The Beginning

Feeding Joshua his first milk

Daddy picking up Joshua

Happy Moment

Holding Joshua for the first time

Where to begin.....

It has been quite a journey just in the past 8 days, and I know the days to come will hold news of joy and possibly some tears. I have been writing down thoughts here and there when I get a chance and I thought I would share this with everyone through this blog.  It seems easier to post updates here than it does through mass emails every day, so you can tune in whenever you have time and read what is going on with Team Altman. Enjoy!

Joshua Marshall Altman was born on November 9, 2010 at 8:46pm. His arrival was bittersweet, being that he was not due until January 10, 2011. Most of you know that I was put on bed rest at about 27 weeks due to my blood pressure rising to very high levels. At 31 weeks I finally started to develop signs of Pre-Eclampsia so the doctors determined that the risk of carrying Joshua any longer was too great. He was delivered by c-section within 6 hours of making the decision.

This experience has been one that has evoked every emotion I can think of. I had dreamed about the day he would arrive and I would get to finally hold him, but unfortunately our first meeting was not until the next day. There were 5 nurses patiently waiting in the operating room for him and as soon as he came he was rushed out of the room and up to the NICU. I actually never even layed eyes on him until the next day, but Josh told me how beautiful he was. The next three days in the hospital were spent juggling time between recovering, sleeping, and wheeling up to the NICU to see Joshua. Josh never left my side, and I don't think he ever got a good night sleep in the "chair bed" that was too short for anyone over 6 feet. I really have an amazing husband who makes Team Altman stronger every day. Until baby Joshua comes home, I will refer to our family as a team because we are all working to make our family strong and healthy.

Day 7 in the NICU
After one week in the NICU, Joshua has made some great improvements. When Joshua was first born, his lungs were not fully developed. Most babies develop mature lungs by 36 weeks of gestation. Because Joshua was born at 31 weeks, he had a hard time breathing, and the nurses had to intubate him. Intubation is the insertion of a tube through the mouth and into the patient's lungs which helps them breath. As of two days ago, Joshua was extubated, meaning they took out the tube and he is now breathing on his own. What a great accomplishment for him!

Another complication that goes along with the immature lungs is Apnea and Bradycardia or "The A's and B's" as the nurses would say. Although Joshua is breathing on his own now, he can still forget to breath sometimes and this is very common with premature babies. Apnea is the absence of breathing and an alarm will sound if he has an irregular breathing pattern which consists of intervals of pauses longer than 10-15 seconds.  Bradycardia is the reduction of heart rate and an alarm will sound if his heart rate falls below 100 beats per minute. He actually experienced this last night when I was able to hold him for the first time. He was so relaxed in my arms he forgot to breathe, so the nurse had to come by and tap on his back and then he started again. It was very scary the first time, but I am told I will get used to it happening and he will eventually grow out of this.  An interesting remedy for this, they actually give Joshua a daily dose of caffeine which stimulates and reminds his brain to breathe. Caffeine affects infants differently than adults, so its not the same as drinking a latte!

Last night, was the first night I got to hold Joshua. Let me just say....it was one of the best days thus far. They actually refer to this in the NICU as "Kangaroo Care." The infant is tucked into the shirt of the mother so that there is skin to skin contact similar to the mother Kangaroo and its baby in the pouch. The direct contact between mother and baby helps to regulate his body temperature since he is unable to do so on his own yet.  Premature babies are born with little body fat and immature skin so they are unable to maintain body heat which is why he is kept in an incubator.

Joshua is finally able to digest small amounts of milk, his digestive system is still immature so the feedings consists of very small amounts, about 3mL twice a day. He has had an infection in his stomach which still seems to be there, so they are taking his feeding very slow. Because breast milk has natural antibodies from mother, it should help build up his immune system slowly.

This is quite a long post being that it is seven days wrapped up into one, so I will post shorter and more frequent posts from here on. Again we ask that you keep baby Joshua in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you so much for all the support thus far, it has been comforting to Josh and I.

Much love.