Merry Christmas!

Aunt Candi and Uncle Matt came to visit the day after Christmas.

Pappy and Grammy Cora came to see Evan.

Opening presents made me sleepy!

Santa baby

Evan with his reindeer from Grandpa

Our first Christmas together

Noah's ark from Mommy

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. We enjoyed our Christmas with our little man so much! He slept through most of it, but just having him here was the best gift ever!

Three more firsts!

Ok, this one is just because I'm looking adorable...

My first Redskins game with Daddy

First bath - I didn't even cry too much!

I did not like getting ready for it, though! I don't like being naked!

Ahhh....that's better, Mommy!

My first visit to the doctor - thank goodness they didn't poke me this time! I had enough of that at the hospital.

I love car rides!

More pics of the little man!

Our family of three!

Ready to roll! He's wearing the hat and sweater that his Daddy wore home from the hospital.

We're finally home!!

The best Christmas gift EVER!

My sleepy boys

I have a feeling that I'm going to be one of "those" moms. You know, the ones who take 9,000 pictures of the baby sleeping because he looks SO CUTE!!

Day 6

Sorry for the delay in updates. I have been updating facebook, texting and doing this and I forget what I have done and haven't done! Mommy brain??

Saturday to Sunday was a long evening. Stan and I had to go to the courtesy suite on the third floor at midnight and leave Evan in the nursery on the second floor. It was really hard to leave him even though I was only a floor away. We were told that if his test results came back positive, he would have to go to the NICU for 7-14 days. So leaving him combined with being nervous about how the test would turn out made for a very long night. The courtesy "suite" was just a twin bed, a dresser, a night stand and a lamp, so Stan slept on the floor. We went down at 4am to feed Evan. I think we were both happy when 8am rolled around. We went down to get Evan to feed him and sat and rocked him awhile. The nurse told us that the results weren't back yet, but they had to rerun his bilirubin (jaundice) test because he was looking a little more yellow. She said the doctor would be there around 9:30.

A little after 9, Stan and I decided to go to the cafeteria and get some breakfast. We stopped at the bathroom on the way, and as we were heading to the elevator, Dr. Chang was just getting there. We turned around and headed back to wait for him to check the baby. He came out and gave us the thumbs up! We were so happy that we were going to take our little one home with us! Finally around 11:30, we headed home!

Mema was there to greet us when we got home, and she held Evan while Mommy and Daddy ate some lunch. Poor Stan had to go out and shovel out the cars from the 22 inches of snowfall after almost no sleep since Tuesday plus sleeping on a concrete floor the night before. We spent the day together, and it was wonderful!! Our first night was ok. I've had to supplement with formula, and we used a new bottle right before bed. I think it made him gassy. He was up crying from about 2-3:30, and we didn't know what to do. I had already fed him, so we burped him, rocked him, swaddled him...finally, we remembered - THE PACIFIER!!!! We got that out, and finally he was soothed! At 3:30, I fed him again, and he slept until we woke up a little before 8.

He had his first pediatrician appointment on Monday. He was still 8lbs which is what he was when we left the hospital. He didn't gain anything, but he hadn't lost anything either, so that was ok. He got checked out, and all was well. His color was even looking better. We have another appointment on Thursday, so hopefully he's gained some weight. After our appointment, we went to Babies R Us and bought 8 more pacifiers!

We've had two nights since that first one, and he has slept through both of them until I wake him up to eat. We're hoping it continues because sleep is nice. :) He has been so good - I say that he's taking it easy on us first-timers.

Day 2 - God is Good

Today was Evan's 2nd day of life. We were supposed to go home today, but blizzards and doctors had other ideas. We got all packed and ready to go so we could be ready when the pediatrician discharged Evan. Dr. Chang came in around 8:30 to talk with us. He told us that Evan's CBC (his white blood count) came back and looked great. It is now in the normal range - BUT, they wanted to redo his CRP (to check for inflammation and infection), and that test takes awhile to come back because they have to send it to Hopkins. He said that it would be a few hours, but he thought everything would be ok. He also said that Evan looked a little bit yellow, but he wasn't really concerned about it. He called the NICU doctor to come and look at him and told us that we were waiting on the go ahead from that doctor or the CRP to come back. So I got back into bed to try and catch a little sleep while we waited for awhile.

The NICU doctor came in a little while later to see us. She said that she did another test (a blood culture) to make sure he didn't have any bacterial infections. THAT test takes 24 - 48 hours to come back. Immediately my mind was going in overtime knowing that I HAD to be discharged because of insurance, and this woman (who did not have the best bedside manner) was telling me that I had to leave my baby! She also said that he looked REALLY yellow to her. After she left, I burst into tears. We did not want to leave without him, and we couldn't come back and forth because of the blizzard going on outside. We decided that we would stay as long as we can (11:59 pm Saturday) and then sit in the waiting room all night so I could continue to go and nurse him. The nurses went to check to see if the courtesy room was available.

In the meantime...this afternoon around 3pm, we got the CRP and jaundice readings back, and both were great. We would have been released already if the CRP was back earlier this morning with good levels, but since this blood culture was started, we still have to wait for it to come back. The fact that these tests were good was fantastic news.

We found out around 6:30 that we were allowed to use the courtesy room for the night. It is on the fourth floor, but at least it's a bed and not just a chair in the waiting room. We are still staying in the maternal care unit until 11:59 so we can have him with us, and then he will go to the nursery for the night, and they will call me to come down and feed him. Right about the time they told us we got the room, we also found out that they sent another jaundice test out because they felt he was looking a little more yellow. The head nurse said that if it came back high, he would need to stay ANOTHER 24-48 hours to be under the bili-light. She suggested giving him some formula as well to help supplement to get it out of his system and make sure he doesn't get dehydrated. An hour later we found out that his levels were a little bit higher, but the pediatrician wasn't too concerned. Thank you, Lord!

So here we are - still waiting on the results of the blood culture. Hopefully they will have them in the morning, and all will be well, and we can go home. If not, they have to give him antibiotics, and he will have to be in the NICU for 7-14 days. The thought of it makes me want to go crazy. I'm praying so hard that all will be well, and our family will be able to go home tomorrow.

When we were choosing Evan's name, we were looking at the meanings. Evan means God is good. God IS good, and we are putting our faith in him that all of this is for the best. Only He knows the master plan.

I have more pictures, but the cord is in one of our bags, and Evan and Daddy are sleeping, so I don't want to turn the lights on. I will post them as soon as I can.

Thanks to everyone for their prayers. We are blessed to have so many great friends.

Day 1

Evan's first day was quite eventful. He had to stay in the nursery for awhile because his pulse ox levels were a little low. They became stable, but his white blood count is up. They said it could be because of his traumatic birth or he could have an infection. They retested him again at 10pm last night, and it was still up, so they sent another one at 6am, and we are waiting for the results. Evan was so good yesterday (and tired). He is nursing like a champ, and he far exceeded how many diapers he was supposed to "produce." Mommy and Daddy are really good at having him at the nursery when he has a poopie diaper! :)

Here are some updated pictures of the little man!!

Baby Evan is here!!!!!!!

Well, after a loooooong labor, baby Evan Stanley Palczewski has made his arrival! He was born at 6:41 a.m. today weighing in at a hefty 8lbs. 15oz. and 20.5in long. Melissa was such a trooper, I have the utmost respect for my wonderful wife for what I witnessed today while she was giving birth. Never again will I bust her chops for being a sissy!!!!!!!!! Melissa started pushing at 3:40 and by 5:40 the nurses stoppped the pushing and went to get the doctor. Dr. H was a little busy, so momma and me got a few needed winks. Dr. H came in checked Melissa and told her that she could help the birth with a vacuum. The doctor vacuumed, and pulled and pulled, and then Evan got stuck. The nurses had to make several calls. They finally got him out, he was rushed to his warming table so that he could be suctioned and cleaned and then..................he cried! That was the best sound two very nervous parents could hear! We were nervous that he was not making a sound upon delivery, but the doctor said that it was from being stuck.

I just walked our son to the nursery to be checked for temperature and to get his first bath. He has a bruised head and forearm from the delivery, but other than that, our son is doing great!!!!