Ashton is still up at Primary Children's and he's on oxygen but they're hoping to wean him off of it today. It's hard to watch him struggle to breath. There are so many babies with RSV up at the hospital and there isn't much they can do for them except wait for them to get better. Kaleb was so excited to hold him the other night.

So, on a lighter note Kaleb has started calling Matt and I "honey". I usually call Matt honey when I'm talking to him and the last couple days Kaleb has started using honey also. Yesterday he asked Matt to get him something and when he didn't respond Kaleb said, "Honey, I'm talking to you." And today after I gave Kaleb his Valentine's Day candy he said, "Look honey, I have a push-pop." It's funny but weird to hear at the same time. I tried explaining to him that I'm mom or April. We'll see what he uses to call me the next time he needs something!

Unfortunately Ashton is up at Primary Children's Hospital with RSV. He started getting sick on Wednesday and Sunday we took him to the kidscare because it was getting worse. They said we needed to go up to Primary because he is still so young and they needed to do some tests. I feel bad for him because he had to have just about every test you can think of done on him. Hopefully it's just for 24-48 hours that he has to stay and then he can come home. We were just getting use to having him home. That is a picture of him sleeping in a laundry basket. Now he's sleeping in his crib in our room but the first couple of nights we had him sleep in the living room so that we could try to get some sleep.

He loves hearing Kaleb sing and Kaleb loves when Ashton stares at him. Matt was just called to be in the Sunday School Presidency and I was called to be in the Young Women's. We only have 3 girls and we only have activities twice a month. One is on a Tuesday and the other is on a weekend. Our ward is small right now with most of the apartments being remodeled into condos. On Sunday I took Kaleb to church and there were 12 of us in Relief Society. Saturday Kaleb went to zoo day at the community college with my mom and sister. He loved getting to pet the animals, although I hear he wouldn't touch the snake.

On Friday at about noon we were headed to the hospital with Kaleb in tow and the doctor called us and gave us the good news that we could take him home. We told them we were almost there and were excited to take him home. Since Kaleb can't go into the NICU Matt stayed outside with him while I got Ashton dressed and ready to leave. Kaleb ran down the hall when he saw Ashton in his car seat. On the way home Kaleb couldn't take his eyes off of Ashton. He started singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider to him. He has been a big helper and he loves holding his little brother.
We're happy to have him home. Just like all newborns he sleeps most of the time. He loves getting his hair washed and brushed. Ashton has brought us so much joy already and we can't wait to watch him grow.

Almost Home!

Ashton should be coming home tonight or tomorrow morning. He has to eat for 48 hours without any problems and he is clear to come home. The nurses feed him every 3 hours and so it's nice that he's already on a schedule for feedings. The only downside is they feed him every 3 hours even through the night so we're going to have to try to get him to sleep longer at night. He already loves his binky. He passed the car seat test and we're just waiting for them to tell us he's coming home. From what I hear they don't tell you until he can come home so we just have to be prepared to bring him home every time we visit. Last night they asked me if I had brought clothes for him to wear but I told them I didn't know I could. So he's in some clothes that they keep at the hospital and it makes him look so big being in normal clothes. I guess I need to start taking the diaper bag so he has something to wear when he comes home!

We were able to hold Ashton on Sunday. We haven't been able to hold him since he was born on Monday the 21st so we were really excited. Yesterday they took out his chest tube and all of the iv's except for one in his foot. They aren't doing the PIC line anymore because they're going to start bottle feeding him. We tried bottle feeding yesterday but he was sedated from getting the chest tube out so he wasn't awake enough to know what to do. He just needs to keep his oxygen levels up and learn how to eat and he can come home. We're still hoping that by this weekend we will be taking him home. Tuesday we will be taking his car seat in so that he can do the car seat test. Any baby that spends time in the nicu has to sit in a car seat for 2 hours. They will monitor him and make sure he is able to keep his oxygen levels up and stay stable. We also had to watch 2 videos on CPR and shaken baby syndrome before he can be discharged.

I can't believe Ashton is a week old already. It has been a long, crazy week but at the same time the time has gone by so fast. Matt took last week off of work and school and now he's back at school and work so it will be hard coordinating times to go and see Ashton. I also am back to managing the apartments. It's hard knowing we can't be at the hospital as much but we are excited to bring him home soon!