Daddy's Turn

I got my turn the very next day. It depends on how the flexible the nurse is, so this time they bundled him up instead of skin-to-skin. Eli was quite calm and slept most of the time.

Belated Christmas Gift

My special gift arrived late this year. Eli was finally stable enough that his nurse allowed me to hold him. I got to hold him for a whole hour. It went by quick, but I will never forget it.

Baby's First Christmas

Merry Christmas! For Christmas they got to get rid of his snorkel as well as the catheter lines in his belly. This is the very first time that Eli got some tummy time sleeping on his little belly.

Day 10

This is what Elvin and I refer to as "tanning." You can barely see it, but in addition to his snorkel he is also wearing a visor to protect his eyes from the special light shining on him. Because of his prematurity he is constantly on and off phototherapy. The phototherapy is necessary to prevent jaundice. Jaundice is a yellowing of the skin that occurs when the baby's liver isn't developed enough to process bilirubin.

Day 9

Eli is snorkeling again... his lungs are getting tired from working so hard. According to the hospital it is pretty normal for babies this premature to go back and forth from snorkeling to just using the single tube across his nose. He was resting pretty much the whole day.

Day 6

Again... is this the same baby?? He's much cuter in these pictures! But I guess I am a biased mother. He's upgraded from his snorkel mask to smaller tubing. He's still getting O2, but not as much pressure. His lungs are working hard!! Today the NICU had Santa come and take pictures with each family, so here Eli is wearing a Santa hat, although he is sleeping right through all the excitement!

Day 3

This is Eli on Day 3. What a difference a couple days can make. He looks like a different baby! The hospital says that it is normal for all babies to lose weight the first 2 weeks. So I guess he is losing all his water weight. As you can see in the pictures he goes from being very fussy one minute, to calm and cool the next. Here he is taking a break from the mask he's wearing. The "snorkel" mask is what we like to call it. It delivers O2 and some pressure to help facilitate his breathing. In the last picture he's strapped in to keep him from squirming around too much.

First Family Photo

The first picture makes him look normal size. Here's our first family photo. Too bad the date is wrong, it was actually taken just hours after Renee gave birth. It gives you a better idea just how tiny he is.

Baby Elijah

Warning: Babies are smaller than they appear!