2 weeks

Wow! Kieran is 2 weeks (chronological age) today! I say chronological because for his first year we will be using two ages - chronological/actual and adjusted age - based on his due date. Kieran's adjusted age is still his gestational age at this point, which is 32 weeks this Friday. It's confusing me already! Basically when he's 6 months actual age he will be 3.5 months adjusted, since he was 2.5 months early.

Anyways, today was a great day for Kieran. His caffeine was stopped, as he is having no stop-breathing episodes, also known as apnea. The neonatal nurse practitioner said that a preemie not having any stop-breathing episodes is very rare - Kieran's only had 2 and they were very short, and he was able to work it out on his own. He has an eye exam in 2 weeks, and he was started on iron today - it's pretty common for preemies to have anemia. He is also wearing clothing now! This outfit his grandma Gale bought him fits perfectly.

My little guy looking like a big boy :)

He's is now up to full feeds of 24 ml/3 hours. I asked why they moved them from 2 hours to every 3 hours, and they said it's because it allows Kieran to be bothered less by the nurses so that he can relax & sleep more. The more he sleeps, the more he will grow, as when babies sleep, growth hormone is released. The every-3-hour feedings also help make kangaroo care easier - we had to do every-other feeding holds before, to give him a break, and now we can hold him whenever we want and for longer periods of time. It's nice for me, too, since I have sometimes had to cut wonderful kangaroo care sessions short because I have to pump. He'll be so comfy and cuddled up and I hate to move him! Speaking of k-care, he is really thriving on it. When I arrived to him see this morning he was so antsy and active. He wasn't agitated or fussy so much as he just couldn't relax, and once I got him skin-to-skin he settled down immediately. He is such a sweetie pie!

My other sweetie pie, Maia. Check out those red curls!

As for the rest of the family 2 weeks out, we're all doing really well. I have energy again, which feels wonderful, and I'm getting great sleep - well, if you call 2 4-hour blocks of sleep great (which as a pumping mom, I do!) When Kieran comes home he'll be keeping me up so it's nice to have a little sleep in the interim. Josh is doing well with the full schedule - he works in the day, comes home for dinner and hangs out with the family for awhile before going to visit Kieran for a few hours each night. He's slightly tired but making it work :) Maia is doing great with the potty still. In the past week she's had only one accident, and she had a dry diaper last night! She is only wearing diapers at night now, and panties the rest of the day. We're so proud of her!

1w5d

Kieran had a nice, relaxing weekend; he spent it increasing his feedings and in one day he gained 50 grams! After losing weight, which is normal for all babies after they're born, he is now 2lb 13oz. He is up to full feedings of 15 ml every 2 hours. He is tolerating feedings perfectly, so tomorrow they're changing it to 20 ml every 3 hours.

Another great thing that happened this weekend was losing his IV - he had no need for the IV nourishment anymore so the big IV in his arm is now gone. Yay! Kieran absolutely loves being free of that IV & the accompanying armboard!

As for today, I found out that he will no longer have humidity in his isolette, so it's time to wear clothes! His grandma Gale and I went to Baby Depot today to get him a couple outfits, and he can wear the hospital outfits as well. I get to put him in his first outfit tomorrow, so I'll be sure to take pictures :)

Other than that, Kieran's just growing and hanging out. We're doing kangaroo care every time we're together and we're all loving it per usual. He is quite an active, strong little guy - we're always having to readjust him because he's scooted down really far. Sometimes I see him attempting to flip himself over from tummy to back - though he hasn't done it yet, he sure tries!

1w2d

Kieran is 31 weeks gestational age today and he had another mellow day. I actually have little to report - no news is good news, right!? I don't know if I should continue to update daily or just update every few days...we'll see.

Kieran's "outside womb"


31 weeks today!


Kieran gained 20 grams today, and he gained 20 grams the day before that. He is a little growing machine! He'll hit 3 lbs before we know it. He is up to 9 ml/2 hr for feedings. He and I just had a nice, mellow visit today - I changed a few diapers, took a few temperatures and had two kangaroo care sessions with him today. I am still in heaven each time I hold him so close!

Josh hasn't had a chance to post yet (can't blame him, he's so busy!) so he gave me permission to post these pictures from his visit with Kieran last night. I just melted when I saw these. There's something so special about seeing my two boys in their hats, hairy chest to hairy chest (okay, so Kieran doesn't really have a hairy chest...more like fuzzy.) Like father, like son!

1w1d

It was so fun getting to see my little man today - his nasal cannula was gone & he had the nasogastric feeding tube through his nose instead of the feeding tube in his mouth! His isolette is so quiet now without any oxygen or room air being funneled through anything. I could see his sweet little face in all it's entirety, too. I really think he looks like his daddy :)

Look at that face - no tubes!


Kangaroo care with mama.

His doctor didn't have much to say today - just that Kieran's doing so well and that now we just have to be patient and let him grow. For feedings he's up to 7ml/2 hr and it will continue to increase by 1 ml every 12 hours, so this evening he'll be up to 8 ml, etc. Today he reached and slightly surpassed his birth weight! There is a cute little chart next to his isolette that says "Watch Me Grow!" and records his weight daily. He weighs 2 lb, 10.2 ounces now.

Speaking of his isolette, we've been decorating it and making it comfy for our little guy - Josh brought in his sweet little stuffed owl from my mom, Grandma Beth, and we put up a picture Maia colored for Kieran. Tomorrow I am going to add a quote I saw on one of my favorite Facebook fan pages, Peaceful Parenting: "A small body of determined spirits, fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission, can alter the course of history." ~ Mahatma Mohandas Gandhi. One of his NICU nurses also put up an Irish blessing for baby boys - very fitting for his birthday and Irish heritage!

This is from my phone, up close while doing kangaroo care

Josh is there again tonight - he goes every night for a few hours all while working his full-time job, whew! He did kangaroo care last night for the first time and absolutely loved it, and will be doing it again tonight at his 10 pm feeding. Look for a blog entry from Josh soon, I just taught him how to blog :)

1 week

Since I had my days off, I'll use week 1 as a starting point to get back on track. Happy one week birthday, Kieran! I can't believe it's been a week - it's been such a whirlwind. But I am so happy to report that we finish week one of Kieran's NICU stay with more good news: today his NICU doctor informed me that they would be ending his use of the nasal cannula sometime today. Kieran has not required oxygen since he was on the CPAP and he's been on room air with the nasal cannula. When I left the NICU today he was on 1 liter of room air - the smallest amount they can funnel through there - so it was likely he'd be taken off the cannula tonight! I can't believe that my little guy, who was on a ventilator just five days ago, is requiring no extra assistance breathing at just one week old! A few other health-related updates: Kieran had his brain scan today, which is standard procedure for preemies, and he has no brain bleeds and a normal brain for his age. He is peeing very well and today he started pooping - we've been waiting for that since starting his feedings! Speaking of feedings, he was up to 4 ml/every 2 hours, and I believe they're bumping it up to 5 ml/2 hours tonight. My favorite thing about his feeding times is that he opens his eyes every time! I chat with him and encourage him to suck on my pinky and he just seems to love it.

Other things of note: I noticed today that Kieran looks a lot more comfortable breathing, which makes sense, but it was nice to see him so calm and relaxed and not trying so hard. I also noticed today that I'm feeling a lot more comfortable with him - with ways to touch and comfort him, how to be of "use" in the NICU, and I'm feeling more comfortable with his cares as well. That is a really wonderful feeling. Kangaroo care is becoming easier and easier, too; it's taken a couple tries to figure out how to make us both comfy for long period of times, but we've got the hang of it now.

Anyways, it's been quite a week but it feels great to end it on such a lovely note. We never wanted Kieran to be here so early, but now that he's here, we are overjoyed and making the best of everything. Also, I want to shout out to the big sister tonight - Maia had her first dry day ever: she has gone on the potty all day and never once went in her diaper! We are so proud of her to be potty learning amidst all this chaos :)

day 7

Today was an absolutely AMAZING day! I got a phone call this morning from Kieran's doctor saying that he was on room air - no oxygen - on the CPAP mask and they wanted to get him on the nasal cannula (you know, those clear tubes that have two nasal prongs?) sometime that day. When I went in this morning he was already on the nasal cannula! And he was so comfy on his tummy that he required no oxygen all morning, just room air. What a big stride for the same little guy who was just on a ventilator a few days ago - we're so proud of him!

In addition to that great news, he's also tolerating my milk beautifully. They have to monitor him very closely, as his digestive system is so immature, but the milk I make is perfect preemie milk for his needs so I didn't doubt he'd like it :) He was bumped up to 3 cc's every 2 hours.

I have to say, though, that the best part of my visit with him today was my hour-long kangaroo care session with him. I was in mama heaven! We started the k-care at 12pm, just as he was starting his noon feeding. Even though he was getting the feeding through a tube, he started moving his mouth, so I stuck my pinky in his mouth to give him something to suck on. Once I did that, he started opening his eyes! And we chatted for the longest time, him opening his eyes often - I was melting! I have to say, this was the best day for me so far because I could just feel the love oozing out of me for Kieran - I could "feel" the bonding happening right then and there. If the nurses had peeked in on us, they would have laughed, because I was giggling and crying happy tears the whole time- it was so amazing. Definitely some oxytocin (nature's love hormone) at work there!

I took some one-handed pictures of our kangaroo care session.


Giving him a kiss.

Right now Josh is with him for a late-night visit and he planned to do kangaroo care during his feeding as well. I am still on cloud 9 from our visit today and I can't wait to see him again in the morning!

day 6

I visited Kieran this morning, along with Josh's mom Gale, and it was such a great visit! I met the NICU doc-of-the-week (there is a practice of 7 that rotate weekly) and I really liked him. He talked about how Kieran's just been stable for awhile and holding steady, but that it's not necessarily a bad thing. He mentioned that little boys seems to have a harder time with all things prematurity and that can mean things just take a little longer.

Here's all the good news: Kieran gained a few grams since yesterday. He started breastmilk feedings today! He will be doing 2 mls/cc's every 2 hours to start. He is still doing well on the CPAP and since the mask was bugging his nose, they found a little nasal prong that he's tolerating well. He had a tiny procedure done while I was there: the nurse practitioner took out the IV line that went through his umbilical cord - he was previously receiving nutrition through there, but now he is getting it through the ET (endotrachial) tube - the green tube that goes through his mouth to his tummy. He does not appear to have an infection like they thought (yay!) His kidney ultrasound showed the right kidney is still enlarged, but he is peeing and that's all that matters now, and we will continue to check on that. Speaking of peeing, I got to change his diaper for the first time today! Oh my goodness, his butt is so tiny!

Changing his diaper

And my favorite news of the day - I got to do skin-to-skin with him today! AND he tolerated it amazingly - in fact, his oximeter was beeping because his oxygen saturations got up to 94 & 95%! (Normally he sits around 85-90% - you and I take in close to 100% oxygen, for perspective.) The nurses turned on some soft music for us, which was lovely. He was so calm and relaxed on me and I got to just soak him in, stroking his sweet face and soft little blond head. It was awesome!

Skin-to-skin with mama

Josh is hanging out with Kieran right now. I'd have loved to go again but I wanted to just rest today, as I was there quite a long time this morning. I need to remember that I'm still postpartum and I need to be resting when I can get the chance!

day 5

Josh and I visited Kieran together today around noon and were there for a few hours. He's been holding steady - he's still on the CPAP mask at 20% oxygen (and later in the afternoon, even less oxygen!) He did not start my milk today but they're pretty sure it will happen tomorrow - his neoprofen is done and that's what they were waiting for. He'll be starting just a few ml/cc's per feeding. I hope to report tomorrow that he's finally on it. I've been anxiously awaiting that day - after all, it makes all my work at the pump worth it!

We were both able to hold him today in a warm blanket, but not yet skin-to-skin - it sounds like we can start this tomorrow since he's been so stable on the CPAP and been much more relaxed during procedures. Skin-to-skin care is also known as kangaroo care: you place baby chest to chest near your heart and the benefits are numerous - improved weight gain, helps baby regulate body temperature and lessens respiratory distress, to name a few. It has benefits for mom & dad as well - bonding of course, and it helps boost my milk production! Oh, and it makes me warm & fuzzy, too ;) I have also been anxiously awaiting the day we get to start on a daily basis - I did get to do it on his birthday with him and it was amazing to feel my son on my skin. Since he's had so much going on we haven't been able to try it yet, but his ability to maintain low oxygen levels on the CPAP and stay calm during procedures - previously challenges for him - are showing us he's about ready.

This was Josh's first time holding Kieran since he's been born! It was really emotional for both of us, as you can imagine. There is something so magical about watching a father hold his new baby for the first time; being able to fully take in his features up close, and being able to kiss him and smell him. He looked so proud and in awe and in love.

I held him for a long time as well, and then it was time for another procedure. They attempted to put a central line IV in - also called a PICC line - basically, it's an IV that extends from his arm and a catheter goes up the vein close to the heart. Since he will need long-term care and many blood draws, it's a good option that allows nurses to continually pull from the same vein and not have to poke him over and over again. We were told after the procedure that it didn't actually take, but that the IV they did place was good enough - it's a peripheral IV now, one that only extends an inch or two into his arm. He tolerated the procedure well - he was on a little bit of narcotic through it - but his oxygen remained the same and they were able to lower it later on in the evening, which is great news!

The last thing that we talked about with the nurse practitioner today was about a possible infection. His white blood cell count & platelet count were down, which can indicate an infection of some sort, so he was started on antibiotics right away and then cultures were sent to the lab. Hopefully we can nip a potential infection in the bud so that Kieran can just focus on relaxing, growing & spending time close to mom & dad.

All in all, our little guy is holding strong. No major setbacks and an improvement with the lowered O2 levels is a pretty good day for Kieran.

day 4

I just realized that this would truly be Kieran's 3rd day of life, right? I guess I had my days off. Oh well. I got discharged last night and I've been trying to get settled in at home with my pumping schedule and making sure to get naps in. Josh and I are exhausted, understandably, but we were both able to nap and rest today. I don't know what we would do if Gale wasn't here - she took Maia out to Target while we napped at home in the peace & quiet :)

Josh and I went to visit Kieran around noon together. He was taken off the ventilator at about midnight so he just had the CPAP mask on today and was on a slight amount of oxygen and tolerating it well. With the past few days, Kieran was really agitated during any procedure - as in, his 02 saturations would go way down and sometimes they would need to up his 02, but today he was doing really well! While I was there he had an x-ray to check feeding tube placement, plus he received a new feeding tube (as there was too much air in his tummy) & we also changed out blankets and cleaned up his isolette, and he tolerated everything beautifully, I was so proud! I want him to keep calm and relax and it seems he has finally started to do that.

He has his last dose of neoprofen today for the heart flap, and the NICU doctor thinks that's resolved because she cannot hear it anymore. They are starting him on my milk tomorrow - they needed to wait until the neoprofen was done, so we've really been looking forward to that. I just know he'll plump up on my milk, hopefully nice & quick!

I forgot to take a picture today - now that he's off the ventilator and out of the phototherapy lights, you can see his blond hair a lot more! Oh well, I'll take one tomorrow. We can start holding him again tomorrow now that he's mellowed out, and I know Josh is looking forward to that, as he hasn't held him yet. Josh and I did get a few pictures yesterday, though, as well as a video.

Daddy's hands




We tried to capture him kicking up a storm - he ended up doing it more after the video stopped, of course ;)

Day 3

Last night and this morning have been much more mellow for Kieran, thank goodness. I spoke with his NICU doctor today and there are plans to extubate him/take him off the ventilator this evening and get him back on the O2 mask - YAY! They're pretty sure he'll tolerate it just fine, since we wanted him to relax yesterday and he's been doing just that. He is getting his second dose of neoprofen today and one more tomorrow for the heart flap that was loose and by Sunday we should know if that's resolved itself. He has been getting artificial surfactant - a gooey, thick medicine through his trachea to help with lung development - and he will be getting that one more time today and after that he should be able to make some on his own. He is also having a renal ultrasound today to check his enlarged kidney, which we were first aware of at his 20 week ultrasound, so we'll see if it's still enlarged and if there is anything needing to be done there. Lastly, today is his last day of phototherapy for jaundice.

Our little guy resting this morning. He is now 30 weeks gestationally.

All in all, he is doing much better today. They didn't want us to hold him yesterday due to all his distress, but I was able to put my hands in his isolette - they say preemies prefer pressure rather than softly rubbing, so I spent a long time with my hands in the case - one hand on his sweet, downy head, and another hand on his little legs & feet. I forgot to ask if we can hold him today, but I think when he is off the ventilator tonight we will most likely be able to try again. They have plans to start him on my breastmilk Sunday, which is very exciting! My milk has started to come in today and my new close friend the breastpump is due to arrive at our house this afternoon :) I already have quite a few bags of milk in the NICU freezer and I look forward to providing many more. Each time I pump I look at pictures of Kieran and I cannot wait for the day he's ready to nurse - they said we can probably try around 32-33 weeks.

Lastly, I'm being discharged today! Josh has plans to get me home and settled and then we'll figure out a nice routine for visiting Kieran daily. I am hoping I can go every morning for a few hours while the doctors are there and then Josh or Josh and myself can visit at night as well. I will of course miss being so close to Kieran, but I cannot wait to get home to my comfy bed to get a little bit of sleep amidst the pumping.

Day 2 update

Kieran had a rougher day today - something the NICU doctor did tell us to expect. They spent the morning trying to figure out what was bugging him and making him work so hard to breathe and require more oxygen. He had to be put on a ventilator in the morning because he was so agitated. They did suspect that perhaps something was going on around his heart, causing him to overcompensate and send more blood there than his lungs - apparently babies at his gestation can have a loose flap that connects their heart valves, and if he was in utero it would close itself, but it was possible that it wasn't connected. They wanted to do an echocardiogram to see if that was the case. They also wanted to use a vein in his umbilical cord, where he would have been provided nourishment from my placenta, to send food to him that way, since the feeding tube was agitating him. Additionally, he was hooked up to the phototherapy lights today for jaundice - it was a busy day of procedures for our little guy!

Father & son

The echo was done in the afternoon and they did find the heart flap open, so Kieran will need some neoprofen (tiny baby ibuprofen) for three days to help him with that - once they start that, he should stop overcompensating and more blood will travel to his lungs. Once he starts having more blood flow to the lungs he will probably come off the ventilator, but for now it was a good thing to have him on it to just help him relax a bit.

Kieran's second day of life happened to be his big sister Maia's 2nd birthday! Happy Birthday to my beautiful big girl! We had a mini-party in the hospital room and she seemed to enjoy a balloon, a few presents and "upcakes."

Maia still thinks the baby is in my tummy - she isn't allowed to see Kieran yet, as there are still H1N1 restrictions placed on the hospital, so no one under age 16 can go in the NICU. An RN I spoke with said she thinks the ban will be lifted soon, but for now we only have pictures to show her. I truly hope she can see him soon! She loves him SO very much already. She has been an absolute trooper this past week, though. I am so proud of how well she's done for the various family members who have helped out (thank you, Grandma Sue, mom, Auntie Kristina & Grandma Gale!) We have been absolutely blessed by having Josh's mom Gale here - she arrived Wednesday afternoon after driving from Georgia and she plans to stay with us to help out during Kieran's NICU stay, which looks to be at least 5-6 weeks.

As for me, I'm at the hospital another night. I'm hoping to be discharged tomorrow sometime. I'm ready to go home and relax as best at home so that we can to gear up for the daily trips to the NICU. I'm so nervous about how it's all going to work out, but we can only take it one day at a time.

Kieran's first day

As soon as I was able to get up the morning after Kieran's birth, I wanted to be wheeled to the NICU. The preceding picture was taken as I held him, right before he got his various tubes back on. You can see he has a ton of blond hair! He also has blond eyelashes and eyebrows. Josh and I were in shock about how much hair he has for his gestational age.

He then got his "gear" on so I could hold him.

First time holding him.

He had a busy first day in the NICU as his nurse practitioner and doctor tried to get him settled in on various machines and basically tried to assess everything he was going to need. The NICU doctor told Josh and I that sometimes babies get worse before they get better - that they get sicker the 24-48 hours after they're born. After we spoke, I was wheeled to the NICU and able to hold him, so that was a big blessing! He was hooked up to various oxygen sources - sometimes a mask, sometimes a nasal cannula, and was on a low amount of O2 and mostly room air for the majority of the day. He had a feeding tube placed in his mouth and started to receive caffeine to stimulate lung activity. There were plans to start feeding him my pumped milk in the next day or two once he got settled and relaxed. The nurses reported that he was very agitated during procedures and needed more O2 during those times. His birthday was mostly just spent trying to get Kieran comfortable and adjusted and figure out what exactly he was going to need. I was able visit him with a second time to do skin-to-skin contact with him later in the afternoon - what an absolute blessing to feel his tiny body against my skin! I look forward to many more days of that :)

The rest of the day I spent trying to relax, rest and recover. The magnesium sulfate made me feel like a zombie, tired and slow, but I felt I was getting better. My BP slowly inched back down through the day and my labs came back much improved. I started pumping breastmilk for Kieran - the pump and I are going to be constant companions as I work to provide the large majority of his nutrition!

The backstory - Kieran's birth

I thought I should probably post a back story on Kieran's situation so you can see where it all started. In the interest of time, here is the note I posted on Facebook on March 13th, 2010, about my first pre-eclampsia issues with Kieran's pregnancy.

Kieran's birth story
After my initial pre-e diagnosis, I was discharged Saturday evening the 13th, to bedrest at home. The goal was to keep Kieran in as long as possible and as close to term as possible. I was 29.5 weeks along and wasn't due until May 28th. I thought "Sure, I can make it until 32 weeks, then we'll try for 34 weeks, and maybe we can make it to 36!" But of course, my body had to cooperate with that goal. Sunday and Monday went off without a hitch symptom-wise. At 3:30 AM Tuesday morning I woke up with extreme abdominal/gastric pain. This was something they warned me about on my discharge papers, but I wanted to see if it was heartburn first so I took some Maalox - those didn't help at all! I tried sleeping in some different positions, and eventually Josh woke up to help me try to figure out what was wrong. By 7AM I was writhing around, barely able to breathe so I called the hospital, who told me to come in right away. Josh and Maia quickly gathered things up and we headed out. I could barely walk in to the hospital so I went to the emergency room to get wheeled in. Once they put me in bed, they took my BP a few times - the highest they got was 194/90. They had my labs drawn to check my liver function and checked kidney function with a urine test as well, and discovered that my liver enzymes were up (a non-issue the weekend before) and my blood platelets were even lower than weekend levels. Protein in my urine was also up, and they started to suspect it could be HELLP syndrome on top of the pre-eclampsia. They quickly started me on a magnesium sulfate drip to help prevent seizures and started to talk about inducing.

I think we had a slight advantage to Kieran's preterm birth by being in the hospital over the weekend. Josh and I knew that this was a possibility; that I may have to deliver. When they started to talk about inducing I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be, except for the fact that I had no idea induction could be successful at 29.5 weeks gestation. The nurses assured me that sometimes the body and baby just knows something's not right and the induction can end in a successful vaginal delivery - an optimal goal and a much gentler birth for both mom and baby. I was found to be a fingertip dilated, so they opted to start Cervadil, a drug used to ripen and prepare the cervix, and then later move on to a Pitocin drip to push the uterus to contract. Cervadil was started at about 1PM, and I finally got some relief from gastric pain, so I was able to relax and breathe and start focusing on the first task ahead: giving birth to my 29.5 weeker.

I had planned on learning Hypnobirthing techniques with this pregnancy to help me cope with labor pains, and had just started reading about the method, thinking I had weeks to prepare. Luckily I had read enough and started to visualize my cervix opening up (I used an opening flower visualization) and sure enough, it started to do just that. I spent some time going inside myself - closing my eyes, talking to Kieran and encouraging him to come out, explaining to him about what was going on with his mama. I tried to focus only the birth, something I could sort of control, and not worry about the tough road that lied ahead with a NICU stay. I was able to stay focused and I knew I was progressing. At 7PM, I was 3 cm dilated and 70% effaced, so they stopped the Cervadil. I continued to labor until it was decided to start Pitocin - that was hooked up at 12AM. My mom arrived shortly after that to help support Josh and I. After that, contractions started to get slightly more intense, and I started to visualize being on waves to help me get through those contractions. At about 1AM, the RN who was staying with me noticed they started to get more intense and said she wanted to check me. I told her that I felt pressure - sure enough, his head was RIGHT there and my bag of waters was bulging. Since the NICU had to be on-call for Kieran and be at the birth, she started calling over the intercom to get help - the doctor was not in the room at this time, either! I told them I needed to push - the RN said "don't push!", but that wasn't going to happen, I couldn't stop! My water broke, and then another push or two later, Kieran was born. There was another flurry of activity with more nurses coming in, prepping to care for him right away, but I was able to see what was going on at the end of the bed and watch them work. He was SO tiny, but he seemed long. Josh accompanied him over to the isolette to peek at what the nurses were doing but mostly had to stay back so they could focus on getting him hooked up to the various machines. Once he was swaddled and prepared to go to the NICU I was able to hold him for a few moments to take pictures with him and then he was whisked away. Josh was able to see him an hour after birth in the NICU while I stayed back to get cleaned up, rest and focus on the next task at hand for me - getting better.

I was still quite sick post-birth; I required a lot of BP checks & lab level checks to make sure my levels were coming down - thankfully they were, and my blood pressure has finally returned to normal as of this evening. I had to stay on the magnesium sulfate another 24 hours. Delivery is the only cure for pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome, and unfortunately it resulted in the preterm birth of our beautiful little son.

Kieran Michael was born on March 17th, 2010, at 1:05AM. 2lb, 10 ounces & 15 inches long. It was St. Patrick's Day - and the Irish name we had picked out for him before he was born seemed all the more fitting that day. He is going to need the luck of the Irish, and all the prayers and love he can get, too. He was born at 29.5 weeks and has a bit of a tough road ahead of him, but we are confident that he's getting great care in the NICU and that our little guy is a fighter. He is our beautiful little lucky charm!

Joining the blogosphere

With so many family and friends inquiring about Kieran's situation and health, we have decided to start a blog to keep you all informed. This will probably help Josh and I to keep things straight and written down in one spot as well!

So here's to a first post, and I'll be back later with an update on his first couple days. Thanks for all your well wishes and prayers for Kieran's health!