Uncle Brian and Daddy gives him a bottle

Ethan loved having Uncle Brian here.  At first he didn't understand why Chloe and Molly and Aunt Ange weren't coming too, but he quickly settled into demanding Uncle Brian's attention every waking minute.

Brian meeting Noah for the first time.

I like that his hand shows perspective of Noah's size.  As of yesterday, he is 4 lbs. 7 oz., though Phil and I will get conflicting gram conversions at our separate visits during the day.  Hm.

Our sweet boy sleeping.  He no longer requires the canula you saw in earlier pictures.  He has very few instances of breathing apnea, so they removed it a few days ago.  Notice that beautiful blanket?  Volunteers at the hospital knitted/crocheted (I can't tell which) it and gave it to us.  It is so beautiful and cheery to see and keeps him warm.

Last night we took Ethan up to see Noah again.  This was only his second time because he had a runny nose for the past few weeks.  Daddy had never bottle fed Noah before.  Noah took half the bottle.  He is taking a full feeding by bottle up to 3 x a day, and then sometimes a half feeding and then sometimes not at all.  Huge progress!!  They still project 2-3 weeks until he comes home.

I am asked a lot what he needs to do to come home.  I realized I might not have posted that here.  There are three main criteria for him: 1) get all of his feedings through a nipple, either breastfed or bottle 2) no instances of breathing apnea plus 5 days and 3) there are some physiological things he just has to mature through before he is safe to be home with us without the constant monitoring.  Like right now he doesn't know how to suck, swallow and breath at the same time.  He is only 33 weeks - so that really doesn't develop until 35 weeks, so just waiting on that and then he should easily be able to take all of his feedings efficiently by a combination of bottle and breast feeding.  He does not have to master breast feeding at every feeding in order to come home.  We'll transition to that on our own once he's home.

Taking a bottle

Surprise!  This is what I saw when I arrived for the 3pm feeding today!  What a big boy!  He took a little over half of his feeding through a bottle.   (He's eating 42 ML each feeding with none left over in his tummy by the next feeding.  That is encouraging, signs that his body is functioning very efficiently and he's able to thrive on this schedule.)  I greatly appreciate his nurses.  She quickly showed me what to do and I got to feed him the rest.

 Here I am holding my 4 lb. 6 oz boy!  He's gaining weight every day.

 Here is a better shot of his face and him holding his paci.

Super sweetie.  He was so alert and active this afternoon.  He was awake my entire visit, which has never happened before.  When I laid him back down he immediately passed out.  Bottle feeding and mommy time requires a lot of energy and burns a lot of precious calories.

Today was a great day.  We've enjoyed our visit with Phil's brother Brian and are looking forward to our upcoming weekend when my in-laws will be here.  Having things to look forward to on the weekend (and throughout the week) helps the time fly by and makes the day to day routine more bearable.

Thank you to all our friends who have brought us meals and cared for Ethan last week.  He is having a blast playing with friends and asks now more than ever when he is going to play with friends again.  He and I have wonderful afternoons together - mostly staying home and playing toys and occasionally a trip to the park.  It is a time for me to recoup and also for Ethan to have some mommy time.  We seem to be doing well, settling into this routine.

4 lbs.

Noah is slowly gaining back to his birth weight.  As of today, he is 4 lbs. 3 oz.  He ended up losing 11% of his birth weight, but he is really thriving on his fortified breast milk.

Phil is on his way to Homer, LA to join his family and attend the burial of his grandpa, who went to Heaven Wednesday morning.  Hudson had been in hospice care for a few weeks, so this did not come as a surprise.  He is a very strong Godly man who suffered from Parkinson's and is now able to dance and rejoice freely in Heaven.  Our community here made it possible for Phil to travel up there.  With sweet friends signed up to bring us meals, and other friends volunteering to watch Ethan, our family routine is continuing on as usual.  We do get the added bonus of Phil's brother, Brian, from Calgary coming to see Noah for the first time.  We are very excited for him to come here.  As you pray for Noah, please pray for Phil - that he would have a safe journey there and back.

Ounce by ounce

Today we found out Noah has gained an ounce.  I'm still learning what exactly I should be getting excited about every day he's in there.  Apparently that is a really big deal, so yeah!  He's keeping down his full feeding of 38 ML.  Every NP and Pediatrician I see comments on what a strong little 32 weeker he is.  They are all so very encouraging and encouraged by his progress.  I was told today that this week will be somewhat boring, in that he'll just be sleeping and hopefully gaining weight at this same rate.  Boring is a great thing, they said.

We think we've got our schedule worked out so that I can go see Noah twice a day with Phil taking the 'after Ethan goes to bed' shift.  Phil is a night person, so being out doesn't bother him.  Here it is 8:20pm and I'm ready for bed.

People keep asking me how I am doing and it is so hard to articulate.  I've been thinking about that question more today.  Physically I am completely healed.  My body is quickly getting back to normal, mostly because I skipped the last two months where he and I would have really packed on the pounds.  Emotionally I'm spent.  I still cry every day wanting my baby home.  Tonight I broke down at the dinner table and Ethan said, "Mommy why you crying?" I replied, "Mommy wants Noah to come home."  and he said, "Don't cry mama, Noah coming home one day."  Then Phil said some comforting words and Ethan said, "Daddy makes mama soooooo happy."

Please pray for endurance and emotional clarity.  I'm sure some of this is post-delivery hormones.  Some is maternal feelings, and some is pure exhaustion.  We would like to not only survive, but thrive as a family during this time.  I can already see how this is taking a little toll on Ethan's behavior.  Little testing toddler, he is.  Please pray for him.  I don't know specifically what - I'll leave that up to the Holy Spirit to lead.

Thank you all.  Good night!

Clothes!

Ethan met Noah for the first time Friday afternoon.  He thought it was so cool Noah had his own computer.  We encouraged him to talk to Noah - he asked if he wanted to play trains and see the elephants in the circus.  Noah made a little sound and Ethan thought that was so funny!

Mimi (my mom) got to hold him for the first time.  Without an IV, it is easier for him to be held more often.  We were surprised to learn that he is now back to 4 lbs. and is able to wear clothes!  Here the nurse is putting on his first outfit.  He looks like such a big boy with clothes on.

He was grabbing at his oxygen tubing until Mimi offered her finger.  A huge milestone - being swaddled!  Now we can hold him more often!

Friday Update

Since we just started this blog, so much has happened this week. Noah no longer needs an IV and is eating almost a ‘full’ feeding for his size. He is receiving only breast milk, to which they add fortifiers to fatten him up faster. He’s fed through a tube that runs through his nose and directly into his stomach and the food slowly drains in from a syringe. He is experiencing some breathing apnea, where he’ll stop breathing for a bit. It is completely normal for a premie’s immature central nervous system to do this. They just literally forget to breath. He now has a tiny oxygen tube in his nose, which should help lessen the number of instances until he grows out of it in a few days or so.

He did have jaundice earlier in the week and required photo-light therapy for two days. That was hard because we could only hold him for 30 min. twice a day. Since that stopped on Wednesday, I’ve been able to hold my baby boy for 2 hours at a time twice a day! Of course, I have to share him with Phil, who is at the hospital now getting his Noah time. It’s an exhaustive schedule, being torn between wanting to love on Noah but wanting to love equally on Ethan.

My mom has been here most of the week caring for Ethan. He absolutely loves his Mimi, and she does a wonderful job of taking care of me at the same time. She heads home tomorrow, and we will greatly feel her absence.

I’m ready to start a routine for our new normal while Noah is in the NICU. I want to play with Ethan. I want to love on at least one of my boys any time I want. I love his laughter and silliness. He makes my days more joyful and keeps me from feeling the full ache of missing Noah. For all of our great friends who have offered to help with Ethan, we might be calling you this weekend as we seek to develop a schedule for our visitations in the upcoming week. We praise God for each of you. We feel you walking alongside us through this. Your selflessness to serve us gives us strength.

Noah has at least 3 more weeks in the NICU. Please pray he gains weight, continues to be a good eater, and that God gives us the strength to endure. My motherly instincts to hold him and have him home grow stronger every day.

Noah's Birth Story

Here we are. It’s only been a week since his birth, but yet so much has occurred. We created this blog so that our friends and family can easily get updates on the progress of our little boy. We may not be able to update daily, but at least it will be more timely.

We have been strengthened and greatly encouraged by the outpouring of love from so many. We are completely overwhelmed with gratitude. We are sorry we are not able to return phone calls as quickly as they come in. Please know that each phone message and words of encouragement are not taken for granted.

Now onto the birth story…..(This might be TMI for some, but many mommies have asked about the details.)

It all started New Year’s Eve while we were in Houston staying with my in-laws for a wedding the next day. I woke up with severe cramping, causing me to think my appendix erupted or something to that effect. I knew something wasn’t right. We headed to the ER at 2:30 where they determined I was having regular contractions caused by dehydration. I got a bag of fluids and released at 6:30am. I had a similar thing occur with Ethan, so I wasn’t too worried. We went about our Saturday and attended a beautiful wedding, only to come home and start contracting a bit again. I started downing Gatorade and felt better.

Sunday we head home and on the way I have another strong contraction, lasting 15 min. Yes, like 15 min. of non-letting up contraction. I got a sense something isn’t right, but it subsided and honestly I just kept going on. I had another one later that evening, and it hurt, like curled in a ball praying it would pass hurt. But again, I just thought I needed to seriously rehydrate.

I didn’t have any contractions Monday and I had a OB appt. Tuesday. I hadn’t had another episode, though I relayed all that happened to the NP and she agreed it sounded like dehydration and encouraged me to consider resting more. Ok, sounds reasonable. Then, Tuesday night I had another strong contraction that subsided after 20 min. and didn’t return. I was told that it could just be really strong Braxton-Hicks. I’m sure you can tell by now, I’m not an overly concerned person. If the doctor says it’s fine, sure, I’m good with that.

Wednesday was the turning point. Ethan had just woken up from his nap and I had a contraction that lasted 30 min. Curled up in a ball, crying, scary contraction. Ethan was such a sweetheart, asking if mommy was ok. I was so afraid he would become frightened. He kept saying, “mommy tummy hurt”, which is what we told him with the other instances. When I had the breath to speak, I called the dr., but was assured that it was Braxton-Hicks. By now I was doubting them. This day, the contractions didn’t stop. I continued to have them regularly, though much less intense, and at 8pm decided to go to the ER.

It was determined I was in pre-term labor and I received a series of shots throughout the night to stop the contractions. They also gave me a steroid to rapidly develop Noah’s lungs should I have him pre-term. I was also tested and passed for having a high probability of going into pre-term labor. We both were scared. I was released Thursday and honestly was worried, but knew I was given all the medicine they could to prevent labor. Now it was up to my body.

Thursday night I passed my mucus plug and called the dr. Friday morning. I was already scheduled to receive my second steroid shot, but they did want me to come in earlier. I arrived, and we discovered I was slightly dilated, so I was admitted to the hospital again. Before I went, they did a sonogram to make sure I did not have a low lying placenta anymore and that I had plenty of fluid, that I hadn’t started leaking. All looked great they said.

Friday afternoon I was released from the hospital (have you counted that I’ve had 3 iv’s in less than a week!). I went home on strict bedrest, with my in-laws on their way up here. I literally sat the entire afternoon and then with one restroom break noticed what looked like I had started my period. I immediately called the doctor and was told to come back to the ER. I was admitted and the whirlwind began. They looked at the placenta again, thinking maybe something is wrong with it, nope, checked out well. I was having regular contractions, but with my 4th iv, was receiving plenty of fluids. The bleeding continued. Noah and I were monitored all evening and Saturday and my contractions slowed down.

Saturday the bleeding would subside and pick up, all with no pain involved. The doctors were baffled, but they kept watch. There really was nothing more they could test or do. Saturday night they determined they could not find the source of the bleeding and since there is a very small percentage of women who bleed at some point in their pregnancy, they were going to send me home Sunday morning. They took the monitors off for Noah and I so I could hopefully get one good night’s sleep. They also gave me Iron and a stool softener because of all the blood I lost.

I did sleep well, and Phil stayed the night with me. I woke up in the early hours experiencing really bad gas pains. I was in and out of the bathroom thinking, I really should NOT have taken that stool softener. BAD decision. I remembered that medicine tearing me up years before. I called the nurse and got Maalox and tried to rest. It didn’t work. I was told to walk around the room a bit to work it out and they gave me more Maalox.

Phil and I laugh now, because I was saying, “Do I just push or does this gas just work itself out?”. Phil kept saying, “I know exactly how you feel. I get that way myself.” Well, the gas didn’t let up and the nurse came in to check my vitals and that’s when another ‘gas pains’ hit. Um, that’s not gas pains, she says, that’s a major contraction.

I was checked and was 6 cm dilated and the rest becomes a blur of fear, sadness, and anxiousness. I hear, “prepare for transport of baby” and “she won’t make it downtown, she’ll have to deliver here”. I remember saying, I want an epidural. I couldn’t focus. I emotionally was not in control and new physically I didn’t have the energy to birth naturally. I was exhausted and crying. The anesthesiologist came in and as he was preparing I felt the urge to push. He immediately did a partial spinal block and I went numb. 30 min. later Noah was born.

I didn’t get to hold him, he was immediately taken away to be checked. I just laid there and cried. I couldn’t grasp what just happened.

Someone came in and flashed me my baby and said while my dates say he is 31 weeks, his gestational tests show he is 32 weeks, so he can stay at Seton NW. He weighed 4 lb. 8 oz. and was 17 1/2 inches long. It would be a few hours before I was physically capable of going to the NICU to see him.

The doctor came in during that time and told me the news, Noah was born with a mouthful of blood and they saw after the birth that my placenta had pulled away from my uterus. Noah was trapped inside with a mixture of blood and amniotic fluid. Had they had known that, I would have had an immediate c-section. I baffled them because with all the bleeding, and even in between the various contractions throughout the week, I did not experience the textbook signs of pain associated with placental abruption. The doctor said we were ‘lucky’. She has seen this situation go the other way many times. She was amazed at how ‘lucky’ we were that Noah was strong and healthy and otherwise not affected by the severity of what had happened.

So, there I was alone in the room, crying and praising God for his grace and mercy on me and my baby boy. I kept praying, Thank you, thank you. That He chose to have the monitors turned off so I could rest, dilate relatively quickly and naturally, and avoid a c-section. That I had all the shots necessary to deliver a strong breathing premature baby, allowing him to stay only 2 exits away, instead of being sent to Seton downtown. That God added a week onto his life, so that he has less complications. I am truly humbled by His love and mercy.

The rest of the day was a mixture of fear, disbelief, joy, and sleeplessness. I ached to hold my baby, yet was allowed to twice for only 10 min., all swaddled.

We now have a NICU premature baby.

First Photo

Noah Andrew Coffman was born on Sunday, January 9th 2011 at 8:33am. He weighed 4lbs 8oz and was 17.5in long. This is the first time Cynthia got to hold him.