HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

I dressed up my cutie as a little pumpkin! All the nurses loved it. They said he wins the costume contest. There actually were other mom's who dressed their babies up too. I wasn't sure if that was okay or not, but I thought I just had to get a few pictures. Tim can't wait to go up tonight to see him. We'll have to take more pictures then and probably some video.

Liam continues to do well. I even got to feed him his bottle in his costume. It made burping him and taking his temp a little challenging, but we managed.

Can you guess where the costume came from? They don't sell preemie costumes, and I didn't have time to sew one, so I went to Build-A-Bear! It was suggested by a few co-workers - thanks girls!

I'm holdin' my own - temp that is.

Liam was moved to an open crib today! Well, he actually wasn't moved, but the top of his isolette was moved up and he is no longer under a heater. It is up to him to keep himself warm. So far he is doing great. We keep him wrapped up in a blanket to help him stay warm. His temperature probe was also removed. I'm sure he was happy about that because it is a disk that was taped to his abdomen and it had to be moved every twelve hours. It would be like you removing an 8 inch round sticker from your belly twice a day - yikes!

Tonight, Liam had a few visitors - Uncle Dan, Aunt Amy, Ross and Sarah. They must have been good luck because after they left, Liam sucked down an entire bottle feeding - 34mL's! He managed to do it in less that 10 minutes without spitting up. Way to go buddy! We are so proud of you! His nurse said he must really want to go home, we think so too. So thanks for all the prayers, they are working!

This picture is of Liam all bundled up. His isolette is still down, but they did move it up after this, I just didn't get a picture of that. I guess I was too excited.

Grandparent's Day!

It was a grandparents weekend! They all got to hold Liam. He must have enjoyed it because he slept most of the time.

Today he is 2 weeks old. He is back to his birth weight (plus one ounce) at 3lbs 14 oz. His feedings are going great. He is fed every three hours, 32mL's each time. Twice a day he gets bottle fed. I try to get there to do both of those. Today he managed to drink just over half of the 32mL's at each of his bottle feedings. That is awesome! Tonight he was wide eyed for at least 15 minutes while we did his care - Tim claims it's because he was there, I think it's because we stripped him down to his tighty whitey dipey.

Sleep, Eat, Poop!

Today Great Grandpa and Grandma Huyser got to visit Liam!

He was very excited when Great Grandma got to hold him - he smiled

at her every time she talked to him - really!

This was the outfit we had to change into after we pooped
through our safari jumper. How do I look in green?

Grandma Huyser got to hold Liam for the first time on Thursday!


Liam's isolette - the blanket was made by Great Grandma Huyser.
If you look close, you can see I put a little pumpkin and a bat on the front.
Happy Halloween!

Wow, Liam has got down his routine! Yesterday was the first day that I was able to try to breast feed Liam. He sucked a few times, but not much. The lactation consultant said he was doing great. He is trying to "nipple" twice a day now, either on mom or a bottle. This was exciting because we didn't think he would start this until Sunday, but he is tolerating his feedings so well now. He is up to 32 mL's - just over an ounce - with added calories. He doesn't get much from the bottle, so we still feed him though his tube. Hopefully he will pick up on the suck, breathe, swallow thing in the next 2 weeks. Last night he weighed 3 lbs 10 oz. He continues to gain, slowly but surely. He managed to soil his first outfit last night. I got another little surprise when I changed his diaper. This morning as soon as I was putting him back into the isolette, he dirtied his pants again, but he managed to keep it in the diaper this time. Thanks Liam!

BIG DAY

Liam had a big day today. First, he got moved from the NICU side to the NIM side (intensive care to intermediate care). This is one step closer to home! Then his IV came out, so all his nutrients are now coming from his mommy, but still through the tube to his tummy. Sunday he will be 14 days old and his nurse says maybe we can start to try him feeding from a bottle. One requirement to go home is to feed for 2 days straight on his own from a bottle. Also, since he has less attachments, I can dress him now. So kelly and I went this morning and filled his drawers with blankies and outfits. We put on a little top with a pair of pants. It actually fit pretty good. It was the smallest preemie outfit he has and it is so cute on him. We are getting more and more comfortable handling Liam. It was really hard at first because you felt like you were going to break him. But now we can take him in and out of his isolette by outselves and we can do most of his care - feeding, changing , temps on our own. Tonight he even gave me my first dirty diaper. I was putting him back and he let one rip! I was so proud! The nurse said it was nothing compared to what he gave her the night before. She called it a blowout. I think he lost a little weight with that because now he is at 3 lbs 9 oz. He is up to 28 mL's of milk and 30 mL's is 1 oz. So he should be gaining at a good rate. Tim just checked our car seat and he has to be 5 lbs to ride in it. Not sure what happens if he is ready to go home before he reaches 5 lbs, I guess that is something we will have to ask tommorow. Tim suggests to stap him in the car seat and then strap Liam to him.

Sun Tannin'

Cashed out under the bilirubin light - getting a sweet sun tan.

We just got back from visiting Liam. He is up to 18 mL's for his feedings and keeping it all down and digested. He enjoys his sun tan under the bilirubin light. The nurses are going to check his labs tonight to see when he can come off the light. We did his 8:00 care which included taking his temp, changing his diaper, feeding and weighing him. His weight is going up. Tonight he was 3 lbs 9 oz. We put a pipe in his mouth when he was feeding so he can get the idea that when he sucks he gets fed. The next step will be to try a bottle. If he gets that down, then he can get rid of the tube down his tummy.

In other news, Tim's toe hurts. He won't stop complaining about it. That is all.

Kangaroo

This is the Kangaroo hold that Jen and Liam enjoyed. I think I see a smile!
Such a big yawn for such a littl e guy.
Back to sleep again.

Saturday Jen got to do Kangaroo with Liam which means Liam layed skin to skin on Jen's chest for atleast an hour. It was awesome! They also took the CPAP off again and Sunday(today) we seen it in the garbage, so hopfully that means no more CPAP for good. They bumped up his feeding to 12ml again and he digested all of it. While Jen was changing his diaper, Liam decided she was taking way to long and he turned on the fountain and made a little mess, Dad thought it was great! All in all, Liam is doing wonderful and we thank God everyday for that, for a perfect little miracle.



Yesterday I also had a baby shower. My BFF Kelly planned it with the help of Jenn Augustine. It was awesome! I was so impressed with Kelly. She really is turning into quite the Martha Stewart. She'll deny it, but it was just perfect! I have to admit it was nice to not have to be on bed rest during the shower. Thanks to everyone who made it such a fun time. Great food, family and friends. You are all so special to me and I apreciate all the support you have and continue to give Tim and I. I will upload shower pics tomorrow. We have to get ready to go to youth group now.

Dirty Diaper

Jen went to visit Liam today and he continues to do well. She was able to hold him for an hour! They took him off the bilirubin light and he gave us his first mighty little poop. One nice feature of the Helen DeVos Childrens Hospital is that we are able to call the nurses at any time for updates and that has been very helpful. We often call in the morining and at night. They love to talk to us about Liam as much as we love to listen. It sure is great to meet such loving and caring people every day. The nurses tell us that he has the most perfect nose and we definately agree. By the end of the weekend, we are hoping that Liam can come off the CPAP once again and breathe easily on his own.

We plan on returning to Spectrum tomorrow after Jen's baby shower to hang out with Liam. Hopfully we can update with some more good news then.

Milestones!

Sorry for the delay in updates!  I'd rather spend time with Liam than type :0).  Liam is doing so good.  Yesterday He was taken off the ventilator at 1:00 am and put on the CPAP.  Today at 9:00 am he was taken off the CPAP and is breathing all on his own!  The nurse said he was fussing in the morning and pulling on the CPAP machine and as soon as she took it off he was a happy camper.  He was put under the bilirubin light this morning to help with jaundice.  This was expected and part of protocol but is kinda cute because he has little goggles on his eyes.  Another big milestone this morning, Liam got his first meal.  This is much sooner than I anticipated.  He was fed 6 mL's at 8:00 am through a tube down his mouth into his stomach.  At 11:00 am the nurse checked to see if he digested any of it.  It is very common for preemies to take a while to get used to the milk in their tummies.  But, our little Liam digested all of it!  So he got another 6 mL's at 11:00 am.  What a good little guy!  

Pictures of Liam!

Here he is! Make sure and read the below post for the full labor and delivery story! I (Kelly) went up to see the little guy tonight and he is ADORABLE!!! As promised I told Tim and Jen I would get some pics posted for them.

Yep, a matching scratch to match daddy's scar on his forehead. :)


Proud mommy and daddy...aren't they a cute family!?

Daddy helping to change his first diaper.

Ah, success, and a hand shake from Liam.

Mommy helping to get his weight checked.

Saying goodnight.

He is a strong little guy and is doing wonderful!

Updates on little Liam

24 hour recap:

Last night Jen went to bed feeling fine, well feeling pregnant, but feeling fine.  Jen wasn't sleeping to well and woke up around 5 am with more than normal contractions and some back pain.  She took her medicine an hour early to see if that would help.  By 6 am it wasn't any better.  We called the doctor and were instructed to return to Spectrum.  We no sooner got in the car, and Jen was now very uncomfortable which gave Tim the right to speed!!  Upon arrival at the emergency doors, we were taken right to the birthing floor and hooked back up to monitors.  Jen was dilated at 2-3cm and very rapidly progressed to 5-6cm.  Even though at that point we knew delivery was inevitable, Dr. Cook still wanted to slow the process down with magnesium drip to allow the steroid shot to take full effect.  At this point, our parents were both here for the rest of the ride.  Things kept moving quickly, and by 3:41pm after several hard pushes(I sure am glad to be a guy) Liam was born.  Jen had a couple seconds to have Liam lay on her chest, he had a quick cry and then the neonatal doctors took over and tried the CPAP.  He didn't last at all on that, so they had to intubate him.  The Grandparent got to see him for a quick second before he was taken down to the NICU.  They then reported back to us Liam's height and weight.  He weighed in at 3lbs 13 ounces and measured 17" long!  Thanks to the steroid shots, he is already stronger than his dad and will never be aloud to play professional baseball.  

We were able to go see him at 5pm with our parents and that was awesome!  Jen says he looks like his dad, so look out ladies!  We got to touch him, change his diaper, and weigh him in the incubator.  Kelly arrived at 7pm and was able to go visit Liam with us as well.  Kelly is also going to put some pictures on our blog as soon as she get home.  

The next step is to take out the tube that helps him breathe and back on the CPAP.  If all goes as planned, he should be doing that by morning.  This will make it possible for us to hold him very soon!

Another huge thanks for all the prayers and support, it means a lot to us daily!

Welcome baby Liam!

IT'S A BOY!

Born at 3:41pm

Liam Marcus DeHaan

If your wondering how to pronounce it, say the name William and then drop off the Wil.

Liam is doing great in the Nic. U, and that is all we know so far.  Jen and Tim are doing great as well!

More updates to come.

Gitty Up to all and thanks for all the prayers!

Bailout/Rescue Plan?

Nothing crazy new going on at the DeHaan house.  Jen is completely bored and ready to just go outside and run around.  Kelly Meeuwsen and Jen Augustine are throwing  Jen a baby shower next Saturday, so that is very exciting to look forward to.  Friday, we received our first Spectrum bill and it was only $33,478.18 dollars and that translates into about $1,000 dollars per day.   What a deal!  We decided that since the national debt is only at a quadtrillion, we would just add our bill to that and pretend everything is alright.  Next week, we plan to go on an exotic vacation, being pampered to the max!  So we thank you for paying your taxes :)  

It has been 38 days on bed rest.  Another big thank you to everyone for supporting us in so many different ways.

33 days on bed rest!

I had my first Dr.'s appointment, since I've been home, today.  It went great, a big thanks to Kelly and Carter for Driving me there (Kelly did most of the driving).  It was very uneventful except for Kelly nearly losing control of Carter and I in the wheelchair going down the parking ramp!  The Dr.  thought I was doing so well that I don't need to see him for 2 weeks.  My next appointment is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 21.  They will measure the baby then.  Tim thinks they should measure the baby every time - I would love that too, but I don't think our insurance would love it and they probably would not pay for it either.  So, we will just trust that he is growing big and strong.  Today is my 33rd day on bed rest and on Thursday we will be 30 weeks!

Is it fall outside, because I wouldn't know!

Sorry for the lack of updates, but not much new happens when I just lay around watching the day go by. This past thursday marked 29 weeks and all is good. Thanks to my friend Kelly and my mom, the house is clean and all my sewing projects have been hidden from me so I have no temptations to finish my projects. A huge thanks to Jen and Alex DeWitt for letting us use their laptop this entire time. Another thanks to everyone who has brought us meals and other goodies. We are currently watching Michigan play a horrible football game and yelling at the TV.

For all of those wondering if I am looking more pregnant, we took a picture today and decided to share it with the world, or at least the world of blogging.

Surfing Wireless

Just a quick thanks to the one and the only (thank goodness) Brad Haan who hooked us up with wireless internet at home so Jen can still post on the blog! Brad is cool.