Update: Only a few more days...

Jeff just called and asked me to get some things washed up and ready for when they come home. I am so excited! They are planning on rooming in tonight. Before nurses had explained that they have 3 rooms that they let patients sleep in the same room as their parents one to two nights before they go home. This gives the parents the lead and the nurse is there to help the mother not the other way around.

I wonder if Matthew will like the cows as much as Mollie does?

Matthew and Mollie

Things went well again today for Matthew. They started off the morning by putting him on oxygen again because he always drops low after eating. They ended up taking him off of it later. They are still trying to figure out how to help him eat better. Jeff, Julie and Mollie are all very eager to take baby Matthew home and have their life together more often. The nurses are just not sure, however, when that will be. He still needs to become more efficient at eating.

Matthew not Mathew

I am sure Jeff and Julie are spelling Matthew correctly I just didn't know better. Sorry for all of my misinformation! Jeff was with Julie at the NICU today and things went really well. Matthew continues to eat more every day. Things are still coming along smoothly. Tomorrow I will take Mollie over and my camera so get excited for a better update!

Monday Monday: Mathew's 5th day!

I really dropped the ball today. I spent all day with Julie and Mathew and didn't have my camera. Cindy's camera was there so I was able to get pictures of him with his eyes open, pictures of him taking a bath, and pictures of him stretching but they will not be posted on here. Sorry.

Mathew continues to improve every day. His parents spirits continue to improve every day. Today he fed even better than before. He was able to nurse for 15 minutes and the goal was 10. He has many dirty diapers throughout the day and I even got peed on today. I was giving Julie a lesson in changing a baby boy diaper and sure enough we got wet (ok coming from the other end too) not once but twice. He is a boy!

He will for sure be on antibiotics until Friday. The antibiotcs are working though and his blood count is right where they want it to be. The nurse was very hopeful today that if things continue to improve at the rate they are now that he could be going home Friday or shortly thereafter.

Yeah!

Mathew Thomas Romans

They have finally named baby Mathew. Today Julie was able to feed him twice and he continues to go without receiving extra oxygen. Last night they did, however, have to hook up to the feeding tube after he threw up. They are not super concerned about it though. Also, he will be in the hospital at least until Wednesday because he will continue to receive his antibiotic to treat his white blood count. They said that one of the nurses commented that he was the healthiest Down Syndrome newborn that she had seen. Mollie is planning on spending the night with her parents over at the Ronald McDonald home. They were lucky to get a room and have meals taken care of for them. I am planning on going again tomorrow so I will update with more pictures!

Also, I have been corrected. He weighted 7 lbs. 10 ounces when he was born not 7 ounces! Sorry for the misinformation!

Our Newest Cousin

Braxton has been excited for months that he is going to have a new baby boy cousin. Now he just needs to get rid of his runny nose so he can go see him.

Jeff and Julie had their boy two weeks early because her water had broke. She delivered around 10:30 and he came out weighing 7 lbs and 7 ounces. Later that night they found out that he had Down Syndrome. The doctors took him to the NICU and put him on Oxygen. Then later he received a feeding tube as seen in this picture. However, today while I was there he was able to have the feeding tube and oxygen taken out. He was able to latch on and eat and then take over an ounce of bottle after that! We are all so happy with today's progress. Things are already moving forward! Julie hadn't seen him with his eyes open all day yesterday because he was so sleepy but today she was able to hold him for 20 minutes with his eyes open! Also, we found out yesterday that he doesn't have a heart problem which is common with babies with down syndrome. We are so excited to have him in our family. I wish I could call him a name but they still haven't decided on one yet! The board the nurses had written in Julie's room with information on it said Jeff + Julie = ? I'll update later with a name announcement!

Mollie loves her baby and talks about him all of the time. She has been spending a lot of time with us and we love it.

Summer Vacation: Day 1

Today I shoveled our cement pad in front of our garage. What a HUGE mess. I have huge blisters, my back hurts, and I really felt for all of those farmers digging coragates this time of year.

Needless to say Braxton was rolling around in the mud puddle today while I worked and Brooke slept. He is my little pig. He likes to call himself a hippo.

Track Meet

We took Braxton to his first track meet when he was 2. He received lots of ribbons and thought it was the greatest thing ever. In fact, all year he would talk about how he needed to practice for his "meat truck." He would run in circles for hours!

Braxton and Brooke had the opportunity last Saturday to compete at the Hershey Track Meet in Ontario. They both did very well considering it was raining and freezing cold. We are definitely not the fastest family but we sure have fun trying! Braxton got a white ribbon (3rd in the 100) and a green ribbon (5th in the 200) and Brooke received a white ribbon (3rd in the 100). There is another one this Saturday and I am hoping the weather will be a little warmer. We have had an unusually cold and rainy spring.