I know this isn't Disney, but I need advice.

[DisneyTiger]

Baby Noah Gerard arrived today at 10:54am. They changed the middle name from Thomas to Gerard because Saint Gerard is the patron saint of expectant mothers. He's obviously been watching over them throughout this process! I was able to be in the delivery room and it was incredible. Mom is doing well. She was a trooper. Dad is good too! Baby came out crying. He weighed 2.74lbs and was bigger than I had expected. They did not have to put him on a vent because he was breathing well enough on his own. They may have to do it later if he gets tired and the breathing slows. All in all, he's perfect! Thanks to everyone for all of the well wishes and prayers!

Here is a pic taken of him just minutes after he was born:

I was the official picture taker. This is my fav shot. It's of mom, the first time she got to touch him. Such a tiny little hand!

 

[DevilDuckie]

Yay! So glad he's here and in good shape.

 

[frtchr]

He's gorgeous! Keeping them both in my thoughts.

 

[Rylee]

He's perfect!... and blessed with a wonderful Aunt, too!

 

[disneyluv4]

What a sweetie!! Congratulations! Hope all is well with the family!

 

[AngieWin]

He is beautiful!! Will be thinking healthy baby thoughts for him!

 

[mjejj]

Congrats!!! He looks great. I be sending good thoughts to your new nephew.

 

[HerdOHuds]

Wonderful news! And such a beautiful little guy! Congratulations to you and your family!

 

[coteau_chick]

Thank God. Ohhhhhh what a little blessing from heaven. The picture of his mom touching him for the first time has me crying. I am so happy for her.
Laura

 

[abandcsmom]

Hi, I hate to go off subject here but I need some advice and I know there are some wonderful, caring people out there on the DIS that may be able to help me. My SIL is due in October with their first child that has taken many years and lots of fertility treatments to conceive. She was admitted to the hospital last week with preeclampsia. They are probably going to have to take the baby this weekend. She'll be 28.5 weeks. Anyway, I am trying to find ideas of things to cheer her up while she's in the hospital. She really can't have visitors and has to just sit in a dark hospital room as to not make her BP go up. I took my DD3 to see her last week to cheer her up and when we left, her BP had gone sky high! Any ideas of what else I can do?

I was on hospital bedrest 2 months with pre-eclampsia and they ended up delivering my yougest DD at 34 weeks (MUCH better than 28.5 weeks). I pretty much just followed the hospital staff's instructions, and like you said, even on short visits, my BP would go up so I was really thankful on days I didn't get any visits. Being away from my older DD that long was absolutely the worst part.

Are they definitely taking the baby this weekend? Has she gotten the shots to help develop the baby's lungs? I was admitted about as far along as your SIL is now, and that was one of the first things they did. There were two shots given 24 hours apart.

If they are definitely taking the baby this weekend, she will need LOTS of support once she is discharged and the baby is still in the NICU. Take her back and forth to the hospital, do her laundry for her, cook for her, get her gift certificates to restaurants near the hospital, do anything you can to make her life easier so that she can spend the time she needs at the hospital with the baby. I thought of some more. Make sure she is staying hydrated so she can keep up with pumping breast milk. Buy some cute preemie outfits for the baby. A hint, the Little Me preemie size clothes fit best IMHO. Some of the other preemie size clothes, it was just laughable that the manufacturers thought any preemie, much less a micro-preemie could fit in those. REJOICE with her when she gets good news from the NICU.

If they aren't taking the baby this weekend, I needed things to occupy my mind while I was in the hospital and unable to have visits because I have to say, daytime TV is mostly junk. Sudoku books, magazines, crossword puzzles were great. I also had my laptop and the hospital had wireless service, so I was able to sit up for 15 minutes out of every 3 hours and use the internet. My MIL also got me a subscription to Netflix and I was able to order movies delivered right to the hospital. I also liked getting phone calls because I was able to lie on my side while talking on the phone.

 

[abandcsmom]

Baby Noah Gerard arrived today at 10:54am. They changed the middle name from Thomas to Gerard because Saint Gerard is the patron saint of expectant mothers. He's obviously been watching over them throughout this process! I was able to be in the delivery room and it was incredible. Mom is doing well. She was a trooper. Dad is good too! Baby came out crying. He weighed 2.74lbs and was bigger than I had expected. They did not have to put him on a vent because he was breathing well enough on his own. They may have to do it later if he gets tired and the breathing slows. All in all, he's perfect! Thanks to everyone for all of the well wishes and prayers!

Here is a pic taken of him just minutes after he was born:

I was the official picture taker. This is my fav shot. It's of mom, the first time she got to touch him. Such a tiny little hand!

Congratulations on the birth of your nephew! Great news about not needing a vent. He is a cutie and his size reminds me so much of Annabeth at birth (she was 2 lb. 8 oz.)

 

[mom in 2005]

Wishing your family all the best on the birth and now his growth. Glad to hear he is breathing on his own. Keep us updated!

Naomi

 

[disneybridetobe]

Oh that brought tears to my eyes! What a wonderful name, and I love the reason behind it.

Those pictures are absolutely priceless.

Congratulations to your family!

 

[DisneyTiger]

Thank you all so much for your responses! Baby Noah is doing fine. They did have to put him on a vent yesterday because he got so tired. The fact that he breathed on his own for so long is a great sign. He will only be on the vent until tomorrow, God willing. Mom is doing good. She got to see him for the first time today since the few seconds she saw him in the delivery room.

I have another question for you all to weigh in on...
Mom is going to be discharged on Monday. Every time a baby is born in our family, we get the "It's a ______" stork to put in the front yard. My question is, do we get the stork now or wait until baby Noah comes home? Should we just do "Welcome Home" banners for mom and maybe a few "It's a boy signs around the house? I know that when I had my kids I wanted to take pictures of them with the stork. I don't knonw what to do and I don't want to ask her because I want whatever we do to be a suprise! Input please!!!

THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Frankiesmom]

Congrats to you OP (super aunt!) and to your sister- he really is precious!

 

[disneybridetobe]

DD was on a vent off and on too, now she's all over the place!

I'm gonna say hold off and do the "Welcome Home" banners. Make his homecoming really special, since Mom is probably going to be really distracted, she might not be able to appreciate it as much as she will when he comes home!

Has she had a baby shower? (I know it's not her first, but every baby is special!)

Oh-- I was at our Carter's Outlet yesterday and they had super cute Preemie clothes! I got teary looking at them and reminiscing!

 

[soccerchick]

Thank you all so much for your responses! Baby Noah is doing fine. They did have to put him on a vent yesterday because he got so tired. The fact that he breathed on his own for so long is a great sign. He will only be on the vent until tomorrow, God willing. Mom is doing good. She got to see him for the first time today since the few seconds she saw him in the delivery room.

I have another question for you all to weigh in on...
Mom is going to be discharged on Monday. Every time a baby is born in our family, we get the "It's a ______" stork to put in the front yard. My question is, do we get the stork now or wait until baby Noah comes home? Should we just do "Welcome Home" banners for mom and maybe a few "It's a boy signs around the house? I know that when I had my kids I wanted to take pictures of them with the stork. I don't knonw what to do and I don't want to ask her because I want whatever we do to be a suprise! Input please!!!

THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!

Is there an estimated time for him to come home? I expect he'll be in the hospital for a little while, anyway.

Ask the mom and dad what they prefer. I would think it would be nice to have it when the baby comes home, but I'm a big scrapbooker, so that might not be important to others. Also, if you didn't do it the "regular" way, would the mom and dad think they were getting slighter? forgotten? Just ask for a preference.

 

[DisneyTiger]

Is there an estimated time for him to come home? I expect he'll be in the hospital for a little while, anyway.

Ask the mom and dad what they prefer. I would think it would be nice to have it when the baby comes home, but I'm a big scrapbooker, so that might not be important to others. Also, if you didn't do it the "regular" way, would the mom and dad think they were getting slighter? forgotten? Just ask for a preference.

That's what I was worried about but I think she'll understand. I think I'm just going to do "Welcome Home" for her since she's been in the hospital for a whille. This whole situation is just so sensitive. Don't want to do the wrong thing!

 

[HerdOHuds]

I am torn about the stork sign. It really was one of the very worst parts about delivering the kids when I left the hospital without a child and having to leave them there *without me!* The stork probably would have brought on another crying fit.

On the other hand, if your family always does this, then not having a stork to welcome Noah into the world-not just home-might be upsetting too.

 

[Corjack]

For the Stork sign, I would ask the Mama. You do not want to treat this differently then otehr babies int he family, but at the same time you don't want to upset her that he did not come home yet. I would simply ask which she prefers. It would be way better than assuming and causing her to feel upset.

Jackie