An Update

Crew is a month old (plus a few days) now. He is now home. He actually came home two weeks ago with a feeding tube in place in his nose. Shawn and I stayed the night at the hospital and got to practice taking care of him . . . feeding him through the tube, operating the machinery to pump the milk into him, checking the placement of the tube in his stomach by using a stethescope to listen while we blow about 2 ccs of air into his stomach to listen for the whoosh sound to make sure everything is where it is supposed to be. We also had to practice inserting a new tube into his nose and down his esophagus. A little scary the first time but not too horrible.
It is wonderful having him home!! We don't sleep much but it's a small price to pay. It was so fun to watch Mia with her new baby brother when we brought him home. We had purchased a new doll and doll stroller, swing, crib, bottles, diaper bag, etc. for her to play with while I was taking care of Crew . . . so she could mimic us and hopefully keep her entertained. She's no fool. As soon as we gave her these new toys with the intent of keeping her occupied for the first time, she threw them to the side, came up to me and held out her arms, wanting the real baby. Unfortunately, not much has changed since then and still wants to hold the real baby instead of her dolls. Fortunately, Mia doesn't seem jealous. She wants to give kisses and hugs. She tried to share her fishies (translated: goldfish crackers) with him yesterday and shoved one almost down his throat. Thankfully Julie caught it in time and got it out. Mia is having a hard time adjusting to mom and dad being less available and is quite the expert at saying "NO!" She'll be two next week so it may have been inevitable regardless.
We'll post some pics, showing him with his button (which has now been removed making him much happier) and photos since then. Stay tuned...

Welcome Crew!

Crew was born September 25th just before 8:00 am. He weighed 9.04 and was measured at 21 1/4 inches. We have had a little bit of a rough beginning. Crew has a medical condition known as Pierre Robin Sequence. Basically he has a cleft palate (not a cleft lip) and a extra small jaw which makes it so his tongue is placed too far back in his mouth so he has trouble breathing/eating. Natalie is home from the hospital now. Crew is still in the NICU at Medical City hospital - he was transferred a couple of days ago. Tomorrow (Thursday) he will undergo surgery to attach his tongue to his lower lip (probably for about 9 months) so we can stop worrying about his tongue falling back into his throat. He'll be able to suck and eat like any normal baby and we will be able to put him on his back and treat him like a normal baby without worrying about his airways or having him constantly on a monitor. They'll separate the tongue and lip at the same time that they fix his cleft palate which they will do at about 9 months of age. Babies grow so quickly that his jaw should be big enough in that 9 months to accommodate his tongue, alleviating the danger of suffocation.

He is a happy, sweet baby and such a joy for us. We're just sad to have to leave him in the hospital and we're sad that Mia hasn't officially met him yet. She did get to see him through the glass and is starting to understand a little bit who "Baby Crew" is. I can't wait for him to come home so she can be a big sister.

Please keep little Crew in your prayers.