Parker's Current Condition

I have quite the doozy of a story to tell about me, but I understand everyone is a bit more concerned about his condition right now.

Within seconds after Parker's birth they handed him through the window into the NICU at my hospital, where they worked hard to stabilize him and treat him. They let me have a small peek at him over this curtain, where I caught a glimpse of a super skinny baby who was very stunned to be in the world. He didn't cry, just squeaked his disproval.(hi mom!)

He scored 8 and 9 on his apgars, which are great numbers. After about an hour they allowed Daddy in to follow him and see him. He was super tiny, so much different from our Colby butterball. 5 lbs 11 oz compared to our last, who was a chunky 8 lbs even. He loves to grasp hands, he hates pacifers, and isn't much of a cuddler yet. He's not very happy to be out, and is pretty grumpy. He's more red in color than your average baby, I think. His breath is very labored. After they got him settled with an IV and monitors, they placed him on a gurney to start his transport to the connected Childrens Hospital. They stopped in to see me on the way, where I got to hold him for about two minutes. He didn't cry, he seemed quite content to have his mommy. He immediately grasped on to my finger, and this is when we got the other picture we posted yesterday. See the little incubator with the tiny bundle of blankets? Thats Parker.

They sent him down to NICU, where I'm told they did a lot of testing, chest xrays and EKG's and whatnot. He peed on several nurses and was generally just unhappy. Still even now he seems restless and unhappy. They put him on oxygen as a precaution, despite the fact that he was tolerating room air just fine. He's not eating well, either bottle or breast. They do have an IV in him giving him glucose. Here's a more recent picture of him:

(pic taken by Grandma Smith, haven't felt well enough to take my own pics yet!)

I finally felt up to visiting him around 1 in the morning, and it was nice to hold him again, feel him up close to me. I don't think I can stress enough how small and fragile he feels. It also didn't help that i was floating in and out, trying hard not to fall asleep right there. Soooo sleepy.

They are definitely doing the surgery on him, there is some debate on whether they are doing it today or waiting until tomorrow. We haven't called today yet to get an update on that.

And thats the majority of what we know right now! Phew, exhausted just typing it out!

Amy