Broxton Adventures: Part 1

 So after we got to hold our little angel in our arms for a minute or so they swept him away for observation.

 There was never any point where we thought he wasn't going to make it (thank heavens) but it was still very scary to find out that your baby is struggling in any way. Broxton had TTN or "wet lung" so he was breathing really really fast trying to get those lung healthy.

 We weren't able to hold him again for a couple days after he was born because he had so many tubes around and they really didn't want to move his central line.

After about two days he really got his breathing down to a good rate. But if we changed his diaper or moved him around too much it would start to pick up a little too much so we had to be very careful around him.

 Here was the first time we got to hold him... thinking back on the experience 2 days felt like forever!

 He finally got a feeding tube so that we could start feeding him breast milk.

 Here was the first time Cal got to meet Brox... Tinzley wasn't able to go into the NICU because she was too young.

 They finally took his feeding tube out cause he was eating out of a bottle pretty well! This picture actually shows when they took it out... but it also shows when his IV that was on the top of his head started to fail... you can kinda see how his forehead started to swell! So they ended up taking that out a little sooner then they were planning on. which was good for Grandma!!

 Once his central line was out we were able to hold him but no one else was... SO once his Central line and IV came out Grandma was able to hold him (depending on which nurse was there that day) At this point we really thought he was going to be coming home... BUT...

 He wasn't gaining weight well enough... :( We then had to start supplementing my breast milk with NeoSure to help him get more calories. He also had jaundice so he had to be wrapped up in lights for a few days:) I just thought he looked so cute when he had his glasses on... He did NOT care for them much tho... he liked to wiggle out of his swaddle and pull them off...

 He looked so cool!

 During this whole experience Brock and I would be there at least every three hours. There was not one feeding we missed the whole two weeks!! It was HARD! and we couldn't have done it without my amazing mother in law! Kay came out as soon as we knew there was a baby on the way. Without her we wouldn't have been able to be there with him as much as we were, she helped take care of the other kids while we were running around like chickens with out heads cut off! Seriously we are so thankful for everything she did for us!! Best mother in law EVER! We also had a lot of help from the amazing people in our ward! They helped us with meals, the kids, and rides to the airport! I don't think we have every accepted so much help and it was super humbling! We are so blessed to have such amazing people in our lives! Thank you everyone!!

 So FINALLY after two weeks he started gaining weight well enough for him to come home!! Yea!!
** I wish I knew the timeline better but really it was all a blur and felt like he was in there for months!

 So he finally came home! and we couldn't have been more happy! He was such a sweet baby from the start and once he got home nothing changed. He was an amazing sleeper (Like 8 hour intervals!!!) and an amazing eater. We supplemented his milk for a few weeks after he got home... I DO NOT like pumping and using formula... Breast feeding is so much easier for me... So once we got the OK to stop supplementing we got rid of the bottles and the pump ASAP! Well he actually was tongue tied (just like tinzley) so he got that clipped and THEN we went to just breast feeding:) Just another little adventure:)

 Tinzley was SOOO excited to finally meet her little brother!

 He was just so small in his car seat! I couldn't believe he was actually home! It was like a dream!

This little guy LOVES holding his brother! He STILL smothers him with love every day:)

This whole experience taught us a lot! It was hard work driving to and from the hospital every three hours... It was super crazy. It was SO worth it tho. If we were to have to do it again we would do it all over again. The sad thing was that when we would be there every time he ate the nurses almost didn't know what to do with us. There were so many babies there that we never once saw the parents there... There were babies there who had 14-16 year old moms... Once we got moved to a transitional room (getting ready to head home) there was a baby there that had been ready to be discharged for three days before they got ahold of the mom to come and get the baby. I believe that our experience at the NICU really showed us how blessed we are. How blessed we are to have each other. How blessed we are to have a loving family and how blessed both Brock and I were to grow up in such loving homes! And how blessed we are to have Broxton as part of our family! He truly is an amazing little guy and our family is more complete with him. This experience was hard, but we came out of it stronger people. It helped build our faith and it helped our family become a stronger family unit!

Well Broxton's Adventures Part 2 will be coming soon... This will include a hospital visit, lots of doctor visits, and a surgery...