1 Month Old Already!

Where does the time go?! William celebrated his 1 month birthday yesterday. In honor of Apple Cup, William sported his WSU onesie. There wasn't much to be excited about during the 30-0 loss, but at least he looked cute.
We also took the opportunity to have another mini photo shoot, with his stuffed friends. William also got to meet his Aunt Jaime and Uncle Chris.
We can't believe how big William is getting! Thursday he goes to the doctor, so we'll let you know how he measures up.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have so much to be thankful for this year! We were blessed with a beautiful, healthy little boy who is the center of our world. We are also thankful for all of our wonderful friends and family. Happy Thanksgiving!

Mmmmm, Thumbs are Delicious

So, yesterday, when I went to change William's diaper, I found him doing this...



He's figured out how to suck his thumb! I think the next step will be making a fist while sucking his thumb so he doesn't have his whole hand on his face.

Photo Shoot Day

Well, today was the infamous photo shoot day. I had a bunch of ideas in my head, but things didn't go quite how I imagined they would. I've come to the conclusion that my camera just doesn't measure up to the ones the professionals use. Who knows though, Christmas is coming up, maybe Santa will bring me a better one. In the meantime, I will be taking up my friend Jen's offer to take some photos of William. I'm sure she will have much better success then me.

Here are a few of the decent shots we got.

Lazy Sunday!

We love lazy Sundays and today was no exception. Besides getting much needed housework done around the house, the day was spent relaxing on the sofa. William watched his first Seahawk's game with dad and didn't seem phased by the loss, even though dad was (yet again).

We were also paid a visit by our best friend Jennifer and son Alex.

It looks like Alex and William became fast friends.

Today was also William's first bath at home! It doesn't look like he minded too much.

The day is ending with William watching the MLS Cup game with daddy. Too bad our Sounders aren't playing.

We are planning a photo shoot tomorrow and hoping to duplicate the photos that were taken while we were in the hospital by Bella Baby Photography. www.bellababyphotography.com/login the password is 1031williamwhite. These photos are only available for viewing this week and while super cute, very pricey. We'll let you know how the photo shoot goes!

What a Week!

This was posted Saturday, November 21st. :)

This past week has been somewhat of a wirlwind. All along, we have had nurses and other parents say that when babies turn a corner, everything happens very quickly. Boy, they weren't kidding. Last weekend, William had 17 successful feeds in a row and his doctor said that he could go ad lib demand, which meant he called the shots as to when he ate and how much he wanted.

In order to get discharged, the doctor wanted to see him continue to gain weight on his own feeding schedule. In addition, we got a "rooming in room." The room was not very glamorous with one twin bed, a small pull out chair, and tv with no remote and limited channels, but, William was able to stay in the room with us, hooked up to all his monitors of course.

William gained a few ounces his first full day on ad lib demand and we thought that we could see the light at the end of the tunnel. To our suprise, the doctor was not very impressed with the amount of food that he took in over the two days of rooming in with us and was considering holding him for another day or two. We had been feeding William every 4 hours, but we told the doctor that we would wake him up more often to feed. The doctor agreed this sounded like a good plan and put in the discharge order last Tuesday!

Here we are, getting ready to leave the hospital!

And the car ride home.

Tuesday was a busy day for William. He met Bailee.

His Auntie Ellen.

Grandma Victoria came to visit too.

And so did Jason and Caitlin.

We had our first adventure out of the house Wednesday for a quick walk around the neighborhood.

And last Thursday, William had his first visit to his Pediatrician. His visit couldn't have gone better! William weighed in at 7 lbs 2 ounces (almost 1 lb heavier than his birth weight), was 20.5" long, and had a head circumfrence of 13.5". He was the perfect angel for the doctor, and the doctor even asked if he was this quiet all the time.

On Friday, Uncle Pat and Houston came to visit William.

William really has been an angel. We have him on a 3 hour feeding schedule which we found works best for him. Aside from waking his up for his feedings in the middle of the night, he is a somewhat sound sleeper. He does not wake up crying, but he does make grunting noises when he sleeps. He sounds very much like a billy goat.

Successful Feeds!!!

We did it, 8 full feeds in a row! Next step is for William to go ad lib, ie he will be fed when he lets us know that he is hungry, but never more than 4 hours in between feedings. His nurse thinks he should hopefully go ad lib tomorrow.

William is continuing to increase his weight everyday by about 1.5 ounces. Last night he weighed in at 6 lbs 8.4 oz! To top it off, his doctor has put him on a 22 calorie diet (neosure is added to his breast milk) plus he is getting daily vitamins. We were a bit nervous when he started the vitamins because we had heard of other babies disliking the taste, but William was a champ and downed it all! We are very excited, because it is looking like the light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer. His nurse is thinking he may be discharged early next week...let's keep our fingers crossed!

Oh, and we've discovered the best hot chocolate, mochas, and snack waffles on Madison. It's Arosa Cafe. If you're ever in the area, we would highly recommend going there!!!

Mr. Squirmy Wormy

William has been nicknamed "Mr. Squirmy Wormy". This nickname came about when he started wiggling around when we took his temperature, changed his diaper, checked his vitals, and fed him. There are obviously other times when he is a sack of potatoes, however, he is gaining strength and stamina each and every day.

Our little guy seems to be growing so quickly. As of last night, he has surpassed his birth weight, weighing in at 6 lbs 4.9 oz! Also, he is up to five full feeding attempts, which we hope to accomplish today, and should be up to six tomorrow. Eight is the goal!

William has started to flash us a smile while he sleeps, or do an Elvis lip curl which always gets a laugh out of us. He is also recognizing our voices and turning his head towards us. Yesterday, during one of his diaper changings, William had his first pee pee accident. We were too busy laughing about it to prevent him from getting his clothes/bedding wet. We're sure that won't stay cute for very long.

The Infant Special Care Unit has an approximate capacity of 30 babies. Tonight, they will be down to around 20 since so many have been discharged. Because of the low number, William has gotten to bounce around to new rooms, which we don't mind. It gives us an opportunity to meet other parents and their babies, as well as nurses. We definitely have our favorite nurses and have lucked out in getting them several times. One nurse was very sweet and gave us a knit beanie for him that her mom had made. :o)

Life in the Hospital

William has gotten to meet his Boomie and Papa (Susan and Steve) and will be meeting his other grandparents (Victoria and Dave) on Tuesday! Because it's flu season, the hospital has limited visitors to parents and grandparents only. We can't wait until he is home and can meet the rest of his family and friends. Although, the germs do make us a little nervous, especially since he is a premie and doesn't have as strong of an immune system as a full term baby

The good news is he is now out from under the lights! William was only under them for 2 days!

Because he continues to grow and put on weight...which we want...his bottle feedings have increased to 52 cc's! (FYI, 30 cc's = 1 ounce) Before he can come home, William needs to complete 8 full feedings. A full feeding is finishing at least 80% of his bottle. The last few days he's struggled and only been able to eat about 20 cc's at a time. He just needs to build up his stamina. Poor little guy just gets too tuckered out. But, we think he's flipped the switch. Last night he completed a full feed by bottle, and completed another full feed this morning. We are hoping his 9:00 pm feeding tonight goes just as well. He needs to complete 2 feedings in a 24 hour period, then he gets increased to 3 attempts, if those are successful, then up to 4 the next day, and so on up to 8.

We have been spending everyday at the hospital and have come up with a schedule that seems to work well for us. We go for his 9:00 am feeding and stay through his 3:00 pm feeding, come home, and then return for just his 9:00 pm. It's amazing how just a few hours at home helps recharge the batteries.

Just Hanging Out Under a Lamp

William continues to prove himself everyday. His bottle is now up to 34 cc's! Also, his IV has been removed. Way to go little man! 48 cc's is our goal. He does have a mild case of jaundice though, so he's been placed under the lamps. Unfortunately, for us this means William can only come out from under his lamp when he feeds (every 3 hours) and then, it is only for 30 minutes. This is a bit of a let down for us since we were used to going and seeing/holding him whenever we wanted. The 30 minute feeding sessions definitely give us something to look forward to though and, hopefully, he won't be under the lamp for that long.

We definitely appreciate all the support and help we have been receiving from our friends and family! It makes our stay in the hospital a little less nerve wracking. Honestly, I don't think William minds being under the lamp...just look at him! It looks like he is practicing his sun bathing technique already!

Welcome William David Tyler!

What an unexpected but wonderful Halloween we had! It all started with what we would later learn was my water breaking at 3:00 am followed by mild cramping in my lower abdomen around 8:00 am which prompted us to visit Swedish for peace of mind around 11:00 am, fully expecting to be told to go home, that everything was fine. Much to our disbelief, the three tests the doctor ran turned out positive which led to the question/statement..."So, we're going home with a baby?" I was told I was dilated to 3 or 4 already, admitted, and transfered to labor and delivery. The labor went smoothly and William David Tyler was born at 7:04 pm. He weighed 6 lbs 4 oz, and measured 19.3 inches long. Because he was only 34 weeks (6 weeks early) he was taken to NICU to be monitored. He was placed underneath a heat lamp, and hooked up to monitor his vitals. William quickly proved that he could maintain his own body temperature, oxygen levels, breathe on his own, and hold a steady heart rate. He was nicknamed "The Moose" in the NICU because of his size and within 2 days he was transferred to ISCU where he is now. His roommates in NICU ranged in size from 9 oz to 4 lbs. Every nurse commented they weren't accustomed to such a large premie. William has continued to improve and pass each test the nurses put him through. He has increased his food intake from 6 cc's initially to 16 cc's to 26 cc's which is where he's at now. We are very proud of him!

I was discharged from the hospital on Monday, but because William was in NICU, a Parent Sleeping Room was made available to us. We get to stay in this room (for free!) until Thursday morning. William is right down the hall from us, which makes visiting him alot easier. His nurses have all been great and we can't wait to be told he gets to come home!