened the snaps at the bottom to find out that it was too short for his long little legs! He quickly STRETCHED out, finally comfortable I suppose!




Daddy spend some time rocking Jaden in the chair. We're still working on rearranging. The dresser you see has all of Stephen and my clothes in it but, we had to take it out of our bedroom to make room for the giant oxygen tank! It works pretty nice in Jaden's room as a changing table so, we're trying to figure out what we can put in our room and just leave this here.






Jaden meets Grandma K. at the 13th! He didn't get to go to the airport to welcome her but, he was at home ready and waiting! Actually, Grandma K. got to babysit right away because Stephen and I had to go to an infant CPR class at the hospital (a requirement when you have a baby that has been in the NICU). Crazy people, thinking that it's a good idea for new parents to have to find a babysitter 2 days after they take their brand new baby home! But, Grandma did a great job and Jaden didn't even whimper the whole hour.


Jaden meets Grandpa K! Again, he couldn't go to the airport to greet him but was ready and waiting. He did get hungry pretty soon after Grandpa got there but, Grandpa at least got to hold him a little bit.

Snug as a bug in a rug.....

Really? These are the people that are going to take care for me for the rest of my life? Hmmm.....

REAL QUICK

Boy, this mom thing is fun! But, not much sleep and lots of time feeding and diapering means not lots of time for writing on a blog!!!! I PROMISE, another entry with many more pictures is on the way. It's in the draft stage. But, I wanted this news to be posted!

Jaden will be baptized March 2nd at our church. We just don't want to wait any longer than that AND, it's better that BOTH grandpas get to be in town. Since my Dad leaves the next day, we REALLY don't want to wait! The pastor (Grandpa Heimer) says yes and one Godmother can be here. We're still working on another one but, distance is a bummer....

Just thought you might like to know....

Running on Empty...

I wanted to give you all an update and include a few pictures. Unfortunately, I'll have to include the WHOLE story later. We just need sleep right now.

The bare bones story:

Jaden Timothy Heimer
Born Monday, February 4th, 2008 @ 7:40pm
Weight: 6 lb 13.9 oz
Length: 20.5 inches

After a relatively fast (I think) labor that Stephen helped me work through pain-relief free I was ready to push. The doctor showed up and gave me the go ahead. Immediately upon starting to push the baby's heart rate dropped from 140 to 60 (BAD). After one more contraction and pushing and trying various things to get a better heart rate reading the Dr. quickly explained the need for an Emergency C-section. Chaos broke out as the delivery room was torn apart and the wheeled me to the operating room next door. A little later (I have no idea how long for obvious reasons) our little boy was born. They say that while his heart never stopped beating, its slow down had caused him to not start breathing right away. Also, there was meconium (baby poop) in the amniotic fluid that they were concerned he could have in his stomach and lungs. They resuscitated him and whisked him off to the NICU (Newborn Intensive Care Unit) and Stephen followed.

When I came out of the surgery Stephen was there. I woke up easily from the anethesia and was asking about what was going on trying to figure things out. Stephen told me that he had seen the baby and that he wanted to name him Jaden Timothy (a name we had liked but hadn't settled on. Stephen said that he looked like a Jaden).

They took us to see Jaden in the NICU where he had a respirator, iv, and various other tubes. We weren't allowed to touch him at first because they were trying to get some tests and were afraid he was going to be upset. However, really NEEDING to touch our baby, we were persistant and before we had to leave they let us touch his arm and foot (I could only reach his foot from my bed and couldn't see his face but Stephen took a picture for me to look at later.)

The rest of the days are a bit of a blur that I'll try to detail later for those of you that are interested. However, the gist of things is..

THANK YOU for all of you who have been praying for us. Stephen was able to call his parents and my parents quickly when I was heading in for surgery and I know they both got the prayer chains going. God is amazing and has really been keeping His hand of protection, healing, and peace over us throughout all of this. We know that He works in all things for the good of those who love Him. We are seeing His work in us through this process and although it isn't easy, we are so thankful for His love.

1) I am doing fine and not even feeling all that sore. (pain meds help of course).
2) Jaden is doing MUCH better and improved VERY quickly
3) I was discharged from the hospital on Thursday the 7th.
4) Jaden will (provided everything from here on out goes smoothly - we hit another snag today) be coming home with us on Monday the 11th (please pray that this happens - we are REALLY ready to have him home with us.
5) we have been at the hospital almost non-stop since he was born. Stephen spent many many hours with him in the NICU before I could get around much. Since I have been home we haven't been home. We go to be with him at 8:30am-4pm and again from 8:30pm-4am. There are a few times we have left in-between feedings to get some food and the last 2 days we have left at 2:30am instead of staying until 4. We've been averaging about 2.5 hours of sleep. Last night we left early and actually got almost 5.

We're running on empty but LOVING our little guy. He's doing so much better and almost ready to come home.

Now, for what everyone REALLY wants....the photos.!!!!

All bundled up and ready for bed!

Daddy's little guy!

Mommy and her little guy - FINALLY tube free - not even an IV!

Jaden taking the car seat challenge - before leaving the NICU they put babies in their car seats for 3 hours and monitor their vital signs to make sure they don't have problems sitting up and will be fine for their car ride home.

dinner time! - We get to feed him all but twice a day and he's really doing well. Today we thought it would be cute to have him wear a little bib!

Still Not...

Well, today was another Doctor's appointment. I think I might be losing my mind! I went to the Dr. at 8am this morning thinking I was right. However, my appointment wasn't until 2:15pm. Whoops. So, back I went this afternoon.

Good News - the baby still looks GREAT. Strong heartbeat, good reaction to contractions, decent size, plenty of amniotic fluid and the little floaties in the water might just be cells and not scary meconium.

However, since per the Dr.'s calculations next Tuesday is 42 weeks he says that if I still show up for my appointment on Tuesday pregnant we'll be scheduling my induction for that evening. Of course, he says he can't force me, but that bad things can happen after 42 weeks if the placenta were to stop working well.

So...there you have it. An update on where we are at. There's nothing terribly wrong or scary about induction (necessarily) however, I would really prefer to not go there. So....Please join us in praying that we'll see this little guy's face by Tuesday! ;-)
The good news on that end is I keep having contractions and they keep getting more uncomfortable. They just aren't regular yet.

Oh - and we got our rocking chair! Mom joked - maybe the little guy was just waiting around until he knew he could get rocked back to sleep in that really nice chair! And Stephen joked - maybe he just thinks it's still too cold outside! Either way - now we have the chair and this weekend is supposed to be warm. maybe maybe......

Till next time!