So, this morning, I had a terrible case of ants in my pants. I wanted to go to the hospital. I wanted nothing more than to see my new nephew. I wanted to make sure my sister in law was doing ok. Having a NICU baby can be really tough.
So, I decided to skip church. I told the boys, I'm going to worship God and giving thanks for his creations in a slightly different manner. As Chris put it, I'm going to see some of God's other miracles. <3
Mommy gets to hold Baby's hand.
When I arrived, Erica had just finished pumping, and I they were letting the baby have a snack.
Apparently, even if the preemie is still too young to swallow (which he is), he can still absorb a bit of that Liquid Gold through the lining of the mucosa. So they dip the paci into the colostrum and give him a snack. He seemed to be a fan. He was not a fan of people messing with him. He was having a blood draw when I arrived, and his wee squeaky cry was almost heartbreaking.
Mommy gets to hold the baby for the first time.
After they messed with him, they set Erica up with some kangaroo karry time.
See how tiny he is!
Once he got all bundled up on Mama's chest, he calmed down.
This was my favorite photo of her that I took.
Aww, the happy family.
Here's another good one too. He's so tiny.
Daddy watches over them.
It was an honor to witness this visit.
Big hands, tiny hands.
Erica looks so amazing after giving birth.
Of course, this was a quick birth. He shot out 20 minutes after she walked in the door. They didn't even have time to check her yet until she told them she felt like she needed to push.
Aww, aren't they sweet?!
They make a Beautiful Product!
By the time I had arrived, they had narrowed it down to two names: Bruce or Bryce. But still hadn't chosen one specifically yet. Eric and I had discussed it the night before, when we heard Bruce was Erica's favorite, he thought Bruce from Finding Nemo. "We're having Fish tonight!" I was like, no way, Batman is her favorite, it's for Bruce Wayne. I was right, I found out I won.
He's a boy on the move. He wasn't content to just sit and chill on her chest. He kept scooterbugging down. What a speedy little wiggler.
Look at those long fingers!
He is so long! He's a skinny little mini, but he has these long fingers and long legs, and he keeps kicking them out.
Finally he started to go sideways. He'd wiggle his oxygen off his face, and squawk about it. And we'd try to fix it, and that just made him angrier.
He was actually happier on her belly than on her chest.
I was kind of glad of that.
This way I could get in and get some good shots.
When he was sideways, not only could we get better views of him, but he got better views of us.
At first he just kept turning his head towards Karl every time he spoke. Then he was opening one eye, the left, and it would flash open and we weren't sure if we'd seen it, but then he
Then we got to see a flash of dark blue.
Yup, there were two eyes open!
Look at that face!
So tiny, so amazing!
This was my favorite picture.
I just happened to catch it with my phone, I was trying to catch a photo to send to Grandma. He looked right at me, and blammo, I got a great shot! Well, a little zoomed in, but still, a great shot!
For some reason, the phone decided to take this shot with the flash. Ugh!
It was pretty dark in the room.
Baby did not like the flash. But I think he forgave me after a minute.
He kept opening his eyes to look at Daddy!
It's not my best shot, but check out how schemy our little Speedy Pete is already!
He's checking to see if Ma is looking while he tries yanking that tube out of his nose.
He likes to pull a fast one. Ha Ha!
The nurse came in and busted him, she didn't believe us that he had slithered down by himself, that he didn't want to be kangarood on Erica's chest. Nope. So she bundled him up with a hat. He was not amused. She didn't believe us that he didn't want to be bundled on her chest... until she tried to make it so. The whole process was exhausting. Being born is such hard work! And the nurse said, oh you're so feisty, and fast, just keeps kicking those feet out. Not surprising at all. He's fast when he wants to be.
After he was taking a look at Daddy, it was Daddy's turn to hold him.
Karl's a natural.
He was totally unphased by all the cords and things. He did really well with him.
It's so strange, I remember this guy laughing and cracking fart jokes as an 8 year old, now he's a Dad!
They had to get that darned oxygen tube back up his nose.
Teamwork!
Isn't it great?!
During our conversations about the names, I asked what they meant, because I thought maybe the meaning would help give them some insight as to which name to choose. So I googled Bruce, and it was English for thick brush. Not too bad for a thick haired sweet baby brother. But Bryce, that was from Celtic for swift. Now, not to prejudge, but I knew which name I was voting for. But I remained reticent. Diplomatic, I said nothing. So I began jumping up and down for joy when she replied moments later, it's a Good Thing we chose Bryce Phillip.
Perfect! For Bryce means swift.