Bottle Feeding Pro

Jeff has a new title in our house..."Bottle Feeding Pro". We learned pretty early on that when William is with me he wants to cuddle and sleep. However, dad means business and Will's job is to eat. Usually Jeff starts by feeding Will in a sitting up position, but as Will gets more full he starts to do better in a "side lying' position. When Will is done eating and hanging out with dad, mommy gets to snuggle him :-)

All tests are passed!

When your child is in the NICU there are a few tests that they must pass before getting to come home. The first test is a hearing test and Will passed this test the night of December 27th. We were not present for the test but we believe the test makes noises and waits for the babies reaction. The second test is a congenital heart defect test and Will passed this test as well. Lastly, he had to take a car seat test. For the car seat test Will had to be strapped into his car seat for 90 minutes and his heart rate and breathing had to stay in the normal range. We were present for the car seat test and I was amazed at how tightly a baby must be strapped into a car seat. The shoulder straps were so tight across his little chest that there is no way he is moving or wiggling out of that thing, ever! The car seat test also reiterated how little Will is. Check out the photo below.

First Christmas as a Family of Three

On Christmas Eve Jeff and I went on the hunt to find William a Christmas onesie. We went to both Target and Babies R Us in search of a preemie size out fit but were unsuccessful. We ended up getting a newborn size onesie, which he was swimming in but turned out to be adorable on him. We also picked up a Christmas stocking to stuff William into, his first Christmas ornament (a red W) and a clay make your own ornament where we can imprint Will's foot print. A few photos of Will in his outfit and stocking are below.

Christmas was a great day for Will. He was very alert and did a great job eating his bottles. He definitely made it onto Santa's 'nice list' :-)

'twas the night before Christmas

When I was a child every Christmas Eve my brothers and I took our baths, got dressed in new pajamas and my mom read us 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. This is one tradition that I loved and knew and wanted to continue when I had my own kids. So after Williams's 6:00pm feeding we put on some clean PJs, wrapped him up in his swaddle blanket and I read him the poem I remember so fondly. Today we started our very first tradition as a family of three. While I wish we began this tradition in our home, I am very thankful that we were able to begin such a tradition in 2012. Thanks William for joining us early so we can celebrate such a wonderful time of year with you, one year earlier than expected.

Holding Daddy's Hand

While I was still in my post delivery hospital room too ill to see Will, Jeff would go visit Will, take lots of pictures and come back and show and describe everything that happened. One of the first pictures I ever saw of Will was of his tiny fingers wrapped around his Daddy's finger. When I saw the picture for the first time, I cried. I knew in my heart that it was Will's way of telling us he was ok, everything was going to be ok.

Now at five days old Will continues to hold his daddy's finger. This morning he held his hand while he drank his bottle, finishing 7ml of the 25ml he is eating per feeding.


What Jeff finds to be funny and I have named a "stinker" move...is that Will has never held my finger. Every time I try to get Will to hold my finger and he rejects it, Jeff and I laugh. Will is obviously saving that moment, that special hold for just his daddy. While I call him a stinker over it, it truly melts my heart knowing that this small simple gesture is something Will reserves only for his daddy.

"Big boy bed"

December 23rd.

Jeff and I headed back to the hospital tonight for Will's 6:00 feeding. We found that he had graduated from his incubator to a crib. This was another big milestone for Will. The move to a crib means that Will is maintaining his own body temperature and no longer needs the heat of the incubator. We are so proud of our little man!

William Charles

William Charles entered the world on Tuesday December 18, 2012 at 8:44pm weighing in at just 4 pounds 6 ounces.  William's due date was January 31, 2013 so he was only 33 weeks and 5 days gestational age. William was immediately taken to the NICU team standing by but dad was able to snap a few pics to share with mom. A few of his first photos are below.