makeup-mommy

Since he's been home...

...we have had a lot of these moments,...

 

...and these,...

 

...and of course these.

 

Can somebody pinch me! I still can't believe that this is my family.

 

Welcome home, my precious baby boy. ;0)

 

Bringing him home!

After 10 long days in the NICU, yesterday the BIG day arrived. We finally were able to bring our son home. He successfully completed his treatment for Pneumonia and is doing much better. We still have several Dr's appointments lined up in the next few weeks. Nevertheless we are overwhelmed with joy to have him with us.

Please continue to pray that he will completely recover. The delivery wasn't exactly easy. Preston had second degree birth trauma. In most of the pictures you won't be able to tell, but he had huge bruising on his shoulder, arm and face. The most concern we had was about his eye. The eye specialist told us that so far everything looks ok, but they would like to watch it closely.

We are so thankful to have him with us and the last 24 hours have been amazing. I am sleep deprived but so happy. The nurses were joking when they said that he LOVES to eat. So far he has wanted to nurse every 2.5 hours!!! He even past his birthweight.

Here are a few pictures from yesterday night. We had to wait for his last treatment at 6:30 pm and then were able to take him home. It was a bit emotional to say good bye to all the nurses. They really have done an amazing job of taking care of him.

Here we have one of the NICU nurses escorting us to the car. 

 

And here we have the proud big brother. Taylor was so excited to be sitting next to his little brother on his 1st car ride. 

 

What is going on here?

 

Are you wondering what this is all about?

I sure was thinking what is going on here? Why does my little dude not have a diaper on? 

But then the nurse explained that they are treating a severe diaper rash with this special light. Due to the aggressive antibiotics he has to take to treat his pneumonia, one very uncomfortable side effect is this super bad rash. 

It was such a sad sight to see him like this, but I couldn't help but burst out laughing when he started to do # 2. I'll tell you that was just too funny, him just pooping all over. Seriously it just splashed everywhere. I don't think I'll ever get THAT image out of my head!!!

Sorry for the details, but I just had to share. ;)

Note: All that "tanning" does pay off, his little booty is doing a bit better.   

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

  

This is what I look forward to every morning.

         

I also wanted to share a PRAISE report. I was able to nurse Preston twice today for 15 minutes. I am so happy. ;) Thanks for all your prayers.

     

Please continue to pray for his IV. As I mentioned in my last post, Preston had his IV in his foot but unfortunately it "went bad" and so they had to insert yesterday night a new IV back in his arm. ;( 

Please pray that this one will last till Friday.

Thanks, you guys.  ;) 

Bitter sweet!

It sure has been bitter sweet to be home again. I am so glad to have Taylor and Lilly close to me after 5 days in the hospital and I also missed my comfy bed, but life is just not right knowing that Preston is still in the hospital.

That's why we all like to spend hours at the hospital. I get teary eyed thinking about the moments when all my THREE children are all together. Sunday Jason was able to snap a few pictures capturing those moments. Us bonding.

They both adore their brother so much and inspect him from top to bottom every single time. Jason and I go at least twice a day to the NICU. It actually has worked out great. The nurses at Mary Birch hospital are just amazing. I talk to them several times a day to check how he is doing and when his next feeding is.

 

   

 

Even though he is still not wanting to breastfeed more then 40 sec., (please pray that this will change!), I still enjoy holding him close and feeding him with the bottle.

 

One highlight yesterday was, that we got to change him from the hospital t-shirt into an outfit. That wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, since he still has that huge iv in his leg for the antibiotics he has to take. (speaking of iv, please pray that this would be his last one before leaving the hospial. He's had one in both arms and now the foot. I can't even imagine how painfull it must be for him to go through that all the time.)

 

Anyways, this Petit Bateau is a 3-6 months outfit (can you believe it , he is just 6 days old and is wearing 3-6 months clothing!!!) was just perfect.

 

Oh, how I LOVE him!

 

One step at a time!

What a wonderful surprise it was, when we stepped last night into the NICU and saw that Preston had "graduated" to the other side of the NICU into a crib without a oxygen mask and iv. That meant that he is getting better and is a step closer to coming home. Thank you Jesus.

 

Doesn't he look so cute in his little crib? They also had to insert another IV and this time they put it into his foot. Poor Guy. The upside is that it is much easier to wrap him up like a cute little burrito. ;)

 

Breastfeeding has been a bit of a struggle, but we are going to continue trying. The lactation nurse truly believes that it will be much easier when he is home and when he is not sick anymore.

 

Here he enjoys his breast milk via bottle.

While burping him he then fell asleep....

 

....and obviously was dreaming about being with his family and coming home.....! ;) 

 

Preston Cruz has arrived!

We are so excited to introduce our newest addition to our family ... the long awaited Preston Cruz.

Born 3.10.09

@ 5:39 pm

10 lbs 08 oz

21 inches long

 

Here we have one proud Daddy. Preston is exactly a half an hour old in these pictures.

 

Unfortunately Dr.'s discovered water in his lungs about 12 hours later. He also has pneumonia and is having difficulty breathing. Please continue praying for him.

 

His little body went through a lot these last 4 days and since he is still struggling to breath and is in need of antibiotics he still needs to stay in the NICU at least the next 7 days. 

 

Today was extremely difficult. I was released from the hospital. Not having him go home with us is just so painful. I really feel empty and just so sad. 

We are heading down to the hospital for a feeding in a few minutes. I am recovering from my c-section and trying to pump as much as possible but am still week myself.

 

 

Our precious son.

Update!

I had my last Dr's appointment today and even though I am dilated one whole centimeter!!!, our Dr. feels strongly about not having an elective c-section tomorrow. I am disappointed but totally understand were he is coming from.

Taylor and Lilly both ended up in the NICU because they had some complications, one of them was water in their lungs. So we hope by waiting till I am 39 weeks, he will be perfectly healthy. 

I have been in a lot of pain (some contractions) and am absolutely at my end! ;(

Our new and final day for the c-section is next Tuesday. March 10th, at 5pm. (I will be 39 weeks and 1 day pregnant!)

If you wouldn't mind praying for peace and that these next few day will be bearable.

Please also pray that if it is the Lords will, that I will go into labor this weekend.

Thanks you guys. ;)

Still pregnant!

Well, here I am.... still pregnant! Very much pregnant and miserable to say the least. I have gotten a few bursts of energy and have done some cleaning around the house and our bedroom. That makes me feel good. It even made an impact on Taylor since he came home from school and couldn't believe how big and clean our bedroom was!!!

His words: "Like a hotel!" ;)

Even though these last few weeks have been physically and emotionally really hard, I am so thankfull that I was able to spend lots of quality time with Taylor and Lilly. We went to breakfast several times and played lots of games. But most of the time we actually just all cuddled up in our huge bed and read books, watched movies and ate lunch or dinner. They loved it.

We will have our last dr. appointment on Thursday. If I am dialated, I will have a c-section THIS Friday. (March 6th) Wohooo!

Please pray! I am so impatient and I am seriously at my end. If I would be in control, I would have this baby RIGHT NOW! BUT I want Gods will, not mine.

I had a bit of an episode last night, thinking it was time. But no real true signs of labor! After most of the pain subsided I actually slept 4 hours in a row. What a blessing that was. I haven't slept that much in months!

Anyways, I know it's almost over and soon we all can FINALLY hold our precious little boy.