Best. Day. Ever., the Jersey Shore, and More Answered Prayers

Today was simply The. Best. Day. Ever.  We finally got to hold Liam!  We were hoping that maybe we could have held him yesterday, but they made us wait 48 hours after his surgery for us to hold him.  But first, here's a run down of everything else that happened today.

Last night, we were hoping we would be able to feed him a little.  Allison has been pumping like crazy and we finally got enough milk to feed him.  He's been getting a little bit on a Q-tip to swab around his mouth to get some good antibodies in his body, but we hadn't been able to actually feed him any.  Last night, the nurse tried to put a tube in to allow milk to be administered but she wasn't quite sure if the tube was in place so she ordered an X-ray to make sure.  We were there when they did the X-ray, but the results didn't come back in time and we had to go back up to Allison's room to get some pain meds.

We knew Allison was being discharged today, so we got up early so we could go see Liam before they booted us out.  When we got down to the NICU, the place was lit up like a tanning bed.  Liam's bilirubin levels had been creeping up, and he started to get a little jaundiced.  This is not uncommon for premies.  As a result, he was placed under a special light that helps his body breakdown the bilirubin until his liver can do it by itself.  Liam was sporting some cool shades and Ian joked that being so close to New Jersey, Liam had to get his tan to fit in with the Jersey Shore crowd.

Yesterday after the breathing tube came out and last night Liam had been off the CPAP and more or less breathing on his own.  When we got down to the NICU this morning he had a prolonged apneic episode that caused them to have to put him back on the CPAP.  We were hoping to get to feed him but the respiratory therapist was called to make the switch to CPAP and we had to go back to the room to pack up and sign all the discharge papers.

When we got back to the NICU Liam was once again stable and were able to spend a fair amount of time with him and also got to help the nurse with some of his care.  It's not much, but it feels good to lend a hand so we don't feel completely helpless.  They let us change his diapers, take his temperature, and provide oral care and it's nice to do something other than sit and stare at him.  Speaking of diapers, they've been doing scans of Liam's bladder to monitor his urine output and bladder function and everything is looking great.  They haven't had to catheterize him yet and he's been peeing like crazy.  Right now, its looking like his bladder function hasn't been affected too much.

We were there when the doctors were making their rounds and the neurosurgeon came by for a look.  He said that there doesn't appear to be any signs of buildup of fluid on his brain and his repair is looking good.  All-in-all Liam is looking really good after his surgery.  Its still too early to assess his leg movement as a lot of his movement is reflexive.  We'll still have to wait and see what develops there.  His neonatal doctor came by and said a lot of the same things.  Most of the issues he's dealing with are really more related to him being 8-weeks early than the spina bifida.

While we were thrilled to hear all this, nothing could top this afternoon.  After waiting for three days we were finally able to hold him.  You cannot possible know (or maybe you can) how awesome it was to finally hold our little miracle.  Allison went first, as she put a lot of hard work into creating this little bundle of joy.  We know he's small, but something gets lost when he's wrapped up in blankets on the table and he looks bigger than he actually is.  They let us de-robe and hold him skin-to-skin to our chests and he just seems to get swallowed up when he's next to us.  They put him down Allison's shirt so he would stay warm and you could barely make him out.  Liam was extra warm on Ian's chest.  The looks on our faces just shows how awesome this moment truly was.  We were both speechless and teary-eyed as we sat there holding our little boy for the first time.

Liam was as content as could be with us.  He was sleeping soundly, drooling, and blowing bubbles.  We could have sat there for hours with tears in our eyes and smiles on our faces; he's so light it's hardly any effort to hold him.  Unfortunately, we had to put him back since we had a lot to do in the afternoon and tonight.  We'll be back for seconds, thirds, and more for sure.

We finally found a place to stay during our extended time up here in Philly.  We've been trying to get in the Ronald McDonald Houses, but they're full and it could be several days before we get in.  In the interim, we booked a hotel room in Cherry Hill, New Jersey which is just across the river from Philly.  They've got a good rate for parents with children at CHOP, so we weren't put out too much.  However, we couldn't keep that up indefinetely.  We met with a social worker down in the NICU, and she put us in touch with Hosts for Hospitals, a non-profit organization that provides temporary housing for individuals like us with loved ones that have extended stays in the hospitals.  There is a group of host families around the Philadelphia area that open up their homes for families to stay, usually free of charge.

We were fortunate that a host family just 10-blocks from CHOP was available and we'll be checking in with them tomorrow.  What a wonderful answer to our prayers; one of our biggest concerns through this whole ordeal was where we were going to live and how were we going to afford it.  These people are gracious enough to open up their homes to complete strangers, expecting nothing in return.  God has truly been at work in our lives and we feel really blessed.

Sorry for the long post, but there was a lot of things going on and thankfully most of them are good.  We just need to get Liam bigger so he can get off the CPAP so we can see his beautiful face!