Update on our little Lobster--still Emerald's preferred name :)

Zachary is doing well! The best news of all is that I got to hold him last night! It was such an incredible experience. I can't remember where Skip left off, so I will say what I can about him. I'll go back later and fill in any gaps Skip might have left out :)

Zachary was breathing on his own at birth, and crying, which is a huge thing for a baby as early as he was. If I can ever get the picture to upload (major issues with that), he has a tube helping him keep positive air pressure for the first few hours. At around 5 Saturday, they did intubate (sp??) him to give him some meds (Surfactant). They are going to try to take that out today, Monday, which is a good thing. He has been doing everything else just like he should! He is getting a little swollen in his hands and feet, which they say is normal, and is keeping his body temp pretty controlled. Today they we are also planning to do a sono of his kidneys to make sure they were developed fully, an issue we had been watching b/c of his 2 vessel cord anyway. His heart sounds good, awesome news. They have had to prick his heel too many times and it looks so sad with all those little bruises on a foot which is smaller than my thumb. Holding him last night, though, was such an emotinal experience. I know, I am a cheesy crier any any given day, always have been, then you mix the hormonal aspect in, and then you throw in our newborn son in the mix. Let's just say they put the box of kleenex right there for me :) Having him clutch my finer with his tiny little hand, lay his small head on my chest, and to just be able to smell him, feel him breath on my chest, watch his chest rise and fall--wow, I'm crying my eyes out just re-living it right now. Thanks be to God for allowing our little boy to be ok. They weighed him last night, while we were there, and he dropped to 3 lb 11 oz, which is fine, normal they say. He isn't really eating yet, so that makes sense to me. We just don't want him to drop too much, b/c he does have to go home to our crazy chaotic house at some point. :)

Speaking of our crazy chaotic house, the kids got to come up to the hospital yesterday. Emerald was NOT happy with our name choice--"I don't like it". So, if she can call him Zach Lobster, or Lobster Zach, she is fine. She still just says Lobster often, and that is fine with us for now. They came in the room and she came right over to my belly and talked about Lobster. Too sweet. We reminded her that he wasn't in there any more. My parents also drove up yesterday and so we had a room full with my mom, dad, Skip's mom, and our 2 hyper kids in here. We took my mom and Emers up to meet Zachary (Cheryl has had a cold and felt bad, and Calvin, well, he's just a little busy and loud, and has had the winter-sniffles too). Emerald thought he was pretty small, and she got pretty excited to touch his little leg. She had a lot of questions about all the wires and buttons, and she was also excited to use her new camera (a Christmas present) to take her own pictures of her brother. Pretty soon she got bored and told us her belly hurt and it was time to go. I think it will grow on her, maybe after she can see him a little better and touch him, hold him, etc. Right now it's scary for us, I can't imagine what a 3 year old is thinking.

Jeff and Heidi came up later to see their nephew. It is so super weird to think I was holding Josiah Christmas day and thinking just how tiny he is. Now our little man is about half that size! I did get to have my first official babysitting job for Josiah, some awesome one-on-one time, when they went up to the NICU. Josisah told me all about his busy weekend of meeting new family members. Weird to think that Josiah and Zachary are only 18 days apart! Zachary is also only 3 1/2 months younger than his other cousin, Simon. What a busy time of year in our family!!

I really am trying on the picture front. For some reason, the hospital web connection logs you out every few minutes. For those who've uploaded photos on blogger, you know how long it can take. I will try to email out a few more pictures today. Unfortunatly, that sometimes isn't working, either. Maybe we'll have better luck today.

For now, wish luck to our parents, as they have the crazy monsters at home. Keep praying for a healthy report as each day passes for our sweet baby boy. I am recovering fine, although you really don't realize just how often you use your ab muscles until you can't use them. It is amazing how difficult the simplest things in life are, like taking a shower, or even going to the bathroom. I miss my big kids, but after having them in the room yesterday, I realize that, for me, this is the safest place I can be for now. I may end up staying until Wednesday, we will just play it by ear. Zach is here for some time, I'm not even going to predict that for now. We will post again when we find out any new info. Sorrry I can't get more pics up, that is just it for now. If you want pics and I haven't sent them, shoot me an email and I will attempt to send it to you that way, as it worked for us last night. I got some great shots yesterday, so I'll try to stay updated. Keep praying for Zachary!!