February 5: The Weekly Ethan Poll

Before I get into today's update, I would like announce the new weekly "Ethan Poll", which can be found over on the right --> -->. Here's the plan...every Friday, we'll post our top 4 fav pictures from the past week and will ask you to vote on which one you like best. Which ever wins will become the header picture for the following week. We'll pick a new winner each Sunday night, so be sure to cast your vote before the deadline! :)

Today we marked the 2 week anniversary of Ethan's birth. It was yet another good day. I know I have said that every day, but really, every day that he goes without a set back is a good day. One of our primary nurses, Tracy, was there when I arrived. Let me first say that all of the nurses are wonderful, but we have become close to Tracy in a short amount of time. She loves Ethan so much; it's very apparent. All nurses have their own ways of handling the babies and have their opinions on what is best for them. I guess you could say that Tracy meshes with mine and Jon's personalities really well. I feel the most at ease when she is there.

Tracy hadn't been in our bay for a few days so I was pretty excited to see her and she was to see me as well. She followed me into Ethan's pod and gave me the daily update and gushed over how cute he is (maybe this is why I like her so much). Right away, she asked me if I wanted to kangaroo. Hell, yeah I did. She suggested that we try 2 hours today. I was elated. She strongly believes that the best thing for Ethan is skin to skin contact with his mom or dad so she doesn't like to restrict kangaroo time unless Ethan's stats are off (ok, yet another reason I like her, you can probably see why she has risen to one of the top nurses in our book so quickly). So, for 2 days in a row, I got to hold my little boy. We spent 2 very peaceful hours together just chillin and cuddling. He is starting to find his voice and was cooing and making little sigh noises while he snuggled in. It was yet another defining moment. I'm a very lucky mom.

Once we got him settled back into his isolette, it was time for a visit from Auntie Shell. Shell and I spent a good chunk of time just staring at him. She hadn't seen him in a couple of days and he had changed so much and she was taking it all in. It was during this time, we realized that he had a poopie diaper. Tracy was gone for the day by this time, so I found our night nurse and told her about the situation. She was helping another baby, so I cockily told her that I could change his diaper on my own, no problem. I came back and told Shell the news. She looked impressed. We got out his diaper and a wet wipe. Tracy had switched him back to the smaller diapers that morning, obviously also thinking that the old man diaper of yesterday looked ridiculous. Once set up, I started the process. I got the new diaper under the old and got the dirty one off. I wiped his little fat free butt and got him all settled in ok. This is where things took a bad turn. I realized at that point why they had the bigger diaper on him. Although, he hadn't put on much weight, the girth of his belly was now much bigger. To fasten the velcro to the diaper so it fit correctly, I had to center the smaller diaper just so. This was a little stressful as I don't like moving Ethan too much....he's so little. So, after jostling him more than I think was necessary, I felt that I had him all positioned correctly. I was quite proud of myself until Shell and I looked down at the same time and realized that there was a stream of pee coming out of the side of his diaper and he was peeing all over his hand! Quickly, Shell got me another diaper and wet wipe. I tried soaking up the pee puddle as fast as I could while trying to hold back his little hand so I could clean it before he attempted putting it in his mouth, all the while Shell was suggesting to me that next time, I should make sure his little penis is facing down so this doesn't happen again. Seriously? The little guy doesn't have that much to try to position at this point in his life...although you might not have known this by the amount of pee that had come streaming out. I was all nervous and fumbly as I couldn't get the diaper centered enough to make it fit. So, Shell stepped in to help...she was on one side and I on the other trying ensure that everything was positioned just so. Yes, it took two of us to change the diaper of a 1lb 12oz baby. Finally, we felt that we had it. I was sweating! I had definitely failed the dirty diaper test and will need to put in some practice before attempting a change without a nurse present. Poor little Ethan weathered our bungling fairly well... he was a little upset, but quickly got over it once his dry diaper was in place and I cupped his head with my hand. The nurse came in at that time and we had to fess up that things didn't go well. He had wet his bedding, so she had to step in to clean up the mess we helped make. I'm sure she wished she would have come in to help us earlier. :)

We're looking forward to a fun day tomorrow. Jon will most likely get to resume his visits as he is starting to feel a little better and shouldn't be contagious anymore. It hasn't been the same without him there with us. We're also looking forward to a visit from Marisa tonight :)