Atticus Has Arrived

Just over two weeks ago our sweet little Atticus James came into this world. He came 10 weeks earlier than expected; my body just couldn't hold on to him anymore. Despite his early arrival, however, he is healthy and strong. My dear BFF Wendy has more of the details of these first two weeks on her blog here and here, so I won't repeat it all.

Atty gave us a scare last week. On Thursday his nurse noticed that he just wasn't doing as well as he had been before, and when he didn't seem to be digesting his formula and showing signs of gas, they jumped into hyper-cautious mode and started treating him for an infection. They stopped feeding him formula and put him back on IVs and antibiotics, and poor little guy got poked and prodded and x-rayed for several days. They never found the infection, but based on how he was acting and the marginal results of some of the tests, they're pretty convinced he had one somewhere. He's been a lot spunkier since Saturday night, so we feel he's on the mend. If all goes well, they'll start him back on formula today.

It's still an emotional roller coaster. This possible infection really scared us both, but we talked to another mother in the same NICU room as us, and she helped put things into perspective. Her baby has been there for four months so far--she was born at 23 weeks and weighed just over 1 lb. We told her about the infection, and she said they'd been through the same thing three times. "The first time is the hardest," she said. But her baby continues to grow and get stronger, and so will Atty. I have to say, though, it's one thing to hear the high recovery rates and know that a baby has the best chances of coming home and leading a healthy life, and it's another thing entirely when it's your baby.


These pictures were taken last night (30 March). They're kind of dark because the room was dim and James didn't want to startle Atty with the flash. He was sleeping peacefully, and we hate to disturb him too much when he gets the chance to rest. But he had fewer tubes and wires attached to him than we've seen in a week, so we had to take some pictures. One of these days we'll catch him with his eyes open. He'd been more alert during a couple visits last week before he got sick, but we didn't have the camera with us. I think I'll keep it with me all the time now, just in case.

He's such a beautiful little boy, and we are so grateful for him. We love him dearly and miss not being with him. We are so grateful for all the love and support we've received from friends and family and even relative strangers. We truly could not make it through this without you.