Homecoming

What a great day! We are so thankful to our Lord for healing our son and for him to come home. He's the best anniversary gift we could ever have. Marty and I had to take an infant CPR class before we could bring him home. We also watched the course on child CPR. I hope we never have to use it, but at least we know what to do in an emergency. We arrived home with Preston around 10:00 pm, and Maddie was trying so hard to stay awake to see him. I videotaped more than I took pictures. Maddie pointed at Preston and said "baby" when she first saw him. Then she asked "who's that?". She was so sweet with him. She kissed his head and just smiled at him. So far, so good with Maddie. DJ seemed a little ticked off that we have another baby. He is keeping his back turned to us when he lays down. He is the drama queen in our family. I am really enjoying getting to know our son. I held him all day. He is eating about every 1 1/2 hours. He's going to weigh 10 pounds by next week!

It's our 3rd wedding anniversary...

and our baby is coming home!! We don't have to room in tonight. The neonatologist made an exception since we have a little one at home. I cried when the nurse told me. Our family will finally be together! I have a million things to do, but I will post a picture of our family as soon as I can. Thank you for all of your prayers and support. I pray that none of our friends and family will have to go through this again.

Thursday!!

I still don't know what this big sister thing is about

Mamaw finally got to hold Preston

Tomorrow is our 3rd wedding anniversary...and we will be rooming in with Preston! We will bring him home on Thursday!!! Thank you LORD for answering our prayers. Preston has had a great day...well, that may change when he has his circumcision in a few hours. My mom and I spent a lot of time with him this morning, and he is so sweet. His nurse called him a fighter today. It took her and another nurse almost half an hour to get his IV in his arm for his antibiotics. She said he screamed and threw his arms back and forth, and I'm pretty sure the whole nursing staff is glad he is going home. They are used to premature, tiny babies...not my big boy. Maddie Grace will finally meet her baby brother. We will have a great family weekend.

Preston was able to transition to the open crib early this morning. So far, his temp is great. Some of his lab work still had high levels, so he is going to remain on antibiotics. I don't think that will hinder his homecoming. On my way to see him...will update later.

Preston had a great day. When we visited this morning, he was off of oxygen and he was no longer receiving IV fluids. We could see his sweet little face without any tubing in the way. He is stable enough that we can feed him any time, and we can get him out of the isolet and hold him as much as we want. His blood work was perfect and showed no sign of infection. They will test again for pneumonia tomorrow morning.

This evening, they had weaned the temp in the isolet low enough to try the open crib again sometime before morning. We need him to maintain body temp this time! At least his nurse talked to us about discharge. They aren't giving us a specific day, but everyone is positive about it being soon.

The one thing every nurse tells us is that he has a temper when he is hungry. One nurse said she looked over and saw the isolet jerking back and forth because he was so mad. He has become a hungry little guy. Yesterday he ate 35mL every three hours, and he is eating 55mL every two hours today. A strong appetite is great...I just hope I can keep up with him.

Thank you for all of your prayers. They have helped us all more than anything. We are so lucky because there are babies all around Preston that have been in the NICU for months.

Check out my big boy pants

Look at our little cutie. He is in the isolet again, and when we got to the hospital tonight, the nurse said he probably wouldn't wake up and he wouldn't nurse or take a bottle and she would just feed him through the tube. I told her I wanted to try to feed him anyway, and of course he nursed like a champ. His vitals are always great when Marty or I have him. His lungs seem to be getting better, and I think once he can maintain his body temp in an open crib, we will be pretty close to bringing him home. So please pray for his temp regulation!

Do I look sleepy to you??

Another little setback

Preston was in an open crib when we got to the NICU this morning. Unfortunately, he was not able to maintain his body temperature, so they had to put him back in the isolet. I was able to feed him a bottle first, and he drank it in less than two minutes. The good news is that his respiratory rate and his oxygen saturation were perfect. Two steps forward, and one step back. I just want to bring him home!!

Look at me!

Preston is doing well. He continues to make improvements, but he fatigues easily. His face was swollen again when we got to the hospital, but he had apparently been having a temper tantrum because he blew out his diaper. I was able to feed him for the first time! He ate really well. We got to hold him and kiss him, and that did a world of good for Marty and me. Thank you Jesus for answering our prayers. One odd thing...his chart has pneumonia as a possible diagnosis. We weren't able to talk to the doctor, so we aren't sure about this. His nurse was under the impression that he had pneumonia from aspirating fluid, not immature lungs. We may never know which one is the problem...at this point I just want him to be well enough to come home. Tonight he will transition from the isolet to an open crib. We get to take clothes to put on him tomorrow!

The sand and water table...I have been wanting to get this for Maddie for a while, but they are always sold out. Daddy surprised us and came home with it today. It was a huge hit. Maddie soaked herself with water, ate the sand, and threw a fit when we made her come in.

I think I'll take a drink.

Progress

Preston looked so good this morning. His coloring is more normal, and the swelling in his face is going down. Marty went to visit late last night, and Preston was showing his temper. He does not like to lose his paci! They gave him a Soothie paci, and he puts his thumb in the hole to keep it in his mouth. I might have two thumb suckers! Preston may have the umbilical catheter removed today...which means I could hold him and possibly feed him!! I am so excited. He's still working to breath...it's better some times than others.

Preston brought a present with him for Maddie (which explains why I was so big..haha). She loves the 4-wheeler, and it cracks us up to see her ride it. She will hopefully meet her baby brother soon!

Marty and I are home from the hospital. I can't tell you how difficult it was to leave Preston. We are able to have time with Maddie at home, and we can visit Preston a few times each day. At the hospital, we had so much time away from both of our children. Preston did well for most of the day, but by late afternoon he was fatiguing, and he has taken a step backwards in his treatment. We know to expect a roller coaster, but it's a little tough to swallow the setbacks. I can't wait to hold him in my arms.

We got to kiss on him a little. Still can't hold him.

Good news!

I got to feed Preston this morning! He is showing gradual improvement, but his 1st feed was a big deal. I am going to be pumping like crazy to keep up with him. He was a hungry little guy. He is resting now, and they are monitoring him close to see how he does after the feed. The goal is for his body to not work harder after a feed. Otherwise, they won't let him eat again.

Pics from Thursday night

Our sweet boy is doing a little better. He still can't eat or be held. Hoping for better news today. Marty and I will have to go home without him. At least we have Maddie at home!

Preston Update

At 3:00 this morning, the neonatal nurse practitioner came in and told us that Preston was doing worse. She told us to expect anything including him being put on a ventilator. So...today they removed his umbilical cord and inserted an IV. They have changed his diagnosis from wet lungs to premature lungs. Even though he is full term, they said sometimes babies lungs fail to fully develop. I began to wonder if we should have waited until next week for the c-section, but my doctor told me that my uterus was extremely thin and bulging, so if we hadn't delivered yesterday she feared my uterus would have ruptured. Also, the knot in his cord could have tightened and we could have lost him. We just have to trust that he is better off here, in the NICU even though we don't like it. They did a treatment of surfactant in his lungs, and we are waiting to see if he improves.

Update

My little sweetheart is hanging in there. His breathing is getting better, but they are still not allowing me to feed him. He has an IV, and I will hopefully get to feed him sometime Thursday. Part of my job is working in NICUs, and I never dreamed my baby would be in one. Preston was full term, and it is breaking my heart to not have him in our room. We can only hold him for very limited amounts of time. Since I had a c-section, I'm still limited on the amount of time I can be out of bed even though I feel great. No pain meds yet. Preston opened his eyes for us for the first time tonight. When I started talking to him, he turned his head and looked right at me. We are at a wonderful hospital and I am blessed to have the same nurses that took care of me with Maddie. I also know them through work, so it has made this nightmare a little better. One interesting fact...Preston had a true knot in his umbilical cord. Fortunately it was not too tight. Less than 1 in 1000 babies have this. Maddie Grace also had one. Hers was tight and they delivered her just in time to not have complications. My doctor and the hospital told Marty and I that they have never had a mom have more than one child with a true knot. I was also told that it means we will have another baby. No comment on that! Our goal now is for Preston to be well enough to go home with me this weekend. I know the Lord has His hand on Preston, and we really appreciate all of your prayers. We will keep you updated...

Preston is here!!

Robert Jay Preston Toth is here! We are calling him Preston.

He was born at 8:12 am, and he weighs 8 pounds and 7 ounces. He is 20 1/4 inches long.

He aspirated some fluid when he took his first few breaths, so he is in the NICU. I have only held him for about 10 minutes, and I am a little unhappy. I have cried and cried, but he is in good hands, and I am going to see him in a few minutes. Maddie is not allowed to see him. She's too young to go in the NICU.