Our Little Rangers

I love being able to report that Ryan was a very good boy all night long! He has started the day out nicely also. His feeds are being increased to 2.5ml per feeding. If he tolerates this they will increase his feeds to 3ml per feeding this evening!! His urine output has dropped some but the nurse told us that he has pretty much removed the excess fluid from his body. The diuretics cannot pull off extra fluid if it isn’t there.

I’ve had a pretty constructive day. I mean I tackled several ‘fears’ and have only once nearly cried! Anyone who has experienced a loss can understand how apprehensive a mother becomes at the thought of putting together their nursery. It is supposed to one of the happiest times but honestly it scares the mess out of me! This morning we all cleaned around the house and Mom and Dean convinced me that I needed to at least open the boxes for our travel system and play yard (by ‘open’ they meant pull them out and assemble them). Normally this wouldn’t be such a terrifying task but this system was the first thing that was bough for Jackson. I found the colors and fell in love. I was always too afraid to open the boxes.  Needless to say they have been in the garage since last September. With only minor trembling of the hands and a minimally racing heart I was able to put together both the travel system and the play yard! I call this #1 on the Mommy Milestone chart.

I did have a Total ‘Bethany’ moment while putting the travel system together. I’m not sure who’s seen Bethany Every After but when she brought Bryn home from the hospital neither her or her husband could get the carrier out of the car base. They had to call their baby nurse and have her come downstairs to help them get their child of out of the car! I’m not exactly sure who manufactured and put these things together but I’m pretty sure it isn’t the wisest thing to place the instructions on how to get the carrier out of the car base underneath that carrier that came AFFIXED to the car base! We are talking you can see them but you can’t get to them until you’ve figured out how to get the thing out yourself!! Thank you Auntie Lesha for getting Auntie Debbie to our rescue!! She told us what button to look for so we could get the thing out!! I remember watching that episode with my dad and him getting tickled because he said there were several occasions that he honestly thought he was going to have to cut the seatbelts in the car to get our car seats out.  To my husband who thinks these shows are crazy I did learn something. . . . .Always put your travel system together and practice working them so that you can get your baby out of the car when you bring them home for the first time!!!

The boys look like they’ve got everything figured out! Now if you could just picture Ryan asleep on Dean’s chest then it would be complete. If there is one good thing about the NICU it is that Ryan should be able to sleep through noises. He will need that when he falls asleep on daddy’s chest and daddy starts to snore.

Mom and Dean helped through my 2 and 3^rd Mommy Milestones! We successfully started and completed two registries! Once we made a dent in cleaning the garage we headed to Target and Babies R Us. Mom and I were very proud and appreciative of Dean on both these trips. While we filled out paperwork at target he ran to the snack bar and bought the three of us a snack and a drink! I think he enjoyed (and has been looking forward to) registering as much as we did! He even filled out the paper work at BRU! I think one of the best quotes of the night came from Dean in reference to the scanner, “look baby it’s like star wars.”

Our precious little boy was sound asleep when we checked on his this evening. His color looks as though it has improved! They’ve been watching his bilirubin levels closely. The doctor said that because the gallbladder has become lazy since it hasn’t had to help digest. They are hoping that as he tolerates his feeds that these levels will improve further. The nurse said tonight that his level was within normal range!

Ryan has tolerated his new vent for nearly a week now. They were able to further decrease some of his settings this morning. He is remaining on room air. We are just soo proud of this little booger!!

Gammie made Ryan another special blanket this evening. He seems to really love and respond very well to fleece blankets. Tonight he had support the Razorbacks!

I dug out the Razorback cap from my cedar chest. This was the first piece of clothing given to me for Jackson. Mom surprised me with the cap, onsie, and booties after we found out we were pregnant. I never had (or allowed any one to buy) much for Jackson. Call it intuition or what have you. It made me a little sad to open my cedar chest and take out the small plastic sheet bag that held everything (clothes wise) that was bought for Jackson.

I miss my little one (Jackson) so much. It is still very hard leaving the hospital empty handed. I just pray nightly that the Lord will allow me to ‘keep’ Ryan. He is doing very well for age/size. We keep hearing about how much he is a little fighter and a trooper. It is hard to believe that our little man will be a month old on Wednesday!