Sleep????

Spencer turned three weeks old this past week. Time is flying by. Especially when you are so incredibly tired that all the days seem to blend together. What has been going on? Pretty much one thing. Out of the two weeks we have had him home, this little bundle has slept at night exactly ONE night. When I say that he didn't sleep, I literally mean he hasn't slept. Somehow, we have managed to produce two beautiful boys with horrendous reflux problems. Spencer is one step away from being diagnosed with colic. We are really, really hoping this is not the case and the magic of Prilosec will be our cure. Our goal, at this point, is to try to keep both little men happy at the same time.

This is what we see in the middle of the night...and some afternoons:

This is what we see during the day or whenever people visit so they don't believe our wild stories of the screaming baby:

Good thing he is a cute and very sweet little boy. When his reflux is not bothering him, he is totally and completely laid back. Pretty much, that is the only thing that bothers him. Here are a few of the hospital pics of Baby Spencer. Seriously, can you believe these are his hospital photos?

There are a few moments of brotherly love.

And then there are just moments of investigation on Alden's part on exactly what he can and cannot do with Spencer. We told him to "pat" the baby and not "squeeze" him, but this generally sort of turns into beating his head or pulling on his feet. All presents that come to the house are for Alden in his mind and this includes the baby swing that he tries to sneak into for all the time. When Spencer was put in the swing, Alden totally tried to get him out and threw a major fit when Mommy told him he could not do that. He has discovered that Baby Spencer is here to stay and is not sure how he feels about that. At our newborn photo shoot, he made it very clear that he was not going to get anywhere near that baby for Mrs. Jennifer to take their photo together. Even bribes of cookies and books would not work...and yet, randomly, on a given day, he will be happy to give him a hug and check on him. Alden is suffering from conflicting emotions.

You can't really blame the poor big brother. He spends a lot of time waiting on Spencer to just eat during the day, and he hears a lot of screaming out of him. We have discovered that YouTube nursery rhymes are a big hit to help him pass this time that Mom and Spencer are pretty much planted on the couch. He is now a nursery rhyme singing fool. He knows them all. You can't stump him. See if you can figure out this one... before Alden looses interest and cuts it short! (Sorry it is sideways, it was right side up on the camera)

We also occupy our time with dance parties...and apparently taking sideways videos (you get the point)!

So, what is Spencer doing during all of this? Pretty much just hanging out and taking it like a good little brother. Spencer divides his time from being elevated in his car seat;

to being elevated in his Boppy;

hanging out on the changing table for I think about a hundred diapers a day (I forgot about this part of newborn days);

to being carried around, yes elevated, by Mom. For those of you who remember the infamous wedge from Alden's baby days, yes, we did try it. No, it hasn't worked. But, eventually, everyone does sleep...just not at the same time!

Spencer Coming Home

Joey and I headed to the hospital NICU last Thursday night to spend the required night with Spencer before we could bring him home. We were excited to spend the night with Spencer, but not too excited to be put in the "family room" for the night to be watched by doctors and nurses. It seemed as if we did not do everything right that night they would not let us take him home. Okay, so it turns out it was sort of exactly like that.

This is the heart and respiratory monitor they hooked him up to in our room. It was so sensitive that it went off every time he moved, got his diaper changed, or cried and nurses would come in to see what was going on. Imagine a crying baby, nurses monitoring you from another room, and loud beeps going off over all of this. If the monitor readings were not regulated, they kept him. If his temperature was not exactly right, and you had to take it with every feeding, they kept him. If his weight changed at all, they kept him. If his diaper output was not where they wanted...you guessed it. We were a total nervous wreak. At one point he spit up in front of the nurse, and we both completely panicked that we had failed the parent feeding test!

He is in his car seat, so you can see that we passed. We spent from 4:00 pm Thursday until 12:30 pm Friday in that little room. Spencer had a big night: he was circumcised at 10:30 pm (really?), they gave him a bath at midnight (really?), and then around 2:00 am they decided to do his mandatory statewide bloodwork. The photographer was taking hospital photos while Mom was in the shower early the next morning. You can see why we were already exhausted when we came home.

Hospital photos are getting very professional. No more ugly photos in a hospital bassinet. This was a 30 minute event with poses and parent participation. We will have to post these later because they actually turned out pretty good. Don't you love how they take advantage of new parents.

Daddy's version of the professional photos.

Finally home! Alden was napping, so we had time to prepare for the introduction. We set up the video camera and got a little birthday cake set up with a candle to have a "birthday party" for Spencer. Spencer also got out the big brother gifts he got for Alden. We were SO nervous!

Alden was not sure what to do at first. Daddy showed him the baby who he luckily knew was baby Spencer (he was still in my tummy according to Alden as of Thursday morning). Alden was a little freaked out. He kept saying, "Mommy, hug," Daddy, hug." He just wanted to hug and hug and call out Mommy and Daddy. As we hoped, he was bribed with cake and gifts. He was very excited that Spencer appropriately gave him the engine "James" to go with his Thomas track. He has played with his new train for days!

A little curious... He kept coming to get us and saying, "Look." He was apprehensive until I sat Spencer up to burp him that night. I said, "Look, Alden, Baby Spencer is sitting up." He thought it was hilarious and then started pointing and naming all of Spencer's body parts and was especially excited about head and eyes. It was the first time that he really thought of him as a human, I think. It was our turning point.

Photos say a thousand words...First photo of the brothers.

That night...after it was discovered that Spencer had eyes, nose, mouth, ears, head, and "Mommy hair."

Big brother giving Little brother a hug. Alden also likes to bring the pacifier or bottle to Spencer and says, "Baby crying" when he is upset just in case we didn't hear it.

Alden checking on Baby Spencer in his pack and play.

It is hard to see your little brother under the blanket. Sometimes, we have to pull the blanket off to see if he is still there. Sometimes, even when Mommy is holding Spencer, Alden goes over to look in the pack n' play anyway. I think that, in his mind, there is always a baby in the pack n' play even if there is a baby in the living room for him to see.

Spencer's first sponge bath at home. The next night, we gave both boys a bath at the same time. Alden spent the entire time looking over the side of the tub at Spencer instead of playing in the tub. Although, we still had to splash. Spencer just lays there while water flies all over his face. He is quite tolerant.

No wonder Alden loves the baby. The baby comes with a lot of big brother presents. In fact, I am not sure that there have not been more big brother presents than baby presents! He has gotten his favorite things: Choo-choo's, a book, and a puzzle. Not to mention that Mommy guilt has him receiving special treats way more than he should these days. Baby Spencer is as good to have around as Santa Claus!

What a Difference a Day Makes

This is the sweet face Mommy saw bright and early at 8:00 this morning. No IV in the head (got moved back to the arm), no tape marks or tubes. He still has his little oxygen and heart monitors, but they are tucked away under the blanket. And, he has on clothes which it seemed he would never wear. He looks so healthy!

Today was Mommy's first day to nurse, so I spend the night getting on his schedule, and I get up at 6:00 a.m. and call for feeding schedule verification. And, of course, they have changed it big time over night. They have decided to put him on a four hour schedule and feed him ample amounts of formula and breast milk droplets to make him last that long. So, what do you do when you have to jump out of the bed and get to the hospital and you have a toddler that can't go? Daddy drops you off at the door, takes Alden to breakfast, the two of them ride around until you are finished, and finally pick up Mommy standing outside the hospital in the middle of a thunderstorm. Nice.

A very tired Mommy and a very rested baby. We had very successful feedings today. The one that went poorly was the one when the lactation lady was standing over me and moving him around and telling me what all I was doing wrong. We did just fine by ourselves without our performance anxiety. Mommy came to feed him at 8:00, 12:00, and 4:00 and frankly wore out after that of going back and forth to the hospital post c-section in the rain. There just wasn't enough hours in the pain medicine! The nurse was great and let me do it all: take his temperature, change his diapers (3 poops + big brother's 3 poops = 6 poop diaper changes in one day! Whew!--and more than you needed to know about our family!! ), and do all the feedings and swaddling.

I think he looks pretty satisfied after eating. He has already learned some bad habits that we might have taught him today. When we were leaving tonight, he was crying fiercely for the first time that we have witnessed. It was almost bothersome because he is usually just asleep or crying a little to eat or get changed, and of course, because he is in NICU we freak out about everything. Guess what? As soon as the nurse picked him up...you got it. We just wanted to be held. Too bad about breaking that one because starting tomorrow night when we get him, he will probably be held constantly to make up for lost time!

Poor Daddy is almost as bad as the lactation consultant. He likes to watch Mommy and remind her that maybe Spencer needs burping and that maybe the bottle is not tilted the right way and that maybe...I think we are all a little nervous about this little guy based on what he has been through. In fact, he keeps giving me little heart attacks. I had just gotten dropped off this afternoon for feeding three, signed in, and heard the desk nurse call our nurse and say that Joey was returning her call. What?!! I mean, why did she call and I had JUST left Joey in the car. I ran into Spencer's pod only to find out that she was just calling us to confirm that we were going home tomorrow. Oh, my!

For sure, for sure, we are going to spend the night in the family room tomorrow night to bond with baby Spencer and have knowing hands near by to answer any questions. This really weirds me out because it is like they are watching you and if you screw this up you don't get to take him home! We said on the way home that we should take video of Alden to let them know that we actually can keep a baby alive and well. Seriously, this will be a good night for all three of us to bond without NICU nurses standing over us and fear that he is going to be okay. We do have a lot of catching up to do. We plan on splitting the day between our two boys: Alden gets the morning to play catch up on his time without Mommy and Daddy. He is not understanding why Mommy can't pick him up, why suddenly he is being raised by grandparents and babysitters, and keeps telling Daddy he want to come "see her" when I am not in the room. Today, he called me "Granna, uh, Mommy." Spencer will get all afternoon through the next day. Poor Spencer, this is his only night ever as an only child!

Oh yeah, speaking of our first born, he has grown by leaps and bounds in a week. He has been speaking more in sentences like "Mommy, giraffe fell down," and actually answering our questions and has learned a few words and the tune to about five songs he makes us sing constantly. He is doing great! And has gotten plenty of attention. People keep asking if the boys look alike. You can decide.

Alden in hospital

Spencer in hospital

How about this one?

Mommy after Alden

Mommy after Spencer

I think we can say that things went better with the c-section this time!!

Bottles!

This morning Mommy got to check out of the hospital. It was really sad to think about going home over the hill and leaving Spencer behind. We had planned to go and see him early this morning, but it took lactation a long time to come downstairs. Then, we had to load the car.Then, they admitted a new patient to the NICU and needed 30 minutes to stabilize the new patient before we could visit Spencer. I say this because we didn't know that God timing was putting obstacles in our way so that we would be downstairs at this special time. We walked it just as Nurse Darlene was about to give him his first bottle!

They left the feeding tube in until they were able to see if he could tolerate the bottle. She warned us that he might not take but a little bit the first time and that they would have to check his breathing rate each time. If it was about 60, they would continue to tube feed him.

Really?? Did someone question that a DuMontier would not know how to work a food source?! Please! It was as if he had taken a bottle since day one. Perfect!

Spencer shocked poor Nurse Darlene by gulping down that baby in about five minutes. Yes, the entire thing. She was amazed at how well he did with it. We were so proud. Daddy told Nurse Darlene that he must have inherited his Mommy's appetite. Anyone out there believe that?

Darlene informed us that baby Spencer had been mischievous today. He had pulled out this IV out of his HEAD and he had pulled out his feeding tube already that morning. Clearly, Spencer is ready to head out of this joint.

Spencer was pretty much awake the entire time that we were there this morning, although, he was very content post-bottle. He was getting rather rowdy in heater bed though and was squirming and kicking and knocked off his oxygen sensor. I think someone is feeling better today. I will say this, they have gotten him hooked on the pacifier. But, we are totally okay with that because that was how he learned to eat so well. When they gave him the feeding tube, he got the pacifier at the same time to work on the sucking reflex. Look how great it worked!

LOOK!!! Our baby's beautiful little face! That is what we saw when we went back this afternoon. No feeding tube! He did great with his eating, and guess what? Pulled out his own feeding tube again! Darlene told us the best news we have ever heard:

SPENCER IS COMING HOME ON FRIDAY!

The doctor said he was doing so well that he got to get off the feeding tube, move to a crib, put on a t-shirt and get swaddled, and that we are going to get to take him home! She even said that we could bring our own daygown for him to wear tomorrow instead of the hospital t-shirt. We will all spend the night together at the hospital (minus big brother) on Thursday night and go home Friday morning! This is a day better than expected. GOD IS SO GOOD!!

Mommy feeding Baby Spencer for the first time. If he continues to do well with the bottle during the night, Mommy gets to try to nurse him tomorrow. Yea!!! Mommy and Daddy are about to throw the pump out the window in frustration of cleaning all those parts every three hours all night long. Can't wait until we just have to clean the baby!

He is a champion burper! This bottle feeding lasted maybe five minutes. He is a hungry boy. His weight is down to 7 lbs. 8 oz. but not for long!

Post first bottle without a feeding tube down your throat. Gotta feel pretty good. Maybe pretty good to be with Mommy and Daddy eating, too. He has a little red tape rash around his mouth, but you can finally really see his whole face.

Daddy holding Spencer for the first time in five days. I know with every bone in my body that God has heard every single prayer that has surrounded this little guy. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful support group of friends and family. The reason he was given his name: "Every Good and Perfect Gift is from Above." James 1:17