Change of scenery

We finally got to bring our little guy home yesterday. He's doing really well, off the oxygen, eating lots, and basically turning our schedule upside down since he's now running the show. And try as I may, no matter how much I pat his back to get a burp out, it doesn't work and he ends up burping on his own.
Let the fun begin.

More pics of the little guy

Don't wake me, I need my beauty rest.


I wish I had opposable thumb-toes.


Good thing you got this towel here dad, or else!

Oooh yeah, gettin' a good tan.

People pay lots for a suntan this good

Nat went up to to see Reed this morning, and he continues to improve every day.
His jaundice levels have dropped, so he's only going to be under one of the tanning lights instead of two.
The nurse had to put in a new IV for the antibiotics; they were running out of places to put it, it's been in both hands and feet so far, so what place is left? His head. But after the last blood tests the doctor said he doesn't need the medicine anymore. Too bad they already stuck him with the IV.
He's bottle feeding and doing really well. He can eat as much as he wants, and eats a lot when the nurses feed him, but not so much with us, probably because he's so comfy. I went up last night to feed him, and it was fun to see him awake and looking around, until we wrapped him up in a blanket and he fell asleep.
He's still on the oxygen because his lungs are a little underdeveloped.
Right now there's still no exact date on when he'll be coming home, but it sounds like it should be later this week.

Awake and alert

We got to go up to the hospital today and help feed Reed for the first time. I tell you he knows what to do with that bottle! All of his numbers have been improving every day, so we also got to hold him for a few minutes. It's such a wonderful feeling to see him awake and looking around, and it makes it a lot harder to leave him there all alone in the hospital. But we'll be able to bring him home soon enough.

He's out of the bubble

Reed is making some good progress. He will be in the NICU for a few more days, but his lungs are improving, and the hole has healed itself. They've taken him out of the bubble (theme music to Star Wars playing in the background). They also injected some Serfactant to help the lungs inflate better. I guess these things can be pretty common in preemies, but it's still a little scary to deal with as parents.
Hopefully tomorrow they can start to bottle feed him; up until now it's only been through the IV.

It's a boy!

We're excited to have a new addition to our family, Reed Gregory McKinley, named after his great grandpa. It seems like interesting names and unusual spellings are all the rage these days, so I tried to talk my wife into spelling his name "Wreighd" but she decided to go with a more traditional spelling, Reed.

He was born 11/11/09 at 5:32 AM, weighing 7 lbs. 14 oz. and measuring just under 4 ft long. Okay so he's only 20 1/2 inches.

Although he was born a little early at 36 1/2 weeks, the doctors weren't concerned about him having any complications. We were able to hold him after a fairly quick and painless (thanks to an epidural) delivery. He's a pretty good sized solid boy, and I was happy to see he has lots of strawberry blonde hair. For the first few hours he was doing really well, but later in the morning he started having a little trouble breathing, so they placed him in the NICU for some good TLC.

After a day and a half of tests and chest x-rays, they found that the reason he's been having trouble breathing is because of a pneumothorax. No this is not a character by Dr. Seuss as I initially thought; that's the Lorax. A pneumothorax occurs from a small hole in the lung that allows air to escape into the rib cage, causing the lung to partially collapse. The good news is the hole in the lung will heal itself, and may have done so already. He's also been put in an oxygen helmet to help his body absorb the extra air inside his chest; yep he's a bubble boy, I really need to get a picture.

The latest tests show that he's making progress, and will need to stay in the hospital for a few more days, but he should be just fine by the time he comes home.

Thanks for the support,
Greg, Natalie and big sister Julia

I'm a daddy again

I'll say this one came as a shock since Nat was only 36 1/2 weeks along, but Julia was 35 1/2 weeks so we knew it could happen at any time, and any extra day was a plus.
Reed Gregory McKinley was born 11/11 at 5:32 AM, weighing in at 7 lbs 14 oz. One of his best features is his strawberry blonde hair; wonder where he got that from.
After the first few hours he started having a little trouble breathing, and he's got a little infection, so they had to take him down to the NICU where the great nurses are taking very good care of him. I expect everything to be just fine, but we're playing the waiting game for his numbers to improve.
Daddy Greg

Really? Tonight?

We're only at 36 1/2 weeks. More to come. Stay tuned!