Late June 2017 our "little man" made an early entry (33 weeks 3 days) into the world at 7:15am weighing 4lbs 8 oz. I was in the hospital since last Thursday June 22nd with preterm labor signs and Ethan had daily episodes of heart rate dips that kept me in the hospital for a week.

As you know I was also in the hospital 3 weeks ago with preterm contractions as well, and they gave me Beta Methazone to promote lung development. Unfortunately, while this steroid works most of the time to promote lung development in babies that are expected to be preterm, it did not fully work for Ethan. He had weak cries when he came out, they tried a Cpap, but ultimately they had to intubate him. Since this morning he went from being on oxygen with the intubation tube to room air and he occasionally takes breaths on his own.... which is a good sign

He also did not pass his echocardiogram heart exam, and his heart is showing signs of distress. He had two tubes in his bellybutton to feed him with IV fluids. He had major swelling on his head. They gave him a plasma blood transfusion to test if his blood was able to clot. It was really sad because he looked like he was wearing a cone on one side of his head.

Our little man spent 4 weeks in the NICU and was able to leave without any medical assistance needed at home. He is now 4 months old and is a big chunk of love! Our NICU stint feels like an eternity ago. It was the most trying time of our lives, but having him home with us has been the most rewarding experience.