Happy due date Nolan!

We once thought that we were having a Halloween baby...that was before we realized that life would be too easy if it went as planned. Today was our official due date for our little guy. Instead we are celebrating his 6 week birthday. He wasn't quite ready to go trick-or-treating tonight. We'll save that for next year and many years to come. Just because he couldn't go doesn't mean that the dinosaur couldn't. Tessa was out full-force tonight with her big cousins. Derek wasn't able to go because he was still sick. He instead headed up to the football game where he watched it from his truck. I'm sure he stayed a bit warmer compared to those that were actually in the stadium...brrrr... While Derek was sitting in his truck, and Tessa and I were out and about trick-or-treating, Nolan was busy at home snuggling with Grandpa. Thank you Grandpa...Nolan has needed some boy time since Derek's been out of snuggling commission for several days!

We love carving pumpkins!!

The final product... :)

ROAR..................SQUEAK, SQUEAK

It's exhausting to think that today is supposed to be my birthday!!

Watch out for dinosaurs!

Here we are trying on her halloween costume for the big halloween party at daycare this week. "Tessa honey, what would you like to be for halloween this year? A dinosaur. How about a princess or lady bug again this year (this is what she was last year)? No, a dinosaur...or maybe a pirate." This is about how our conversation went for figuring out what she wanted to be. Can you tell that she looks up to her two big boy cousins?!?!















Finally someone can ride in the stroller with Tessa! Poor girl has been riding in this stroller for a few weeks with no one in front. What a good invention this was...a sit-n-stand! Here we are riding to the park a few days ago when it wasn't that chilly out.















This is about as close to playing at the park as Nolan will get this year. Poor guy doesn't know the fun he's missing. Crazy Tessa and daddy in the background being goofy.

We are all doing pretty well. Tessa finally got over whatever it was that she had. Derek came down with very similar symptoms to what Tessa was displaying when she was sick. He's been out of commission for a few days and we are looking forward to a healthy household. So Nolan and I are dodging the germs. I won't mind if the germs attack me but they better stay away from our little guy. Given the worries about the H1N1 it was recommended that our family get the vaccinations to protect Nolan. Luckily we were able to get them this week before we get too far into the fall. One less thing to worry about...I've done enough worrying for this year!

Happy Halloween (in a few days). Bundle up...sounds like it's going to get chilly.

Everything continues to go very well in our household. Nolan is sleeping most of the day which means he is probably growing, growing, growing. It's so great that weight gain isn't a concern with him as we know it can be a concern for many preemies. He's on his way to being twice as big as he was when he was at his lightest weight of 4 pounds 7 ounces. He'll be 8 pounds before we know it.

Tessa has a little bug which has put a damper on her energy level these past few days. She's been a bit uncomfortable with a fever. Hopefully it goes away as quickly as it came on. Even with the fever she is being a great big sister. So much going on and now the poor girl is sick. I'm sure this is what the fall and winter will all be about but I hope that we can keep Nolan very healthy throughout this scary flu season. I was worried about bugs being brought into our household and now I'm worried about others coming over and getting sick from us!!

Nolan's monitor had quite the workout today. Nolas was perfectly fine as he was wide awake in Derek's arms but the monitor was having a bit of an issue. This horendous screech that wouldn't stop! It would not turn off. We aren't actually sure what triggered it but it would not stop! We had to call the company to ask what to do and the only way we could call is if we put the monitor in the car which was in the garage. It's so loud that we wouldn't have been able to talk to them if we kept it in the house. The monitor had something wrong with it that they had to deliver a new one to us today. Nolan had a four hour break from the monitor today while we were waiting for the new one. It was a great break from the wires and makes us very excited for what's to come...a free man! Kind of scary to think that the monitor was malfunctioning but now we have a new one. Hopefully this one works better! :)

My mommy and I were working on some strength training. What do they expect...I'm only five weeks old (or negative one week like my mommy likes to say) and they want me to train already?! I can't quite do a push up yet but am getting better and better at holding my head up. I suppose it will get more difficult to hold my head up when my cheeks get bigger and bigger and bigger...

It's so great being home. Everyone seems to be adjusting just fine. Tessa is adorable with him. Of course she has her moments of being a two year old but overall she has been great. Derek heads back to work this coming Tuesday so that will be the real test. I'm sure there will be some silly stories of what Tessa will try to do while Mommy is busy with Nolan. It makes it a bit tricky to hold Nolan while Tessa wants some attention. Poor Nolan is still hooked up to his machine which is plugged into the wall. It didn't take Tessa long to figure out that when we are holding Nolan we can't get to her because he's "plugged in". She constantly wants to tickle his toes and pat his head while saying "nice, gentle, I'm being so nice". So cute! Of course it only takes one second for this nice "gentle" pat to turn into something different. So scary while at the same time so much fun. We've been waiting for these moments for a long time. We are so happy they are here.

I knew he was growing quickly but I never imagined he would grow this quickly. We had our first appointment yesterday with Dr. Chao. 7 pounds 6 ounces, can you believe it!?! I suppose that is pretty little for being five weeks old today (happy b-day Nolan) but boy oh boy he's growing like crazy. They measured him on one scale and had to verify using another scale that this was correct. Sure enough, our little guy is growing like a weed.

So far Nolan sleeps just like is sister did when she was little...like a champ. We are keeping our fingers crossed that this continues. Tessa hasn't been disturbed in the night from Nolan or his monitor. Hopefully that continues too!

Enjoy the sunshine today!

Home Sweet Home

After cousin Mason held Nolan for three hours, it was finally my turn! I'm still a bit confused about this whole situation but overall I'm handling it sooooo well!




















I love being home.


We are loving all being home together. Nolan has officially been set free from the NICU for 48 hours! Whoo hoo!! He did come home with a monitor. It will be great when he is unhooked for good but for now we are completely satisfied with these extra precautions that his NICU doctor recommended. If all is good and the monitor doesn't have any real alarms (because it already has had its share of false alarms) then he may only need it for three more weeks. They think it's a good idea to keep him on it until two weeks past his due date. We all know how time flies so the three weeks will be over before we know it.

Thank you to everyone for all of your friendship, love, and support throughout this whole experience. What a crazy few months we've had. I never thought I was going to be a "blogger" but I'm going to try to keep this blog going. If you are ever interested in what is new in the Pertzborn household, take a peek at our blog.

I'm Home

Look at all of my cousins on this poster that they made for me. I can't wait to meet them! Can you believe that the silly rules in the NICU wouldn't let my cousins come visit! I can't wait to play with them. We are going to have so much fun together!
















We walked through the door of my house and was greeted by my big sister Tessa. She was so excited to see me. She kept telling mommy and daddy "my little brother home".
















This is way more comfy than the isolette or crib than I've been sleeping in for the past month! I snuggled right into it when I was done with my first feeding at home and I love how soft it is. I'd be a bit more comfy if I wasn't connected to my monitor with the leads but pretty soon I'll be a free man of all of those wires. It's all worth it to be home!


Dear Friends,

Mommy and Daddy were finally able to bring me home today. They are excited for all of you to meet me and I assure you...I am worth the wait.

I weigh a husky 6 pounds 14 ounces, which means that I gained 2 pounds in the last month. Daddy put on 6 pounds in the last month too. He doesn't seem so happy about it. Maybe he wanted to gain more.

It was really just time for me to get out of the NICU. There were some benefits though. About 75% of the babies in there were girls, which is a nice ratio for myself. Once I put on those 2 pounds I could hardly fend off the chicks. Luckily the nurses were there to help and told them that I needed my rest, which was a lie. It got them off my back though. I'm not ready to be tied down yet. Not until I explore these non-preemie chicks. I hear they're wild.

Another good thing about the NICU...milk...all the milk you can eat. All I had to do was peep a little bit every three hours and they were shoving milk down my throat. Sometimes they would wake me up to feed me milk when I wasn't even hungry! I even bathed in milk...just kidding....but you can imagine.

Anywho, I'm home now. My sister Tessa is enormous. She must eat a lot of milk. My mommy and daddy have been spending the majority of their time protecting me from her. I just hope she doesn't try to steal any of my milk because we will have issues then.

I am excited to meet everyone. Remember, if you come over, wash your hands, don't come over if you are sick, especially if you have H1N1, bring milk instead of presents (the whole bathing thing is still intriguing), and don't expect me to be awake...it's hard work drinking all that milk.

Love,
Nolan

Happy Birthday Nolan!! 1 month old...6 pounds 13 ounces

It's my birthday today and this is what I get for a treat...another bottle of milk? Where is my cake and ice cream? Maybe they are saving the real party for me when I come home!! Rumor has it that my mommy, daddy, and Tessa are a little excited for me to come home.
















I love my little brother Nolan. The other night I made my mommy cry again. All I said was, "Mommy, Nolan coming home soon right?" And she started to tear up. Then I said, "Mommy, I love him." Mommy broke out into a full-fledged cry. :)

Nolan had a really great weekend. For both days his oxygen saturation was right around 100% and he didn't need any assistance at all with his O2 levels. We are hoping for a really good 24 hours with no desats. If he doesn't have any desats he'll be coming home really soon. I'm not excited, we aren't ready for him to come home, Tessa doesn't talk about him all of the time, and we hope he stays in there for a few more days. (It's kind of difficult to even read what I just wrote but maybe just maybe talking this way will make it happen...I obviously would never wish any of those to be true but if I share how excited I really am I truly think that I'll jinx it!!!) He'll be coming home really soon if he keeps up the good work...not today and not Wednesday but someday in between. :)

Can't wait to share the news that he's coming home...or even more exciting news that he's home! We are keeping our fingers crossed!

A few important details left out...

When Derek called early this morning to get the update from Nolan's night last night, the nurse seemed to leave a few details out of the conversation...important details. She said initially that he had a great night and at the time was in his carseat. She left out that he had two spells throughout the night and that they were a bit concerned with his breathing rate when he is having these spells. Spells can be a number of things including low heart rate, apnea spells, to a variety of other things. For Nolan, a spell is where his oxygen saturation drops below 85% for 30 seconds or longer and needs to be repositioned for it to raise back up. His heart rate has always been great and his apnea spells subsided after about one week in the NICU. When he has these spells where his saturation drops, his breathing patterns become very uneven. He has to stay in the NICU for at least five days after a spell happens. That puts us at Tuesday as the earliest that he'll be coming home. Derek and I were in snuggling with him tonight and his saturation wasn't low enough to alarm his monitor but it was staying pretty low. It's so hard to sit there listening to the alarm and watching his numbers go up and down. His nurse reassured us that everything will be just fine but he just needs a bit more time. That darn waiting game again...time, time, time...just a bit more time. When he does come home he will be coming home on a monitor. We have to take a class next week to learn all about it. There is a possibility that he will also be coming home on a small amount of oxygen which I hope is not the case (of course if this is what we have to do to get him home, we'll do it!!!). I'll be much more comfortable if he is as close to 100% as possible before coming home. I thought I learned last time that I can't get too excited thinking about him coming home because we know how quickly that can change. But this morning when we called and they said everything was great and he was having his carseat test done, I couldn't help but think that they thought he'd be coming home soon. They teased us...big time!

We hope for a very healthy weekend for Nolan!

Another very good night!

Derek called the NICU this morning on his way to work (I'm finding myself a bit too nervous to call and it seems like bad luck when I'm the one calling to check on his nights!). They had all good news for us today. When Derek called he was currently sitting in his carseat having his carseat test done. They have to monitor him for a period of time making sure that he can handle sitting in this position for a certain length of time. He was doing really well with it when Derek talked to the nurse. He had a great night with no desats (no drops in his O2 levels) and he continues to be off of the oxygen. Tessa is going to my parents once again to play with Grandma and Grandpa tonight so Derek and I can go spend some time with Nolan together. We may grab a bite to eat somewhere besides the hospital cafeteria (which actually has great food) to celebrate our anniversary but more importantly we plan to spend most of the evening with Nolan. I can't wait for Nolan to come home. Tessa is so confused about this situation and we can't wait to have him home. She's going to be such a great helper, great big sister, and is going to love Nolan so much.

Not quite time to come home :(

This morning was the same as the last three...I paced around the house and debated if I was going to call the NICU to see how Nolan's night went before heading in or wait until I get there to get the update. Nervously, I called. His nurse Julie that he had today is the sweetest person ever. She nicely explained his night to me while my heart sank. He had done really well last night until about 11:00pm. From 11:00pm-2:00am his oxygen level sank a bit low and stayed that way for long enough that they were concerned. They decided to put him back on his cannula. It only took a few puffs of the cannula to get his levels back up. She was explaining to me that the doctor was more concerned that it only took a few puffs to come back up. Generally babies need 24-48 hours of oxygen to get their levels back up and Nolan only needed a few minutes of it. This is the third time this has happened. They are going to watch him over the next couple of days to see what happens with his levels. He was only on the O2 for a short while in the middle of the night and today when I was there he was doing really well off of the cannula. I sure hope that he stays off of the oxygen. I asked what would happen if he keeps going back and forth with the oxygen and she nicely said to me "we'll explain that if that bridge comes our way". I loved that answer. As I asked the question I wasn't sure if I was ready for the answer. His nurse seems very optimistic that everything will be fine so why worry about what might happen when it very likely will not happen.

6 pounds 5 ounces...Go Nolan!!

Now we are really on the edge of our seats! I went in today and spent the day with Nolan while Tessa went to her daycare provider who she LOVES! After learning last night that Nolan was off of his oxygen I was very nervous this morning before heading to the hospital. I debated on calling like we do every day but today I didn't. It was such a bummer yesterday when we called and learned that he was back on his oxygen that I thought today I won't call and that I'll just go see for myself. I was sick to my stomach the entire ride to the hospital. I'm pretty sure that I was sprinting down the hall when I finally arrived to the hospital. :) I so badly wanted him to still be off. I arrived and his face looks so darn good without his oxygen prongs! He's off!! Derek went in tonight and spent the evening with him and he is still off!! If he continues doing what he is currently doing (which is breathing completely on his own...YIPPEE!!!!), he will come home Friday. I'm not sure how I am supposed to sleep until Friday since we will be on the edge of our seats the entire time as we play the big waiting game again. This waiting game is way more stressful than any other game I've ever played in my life. I wouldn't recommend this game to others (however...if a little munchkin like Nolan is what you are trying to "win", this is the best game in the world and I would recommend it to everyone)! :)

We do know how easily he could need a bit more oxygen but it's hard to not get very excited. Oh I so badly what my little guy home. Soon...I know...but I want it really, really, really soon. I'm praying for Friday. Friday is our anniversary and this would be the best present in the world. I hope tomorrow when I arrive I can see his chubby cheeks without those tubes draped across his face!! Come on Nolan...you can do it buddy!

Happy Birthday Aunt Jessie!!

Happy Birthday Aunt Jessie! Wish you could have been in the NICU to celebrate your birthday with me...you missed a wild-n-crazy birthday bash! Celebrating your and Bry's b-day this week in the NICU would have been more fun if I was celebrating with you outside of this brick building that I'm living in. Well, I guess I don't know for sure that it's brick as I've never even been outside of this big room that I've been living in for the past 3.5 weeks. When I come home you can borrow my Elmo hat to celebrate your b-day a bit belated! My mommy took this picture of me today after I was off oxygen for almost 18 hours yesterday but the oxygen had to be put back on early this morning. The good news is that when my mommy and daddy called the NICU late tonight (Tuesday night) I was back off of the oxygen. My mommy really hopes that when she comes to visit tomorrow that I'll still be off of the oxygen so she can see my cute face and chubby cheeks. I can't wait to play with Mitchell, Mason, and Marah when I come home! Tessa was telling me that you have a super fun toy room that I'm going to love playing in!! I can't wait to see it and to snuggle with you. I hope that I can find that snuggly spot on your shoulder that Tessa always found when she was my size (or when she was a bit bigger because she was never quite as small as I am right now). :)

Love, Nolan

I'm so cute without any tubes on my face!

Yesterday morning I went into the hospital and they had just taken Nolan off of his oxygen. I was SOOOO excited. Of course I sat there all day just staring at his monitor making sure that his levels stayed right where they should be. He had a really good day...actually a really great day. I stayed there all day and left yesterday evening very optimistic about him coming home soon. I wanted to call a million times throughout the night but I held back. This morning I got up, paced around the house for a while, and finally called. I asked to speak with his nurse. She got on the phone and started the conversation by staying, "Emily, I don't want to be the one to say this...". I knew right away that the little man was back on his oxygen. Darn. We were so close. He had lasted about 18 hours off of it but throughout the night his O2 levels dropped where they needed to put his cannula back in. It was like a punch to the stomach. We are so lucky that he is healthy as can be, or will be healthy as can be, but right now it seems like we aren't going to get over this last hurdle. I anticipated that he would go back on his oxygen but I was hoping that I was wrong.

Yesterday while I was at the hospital another family came in to take their little boy home and he also had been put back on his oxygen. So this family went from coming to the hospital with everything to take him home to leaving without him and no anticipated day that he'll come home. This next little while seems like it is going to be the most stressful part of the past few months. We talked yesterday and it looked like Nolan was coming home Thursday. Now because he has gone back on the oxygen they won't give us an estimated day. Our 5 year wedding anniversary is this Friday and I was hoping and praying for the best anniversary present in the world...Nolan coming home. He'll be home soon just not as soon as we had hoped.

Little man isn't so little anymore!

Today we woke up very excited after calling Nolan's nurse. Nolan had such a good night last night (Saturday night) that they took off his cannula that was giving him his extra oxygen. He was breathing room air! Little man got tired after about one hour so they had to put him back on the tiny bit of extra oxygen. We'll get there someday...I'm sure we will...just not quite yet. We keep praying that someday soon we'll go into the hospital and he'll have his cannulas off and that they will stay off FOREVER! It will happen when he's ready!

It's been kind of hard, okay very hard, watching other little ones come and go from the NICU. (That's a bit selfish of me...sorry...we do love seeing them come and go as that means great news for other families!) We learned this from the beginning, but now we are seeing exactly what the nurses and doctors were talking about when they said to us that girls develop more quickly than boys. There have been a few girls that have come in and needed more assistance than Nolan needed from the beginning. It's amazing how quickly they get off of the extra O2 support and away they go home with their family. All of the girls in the NICU right now are very, very small and none of them have extra O2 support. It's amazing to see. The other boys that are in there with Nolan are the same weight or bigger and all of them have O2 support. It's a pretty crazy thing. After teaching in a middle school I thought for sure that girls being more mature than boys happened around middle school age. I never realized until recently that this maturity difference between boys and girls actually starts in the womb.

Nolan is officially a 6-pounder. Actually 6 pounds 2 ounces as of midnight last night. He is changing so much already. A double chin and filling out everywhere, we love it!

Nolan's had a really good few days. For a few days earlier this week his amount of extra O2 that they were giving to him didn't really change. They had been giving him between 75-125 mLs of O2. Starting yesterday his numbers (saturation levels) started looking so good that they began lowering his extra oxygen that they were giving to him. He was handling it really well. He was handling it so well that today when Derek was there they tried to completely remove the extra oxygen and have him just breathing room air. It didn't take long to see that he does indeed still need some assistance. They turned the O2 back on and his numbers climbed right back up where they should be. The extra oxygen level is so low that they are giving him that if they turned it down any lower he would be breathing room air. Little man just isn't quite ready to be weened off of the extra O2. Mommy and Daddy are ready...but it's up to Nolan. I'm starting to think that he kind of likes it in the NICU...there are so many cute girls that are next to him.

He weighed in today at a hefty 5 pounds 14 ounces. In the next few days, we are going to have a 6-pounder! It's so great to see how he's gaining weight and that everything else is really go very well. Things could be so much worse. We are blessed to have the worries that we have. Things would be so much different if we would have delivered when my water first broke in August. Everything is going to be just fine...we just need to keep being patient for a bit longer. Soon enough we will look back on this experience and chalk it up as one of those experiences that helped us to become better people.

Happy weekend.

Gaining weight like CRAZY! 5 pounds 11 ounces

Everything continues to be the same with Nolan. He's been doing a really good job eating his bottles. He sucks down his bottles super quick! He drinks them so quickly that he's mad when they are gone. He needs a few minutes for his brain to register that his belly is full because he drinks so fast. He continues to be on a small amount of oxygen. I was there all day with him today and they did lower the amount throughout the day. I'd love more than anything to show up at the NICU someday soon and to have him not have his oxygen assistance. That would be soooo exciting. It's going to happen someday...I guess I just want it to happen a bit sooner than Nolan is ready for it to happen. It's all up to our little guy for when he's ready to breath on his own.

Happy Birthday Uncle Bryan!!

Happy Birthday Bry! Wish I was in San Diego celebrating with you! Having a party in the NICU just isn't the same as partying on the beach!














Nolan officially got his feeding tube taken out yesterday since he is eating so well from his bottles. What a great sight it is to see him with less and less tubes each day. The only tubes left are the most important ones of all...the tubes for his oxygen. He continues to be very stable with the small amount that they continue to give to him. The doctor yesterday mentioned to me that some little ones can take a long time to get off of this small amount of O2. I hope our little Nolan isn't one that takes a long time. Of course he can take as long as he needs but boy oh boy we are getting anxious to bring him home!

Welcome home to Chad, Kristy, and Haley!! What a long road you've been on and what great news it is to hear you are home. Enjoy snuggling with little Miss Haley at home!!

Almost 5 1/2 pounds...

Nolan is growing like weed! He's gained almost 1/2 pound in three days. Nice work Nolan! He's been eating like a champ. They haven't had to use his feeding tube in more than 48 hours since he has been taking everything through his bottle. It's so great to see how far he's come with his feedings. You can just see him getting stronger and stronger. Now the only thing that is keeping him in the NICU is the small amount of oxygen that he continues to need to support his breathing. They keep telling us that him learning to breath will turn on like a light switch. All of the sudden he'll do it and not need any assistance. He's almost there but the light isn't completely on yet! He's looks so great compared to two weeks ago and we are being hopeful that he's on the home stretch. We are really excited to have him come home and hope that it's really, really, really soon. Maybe I can pry into his nurse today for an estimate of when he'll come home!! :)

Two weeks old and we officially have a five-pounder!!

Our little guy continues to grow and grow. Nolan officially reached the 5 pound mark yesterday. That is very encouraging. Not much has changed in the last few days. He is eating more milk from his bottles which is very exciting. He continues to get 40 mls of milk (just over 1 ounce) through a bottle and whatever he doesn't finish he gets though his feeding tube. Right now they are feeding him every three hours. He doesn't show much for signs of being hungry. I'm actually looking forward to that all-out scream telling us he's hungry! We haven't seen that yet...just a little munching on his hands but that's only been a few times. He is also still on a small amount of oxygen. The two things we have to work on before he comes home...finishing all of his bottles himself and getting off that oxygen assistance! Other than those two things, everything sure seems to be leaning our way. He's come so far and is so much more comfortable now than he was two weeks ago.

Nolan hasn't had much for awake periods since he's been born. Somedays he'll be awake for an hour and somedays for ten minutes. Yesterday he was so sleepy for me all day. He wouldn't wake up at all although he did still eat his bottles. When we called this morning to check to see how his night was they mentioned that he did have a long awake period in the night...from 3:30am - 7:30am. Go Nolan for staying awake for 4 hours...but we are a little backwards buddy...how about when you come home the awake period can be in the day during those hours and not in the middle of the night. :)

Have a great weekend. I knew this gloomy weather was being saved up for when I was out of the hospital...that month of beautiful weather couldn't have lasted forever!

Go Badgers!!

The Weigh-In

Nolan had another great day. Momma fed him two bottles with 40 mL that he took down like a champ. He weighed in yesterday at a husky 4 lbs 14 oz, but Mom and Dad still think Tessa's baby doll is bigger than him.

Momma also got to give Nolan a bath today. He took that like champ as well. He only cried when Momma took him out because he was a little chilly.

Daddy has begun questioning the ethics of the nurses at St. Mary's. Although he admits they are doing an amazing job with Nolan physically, Daddy worries about Nolan's emotional status when he comes home. On Monday Daddy noticed that the nurse was going to put a Michigan Wolverines blanket underneath Nolan. She must not have heard that he was going to be playing for the Badgers some day. Why the hell does a hospital in Madison have a Michigan blanket? Daddy requested another blanket and was pleased with the dinosaur ensemble the nurse had chosen. Daddy loses sleep at night wondering if they secretly sneak the Michigan blanket underneath Nolan without him knowing.