NICU Day 11

Day 11 was another great day for Jasper. I got the go ahead to be able to drive myself to go see him. It was my first time driving in 2 weeks! I left Daddy and Harper at home to nap and I really wanted to get there for Jasper's 3pm feeding. He was doing so great at nursing, I really wanted to allow us more time to practice figuring it out. When we went back that evening, we had a wonderful surprise by seeing him off his nasal canula! They also removed his central line that night, so our boy was basically free and clear! He was still attached to the heart and pulse ox monitors, which is a requirement of course. It was truly amazing and such a huge encouragement. Jon and I felt so blessed because Harper had so much progress, but tons of little steps backwards that always felt like were taking so long to get us home. With Jasper, he had a much harder start by far, but once he healed up, he made huge strides with no setbacks at all. It was wonderful! We knew he wouldn't be there much longer, so we made sure to take pictures of his surroundings and things so we could remember his little home where he started out.

Here he is free and clear of all attachments.

We put a picture of his big sister up in his bassinet. Because she was below the age requirement, she was not allowed to come visit him in the NICU, but we wanted him to know she was right there with him always. And it was a great reminder for us to see how far she had come since the NICU and trust in God that Jasper was going to do as well as she had done.

Harper drew a picture for Jasper, so we wanted to hang it up for him to see. She already loved him so much even though she had never met him. The lamb was given to Jasper by the hospital clergy woman. Typically someone would come by daily to pray over each of the babies in the NICU, and a couple times per week the clergy would come by and see who didn't have a lamb and leave one for them. It took a couple days until Jasper got one, so we had brought Harper's lamb from her time there. When he finally got his own, we took Harper's back to her. Harper's is a little fuzzy brown lamb, and Jasper's is a big, sturdy white one.

Jon wrote this using the nurse's tape on Jasper's first night in the NICU and taped it to his bassinet. One of the night nurses makes these signs for all the kids and personalizes them. Here is how Jasper's turned out. I loved it!

Facebook posts - 2:27pm - I'm getting to drive for the first time in almost two weeks. And it's so I can go visit and feed Jasper while Daddy and Harper nap. Can't wait to bring him home!

10:41am - What a great surprise to walk in tonight and see Jasper off the nasal canula! I'd better enjoy my sleep tonight. Looks like he could come home at any time.

NICU Day 10 / March 18

Day 10 in the NICU was another big day of firsts! Jasper was still on the nasal canula on a low flow of air. Looking cute as ever, of course! Since he only had the canula and the central line in, we were allowed to put some actual clothes on him. Just like with Harper, it had to be loose-fitting and only a t-shirt since pants or a onesie would get in the way of his central line in his belly button. Button-up shirts are the ideal, so we brought all we had and took them home to wash when needed. I was so anxious to get him home, but seeing him in clothes was so encouraging and comforting. The biggest progress made on Day 10 was he was allowed to try to nurse. And he did great! It was not a perfect start, but only having Harper's start to compare him to (which was really, really tough), he was amazing. When considering he had only been fed via a tube down his throat, and eaten from a bottle a couple of times, he was doing amazing. I was thrilled and so encouraged. I used a similar tactic as I did with Harper, and didn't want to wear him out, so we would try to nurse for about 10 minutes before we would switch to the bottle. I wanted him to get all the nutrition he needed without getting too tired. Afterall, we didn't want him to take any steps backwards. That night we said our goodbyes, and Daddy did his famous burrito roll-up. This is a good picture of the gel packs they would place under his head. Because he was on the vent and practically stationary, the gel packs would help prevent pain on the back (or sides) of his head and help prevent it from getting flat. The covers are made by the volunteers and are just a mini cotton pillowcase. They would give us the covers to bring home and wash and get it smelling like us so that he could smell us while we weren't there. We ended up with about 4 of them, and around our house they're now known as "roars" since Harper started putting them on her hands and pretending they were monsters roaring as they tried to eat us. Facebook Post - 1:29 Jasper is nursing like a champ! I'm so proud of my boy. He's got no more icky wires in him, and is on a very low setting of air i nthe nasal canula to wean him off. Eating was the next big hurdle, but he was a natural. He's ever so much closer to coming home!

NICU Day 9 / March 17

Day 9 in the NICU was a tremendous event. Jasper was removed from the vent! It was such a surprise and treat to be able to see his sweet face again without the huge machine breathing for him. Seeing that machine turned off, and all the tubes draped over it, not attached to Jasper was a total thrill. His nurses were so happy with his progress and everyone was excited for us as we got to enjoy seeing him. We stayed for his feeding and made plans to come back that night.

11:01 am Jasper is OFF THE VENTILATOR!

That night we left Harper in great hands as she slept and we headed to visit Jasper. We had barely settled in when his nurse told us she wanted us to hold him. WOOHOO!! We had waited 10 days and our arms were more than ready! Since Jon had pseudo-held him when the nurse needed help quickly one time, I got the honors first. As if I would have had it any other way no matter what, right??

It was, and will forever be one of my most cherished moments.

I had to eventually give Daddy a turn.

(Remember it was March 17th, which is why we're both wearing green. We don't usually try to match ;) )

After getting to hold him until he was worn out, we were both so relieved and excited about all his progress and what was ahead for him.

10:20pm Wonderful day! Jasper is making huge progress and we FINALLY got to hold him! We're two ecstatic parents right now.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day. Though we're not Irish (at least not very much), we enjoy celebrating it by wearing green and yesterday was no exception.

Daddy got the kids dressed and ready in the morning. I had purchased Jasper's outfit last year on clearance at Walmart while he was still in the NICU and I found Harper's this year for $4, also at Walmart. They were both too cute, I can guarantee this will not be the last time they wear them!



That evening I was wondering what I was going to make for dinner. I hadn't thought of it much ahead of time, but I remember my mom always making corned beef (I don't remember the cabbage part) and she always used food coloring to make everything extra green, like our drink and our butter for the rolls. I always loved it, and it's something I want to continue to do for our family. I was searching for something easy (and fast!) to make that I could dye green, and realized macaroni and cheese would be perfect! Not the most healthy dinner, but I usually add peas to it, and a little unhealthy dinner once in a while doesn't kill us.

While the water was boiling, I had an inspiration: Green eggs and ham!! I knew I had to make that, since ham and eggs with various extras is a breakfast favorite in our house. I continued to make the mac and cheese in case Harper was too scared to try the green eggs. Also because Jasper is really picky about his eggs, though mac and cheese is a pretty good guarantee. Harper questioned it once I put it on the plate, but once I reminded her I was making something green for dinner, she asked "eggs??", then dug right in! She especially loved the toast with green butter and the green milk. I was so relieved. True to form, Jasper only ate a few bites of the eggs, so we moved on to the mac and cheese and he became adequately green pretty quickly.

It was such a fun and different thing to do, and extremely easy. Maybe some day I will come up with something a little more involved, but for this working mama with very limited time in the evenings, I couldn't have asked for anything better. Just check out those faces for yourself!

All our green.

I remembered the green plate and green fork, but completely forgot the green cup. Silly Mommy. Here she is modeling her hat she made at school.


Green tongue!

Giving the mac and cheese a try after she finished her eggs.

Days 4-8 / March 12-16

Days 4-8 had Jasper basically sedated and on the vent. There wasn't a lot of change, during these days, so I'm using this post to comment on a lot of different things about Jasper's stay.

I didn't take very many pictures these days. It was really hard for me to see him on the ventilator and not moving. I wanted pictures as a rememberance, but I think they're difficult to look at.

He had the chest tube which was draining directly into a "water seal" which basically means it was dangling into an enclosed container of water. As it drained, bubbles would form in the water, essentially showing how much hair was coming out of the hole in his lung. Less bubbles were what we prayed for every day.

Each day we walked in, we never knew what to expect. He might have had a bad night with lots of monitors and alarms, or have been irritable with his nurses. Many times the alarms were due to one of his monitors falling off, but other times his levels were just off, or when he would get upset, his pulse ox would go waaay down.

Each day they were turning down his vent little by little, and would also try to limit his sedation meds at times to see how he tolerated it. It was always nice to see him a little more awake and responsive to us, though we were always concerned about him being uncomfortable. Sometimes he would suck on his binky, or his eyes would be open. Often times he would get upset and move around too much or try to pull out his vent. Obviously this was not a good thing, so they would have to up his sedation meds a little more.

He began to get breathing treatments during this time to help open up his lungs. The respiratory therapist would come and give him his medicine directly into his vent. It would last up to 10 minutes and was fairly uneventful. At any point during the day or night, the nurse would have to clear out his lungs manually, and after a breathing treatment, there was always lots of gunk to get out. They had a special tube that went down his throat (through his vent) and into his chest. They would then push a smaller tube through that one and it would suction all the junk out. Some days there would be a lot of green stuff, other days not a whole lot. I was always so glad he was sedated for this, because you could still see it was uncomfortable for him, so I can't imagine what it woud've been like if he had been awake.

Kind of a funny thing about this time in the NICU is how oily and stinky he was. He had 4 heart monitors stuck to his chest, and a pulse ox on his foot. It was around Day 4 that his nurses started mentioning how nothing stuck to him for very long. On typical babies, the monitors stay stuck until the baby is given a bath, or pulled off intentionally. For Jasper, it wasn't unusual for the nurses to have to change them twice or even three times per shift! His hair was pretty greasy-looking, and about every other day (as long as he was having a good day) they would give him a sponge bath and wash his hair. The smelling-good only lasted a few hours, and soon he would be stinking up the joint again. Despite this odd thing about our boy, all the nurses absolutely loved him. All we ever heard from the nurse on duty was how "big" he was compared to the standard NICU baby. To us, he looked so small, but for them, he was HUGE (or so they said). And especially during these days where he was sedated and intubated, he was comparitively "low maintenance" than the other baby his nurses typically cared for who was a micro preemie (just like Harper's nurses' other baby - what a reminder to be so thankful for what we had!), so he got lots of attention just being loved on by everyone.

Also during this time, I got to be there when they moved his bed because the port for his monitors quit working. It was fascinating to see how many people and the undertaking it was just to move the location of his bed to an empty slot. They ended up moving him right next door to the slot Harper was in, which was so surreal. He was moved to an end spot (it was the same spot the micropreemie with Harper was in), which was great for more privacy and it was much less noisy and not as bright so he could sleep better and not get so agitated. (This became very important as he got better and better when his personality started to come out and he would make up for all that time of not being able to cry.) Since he was ventilated, someone had to manually pump air into him with a hand pump while about 3 other carried cords, monitors and pushed the bed. I just tried to stay out of the way and prayed that person with the pump wouldn't forget or miss their count!

I was discharged on Day 4. My doctor wanted me to stay the full 5 days he recommends for a c-section recovery, but once Jasper was intubated, I knew there wouldn't be any change in his condition for a while so I wanted to be in my own bed and get started on our new normal at home with Harper. Jon was on FMLA because I couldn't drive for at least 2 weeks, so my doctor was fine with me leaving and having him home was amazing. I was completely heartbroken to leave Jasper at the hospital.

We were able to work out a pretty good routine with visiting him though. Typically we would sleep in as long as we could at home and have some morning time with Harper, just the 3 of us. It also helped us to avoid the traffic. I was moving pretty slowly for those first several days at home, so this was really nice. Jasper was on a eating schedule of 3, 6, 9, 12, so we would usually drop Harper off at Papa and Nana's house and be at the hospital in time for his noon feeding. In the beginning, this was the only times we were able to touch him as we would take his temp and change his diaper. So while his feedings were fairly uneventful as the milk went directly into his stomach via a tube, we always looked so forward to these times. We might visit for a while, get caught up on how his night went, then sometimes leave to have a bite to eat together or run some errands. We would make it back in time for his 3pm feeding, and leave a while later to pick Harper up and head back home to get her dinner and again spend some more time with her. We would then do bathtime and our regular bedtime routine and have her in bed by 7pm or so. We were so blessed to have had a great circle of friends to rely on during this time who would come to our house and hang out while Harper slept so we could go visit Jasper in the NICU. This was such a blessing for us!! We could be there for his 9pm feeding and really spend some quiet time with him. Often times we would just sit and stare or pray or cry or smile. I would always bring my pump with me and pump milk at his bedside. It was during this time how I realized how blessed I was with my supply as I watched the mommy of the micropreemie also pump at her bedside and only get 1 or 2 ounces while I was getting 10+. She was trying so hard, and it was so effortless for me. This is something that would stick with me later and contributed to me becoming a milk donor when Jasper was 6 months old.

One final note: I looked back at my facebook and copied some of the posts I made during this time. Prior to March 15, I hadn't really posted much. It's nice to look back and see the positive strides he made.

March 15 - Sorry for the lack of updates. There really hasn't been much to report.. until now! Progress has been made with his lungs, and his chest tube is now in a water seal to make sure there's no air escaping. If he stays like this for 24 hours, the chest tube gets removed! His vent has been slowly turned down every day and he's up to a full ounce at each feeding. He's getting breathing treatments for the next two days to help with the mudous consolidation in his lungs ,which could be a result of his vent. All in all, pretty good news to report!!

March 16 11:20pm- This morning's update: Jasper's chest tube has been removed!!! And if his testing goes well at 2pm, he could have his vent removed this afternoon too! amazing progress, and we are so excited!

March 16 12:20pm- We're seeing Jasper on NO sedation meds for the first time since Thursday. Praise the Lord. Looks like they'll remove his vent tomorrow as to give him some time to adjust, but everything looks great. Soon - we'll be able to hold him! can't wait! He's a week old today and this Mama's arms are aching to hold him for the first time.

March 16 10:13pm - Day 8 in the NICU, we captured a sweet smile from our sweet boy. We expect this to be the last time we see him on the vent!

NICU Day 3

NICU Day 3 - Thursday

Jasper showed improvement on Day 3. I went and saw him early in the morning to drop off milk and took this picture of him under the hood. His x-ray a little later in the morning showed his pneumothorax was gone, so they removed the hood and gave him his first feeding via feeding tube. As his nurse said, "he woke up this morning and realized he hadn't been fed, and was MAD". It was nice to see him again without the hood, though he was still on the canula. We were feeling very encouraged as we got back to my room thinking he was really making tons of progress with the feeding and by getting to see his face.





A short time later, the doctor and Jasper's nurse were in our room. This wasn't a good sign. Less than 2 hours after removing him from the hood, his pneumothorax was actually visible through his skin, which is determined to be very severe. No x-ray was needed to decide to intubate him to allow a machine to breathe for him, insert a chest tube to drain his lungs, insert a central line for easy access to administer medication and fluids via his bellybutton. The central line was a really good thing as it prevented them from having to stick him with any more needles.

He also had to be sedated so that he would be more comfortable and wouldn't try to pull out the tube. If I thought Day 1 was hard, seeing him sedated and intubated was amazingly difficult. He looked horrible laying there hooked up to a ton of machines, completely still and non-responsive.

It was an awful feeling knowing that he had to be intubated. I knew that if they took that step, it was going to be a really long road. I still held so much hope that he was going to pull himself out and continue to improve, and it was beyond devastating to know we weren't going to be bringing him home with us right away and had no idea how long he would be in. I think this is when it finally really hit home how serious this was and how badly he had been doing up until that point. I felt so badly that he had to go through that because I can imagine he was so miserable not able to get a full breath.

NICU Day 2

Wednesday - Day 2

Wednesday morning I visited Jasper and he didn't look good. His breathing was still very labored and his color was a bit off. The doctor had made rounds that morning and had ordered another chest x-ray. I am unclear as to why there wasn't one done the day before, but perhaps they were still giving him time to get better on his own without much intervention. I was having an incredibly difficult time being at his bedside, and was recovering from the c-section, so I went to go lay down in my room. Jon was a trooper and stayed with him much of the time. Shortly after I left, they decided to put the c-pap on Jasper. This is the same machine Harper was one where it forces more air into the lungs and it makes it easier for the babies to breathe on their own.

Almost immediately after they put the c-pap on, they got the chest x-rays back and discovered he had a pneumothorax, or a collapsed lung. Finally we had a cause to what all his problems were. Collapsed lungs in newborns do happen, and they're impossible to predict. The likeliest cause for Jasper was a tiny weakened spot on one of his lungs "popped" when he took his first breath out of the womb, causing his lung to collapse. The course of action for each child varies, depending upon the severity. We were told many times they can fix themselves.

After seeing the x-ray, he was immediately taken off the c-pap, as the forced air into the lungs can usually make a situation like his worse. In hopes that he might still "fix" himself, they put him underneath a 100% oxygen washout hood so as not to force any air. They also punctured his chest with a needle to release the pressure that was pressing around his lung, not allowing it to inflate. Jon was there for all of this even though they typically don't allow parents to be present for any type of procedures. He actually got to help hold Japer for part of it, and said that from the time they put the c-pap on initially, to getting the x-ray, to putting him under the hood and puncturing his chest to release the pressure took no longer than 10 minutes. Everything moved very quickly.

When I visited him after this, upon seeing him under the hood, I had a complete meltdown and things had definitely become real. No parent wants to see their child struggling, especially during their first days of life. It was so painful to not be able to hold him or do anything for him. In fact, we were basically told we weren't allowed to touch him because any agitation on his part could make his condition worse. The second two pictures below are so dark because we weren't even supposed to use the flash on the camera. I knew what the doctors and nurses were telling me was the right thing for him, however it went against everything I felt right as a Mommy. I wanted to hold and touch my newborn, and I simply couldn't. It was torture. And selfishly, I just wanted the entire nightmare to go away so we could have the "normal" childbirth experience. It had all become too much, and I was not handling the unexpected very well. Jon was a total rock for me, however, and allowed me to cry as much as I needed to, while providing a very strong shoulder to cry on. I know he was as surprised as I was that things had gone this way, but having traveled down this road before with Harper, and having the benefit of not dealing with crazy hormones and anesthesia side effects like I was, plus just being a really good guy, he was able to handle the craziness much better than his wife.

Jasper was left under the hood for the remainder of the day into the next as they continued to x-ray his chest to monitor his progress.

I continued to pump and try to take it easy. I was already having a much more difficult recovery from this c-section than last, though nothing was really wrong--I was just more sore. I was getting decent sleep, and Jon slept at home with Harper this night. I really missed having him there at night when I had to get up and get my pump things ready, and drop off the milk to the NICU, but I was glad to have Harper sleep in her own bed. She had done great at Nana and Papa's house but it's never the same as when you're at home.

Here is Jasper first thing in the morning. At the time, I was so glad to see his sweet face, but looking back, I can see how bad he looks.

Such a flashback this picture is to Harper. Jon captured this in the few minutes he was actually on the c-pap.

And here is our Bubble Boy and the moment things had really sunk in for me.

Jasper's Birth Story & Day 1

Why I'm a year late with the birth story: Jasper's birth and subsequent NICU stay was very, very difficult for me. I was so overwhelmed with what was happening, that I did not do a good job at posting pictures or keeping the blog updated. I barely even kept facebook updated because it just all seemed too devastating and difficult. About a month after we brought him home, I started writing everything down. I wanted to capture the days after his birth as best as I could, and I knew I had to do it while it was still fresh. Jon helped me with a lot of the details, since a lot of the medical information was fuzzy. I had intended on posting it right away and wanted to include some pictures to accompany the stories. However every time I tried to sit down and get it done, it just wouldn't happen. It was too overwhelming, and I was enjoying having him home and healthy, that I don't think I wanted to go back there.

I've had it in my mind that I wanted to post the stories for his first birthday. It's such a milestone event anyway, and I think it's an appropriate time for me to share. The plan is to share the first several days of his birth one at a time. Whether this results in one post a day or two or three, I don't know. But it will get done!!

Here is our birth story and account of Day 1 in the NICU

I was admitted to the hospital on Monday night, March 8, knowing I would be delivering Tuesday at 3pm. Just my luck, there was some work being done on the hospital's computer system, and no one was allowed to schedule anything before noon. Since the surgeries that would have normally been first thing in the morning were now scheduled at noon, it meant I was pushed back all the way until 3pm. I was not excited to be having to wait so long for my surgery, especially since it meant I couldn't eat after midnight. My night nurse was great and brought me a midnight snack, and my morning nurse even checked with my anesthesiologist first thing in the morning to see if he would allow me a small breakfast. But nope, I was restricted to.... well, nothing! Not even water. hmph. Though I cursed him under my breath, it turned out to be a huge blessing as I ended up getting a 10:30am slot unexpectedly! Turns out the work on the computers was done much earlier than expected, and my nurse called down to my doctor to see if he wanted to squeeze me in. Thankfully everyone was available to be there, so 10:30 it was! I got the green light mainly because I hadn't eaten since midnight - so thank goodness for strict (mean) anesthesiologists! Daddy was already on his way to the hospital with Harper for a visit before dropping her off at Nana and Papa's house where she would be staying for her very first sleepover with them, so I got a quick kiss before saying goodbye to her. Nana came and picked her up so Jon could stay with me. I had already had a quick shower and was instructed to get into my gown. It was really happening!

The prep for surgery is always the worst. Laying there on the bed in that freezing operating room, I was really nervous about the spinal block. The (mean) anesthesiologist had me sitting up and hunching way over so he could put the needle in my back, but Jasper kept kicking me really hard as if to say "stop squishing me Mom!". It made me flinch several times -- not a good thing to do when someone has a giant needle in your spine! We all had a good chuckle, and everything went really well. My doctor came in shortly after, and I remember all kinds of questions being thrown about, and silly conversations all the people have. I was asked multiple times if we were banking cord blood (no) and if I was having a tubal (no). I then remember my doctor saying "test pinch done - good" and my (mean) anesthesiologist leaned in to tell me that my doctor had just pinched me really hard to make sure I was numb. The fact that I didn't feel it was a good sign. Right after that, Jon came in and I smelled a burning smell. I also asked Jon if they had started and he replied "oh yeah" as if to say they were well under way. I didn't feel nearly as much pulling and tugging this time as I did with Harper, and everything seemed to be in really slow motion this time as well. Right after they pulled him out, Jon was taking pictures and I told him to go with Jasper to see him get cleaned up. I have no idea where my (mean) anesthesiologist went, but I had the sudden urge to vomit. I tried not to think about it, and he thankfully returned shortly after, and I asked for a bag. It wasn't until later that I laughed to myself thinking he probably didn't believe me when I told him I hadn't had anything to eat since midnight. But the fact that I had nothing to throw up was my proof that I had followed the rules. I just felt very, very queasy.

I heard some rumblings about Jasper, but no one seemed overly concerned. He was breathing hard and making a grunting noise, so they told me they were calling in a NICU nurse to check him out. He had a strong cry and looked great. I wasn't worried, so I was making conversation with my doctor (when I wasn't trying to vomit) about if they had discovered any endometriosis this time. The verdict was no, and that made me thankful. He was very happy with how the surgery had gone, and everything seemed great. We said our goodbyes and I was wheeled to recovery. As with Harper, I was incredibly sleepy. "They" say there is nothing in the medication that is supposed to make you sleepy, but I had an overwhelming feeling to sleep just like last time. I was also incredibly itchy, mainly on my face, which is an expected side effect. At least this time I was prepared and hadn't put any makeup on.

In recovery, I was chatting with Jon and my nurse, making small talk about this and that, mostly talking about how tired I was, and trying to sound lucid while I spoke to my mom and friends. For the record, I don't really remember these conversations. :) We were visited by the NICU doctor on duty that week, and it truly didn't sink in yet how serious things might be. His labored breathing was not improving, and the grunting was still there. The words "we've admitted him" flew right out of his mouth like they were nothing, and I didn't have a chance to process it. Wait, what?? This was NOT the way things were supposed to go. I asked him questions about the things I knew, like if he was going to have the lung medicine given to him they had talked about Harper once possibly needing - he didn't need it yet, and Harper never needed it. But mainly they were going to leave him on the nasal canula to try to allow him to get his breathing stabilized, and they were ordering a chest x-ray.

Before I knew it, I was being wheeled in to the NICU to visit. This was a trip I remembered well and one that I definitely didn't want to be traveling again. I remembered the hallways, and the back door entrance they use so the hospital beds can get in with ease. My heart sank as we entered in. I didn't want to be here.

I was really still out of it and didn't talk much. My head was spinning, literally and figuratively, and I truly just wanted to get to my room, sleep, and hope it was all a bad dream. I had so envisioned that this birth was going to be different than the last, and that our experience would be a total 180 from when Harper was born. I couldn't believe it looked like we were going down the same road. We took a few pictures, and stayed for about 10 minutes, then said our goodbyes to let him rest. They were still working on him and it's difficult to not be in the way with the ginormous hospital bed wheeled in there.

When I got back to my room, I tried to get some rest. I was really hungry and thirsty, and obviously still very numb. Though I was terribly nauseous still, I tried to eat some jello and drink a bit of water. It didn't stay down long and I ended up getting sick 3 times that day. Funny the things I remember, even though I was so completely tired. Jon was in and out, visiting Jasper a lot, hanging out with me. I never ended up sleeping much. All the days happenings were filling my head and I was trying to wrap my brain around everything.

Once I had total feeling back in my legs, I got out of bed and was wheeled to the NICU to visit Jasper. In the NICU, babies are always given the best chance to do things on their own before they intervene. Most often times babies are rushed there with breathing problems, so frequently they are able to overcome the minor hurdles on their own. Jasper was put on a nasal canula to push some extra oxygen in hopes that he just needed to clear out his lungs, and receive a little extra assistance. His breathing was very labored, and he had an IV in his arm in order give him fluid and had a feeding tube, which wasn't being utilized yet. It was at this visit that Jon got to first change Jasper's diaper. I got some great pics, which were totally identical to him first changing Harper's diaper with total concentration. He's so funny.

We were in a wait and see mode, and still felt really good that he was going to pull out of his labored breathing and be discharged soon. I started pumping that night and was so thankful to have a great start even though my milk was days away from coming in. Though, to be honest, I just wanted to be holding him to nurse, and not have that stupid pump. Jon stayed in the hospital with me that night and was an incredible help with getting my pump set up and ready for me. We both got a fair amount of sleep, though he was in the NICU sitting with Jasper a lot of the time.

Daddy taking a self portrait right before coming in to the Operating Room.

6lbs, 14.5 oz

Giving a kiss before taking him to the NICU

Me on my recovery bed visiting Jasper in the NICU.

On the monitors with a nasal canula, feeding tube and IV.


Changing his diaper for the first time.




Birth announcement placed on his NICU bed.

Museum Day!

Harper's school closes every year on President's Day so that the teachers can attend training. Since Monday is Jon's usual day off, I decided to take the day off so we could have a family day. We tossed around a couple ideas and decided on the Fort Worth Science and History Museum which has the Children's Museum exhibit. Harper talks about dinosaurs nonstop these days, so we knew she would love it there. Jon had been there as a kid, and I love doing the same things he did when he was little.

It's fun for us now that she's old enough to understand what a surprise is and asks questions. We asked if she knew where we were going and she actually guessed we were going to see dinosaurs shortly after we left the house! She never ceases to amaze us.

She was a silly girl on the way there and looked too cute with her blankie on her head, I had to snap a picture.

The museum's exhibits are geared mostly for kids who are older, so we stayed mostly in the Children's Museum area which is for kids under 8 years old, though the majority of the kids were about 2-5 years old when we were there.

Right when we walked in, there was a formula 1 race car that we had to get a picture with for Poppy. However Harper's focus was only on the dinosaurs, so we went directly there. Jon said they still have the same dinosaurs from when he was a kid, which I found pretty funny. Harper wasn't scared of them at all and she kept roaring her best dinosaur roar at them. She and Daddy explored the computers there, and we finally convinced her to sit inside the footprint.

After we were done with the dinosaurs, we went to the Children's exhibit and she loved everything in there. She loved the trolly and kept running inside and out because she liked the sound her feet made on the floor. They had building blocks and even though she has those at home, she still wanted to play with those there. There was a big area with train tracks you can build any which way and Daddy (and Harper) had a blast playing with those. There was a baby hospital area and you could see x-rays, swaddle baby dolls, drive an ambulance and have your height checked. She waited so patiently to drive that ambulance and had the biggest smile when she was finally able to. Then we moved on to the grocery area which allows kids to play on the registers and the scanners. Though they are supposed to be able to go to all the shelves and pick out things from the grocery lists they provide, the carts were all filled to the brim and the shelves were bare. A few of us parents were making a game out of having the kids put things BACK on the shelves instead, and that seemed to work pretty well.

We went to the outside area for a little while, but it was rather chilly and very windy that day, so she played a little bit on the water guns (and she was pretty good!) but we didn't last long out there.

We had some lunch and let Harper have some worms and dirt. She loved the worms, but not the dirt so much (the cookies were pretty soggy). Daddy was happy to have her leftovers and I got her to give me a huge dirt smile. While I fed Jasper the rest of his lunch, Harper and Daddy went upstairs to check out the ranchers exhibit. There wasn't much for her to be interested in, but she did love seeing the cows.

We left shortly aftewards and had promised Harper we would walk around the side of the building to where the big dinosaurs were outside. This is where she really gave out her best roars, but also where she finally got scared. I guess a T-Rex is a lot scarier than a big skeleton inside.

We were there less than 3 hours, but it was the perfect amount of time for our two little ones. We got home and everyone laid down for a nap. I couldn't sleep, so I decided to load the pictures from the day. I searched and searched but couldn't find the camera anywhere. I waited for Daddy to wake up and he couldn't find it either. I called the museum lost and found and someone had turned it in!!! Apparently it fell out of the stroller when he had loaded it in to the back of the car. After just buying this camera, we were soooo thrilled to have gotten it back. Not to mention all the memories we had just captured that day!

Here are just a fraction of the pictures we have. It was a lot of fun!


Harper with the race car.

Harper and Daddy with the dinosaur.

With the littler dinosaur.


Sitting in the footprint.

Standing in the gator's mouth.

Driving the ambulance.

Jasper had just woken up from a nap and didn't appreciate being face to face with the turtle.

Dirt smile.

Chewing on some pizza crust.

Don't let the T-Rex eat me, Mama!

"Rrrrraaaaaawwwwrrrrr!"