This Too Shall Pass

October 22, 2010 marked the 1 year anniversary of when James came home from his long stay in the NICU. Unfortunately, it was celebrated in the PICU. James came down with a cold last week. On Thursday afternoon he seemed to be having a hard time so my mom (I was still in Indiana) and I took him to a Med Express clinic and they send us to the E.R. James was having difficulty breathing so he was intibated and choppered to Peyton Manning Children's Hospital in Indianapolis. He was eventually diagnosed with Rhino virus (the cause of the common cold), which spread to his lungs causing a viral pneumonia. He was able to come off the vent Monday late afternoon and is now on a high-flow nasal canula. The doctors hope to get him down to a regular nasal by tomorrow. At that point he would be able to go to a regular room and start regular feeds (his feeds are through an NJ tube right now). We are hoping that we will all be able to go home together this weekend. Dave is with us for now but will have to get back to work next week no matter what.

On the plus side, little Andrew is doing fabulously. Family members are all pitching in to help watch him this week, so we don't have to bring him to the hospital. Andrew is eating like a little piggie and porking up as a result. He is quite adorable...I will get pictures posted again someday.

We just keep praying for a speedy recovery and for no more hospital stays...

My Cup Runneth Over

Brothers

Cousins

And Great a husband!

The Past Few Days...

...have been crazy, wonderful, exciting, and exhausting among other things. We have become a family of 4 and we are enjoying it all...even the sleepless nights. It's such a wonderful feeling to have a healthy baby that nothing can bring us down right now. In the past few days we have...

...welcomed Andrew Michael Iverson into our lives...

...played together...

...and just hung out together.
James has become quite the big brother too. He has become quite proficient at playing on his knees and can sit on his own for a half an hour if he decides to.

We even got an edible arrangements gift basket from Dave's work. I've always wanted to get one of these and was so excited when it got delivered today!

Andrew Micheal is Here!

First: Congratulations to Denise and Chris!!!! ~Married October 2, 2010~ Such a beautiful bride!

And then 2 short days later, Andrew Michael Iverson was born. Andrew weighed in at 6 pounds 13 ounces and is 20.5 inches long. A few things...he has a small head, long fingers, dark grey eyes for now, blond peach fuzz for hair, and is perfect.

I reported to the hospital at 6am Monday morning as instructed to start the process of welcoming Andrew into our little world. I was taken back to the OR at about 8:30 where I was given a spinal and started the c-section. Unfortunately, the spinal ended up being splotchy (apprently this happens about 10% of the time) and I could feel entirely too much, so I was put to sleep for the delivery. Andrew came out healthy at 9:06 am, but he was breathing a little too rapidly and was having some mild retractions. After spending most of Monday in an isolette on room air, he was allowed to come see me and he has been perfect ever since. I am doing well also. We are up and moving together and enjoying getting to know each other. He hasn't quite figured out the eating thing yet, but we're working on it. He definitely likes to sleep...hopefully he'll keep that up.

Enjoy the photos!