News

So I am sure you all are aware of the California crazy fires out here. I just wanted you all to rest assured that we are all doing well - the fires aren't close to us to pose any danger. We do however, have a nice haze that makes the sun shine orange/red. Since I don't get out much these days, I only noticed the sun when it shone eerily orange into our kitchen yesterday. I am also trying not to expose Liam to the poor air quality, but it has been very hot recently, and I can't keep the windows shut all day. Hopefully the heat will let up later this week. I much prefer the cool weather, and it is more fun to dress Liam up in sleepers. :)

Well, Liam and Daddy both have colds this week. Miraculously, I have not had one, which makes me think I gave it to both of them! Who knows. Brian tried so hard all weekend to stay clean and not get around Liam too much, but come Monday morning, I realized as I was feeding Liam that he was pretty congested. So, I called the pediatrician and he said to do what I was already doing - suctioning out his nose, and loosening the secretions with saline drops and a humidifier. So, today he is doing better- he HATES having his nose suctioned, and cries a lot, but he will know some day, I do it because I love him. :) It has been somewhat hard to be a nurse during these questionable illness times. It is totally a blessing to be a nurse and have such knowledge of pediatrics as I do, but it is also a curse because my mind wanders down a path where every little symptom has Liam ending up at CHLA intubated in the PICU. I know, a little irrational, but nonetheless, the product of not much sleep, loving Liam to pieces, and seeing what I have seen in my job. So far, so good. I actually went to the pediatrician yesterday because he has continued to have a goopy eye which was a blocked tear duct as I thought, but also a worrying breathing thing, that I wanted the doctor to look at. He thought it was regurgitation, but we'll see. I am more relaxed after going. It was also my first real outing with just Liam!

Well, update and praise!!! Liam has been breastfeeding exclusively since last Friday. YAY! We have chosen on occassion to give him a bottle at night so Sara can sleep, but he is doing so well, and I am SO thankful and feel so blessed. I am feeding him much more on demand and he is eating about 11 times a day. He usually has this marathon feed in the early evening where he is eating every hour or less, but then he is naturally not waking up as frequently at night. However, I still set my alarm to wake up and feed him if he doesn't wake me up. He is growing and growing, and if I can, I will go to the Pump Station again and weigh him this week. He is still small, but looking much more like a newborn! His due date is next Thursday, 11/1. On a personal note, I will be glad when his due date has passed - it has been somewhat emotional to go through all of this before when we expected him, and I am ready to get past that date, though still with some sadness.

Please keep Brian in your thoughts and prayers as he is taking an engineering test this weekend. Since Liam came early, it has been very hard for him to study as much as he has needed. But, we just want to trust the Lord to help him pass.

Enjoy the pictures!

To Eat or not to Eat...

So, this week has been rough. Brian and I weren't seeing any real progress with Liam and our attempts to breastfeed him exclusively. In fact, over the weekend, we ended up giving him more bottles in a row than we had since we started this transition to breastfeeding. So, Monday morning came around and I decided I needed to try a new tactic - no more bottles! On Saturday we went to have him weighed at the pediatrician's office and he was 6lbs 3oz! He gained 13oz in 8 days. So, I felt that he gained more than necessary in that week, and that he just needs a little tough love. Well, it has now been a little over 48 hours and I have given him the bottle one time this morning, after he just wouldn't eat at all. It has been extremely frustrating and exhausting to fight him so much. I don't like doing this, but I know that he CAN breastfeed, since he has on multiple occassions, he just doesn't like to right now. I hope that some day soon he can. Please pray for us during this trying time. It has been hard because none of these struggles were things we had planned on dealing with. I know God can and is sustaining us during this time.

So, here are some more pictures. Liam is now 1 month old, though he still hasn't reached his due date! We love him to pieces and all of the struggling is worth it when we just look at him.

Where does the time go?

( My favorite face to make!!!! Watch out, ladies!!)

So, I know some of you have been wondering why we haven't posted anything new recently. Well, we just don't know where the week has gone! The weekend of strictly breastfeeding went well overall - Liam had a melt down for a couple of hours where eating was the last thing he wanted to do, though he was obviously hungry. Monday, I had an appointment with a lactation consultant to help with this transition. There are these two fabulous stores/resource centers here in LA called the Pump Station. I was given very good and practical advice from the consultant, who does consultations at a NICU in Santa Monica. It was a blessing that I was able to meet with someone who has experience with breasfeeding premature babies! So, instead of fighting Liam with every feed, the woman suggested that if after 15 minutes of trying he still doesn't want it, then to go ahead and give him a bottle. She encouraged me by saying that this will be a process, not an instantaneous event! Afterall, Liam is still supposed to be inside me for another 3 weeks right now growing and getting ready for all that breastfeeding takes! So, though I am somewhat discouraged by the realization that the pump is still going to be my friend and that Liam will take a few more weeks still, I know that it is worth it to persevere when it seems hard. He overall is still breastfeeding well, but I do give the bottle when necessary. I am sure that as time moves on, it will be less and less!

Sara had her baby shower on Sunday here in Los Angeles. Her friends decided to throw one to welcome Liam and of course to have some fun! It was a wonderful time to visit with friends. We still played the poopy diaper game, which I now know all about! Brian headed back to work on Monday, and that has been a real shock to the system! But, Brian continues to put in his time with Liam and at night when Sara needs help. He is a fabulous husband and loves his boy. Neither of us had had a chance to prepare for what this period in our life would be like. Although, I am sure the extra weeks if Liam had been born on time would not have prepared us enough! We are just constantly amazed that God has entrusted us to take care of such a little person!

So, Liam continues to be busy sleeping, eating, peeing out of his diaper, and pooping lots. Not much new going on in his life! He is, however, acting much more like a baby with his fussiness and such. We think he is looking fuller in the face and body, and his tiniest premie clothes he has just about outgrown. They were the only ones that fit! He will be amazed that he ever fit into them. It all makes me realize how quickly precious time will pass, and has already passed.

Hope you all are doing well. Enjoy the pictures!

Our first outing

Today we made our way to Liam's first doctor's visit with his pediatrician. We were excited to go, and after another tiring night, we barely made it in time! We got him all snug in his car seat, and off we went. So, what did we discover? Liam is now 5lbs 8oz! He gained 7oz since Monday! He obviously has been doing a lot of eating. Because he is gaining weight really well, the doctor said we needed to play "hardball" with him and breastfeeding. Basically, he said "Don't give the bottle at all, and he'll start to catch on. Don't try this at night, but start today, and you'll see that he'll start to learn." Because the doctor knows this might concern new parents, like ourselves, he said he'd see us again in a week to weigh him and see how it is going. So, we've been doing it so far for a couple of feedings, and he is doing alright - still peeing and pooping so far, so that is good. In fact, Liam has been holding out to pee when we change his diaper - we still aren't quick enough with the second diaper, and have been peed on a few times. But, we just laugh and learn.

On another note, and since we do live in LA, we are going to be hosting a film crew in our apartment to shoot out a window into our landlord's driveway for a few seconds of the show NCIS show on CBS. So, you ask, how this came about? Well, tv shows always seem to be filming on our street, and I guess our apartment was scoped out to provide the "needed shot" of a driveway. So, yesterday morning when the producer and about 15 others came by the apartment to take a look and okay the location, we learned we are the chosen location for filming for a few hours. Of course, Brian has been super protective of little Liam. They are paying us nicely for this inconvenience, and I will be camped out in the bedroom next Tuesday while they use the living room window. No problem, Brian already lysoled (sp?) the doorknobs when they left yesterday. We will of course keep you updated after shooting is done. Los Angeles is a different place to live, that is for sure.

So other than they, we have just been plugging along on this journey of taking care of Liam. Friends are bringing us dinner every other night, which is definitely a fantastic service to us.

Best go, more to come later!

A few more pictures

With Daddy in the glider and wrapped up in his Moses basket

We're Home!

Liam Jacob is here!

Born September 15, 2007 at 6:58pm at Good Samaritan Hospital, Downtown Los Angeles. He was nice and early - 6.5 weeks early!

Weight and length: 4lbs 13oz, 46.5cm

Discharge weight: 5lbs 0.5oz! (way to go big boy!) He spent 16 nights in the NICU.

Who would have thought those weeks ago when Sara went into the hospital in preterm labor that we'd be home 3 weeks later with such a beautiful baby boy. It has been a rollercoaster of emotions these weeks, but we are very glad to finally stay put and be at home in our apartment. We arrived home on Monday, and have been busy feeding, burping, changing poopy diapers and loving on Liam. We haven't slept much, but that was expected! Liam is crying when he is hungry and eating more and more. We are slowly trying to transition Liam to breastfeeding and the nurse practitioner in the NICU gave us good advice about how to do it, it will just be a process. But meanwhile, the freezer is getting full of his food!

Last night we gave Liam his first sponge bath. His umbillical cord fell off last week, but we weren't ready to get the tub out just yet - he is just so small and can be so slippery! But we got him nice and clean and smelling like a baby, which we loved.

We decided to do this little site so that friends and family near and far can check up on us and see how Liam is progressing day by day. We can't promise a posting each day, but we will do our best to keep it updated with the happenings of our little family here in Los Angeles. We love you all and have been so supported by friends around the country, that we are truly blessed to have such people in our lives. Check back soon as we are eager to share Liam with you all!