Ethan's NICU stay

Since I was able to blog on my cell phone while I was at the hospital, I had a chance to journal how I was feeling. A few hours after I blogged about Ethan's NICU update, he started to show improvement. This was just what I needed to stay positive and to know that everything was going to be okay. I just needed to see progress. Now that this experience is behind me, I thought I'd post some pictures. It was so nice to be able to be with my baby as much as I wanted to while he was in the NICU. I loved being able to change his diaper and love on him and talk to him. I loved how he recognized my voice. Wednesday and Thursday and most of Friday, I tried to nurse him while he was in there but he was just too tired to eat on his own. That is why they had a feeding tube down his nose. It was so hard to change his diaper and everything with all the cords that he was hooked up to. I was so glad to have him unhooked and doing better.

Ethan started to have high jaundice number so he was under the lights. I would come every three hours to feed him and then we'd have to put him right back in. His numbers came down pretty fast.

Ethan's home for his first 3 days of life.....

Uncle Trevor

Thursday night Jason's Grandpa came up to the hospital to help Jason give Ethan a blessing. Friday morning Ethan finally started to wake up, nurse and be more alert. This made me feel so excited to see progress. He progressed fast. The nurses were so surprised that he was ready and going home on Saturday afternoon.

My Mom was with us most of friday. It was so much fun to have her with me. Jason had to go back to work and it was nice not to be alone.

Ethan loved hearing my Mom talk to him...

That is a MOTHER in LOVE!!!

Daddy loves his little guy too! Now that Ethan is home this hard time will just be a memory. I was so nervous about how much my life would change and how I'd handle it.... Now that my baby is here with me, I wouldn't trade him for the world!!! I am so glad that I have a baby to take care of. I feel like my life is a dream come true with this new little guy in our family.