Two Weeks Already?!?!

Can you believe it!! Jason is already two weeks old. He is absolutely the most amazing baby. He is so calm and relaxed, and has everyone wrapped around his little fingers. He has changed so much in looks already, and is gaining weight like a champion. We had three conditions we had to fulfill before we could even talk about going home. The first was Jason had to maintain a body temperature of at least 36.5 Celsius. Until he was able to do that, we were only allowed to hold him for an hour a day, and the rest of the time he was in a boxed bed called an isolette.

Well step one is done! Jason is officially out of the isolette after a week and half of being in it. He is maintaining his temperature like a champion, and loves to snuggle with his new blanket he is allowed to have.

The 2nd step is weight gain. Jason has to be able to gain weight and keep it on, without having his temperature drop. So far he has been doing amazing with it. At two weeks old he weighed a whopping 4 pounds 6 ounces. Now that may not seem like a lot, but he was 3 pounds 6.1 ounces at birth and dropped down to 3 pounds 3 ounces a few days after birth. So with this weight gain we are absolutely thrilled. He is starting to fill out more and more. His little cheeks are getting chubbier and chubbier, and he just looks amazing.

The 3rd step, bottle feeding. Jason has to be able to take all his feedings by mouth instead of his ng tube. This has by far been the biggest challenge. He is still so small, that his energy fades fast. However his Dr. told me he should not even be attempting to bottle feed yet. Technically going by his due date, he is only 34 weeks and six days. Babies usually don't attempt to bottle feed until 35 or 36 weeks. Jason loves his bottle. He takes it so well, but we are still facing the challenge of the energy burnout. I have given up on trying to nurse him for now. He absolutely hates nursing, so I'd rather make his eating experiences enjoyable. So far we have taken 3 whole bottles in a 48 hour time span. He has bottle fed at every feeding, and is averaging between 18 and 31 per feed. He is only getting 36 ml's per feed, so we are very proud of how much he is taking. Hopefully we can continue to increase how much he gets per feeding. I love being up here with him, and helping with everything. The nurses here call me super mom, because I'm always here. They have to remind me to go eat or to take a nap. They are seriously the most amazing people. They take such good care of my baby and that is all I could ever ask for. They are like extra mom and grandma's to Jason and I.

Jason is also able to be held now more! Which means his grandma and grandpa Dale got to pay a visit and snuggle with him. My Aunt Vicki flew in from Nevada to see Jason, so she has also gotten to snuggle with him. And of course Aunt Sam loves to come snuggle with her baby.

This has been the hardest experience to date. My family is divided, with Daddy going to work and leaving Baby and I at the hospital. We are making the best of it though, and God has truly provided for my family. We are stronger and love each other more because of everything we have been going through. Jason is truly our little miracle baby from God and we are so blessed to have him.

Love The Price 3: Joshua, Courtney and Jason

Jason Robert Price!!!!

Well to make it blog official, our little boy was born April 2nd, at 11:20 A.M. He weighed 3 pounds 6.1 ounces and was 15 and 3/4 inches long. He is the most beautiful thing I have ever laid eyes upon. I am so in love with my little boy. Having Jason early was not part of the master plan, but as many tried to warn me plans tend to not go according to plan.

This all started three very long weeks ago. I went to the dr on the 18th, and he was not happy with my blood pressure. I assumed since I had been dealing with the death of my grandpa, and some other issues, I was just stressed and it would go back down. I went back to the dr on the 25th, and was immediatly hospitalized for high blood pressure and too much protein. Dr. Snider was unclear of what condition I had, but after several tests it became clear that I had preclampsia, and it was getting worse. On Wednesday the 27th, I was moved to Overland Park Regional, because my Dr. and his team, did not feel confident enough that I would make it to a safe delivery point with Jason. Overland Park has one of the best NICU's around, so we knew that if Jason was born early, he would be okay. I spent Easter and my birthday in the hospital, and started to feel the effects of the preclampsia. My blood work started coming back elevated, with low platlette levels, and by Tuesday morning, I was in so much pain on my right side. Turns out my liver was starting to shut down. I don't think until now I've actually realized, we both very easily could not have made it due to the complications. Dr. Snider was quick to come in, evaluate and announce that we would be doing a c-section at 10:30 that day. At 32 weeks and 4 days, any soon to be mother would positively freak. I was not ready to have this little boy, not yet, not this early.

I suddenly realized it would be okay, and I started telling myself I had to remain calm. The next two hours flew by and at ten thirty they came to get me for surgery. I had an epidural, which by the way was amazingly fantastic! Once the meds kicked in they brought Josh and my Mom back to operating room and we were under way. After just four minutes of surgery Jason was born! I immedietly felt this huge sense of peace upon hearing him cry. What a beautiful sound that was, and I helped create that sound. The NICU Dr. evaluated Jason and said that he was breathing fantastically. They handed him off to Josh who brought him over for me to see. The first thing I noticed was his blonde hair. Where did that come from? My entire pregnancy I had assumed Jason was going to have black hair like his daddy! Nope he had blonde hair like his mommy. He looked right at my and stuck his tongue out. I was in love. He was absolutely perfect in every way, and the best thing was he was my perfect little baby.

Of course since Jason is so early, we will be in the NICU a while. He is already a little love bug and everyone who comes around him falls in love with him. He's had a bit of jaundice so he's under the lights for now. Keep us in your prayers and I will continue to update everyone as often as I can. I can't wait until I can bring my perfect little guy home!