I thought Scout was a fluke. If you remember, he rolled over at four days old. Then Navy came along, and I don’t remember anything remarkable that early on (as far as strength goes). But then Dash came out of the womb just like Scout. This kid is totally strong! The first time I held him, he was trying to lift his little head to me. In the NICU, the nurses would gather around him to watch him arch up and look around. They even had to add bumper pads into his isolette to prevent him from hitting his head on the edges, because he would scoot around like crazy. This picture is of Dash at 13 days old. After about twenty minutes of lifting his head, I ran to get the camera. He was getting tired by the time I started snapping photos, but I caught a few.
This isn’t his first official bath, because Nonnie always does that. But as soon as we were on our way home, I had Micah text B to tell her we were on our way, and that Dash relly needed the “Clifford Touch”. So later that evening, she came over and did herself and her name proud. He finally smelled like my baby with the Johnson’s and Johnson’s pink lotion.
Apparently, baths just aren’t his thing quite yet.
But he started to warm up to smelling good pretty quickly.
Trilby’s best move was to get Scout and Navy involved. They love being hands on, and instead of not digging the little guy who is taking all of my attention, they adore every little morsel of him.
Here they are talking to him after he got the “moosage” that is step 2 of the “Clifford Touch”.
Scout got to brush his hair into a little swirl on top.
As soon as he smelled good, and was happy, he headed into a little Daddy and Me time.
Scout wanted in on the guy time, and he offered to hold Dash’s plug.
Too bad about your eye Dash — Beauty and the Beast was a little too riveting to look away.
Then he was on to the rest of the gang who had all been dying for their turns to hold the best-looking, best-smelling and best-natured guy around.
And finally off to bed — but stopped at Scout’s bed for 30 minutes of cuddling brothers.
And then there were some visitors who joined in on the action.
After 12 long days in the NICU and seeing the above sign, we got the best news that Dash was ready to be discharged! I could hardly believe the good news since the doctors said there would only be a slim chance he would be able to go home this soon. Apparently we have a little fighter on our hands. So after his circumcision and a vaccination, we headed over to the hospital to bring him home!
Here is his little take home outfit — we wanted to use Scout’s same outfit, but it is up at the barn. So we went with the same baby blue idea as Scouts.
It would have been nice if I would have dressed up for the big day, but the news was so sudden, this is what you get when I think I am sitting in a hospital chair next to my baby for the day.
Getting ready for the big debut into the real world.
He is a little skeptical.
His wagon ride out to our car! Look at all of those supplies. These nurses hooked us up!
As we were driving home, I said, “I wish Theiny was outside, so we could show him we got to bring Dash home.” And low and behold….look who was strolling over to the mailbox to get his mail! So we showed him off, and Theiny went right into doctor mode as he checked our little man out.
Obviously Nonnie was thrilled!
And planted kisses all over him.
But the most excited award might go to Scout. He wanted to hold him, and kissed him over and over while he whispered in his ear, “I love you so much baby brother” and “I am so glad you are finally home”.
After holding him, Scout insisted he try out his bed. So we went over to put Dash in his bed that Scout helped me set up a few weeks ago.
Apparently he likes it.
But even better than his bed — just might be Nonnie’s arms.
Look at this threesome in heaven.
Finally Icka got home from her second stint at church (with Bella) and she was so surprised to see her baby brother.
She couldn’t keep her overly hand-sanitized hands off of him.
Then she stripped down to her undies and “need”ed to hold him!
And kiss him non stop.
Look how in love she already is.
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And she isn’t the only one.
So is everyone!
What started as a gloomy Sunday turned out to have the brightest little spot in it, and everything was good from that moment on.
No one can understand how excited a mother gets when they finally see their baby out of the desert AKA under heat lamps! When I walked in and saw Dash in a regular bed instead of the Bili lights, I was thrilled! After 9 long days, it was the best surprise.
When I first walked in, I found my little guy looking like this. I literally almost squealed with delight (I actually think I really did), and went over to him and kissed him all over his face.
Not only was I so happy that he didn’t have to live each of his 24 hours with a mask over his eyes, but he also didn’t have to be too warm, he didn’t have to get more and more rashes from the Bili lights, he could finally be bundled, and most importantly — I could hold him for as long as I wanted! I was so excited that my kids were down at Megan’s, and I had the whole day to spend with him in our little cave. (I pulled those curtains, and made us our own little space that we called the cave.)
Bella was excited with the new turn of events, and visited that night, and held him for about an hour and a half.
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Next stop …. discharge!
Here are a few little update stories on the cutest baby around. We are going on day 9 in the NICU. He is doing well. His Bili numbers are decently stable, and have jumped around from 8.5 to 14. They are currently around 10.5, and I believe he is going off all lights today. The jumps have come because he had to have a blood transfusion that was a four hour process three days in a row, which made more blood in his body. Because there was more blood, there were more blood cells - which allowed for more biliruben. The blood transfusion so far seems to have done the trick. He went from an H&H number of 18.4 all the way to 34. We were shooting for 40, but are really thrilled with 34. As of now, he is considered stable, and the doctors aren’t even checking that number again for a while. So in essence, we are decently out of the woods there!
I try to be with him as much as possible. I have always been confident that the baby will be fine, but I have not enjoyed splitting my time between a baby who loves me to hold him and two kids who want me to be around. So when I get my breaks, I spend them with Scout and Navy, and when feeding time approaches, I head back to CHOC. He has had a few other visitors, and it is very safe to say that my mom is in love.
And honestly, who wouldn’t be with that sweet little face with those pouting little lips!
Scout and Navy can’t go into the NICU, but my mom made it really easy to split my time when she brought them to the Ronald McDonald house outside the NICU.
This is Scout’s first time with Legos - I took him out to lunch at the mall and then we stopped by the new Lego store where he went nuts. So of course we had to buy a bag of them to make “awesome rockets and planes”. He and I made the most awesome plane that a turkey was driving that could “shoot all the bad guys”.
Icka just goes from toy to toy, and tries to charm everyone as she pretends to not know what to do. But as soon as anyone goes to help her, she smiles and then quickly shows off that she knows exactly what to do.
Back to Dash.
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He is feisty! The nurses all adore him. The third morning when I went in, a nurse told me that he had three nurses crowding around him in the night because he was on his tummy with his arms out, and lifting himself into the air. He literally had his head and neck arched up to the sky, and the nurses couldn’t believe how strong he was. Scout was the same way. They both came out with totally strong necks. And Dash’s newest thing is doing a back bend when he is on his back. Everyone cracks up that he totally fits his name!
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Notice the netting on his arm. They had to put it there because Dash was trying to bite the I.V. off. He got a bunch of the cotton around his I.V. in his mouth, so they had to do something to protect him from choking. What a little rascal!
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This boy lets everyone know when he is hungry. He is as calm as can be, and the second he feels a little hunger pain, he starts squealing. But as soon as I have him in my arms to nurse, he coozies right in and falls asleep. I try everything to wake him up, unwrap him, jiggle him, wave his arms, and he is dead to the world. But the second he gets put back in his bed, he screams again. And then he eats 3 ounces. Apparently, e loves to be held by his mom, and immediately relaxes into the deepest sleep with me near.
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My little boy is constantly dreaming and gets huge smiles on his face while he is in la la land. I love to watch him in action, and am sure he is dreaming of just days ago when he was back in Heaven.
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I love this boy so much. I always wonder how there will be room for me to love another child, but it always happens. He already has a piece of me, and I can’t wait until he is all mine, and the Micah and the kids get to experience what I have over these past 9 days.
When we finally determined the name, I told Scout what it was. He immediately said, “I hate that name!” I told him it was set in stone, but that if he wanted to call him a nickname, he could. He said, “I am going to call him Spear Kei Denison.” (Speare was a name Debra suggested, and Scout fell in love because it was a weapon — even though she meant it to be after William Shakespeare.) I said he could call him whatever he liked, and so the next three nights, I heard, “Heavenly Father, please help Spear to get better at the hospital” in his prayers. I giggled every time!
In an attempt to get Scout on the same page as us, Micah started to tell Scout that Debra liked Speare after one of the world’s greatest writers. After a brief description of who he was, Scout said, “No Dad….I am one of the world’s greatest riders! Haven’t you seen me on my scooter?!
The good news is that there has been movement on this front. Scout announced the other day that he LOVED the name “Dashy”. I was excited for him, and said I like that too. So now whenever I refer to him as Dash, I am corrected to add the “y” at the end. And he tells everyone that he named his baby brother! I think he thinks the extra letter means a whole new name for our little guy. So for now, “Dashy” it is!
It seems that every time Icka eats something, she tells me what she has created. For example, she bit into an apple today, and she held it up and said, “Mom…it’s an ice cream cone!” Her little nibble marks did look just like the silhouette of a triple scoop.
This day, as she was mowing down a power bar, I heard her say, “Mom…look, I made a temple!”
Nice work my little artist!
I wish someone would have told me that for the last six months I didn’t ever have to buy anything except a few balloons and some plain paper. Nothing humors Scout more than paper airplanes and playing “keep it up” with a balloon.
I am talking about hours upon hours of fun.
It almost touched the “needles” or “hot lava” on the ground that he is so desperately trying to avoid!
When we needed donors for Dash’s blood transfusion, we were told that family members might not be the best matches because the same problems might occur. Immediately, Micah said he was calling his untitled best friend B. Tacky. I thought it was a perfect choice as we know he has lived a clean and pure life. Without hesitation, he agreed and asked where and when. Micah met him at the blood bank, and they took care of business.
Poor guy said it was the hugest needle he has ever seen, and he could literally look down the shaft of it!
Micah totally agreed!
We told Scummy he needed to take it really easy after the big procedure, but she had him at work the second he got home.
Poor Tacky!
It was definitely a sign when the next day, I was following this car. I had to snap a picture.
Because these are my sentiments exactly.
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