I can't believe that 22 days ago, this little guy was still in my stomach.
He had low blood sugar when he was born, but he still got to stay his first night with Mom and Dad. In the morning they tested him again and sent him to NICU (Newborn Intensive Care Unit). He had low blood sugar and a high red blood cell count. He ended up being in the NICU for 12 days. He was such a trooper and so calm and patient through it all! We couldn't wait for him to come home. The pictures look scarier than it really was. All the wires were simply monitoring his heart and respiratory rate and they put some of his feedings through the tube in his nose. A lot of the babies there were in the NICU for much bigger problems and for a much longer time than Brigham was. It was very hard having him in the NICU but we have no room to complain, some of those babies are there for months!
After 2 days in the NICU his bilirubin levels were high and so he had to go under a UV light for 48 hours. He didn't like that because he couldn't be swaddled up in a blanket anymore.
He did get to wear those cool sunglasses though.
I had Dad try them out too :) The NICU can get pretty monotonous so you have to liven it up a bit every now and then.
Finally! No more light! Bring on the blanket! By the time the bilirubin levels went down, all of the other things (blood sugar, red blood cell count) were pretty stable too, the tricky thing was getting him to eat enough. In order to leave the NICU he had to eat full feedings from me for 48 hours (they weighed him before and after feedings and fed him the remainder of all of his feedings through a tube in his nose if he didn't get enough from me). He's a very slow eater and likes to fall asleep. We started singing fast-paced Primary songs to him during feeding time to help him stay awake. Ha! Ha! The nurses sure enjoyed it, and Brigham seemed to too.
Hyrum was such a great support through all of this. I didn't like going to NICU alone and Hyrum was a good sport and spent a lot of time with me on the 5th floor...even though it's definitely not the most happy or exciting place to visit. We were there for most of the day but only were with Brigham during feeding time so he could get lots of sleep. We spent the rest of the time in the Ronald McDonald Parent Room and chatted with all of the other parents.
My Mom was wonderful too and flew in from Arizona to help out. In addition to spending lots of time at the NICU, she also kept us well fed and stocked our fridge. Thank you so much for coming Mom!!!
Brigham came home from the NICU/hospital on Sunday, May 22nd. We are so glad that he's home with us! He is now 6 pounds 10 ounces and still growing! He has great facial expressions and smiles a lot more now. He looks quite handsome in his Sunday clothes (just like his Dad) if I do say so myself... I don't think he liked getting all dressed up though...but I've heard that a lot of boys don't.
Here's a picture of his first stroller ride. By the end he was sleeping in my arms and Hyrum was pushing an empty stroller. Who needs all the extra things when you have Mom and Dad?
We do a lot more sleeping these days. Naps are wonderful things!
Sometimes though, Brigham would much rather be awake.
We love Brigham so much and we are so happy that he is a part of our family!
