Dear Daxton,
It's hard to believe that your already almost 8 weeks old! Time sure flies! And Mommy has really been slacking, it's taken me so long to finally make this blog for you. But better late then never!
Well Manly, you sure had a fast and furious start into this world! You were born on September 2 2012 at 7:43am, you were 5 weeks early. Mommy had a very fast labor and you were born by c-section. (I will save the labor story for another time) At birth you were 5 lbs 15 oz, just a tiny little guy! You were born not breathing and the doctors had to give you chest compression and breath for you.
You were taken directly from the OR to the NICU where they intibated you and but you into a bed called the Giraffe. In this bed they could keep your temp regulated and make sure your breathing tubes were working.
The first time Mommy say you, you were covered with tubes and wires, it was pretty scary! But you were alive and that's all we cared about! Your a fighter my boy!
In the first couple days in the NICU, you were the most critical baby and had your very own nurse 24/7. You were being fed by a tube they put into your umbilical cord and a machine was breathing for you. However after the first day, you were fighting the breathing machine so much, that they let you breath room air, but the tube was still down your throat.
At around 6pm on day two the removed the intibation tubes and you got to breath completely on your own and you did just that! It was on that second night that Mommy and Daddy got to hold you for the first time. We had to be careful because you had all kinds of monitors attached to you and the feeding tube, but we got to hold you. It was such an amazing feeling, we were finally holding our perfect little man.
On day3 you got to have your first bottle of breast milk, your nurse fed it to you as you had to stay in your bed. But later that night Mommy got to bottle feed you for the first time and it was amazing! You were such a little pig and ate your bottle so fast.
On Sept 5th your were moved from the critical care pod to another pod. You no longer needed your own nurse 24/7 and now shared a urse with a couple other babies. This was a big deal as it meant you were getting stronger. And your big sister got to hold you for the first time on the 5th. She was so proud to finally be able to hold you. She really loves you Manly!
On Sept 6th you got to nurse for the first time. You knew exactly what you needed to do and we have never looked back. Up until this point you were drinking breast milk from a bottle. Mommy had been pumping since the day after you were born to ensure that you had lots of milk to drink and that you didn't have to have formula.
Since you were so early, it is very common to get jaundice, which you did. So on Sept 6th you had to go under the blue lights for a couple days. But Mommy and Daddy were still able to take you out to feed you and hold you every couple hours.
On Sept 7th you had your first bath. You cried and Mommy felt like a newbie, I forgot how different it was to bath a tiny little baby. But we got through it and you were happy to be nice and clean.
And you got to get clothes on for the first time on Sept 8th. You no longer had to be under the blue lights and finally got to get dressed. Up until that day you had only worn a diaper and been wrapped in blankets. You still had wires hooked up to you, but we just stuck them through the holes in your sleeper.
On Sept 10th you got to try out your car seat for the first time. Since you were born at 35 weeks, you were required to do a car seat test. This meant you had to sit in your car seat, all buckled up for 90 minutes without any d-stats. And you passed the test with flying colors! You slept for the full 90 minutes and I don't think you even realized you were in the car seat. And that meant we got to go home!
So on Sept 10th 2012, after 8 days in the NICU we finally got to bring you home! It was the most amazing feeling to finally walk out of that NICU with you in our hands. up until then we had been back and forth for 8 days and always walked out the doors without you. Daddy, Cadence and I were so happy to finally get to bring you home. It was pouring rain, but we didn't care, we were finally going home!
So that's a part of your story so far... believe me there is a lot more! But for now I better get dinner made for your sissy while you have a nap on the couch! Mommy loves you Manly and I'm so proud of the string little boy you are!
Love Mommy
