1 month old

Carson just turned 1 month old.  He is the sweetest little baby.  He is starting to become more alert and be awake for longer periods during the day.  He is still on his oxygen and heart monitor.  We will retest to get him off the oxygen sometime next week.  We are still doing weekly hemaglobin tests on him to make sure he does not become anemic again.  When we left the nicu at 10 days old, his hemaglobin was 14.1.  At 4 weeks old it was 10.5.  It has been on a downward trend each week.  Anything below 12 is considered low. This means that the antibodies are still attacking his red blood cells, but hopefully his new blood can take over and get rid of those antibodies.   Depending on the Dr. and the baby, they usually do a blood transfusion if it gets below 8.  I'm hoping his doesn't get any lower.  He finally has his nights figured out, and doesn't think it's playtime anymore.  He still wakes up often during the night, but goes right back to sleep after nursing.  Up until just a few days ago he was waking up every 2 hours during the night to eat.  I'm hoping we are starting a new trend though because the last few nights he has done a 4 hour stretch, followed by a 3 hour stretch of sleeping.  I can handle that.  Every 2 hours is brutal.  He is my gassiest baby.  He toots and burps and grunts all the time and his toots and burps sound like they are coming from an adult. Taking him to church will be interesting and most likely embarrassing :)  The girls love him.  It is kind of nice to have little babysitters.  I pretty much completely trust Maleah and Aubree to hold him (aka babysit) while I shower or cook dinner, or go outside for a few minutes etc...  Kendra on the other hand is not trustworthy at all.  I can't take my eye off her when she has him.  She tries to change his position every 2 seconds while holding him.  I'm starting to become a little more relaxed about the germs.  It's nice to not feel so much anxiety about it anymore.  We still wash and sanitize 100 + times a day, and the girls change their clothes after school, but I feel more relaxed about the germs and I'm not constantly lysoling everything.  I'm also starting to let my kids have friends in the house every once in a while, and I'm not afraid of visitors anymore, as long as everyone is healthy. I will say that it has been so nice to have a no friends rule.  My house has stayed much cleaner, but I know I can't have that rule forever.  It's nice to feel somewhat normal again.  I'm glad I have had a month to adjust before the kids get out of school, that will be a whole other adjustment for me.  My Mom, sister, friends, and ward members have been wonderful.  We have had so many dinners brought in, so many people have taken my kids for me, and just so much love and service has been shown to our family.  I wouldn't have survived without it. 

Now on to the cute pictures.  Kent and I attempted a "1 month photo shoot" on Carson's 1 month Birthday. It didn't go so well.  I wanted them to look professional, but 200 + pictures later and I guess a few turned out.  But in no way are they professional :)

I love his little face and pose in the one below, but the lighting or coloring or something was bad.  Then I tried to fix it and just made it worse. 

Behind the scenes :) 

I just thought this picture was sweet.  I love his little hands.