I'm gonna be a super model!

The sun was too bright--the car ride home for the first time!!!



Chunky baby face



The shirt says it all.  He's my gremlin.



MOM!  The t.v. is too loud!!!

Sleeps just like a Cowart.

Froggy bottom.

Cutest little boy in the world, if I do say so myself.

Scar face

You know those crazy women in the Guinness Book of World Records who have ridiculously long finger nails that hang to the ground?  That's my son.  He scratched the crap out of my cheek and chest yesterday, so last night I got a couple pairs of baby nail clippers from Target.  I'm still trying to muster up the courage to try it.  I'm deathly afraid of snipping off the tips of his fingers.  I could just wait for my sister Ali to get here.  She's a pro at it.  Her bff is a cosmetologist who frequently gives/gets manicures, but she can't clip her own baby's nails, so Ali does it for her.

We just got back from the pediatrician!  Big Boy Welt is 8 lbs. 10 oz.  and going strong.  We are taking him off the high calorie formula, so he will stop gaining so fast.  He's in the 75th percentile for preemies, which is pretty exciting.  I noticed a few days ago that baby's tongue was connected, so we had the pediatrician clip it.  Welton cried for a minute or two, but has been zonked out ever since.  I wanted it done now so that when he starts to try talking, he doesn't have two things working against him (tongue and the vocal cord).

We are setting up a time next week to do an overnight sat test to see if we can come off the oxygen and monitor.  I must say, it will be nice to walk to the other room with the baby and not have to haul around a huge oxygen tank.

March 7th was his due date, so I guess he's officially 5 days old now :)  He's doing a lot of things that he's not supposed to do for a few more months.  When I'm running on more than 2 hours of sleep, I'll let you know what those things are.  My brain is shutting down.

beep boops balhbbity beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep 000000.  reeeeeeeehgulubglubeeeeeeeeek.  Done.

One week down, eternity to go.

Welp, the title really says it all.  I figure the sleep deprivation Ben and I are experiencing now will be nothing compared to my not sleeping when he's a teenager.  I think I'm finally coming around to realizing that things are all right and that he is actually going to be a teenager one day.  I spent all day, every day, for the last 4 months, worrying that something was going to go wrong.  I was terrified that I would go up to the NICU and nurses and doctors would be swarming around him.  I just knew that they were going to have to hit that code button at one point or another.  Nope.  It didn't happen.  He's good.  He's great.  He's apparently a medical marvel.  He has beaten all the odds.  I should have no reason to be scared that things won't be fine from here on out.  But I am.  I think I will be for a while, but now that I'm aware of the problem, I'm trying to work through it.  I have never seen a more perfect human being.  He's sweet and pleasant (unless he's hungry, then he's a beast, but a very cute and quiet beast).  He sounds like a gremlin whether he's eating, sleeping, or pooping.  He sounds like Stripe, but looks as cute as Gizmo :)  I don't throw the word miracle around very often.  But uh, I'm the momma to one.

Welton's first week home was very busy.  I know I mentioned the pediatrician in the last post, so I won't be redundant.  Baby's hernias are apparently pretty serious, but the surgeon wants to wait until after RSV season for him to spend any time in the children's hospital.  We're scheduled for March 30th, and hopefully he will be off oxygen and will have gained more weight.  Both factors will make the surgery go more smoothly.  Welt's ROP is non-existent now!  The ophthalmologist said that his eyes have healed themselves, and that this is the first time he can recall (and he's no spring chicken) that he hasn't had to perform surgery on a 24 weeker (like I said, miracle).  Some time in the next few weeks, we will do an overnight monitoring of the baby's O2 sats, to determine if he needs to stay on the oxygen or not.  He absolutely hates the cannula up his nose and the adhesive that holds it on.  He's gotten very sneaky with his grubby little hands and pulls his cannula out several times a day.

I was a little distracted during the baby shower thrown by my in-laws, being the first time I'd spent away from the baby since he came home.  It's a good thing his daddy is awesome with him.  Anyway, the shower was so much fun.  Decorations were cute, food was great, I only cried once or twice talking about my little boy, and Ben's family was more than generous.  I hadn't really spent time with them since I got pregnant, so it was good to catch up and see everyone.  Some of the kids look like they have grown a foot, just since last summer.

I'm super excited about my mom and dad coming out.  Mom will be here for 3 weeks to help out, and my dad is coming for baby's blessing and conference.  Ali's coming out for a weekend to help me get the nursery together and, of course, to see Bon Jovi.  It will be nice to have some Cowart family in town, and maybe to sleep for an hour or two :)

For those of you here, or who want to come, Welton will be blessed at our ward building on Sunday, March 27th.  The service begins at 11:00, and we would love for our family and friends to be there.  After all, it is because of all your prayers and love that he is doing so well, that we get to spend every day with this beautiful, healthy little spirit.  Well, he's a little boy, but a huge spirit.    I don't have the address for the church right now, but I will be posting it soon, and will probably send out an email as well.

Lastly, I want to give a shout out to two women who I will never be able to thank enough: Gramma Shelly and Auntie Tamara.  They are two of the nurses who took care of Welton.  Shelly was a day shift primary nurse, and Tamara was a night shift primary nurse.  Any mother would worry about her baby when she couldn't be there to take care of him all the time.  But the only peace I ever had was when I thought about these women who spend their lives taking care of other people's children.  And they didn't just take care of him, they took care of me.  They had been in this situation before, and I was so new, and nervous and scared.  They made it abundantly clear that they loved my little boy, but made it even more clear that I was his Momma and that he loved me and knew me.  When I doubted my abilities, they were there to reassure me and lift me up.  I am eternally indebted to these two ladies (and the numerous others who took care of him) and I just want them to know that I love them, and have seldom felt the appreciation and love for a non-family member.  Well, at this point, they may not be blood, but they are family.  We love you.  SO much.

Ok.  Time for sleep.  So long.

Home Sweet Home

It's hard to write this because I had to put the baby down.  He's sleeping peacefully while lying next to me on the couch.  He's as beautiful as ever.  I can't kiss him enough, and instead of being afraid that the back of his head will be flat, I'm afraid I will make him have a flat forehead.  I try not to press my lips too hard :)  His hair is soft and fuzzy and he's got sweet little fat rolls on his tummy and thighs. 

Welt has gained 7 oz. since we brought him home Friday night.  He's up to 7 lbs. 6 oz., and the pediatrician said today that if he keeps gaining like this, he will go to regular infant formula and stop the 22 calorie. 

Medically, he's doing better than we ever expected.  He's on 3 medications: prevacid for his reflux, iron for his anemia, and miralax (he's not constipated, but it makes bowel movements easier on his hernia).  We are meeting with the surgeon tomorrow to discuss when his surgery will be.  Hopefully he will fix both hernias (he has one in his boy parts and one in the belly button).  He came home on a very low flow of oxygen and a heart and lung monitor.  The pediatrician will do an overnight study in the next few weeks to see whether we need to stay on those.  we have an appointment with the retinal specialist on Thursday, but fully expect to see no progression of his ROP.  They haven't found progression since the first week, and that it extremely uncommon for a 24 weeker.  We so grateful it's one procedure that baby doesn't have to suffer through.

I wish everyone could hear him right now.  It's the cutest noise I have EVER heard.  He snores, just like his daddy.  Fortunately, it's much, MUCH more quiet.  He doesn't like sleeping on his back, so he makes lots of funny noises at night, but we're sure he will get used to it soon. 

Ben and I are struggling with the sleep deprivation as is par for the course with "new" parents.  I have to say though, I would stay awake 24/7 if it meant having my baby sleeping 2 feet from my bed and not having to drive to Provo twice a day.  We may be tired and have bags under our eyes, but believe me when I say, we would have it NO other way. 

Well, I tried to remember everything, but if y'all have questions, leave a comment or facebook us.  We love you all, and thank you so much for the love and prayers.  We hope he continues to do well.  He can't wait to meet everyone!!!! (in a couple months (; )

What weighs more: 7 pounds of baby, or 7 pounds of poopy diapers?

Either way, they will both soon be residing at our house.  This big chunk is doing so well eating and breathing, that he will be coming home Friday or Saturday morning.  We are staying at the hospital Thursday night, with the baby, to get used to the home monitors.  Welp, I don't know how often updates will come once we are "full time" parents, but I'll try my best.  Love you all!

Junior Whopper

Well, it has been 3 months and 5 days and this little (big) boy is 6 LBS. 13 OZ.!!!  He has officially quadrupled his birthweight, and shows no signs of slowing down.

This week will probably be a long one.  Welt's hernia surgery is scheduled for Thursday (the 24th), so we are pretty anxious to say the least.  I know they say it's minimally invasive and he should recover quickly, but they will still be cutting my baby open. so I think I have the right to freak out a little.  He will be intubated for the surgery, and hopefully they will be able to remove the breathing tube the same day, or the day after.  Once he's off pain meds and back on his cannula, he will start a lower calorie formula (he's on 24 cal right now).  He will still gain weight, but not nearly as quickly as he has these past few months.

Baby is jumping between 1 LPM and 1/2 LPM.  If he continues to wean, there's a possibility he won't have to come home on oxygen.  That will be decided when we do a carseat test (to make sure the straps don't make him stop breathing).

So, I know it's really no surprise, but our baby LOVES to eat.  Every nurse that comes by tells me how surprised they are by his progress.  One even said "you must be living right, cause this baby is doing things that just aren't done by 24 weekers."  He will no longer take his binki (hallelujah) because nothing comes out of it.  He's got us grown-ups all figured out.  The original recommendation was for one bottle feeding per 12 hours, but the doc changed that order to every other feeding (4x a day).  He did so well his first few days that they now have him doing one back to back feeding every 12 hours.  It definitely tires him out quickly, though I don't think he'd have it any other way...other than a bottle every time.  He sounds like a gremlin (and sometimes a little piggie) when he eats.  His left vocal cord is the one that was damaged during his heart surgery, so when he eats, he lies on his right side where the muscles are stronger.

The retina specialist examined baby earlier this week, and again there has been NO progression in his stage 1 ROP.  The doc said that he has never seen this in a 24 weeker.  I guess our baby is breaking all kinds of molds! 

4 days ago, one of Welt's primary nurses, Tamara, told us to expect him to come home in 10-14 days.  Well, I guess now we are looking at 6-10.  The earliest we were counting on having him home was his due date, March 7th, and most docs told us that was unlikely and that he would maybe be home mid-March. 
So, Ben and I are scrambling to get things ready, and it's been especially rough since I have been attacked by allergies and Ben has a crappy cold.  We've got a place for him to sleep and a car seat, so once we get some diapers, I think we will calm down.  We've started paining his room and are trying to get the carpets cleaned before we bring home baby.  Only time will tell :)

I just can't believe that this much time has gone by and that we are so close!  I know that the love, care, concern and prayers from family and friends have been the driving force in his amazing progress.  We love y'all so much, and can't wait to show off our big boy!

I got a big brown furry caterpillar

I don't even know where to start. Welton is 6 lbs. 6.25 oz. He is now on a low-flow cannula and getting 1 LPM. Last night, he was started on bottle feeding. Babies who are as premature as he was usually take quite a while to learn "suck, swallow, breathe," but Welton learned in about 2 minutes. 20 ml is what they usually take on a first feeding, but he took 65...15 ml more than his normal feeding. The occupational therapist recommended 2 bottle feedings a day, but the neonatalogist saw how well he did this morning (55 ml in 7 minutes) and changed his order to bottle feeding for every other meal. In the next day or two, he should be on total nipple feeding, and the nurse told me today he could go home in as little as A WEEK AND A HALF! Welt's primary day nurse, Shelly, said that in her 26 years in the NICU, she has never seen a 24-weeker EAT SO WELL!!!  His hernia surgery is scheduled for the 24th of Feb (and is usually done the day babies go home), so that could be the magic day! Welp, I couldn't be happier about his progress, but I'm nervous about mine. SO much to do!

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