1st Bath with mommy

This evening my mom was taught by the nurse how to bath me.

Nathanael's 1st Bottle

First time trying to feed Nathanael with a bottle. He ended up spitting out everything but it was nice to get him started on it.

Nathanael is two weeks old

Nathanael Joseph Crain Born on February 5th 2014 at 6.46am at 2.2lbs at 32 weeks!

What a surprise it was! This little man made a surprise entrance into this world last week. A routine exam at the OB-GYN revealed little to no amniotic fluid around our baby, causing our Nathanael to rest on his umbilical cord and having sudden drop of his heart beat. On top of that three ultrasounds revealed that Nathanael was really really tiny. The pediatrician at Camp Pendelton Hospital contacted the "High Risk" Obstetrician  at Naval Medical Center San Diego (Balboa) and asked for his advice. Within a couple of hours i was transfered to San Diego with Joseph where we spent the night. The nurses kept coming to my bedroom to change my position in bed due to drop in my baby's heart beat. By the end of the night the whole team was in my bedroom and all went really fast. The baby was out with C section within 5 minutes and whisked away to the NICU. Nathanael was born crying and breathing on his own at 2.2lbs and 13 inches for 32 weeks and 5 days.

Their main concern at the NICU was his size and all that follows. Ultrasound of the brain and the heart shows no signs of bleeding or other physical weakness. He has been breathing on his own since he was born, apart for one episode of apnea (which we had the "pleasure" to witness).

The team at Naval Medical Center San Diego has been of the most amazing quality. My care and his care were great and each nurses and doctors is fully committed to be the best.

Nathanael will be staying at the NICU for a long time. The doctors told us to expect him to be there till its original due date of March 27th. 

We live more than 40 miles away from the hospital. It would have been a long commute, one that we would have done every day to see our little love. But we got blessed with the possibility to stay at the Fisher house right there at the hospital. The Fisher House is funded by donations and was created by . It allows family who lives afar to stay close to the hospital. And when i say close ... Once i put on my sleepers it takes me a 2 minutes walk from  my bedroom to Nathanael Bed!!

If you want to read more about the Fisher House click here.

Nathanael has first dropped some weight like every kids but he is now back on track and has even passed his birth weight. They are increasing his food every day (my milk) and basically are waiting for him to gain weight and energy.

they have done lots of blood test on me and him as well as sent the placenta to the lab. They could not found any infection whatsoever and the placenta looked normal. We may never know what cause the lack of amniotic fluid or the size of our baby.

We read him stories every evening, and take part in his care (diaper change, temperature ...). They have even started kangaroo care(skin to skin with me) and non-nutritional breastfeeding to get Nathanael used to latch on to my breast. He is so small that it is a real workout for him to try.