Pictures of you

[bovine knievel]

my grandpa is named Buck

[Lurleen McQueen]

Congrats PearlySnaps! Alsum!

[njMark]

Congrats, have no fear, if I made it through my sons first 2.5 years so far with no disasters I am certain you will as well since I think I was the most unprepared father in the history of Somerset Medical Center, when we brought Matthew home I was told the hospital would have someone to set up our car seat for us so I never looked at it beyond strapping it in to the car. Lo and behold SMC doesn't do that so here we are standing outside with our son and nurses watching me try and figure out how to loosen the straps so we could put Matthew in and go home. Learned quick that I really had no clue what to do with this thing that is counting on my wife and I for everything but he is still here and now runs our home like it is his own private kingdom, which in all fairness it is, until September when his brother or sister arrives.

[njMark]

Congrats, have no fear, if I made it through my sons first 2.5 years so far with no disasters I am certain you will as well since I think I was the most unprepared father in the history of Somerset Medical Center, when we brought Matthew home I was told the hospital would have someone to set up our car seat for us so I never looked at it beyond strapping it in to the car. Lo and behold SMC doesn't do that so here we are standing outside with our son and nurses watching me try and figure out how to loosen the straps so we could put Matthew in and go home. Learned quick that I really had no clue what to do with this thing that is counting on my wife and I for everything but he is still here and now runs our home like it is his own private kingdom, which in all fairness it is, until September when his brother or sister arrives.

[pearlysnaps]

Thanks folks. I am settling into this dad business quite nicely...although we'll see how I manage today, which is my first day back at work and away from the little dude.

[GW in IA]

Congrats Pearly! Just a great looking little man. Glad everything is well with you guys.

P.S. Son Volts "Tear Stained Eye" got my daughter and me through many long nights.

[mgsooner]

Pearly that is truly outstanding news. Having lived through it myself I am very, very happy that things have turned out the best for you guys. Our Channing is doing much, much better. We had our big conference with the doctor I talked about and several other staff members from the hospital. We still don't like the doctor but I have come to understand that there is just an issue with communication there. I still think the guy is overly negative (members of the staff have agreed with this), but I do think he is a competent doctor. We have decided that since we are in the home stretch there wouldn't be much point in changing doctors now, in fact it could be counter-productive. We hope we only have about 3 more weeks before we go home and then we will never have to see the guy again.

In our conference we were told that Channing has a slightly "delayed" swallow and that this was causing her to nearly choke on her feedings. That in turn made her not want to try to eat. The suggestion was made by the speech pathologist to switch her to formula and thicken the formula with rice cereal. Since the switch was made, her eating has improved tenfold. We are now very hopeful that she could go home without a feeding tube. Given where we were just a couple of weeks ago, that would be truly amazing.

We were also told in the conference that at her last developmental assessment she didn't do that well. They mentioned her tracking (again) and her "tone". Well I am happy to report that at her assessment this week she did much, much better. The OT was very pleased with her tracking.

We really feel like she has turned a corner. The light bulb seems like it is coming on. We have sent her brain scans off to a group of specialists in Dallas just to be certain, but I am confident that they will concur that the scans are "normal". Here's Miss Channing and her messy face from just a few days ago:

[pearlysnaps]

MG, she is BEAUTIFUL. I'm glad to hear that things are looking so great for her.

And, some advice: I mentioned earlier that my little brother had triplets last year (all under 2 lbs. at birth) and they had some similar issues to yours where doctors kept saying this, that and the other was wrong. There is a chance some issues may crop up down the line, but they put their energies where they could: loving and raising their kids as best as possible (while taking some of the negative possibilities with a grain of salt). Almost a year in, all three seem to be normal, happy, healthy babies.

Good luck going down the NICU homestretch, man, and please do keep us updated.

[beantownbubba]

It ain't easy, mg, but it does sound like it's going in the right direction Here's to getting her home before too much longer, and thanks for the beautiful pic!!!

[GW in IA]

God! Shes just beautiful!

[The Black Canary]

She is just a precious gift!!! Love is some if not the best medicine. Thank you for sharing her with us...

[njMark]

What a little Angel! Best of luck to you guys!

[brstigerfan]

Work has me in Miami for the week. So, tonight I went to the Heat-Knicks game. After the game, I had the opportunity to go on the court and shoot free throws. I made my one and only attempt. Super stoked about that.

[gordonlw]

our little girl spent 8 days in the NICU. very scary times for sure! hope everything works out for the best!





now pictures of me.....

[sactochris]

cooley looks like he might have had a beer or two.

[Penny Lane]

Work has me in Miami for the week. So, tonight I went to the Heat-Knicks game. After the game, I had the opportunity to go on the court and shoot free throws. I made my one and only attempt. Super stoked about that.

boo!!! (sorry booing Miami!) that's awesome. congrats on 100% success rate.

sooner and pearly--channing and Buck! beautiful babies, good luck to both of you....keep us posted.

[njMark]

okay, i want to post a pic of my son but dont know how, can anyone assist?

[gordonlw]

okay, i want to post a pic of my son but dont know how, can anyone assist?

you need to upload the pics to a hosting site such as photobucket. once done you copy the img url and paste it here.

[njMark]

Hey, thanks for all the help folks, I am pretty sure I got it now.

[mgsooner]

Thanks again guys. Some amazing things have happened over the past couple of weeks as Channing is rocking her feedings now and could possibly even go home as soon as this weekend. That is according to the nursing staff, not the doctor, so I'm reserving judgment. He is supposed to be back tomorrow so we shall see. But just the fact that it is being talked about that she could potentially go home is crazy. We are thrilled but scared to death at the same time. This is our first child, so we would've been nervous to begin with, but with Channing it will be even more nerve racking for us! Even still, we will be thrilled to have her home, where she belongs.

[gordonlw]

We are thrilled but scared to death at the same time. This is our first child, so we would've been nervous to begin with, but with Channing it will be even more nerve racking for us! Even still, we will be thrilled to have her home, where she belongs.

as someone who just went through this three months ago (not as long as you but nicu) let me tell you that once you get home it'll be a piece of cake compared to the nicu! this was our first as well and I really know were you are coming from! everything will be fine! when it's just y'all at home with no monitors, nurses etc etc it will be huge weight off your shoulders! hell our little girl is already sleeping through the night at 3 months! 7-8 hours without a peep


all that said I never knew real worry till this baby!

[beantownbubba]

Thanks again guys. Some amazing things have happened over the past couple of weeks as Channing is rocking her feedings now and could possibly even go home as soon as this weekend. That is according to the nursing staff, not the doctor, so I'm reserving judgment. He is supposed to be back tomorrow so we shall see. But just the fact that it is being talked about that she could potentially go home is crazy. We are thrilled but scared to death at the same time. This is our first child, so we would've been nervous to begin with, but with Channing it will be even more nerve racking for us! Even still, we will be thrilled to have her home, where she belongs.

ALSUM!

Hopefully you'll find what many of us who had a "nicu experience" of one sort or another have found: That extra time before u take the baby home actually helps a lot in a lot of ways, so the extra nervousness is at least balanced by the extra experience u have (whether u know it or not), the "older" age of the baby and so forth. Plus, you've probably figured out how to put the car seat in by now. In any case, u got it right: When she's home where she belongs, that alone will make all the difference!! Here's hoping it's real soon!!

PS: We want pictures of the homecoming!!

[gordonlw]

That extra time before u take the baby home actually helps a lot in a lot of ways, so the extra nervousness is at least balanced by the extra experience u have (whether u know it or not)

exactly! looking back now I can't imagine coming home after only two days! I would have been way more nervous than I was when we brought her home.

[rlipps]

A few new ones of Ansley & John David we got taken last week:

[beantownbubba]

Those eyes!!!

[pearlysnaps]

That extra time before u take the baby home actually helps a lot in a lot of ways, so the extra nervousness is at least balanced by the extra experience u have (whether u know it or not)

Yeah, that was the case with me as well. And it is just a load off to be able to be homebound and not running back and forth taking care of home, baby in NICU, and the rest of that "life" stuff. Good luck, man!

rlipps: Those kids are seriously, seriously adorable!

[The Black Canary]

rlipps-you are going to need to get a bigger shot gun with that beauty!!!

and as for John David sweet lord, he is just beautiful as well

Momma done good with those two!!!

[Cotter]

Hey, can someone post some pics of their babies in here?

LOL!

YIKES!

['Scratch]

Well, ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to Buck:

Late to the shower, but you have my heartfelt congratulations! I'm glad all went well. A huge new chapter in your lives. Don't take a second of it, even the poopy ones, for granted.

Welcome to the world Buck.

[Cotter]

Here are some random pics of 3dd members....and some dog nuts.