Not Too Much Longer Now...

Grandma coming in for a visit at the hospital -- her first chance to hold him. Can't thank her enough for all the help she provided with my kids and I, and also major work at our house. (Oh yeah, forgot to mention, the day before having Luke, Brad got a job offer in Meridian, ID from Scentsy that we had accepted, and were now trying to work on getting our house ready to sale... could not have done this without her! From painting, boxing up clutter, and landscaping in the backyard -- this woman can do it all!)

  

We had initially expected Luke to stay in the NICU for about two weeks, but he was doing well and so they planned on letting him go after the 7 days of antibiotics were done. So for the remaining hospital stay, I would go home to sleep (waking up every few hours to pump), get up and call the NICU nurse to see what his feeding schedule was, and then try to be there by his next feeding. Then I would stay there until 5 or 6, and then go home to rest and spend time with Emma and Jake.  It was exhausting -- especially after just having a c-section, but worth it. I still couldn't hold him much. Once he would wake up, the nurses would change him, check vitals, etc., give him to me to feed and burp him, then put him back on his bed to sleep. They wanted very little stimulation so that his body could focus on getting better. 

With my other two kids, I wasn't too particularly fond of breastfeeding. I did it because I knew it was what was best for them, and it was cheap :). With Luke, it became something special because it was the only time I could hold him. I had to take a picture of Luke's mini-fridge stocked with milk. I had brought so much in that they had to take the rest and put it in a freezer. My mom referred to me as a "Jersey Cow." Must be why my babies get so fat!

  

Lucas doing the "Superman". He was a bit jaundice, but liked to be swaddled, so they would put a mask on his eyes and pin the blanket around his neck to make him think he was being snuggled a bit more than he was. He wasn't falling for it at first, but eventually gave in and went back to sleep. 

 

My sister April had come in town, and her kids wore my kids out :). I think that's Connor and Logan asleep in the back, Emma obviously out, and Jake, who never falls asleep, laughing at them all.