Day 3

Another good day of feeding for little Jacob! He's been taking much more formula and the nurses have been able to decrease his IV feeding a little bit every 3 hours. If he keeps it up, he will be off all IV fluids and feeding by tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow, we also expect his bandages to come off. It will be so nice to see our little guy without all the extra equipment and stuff all over him.

Grandma and Grandpa visit every day and got to hold their grandson today. You can see how happy they are together.

Matt is a very attentive dad, jumping right in for diaper changes and feedings. He knows what all the monitors in the NICU mean and is buddies with all the nurses there.

Mom and Dad (Annie & Matt) are back home as of this afternoon and happy to sleep in their own bed and shower. We go back to the hospital every 3 hours or so for changing and feeding time. Not much news on the milk front, but I am encouraged by signs that it's coming soon. I hope I'll be able to keep up with Jacob's appetite!

Jacob is behaving more and more like a normal baby each day, which is just great. He cries when he's being changed and likes to cuddle after being fed. It's kind of weird to be home with all this baby stuff and no baby, but that time will come soon. We can't wait to bring him home!

Many thanks to Justin and Nicole who brought us dinner this evening and had cookies and treats waiting for us when we got home. And to all of you for wrapping us all in love and prayers.

Much love,
Annie, Matt & Jacob :)

Day 2

Today was much less eventful for all of us, thank goodness. We had some visitors, but overall, spent the day resting and getting comfortable.

Jacob had his breathing tube removed overnight and continues to breath strongly on his own. He has a mesh bandage on his head to protect the dressings and one on his belly, which will be removed on Saturday. The other big news today is they have started him on oral feedings. The more he takes oral feeds, the less he needs of the IV feedings. So Matt and I each got to give him a bottle today, while holding him in our arms. For me, that's really the first time I felt like a mom, being able to hold my baby and feed him. Yay! He was so comfortable that he fell asleep before taking much of the bottle, so we'll have to work on that.

So the next few days, it's important for him to keep eating. I have been pumping, but have not produced any milk yet, but that's normal at this stage. Our prayers are for food then--for Jacob to eat and for me to make something for him to eat.

I will likely be discharged from the hospital tomorrow, but Jacob will stay in over the weekend at least. Matt & I will probably go home, but spend a lot of our time at the hospital to be available for diaper changes, feedings, etc.

Thank you for your prayers, well wishes, and support. Knowing that so many people are caring for us, near and far, is amazing. We are so grateful for you all.

1 day old

(Duplicate of email update)
Hello all,
Thank you again for your prayers, emails of support, and phone call hugs. It's been another eventful day with lots of official visitors this morning (i.e. lactation consultant, social worker, medical records lady, doctors and nurses). At noon, we got the call they were ready to take Jacob to surgery, so we rushed down to the NICU to send him on his way. After waiting for another 45 minutes, they were not ready for him afterall. So we came back, had some lunch, and started the whole process over again about 2:30pm.

He was back in the NICU by 4:45, being supported by a breathing machine and some pain medicine, but he is otherwise doing well. The surgeon (who was very busy today) reported that everything went very well. He should be off the breathing machine soon and will hopefully be off the pain medicine by tomorrow as well. After talking with the NICU doctor, we learned that Jacob will likely stay in the hospital over the weekend for observation and some more tests early next week. If he does well, he may get moved to the intermediate care nursery instead of staying in critical care. I will likely be discharged tomorrow or Friday, but we may elect to stay at the hospital to be closer to Jacob.

We would love to see visitors tomorrow during the daytime, but for shorter visits so we can get some rest in between. Know that not everyone can go down to the NICU to see Jacob in person, but we have a lot of pictures on the laptop in my room. We are at Tacoma General Hospital in room 304. You can call 253-403-1000 to get connected to our room as well.

Thanks again! Here are a couple of pictures of Jacob this morning before his surgery. And thanks to our friend Nicole for sending out intermittent updates on our behalf. :)

Annie & Matt

He's Here!!

We would like to introduce

Jacob Louis Lambert, arrived at 10:52am today. He's 9lbs 11ozs and 24 1/2" long, a big boy indeed!

Both mom and baby are doing well. Jacob is staying in the NICU under observation, in preparation for his shunt placement tomorrow. Mom spent some extra time in the recovery room this afternoon due to some nausea issues, but otherwise is doing well with no pain. The goal for tonight is to get some sleep.

All family visitors today with both sets of grandparents, aunts and uncles, and Annie's brother.

We are just thrilled that everything went well today and that our baby is cute and healthy. Pictures to come soon!

...and he's coming TOMORROW!

(Duplicate of email I just sent out, but for those of you who follow in Facebook or the blog, here's the scoop.)

Hi everyone! Plans have changed as of 2:30 this afternoon. Sorry for the mass email, but we just don't have time to call everyone.

We're are checking in to the hospital tomorrow morning at 8am, with the OR booked for 10am for the C-section. After an ultrasound and OB visit today, the doctor recommends getting baby boy out now. We are both still healthy and this is not an emergency, but there are greater risks to the baby and to me if we keep waiting 2 more weeks. I am 37 weeks now, which is considered full term, so there are few risks of premie type issues.

As of this morning's ultrasound, he was estimated at 10lbs 5oz (+/- 20%!) and he is laying breech across my belly. Since the largest part of him (huge head) will come out last, there is additional risk for healing complications to me and concerns that he just might not fit in there anymore.

So it's time! We are definitely not ready, but will be with what we've got. I spent the last 4 hours of my work day wrapping up very loose ends and handing off info to those who are taking over for me. Matt's parents arrived back from Mexico last night and were here with us today. They helped tidy the house and get some baby clothes/sheets washed and ready to go.

Please pray for a safe and "easy" surgery tomorrow, for rest tonight (whatever we can get), for me to be able to release work stuff, and most of all, for the safe and healthy delivery of our baby boy.

We look forward to our next email in which we can announce his arrival and name. :)

Much love and many thanks to you all!!

Annie & Matt

Just 3 weeks to go!

Every day brings us one day closer to meeting our baby boy. That thought is both exciting and anxiety-inducing. Annie is definitely getting to that stage where she's tired of being pregnant. But there's still so much to do! So we are grateful for 3 more weeks to prepare.

We had another OB appt today and everything is looking good. His heartbeat continues to be strong and they put on the fetal monitors today to check for heart rate, movement, and contractions. All were within normal, which is great news. We reviewed the plan for the c-section, visiting family and friends etc. And we also found out that he's going to be a BIG boy, not just his head. At our ultrasound 2 weeks ago, his estimated weight was 7 lbs 12 oz. At this stage they put on just under a pound a week, so we are very likely going to have at least a 9 lb baby! Thank goodness Annie's having a C-section!!

We had another baby shower last weekend and were blessed with more gifts and great friends. Matt's friend Wendy even flew out from Ohio to visit us for the shower. She gave Matt a great fleece vest called "Dad-gear" which has pockets for all kinds of baby supplies. Awesome!

We are definitely beginning to feel more prepared. In fact, tonight we put up the wallpaper border in the nursery and it looks great. We bought a super cool stroller on sale at REI and the car seat is on its way. Birthing classes have been helpful--we got to tour the birth center last week. Just 2 more classes to go and supposedly we'll be ready to give birth and become parents.

Prayers continue for strength and energy during these last few weeks, as well as for no early labor. Matt's parents begin their trek North from Mexico tomorrow, so they will be in our thoughts and prayers too. It's been great to see many of you at our recent baby showers. And for those of you who we haven't been able to see, blessings on you as well!

We love you!

Where has the time gone?

Hello again friends,
I'm sure that's not the first time a parent has said those words! I'm sorry it's been so long since our last post. I guess there hasn't really been much more news, but we can keep you updated on what's set for the next 5 weeks. Wow, only 5 weeks until the big day!

In the last 4 weeks, we've had 2 OB appointments, just had another ultrasound today, met with a pediatrician, started our birthing classes, and had 2 baby showers. So you can see we've been a little busy.

At our ultrasound today, we got some good news, for once. While his head is still growing proportionally bigger than his body, the hydrocephalus appears stable. And they could see some development of the gray & white matter of the brain (where the smarts are), which the doctors said is a good sign for his condition. We still won't know what degree of developmental delay he might have, but this is still a good sign for him. We'll take it! He's still moving around lots too, although I'm sure he's beginning to run out of room.

In the remaining 5 weeks, we'll continue with regular OB appointments and have one more ultrasound at 37 weeks to see if there's any reason it would be safe to deliver early. At this point though, it's better for him to stay in there as long as he can.

So our prayers now are for God to bless this plan for delivery on May 10th and for no early labor. And also to get as much rest as we can in these last few weeks, which is getting more and more difficult for Annie because it's just uncomfortable.

While we don't respond to all your comments, we do appreciate every single one of your thoughts and prayers for us and our baby. It has been an amazing comfort to know of the support network out there. Bless you!

We'll try for a couple of more posts before the baby comes and surely let you know when everything turns out ok on May 10th. We have decided on a name, but that's still a secret until Baby Boy Lambert announces himself with first born cries.