Seth found his voice!

This was actually recorded on Tuesday. As they were putting him on cpap, he was making tiny noises. Then out came his voice! So I recorded some of it, as it is the first time we've heard it. Before when he'd cry it was always silent. Now he can yell out to the world! Very exciting!

Smile, Seth! Smile!

Seth is so happy when mommy comes! He smiled when I took his picture today! He weighs 2lbs 11oz now. He's got a lot of air in his tummy from the cpap he's on, so they've stopped feedings again to see if that air will pass on it's own. Don't want to cause him any more trouble than he's already gone through! He likes to suck on his pacifier. That settles him down. He's use to sucking on his breathing tube, but that's not there anymore and his feeding tube isn't the same! Keep smiling Seth!

Camping with Grandma and Grandpa and family

Having fun int he dirt.
Hello Dane.
Dane enjoying some lunch.

Kate with her cousin Kelly.
Emily. She doesn't care how she looks.
Karsten and Emily were in a race to see who could get the dirtiest.
Kate again.
Dane and his cousin Morgan.

We went camping with Grandma and Grandpa Stailey. I braved it up and took the kids alone. It was actually a lot of fun and relaxing. It was nice to get away for a day. I hope to go again before the season is over.

Fun with the children

Enjoying some time with the kids at Bridal Veil falls.

The water was a little chilly!
Karsten trying to wash some of the mud off his legs.
Hey Alex! How'd you get so wet?
Climbing up, and now we're coming down.

Took the kids up to Bridal Veil falls for some fun. We had a picnic and then went and played in the water. It was nice to get out. We're all trying to deal with daddy being gone and we just had to get out of the house!

~Seth~

Seth is looking so good today!
He's got an arterial line in this arm, hence the bat he swings around.
Peeking out at us!

Where do I begin? We've had our ups and downs this past week. On the 19th of July, Seth was switched from Fentanyl (sedative) to morphine. Because the dose was a little more than he needed, he decided he didn't need to breathe. In when the breathing tube again. Two days later it was apparent that he had an infection. So we start antibiotics. Then his bowels went from yellow to green. Now we stop the feedings to see what's going on there. They did several x-rays and at one point it was even thought that he had a bowel obstruction. So they put some kind of enema into his ostomy and that went up to his stomach. X-rays showed that it was all clear. Thank goodness. Most likely his green bowels are due to him being sick. So today, Monday, he is on the mend and looking very nice. He is doing so well that they took out the Anderson tube (a tube that suctions his tummy) and are going to put his feeding tube back in and start some feedings. Yeah! And tomorrow they are going to attempt to take out the breathing tube again! He is on such a low rate of oxygen right now and that is good. So, now Seth is six weeks old. I can't believe how much he's changed. He hasn't grown much, but his facial features have changed over the weeks. Having him in the NICU is a different experience. When we bring him home, he won't be a newborn. I guess I keep thinking that when he comes home, it will be like having a newborn. But it won't, in some ways. We won't have those tar like diapers to change. We won't have to worry about the umbilical cord and keeping that dry and clean until it falls off. It's weird in a way how time is flying by so fast and I feel like I'm missing something. I suppose that's because I need to live in the moment. Sometimes it's easy to look ahead and anticipate the future, and not really live in the moment. Keep up the good work Seth!