A very tiny early Christmas present

Ahhh! So much to blog about! 

It has been a very exciting Christmas for our family. My brother Cody and his cute wife Laci drove down from Seattle to spend a few weeks at home in Utah for Christmas. The night they got here, my sweet sister-in-law went into labor...7 weeks early. I got the phone call from Cody in the early hours of December 22nd while I was at work. After a miserable night, he had taken Laci into the hospital (again...they had sent her home the night before after testing her and saying she was not going to have a baby in the next 2 weeks. 99% accurate test, they said...apparently Laci IS the 1%!). 

Laci's water broke shortly after she got to the hospital, and she was dilating fast. 

There was no stopping this baby. 

With this news, I finished my shift, went home to gather some things, and headed up to Logan to be with my family. Before I could even leave Salt Lake City, my mom called me to let me know that he was here. I had a tiny new nephew! Little Batman was taken away to the NICU. They had to intubate him to give him surfactant, and he remained intubated all day. 

I got up to Logan safely, running on no sleep but pure adrenaline. I couldn't miss that chance to meet this little man, and make sure he was doing okay. After all, I am a pediatric nurse with a LOT of experience in the NICU. Not to mention that I have personally experienced the birth of my own preemie. I know what Laci is going through. At least in my experience, though, we all knew that I was going to have a preemie. I had a bit more time to prepare, but I still remember the worry and the emotional stress like it was yesterday. Laci was dealing with all of that plus the shock that she had a BABY after only a few hours of labor. Hang in there, Laci! These tiny little preemies really are a blessing!

Holding Mommy's hand

Little Batman was born weighing 4 pounds 4 ounces, 17.5 inches long. Crazy how close he was to Anna's stats. She weighed 4 pounds 3 ounces and was 18 inches long! Seeing little Batman has brought back a flood of memories that seem like just yesterday.

Note the nametag...welcome, Batman!

For those of you who are wondering, no, his name is not really Batman. Cody is just a smart ass when it came to picking names for this child. All he ever suggested was "Batman". So the nickname has stuck. 

Official name? 

Hunter Stephen John. 

Beautiful, handsome, perfect little guy with a ton of strawberry blonde hair. 

I'm in love! I am finally an aunt!

Congratulations to Cody and Laci. 

Less than one day old...breathing tube out!

Hunter is doing very well. He remains in the NICU with the typical preemie issues...a little oxygen, a few bradycardia episodes every now and then, and he is a little too lazy to eat by mouth. He just needs to grow and mature a little so that he will wake up to eat. He's doing great!

Snuggling with Daddy on Christmas day

Wide awake at midnight - 6 days old

Snuggling my little nephew

Needless to say it has been a memorable Christmas!