Luke is 1 month!!

Luke turned 1 month on May 20th!  Wow - that sure flew by and what a month it was.  We've been blessed with such a sweet baby boy.  Can't wait for the months and years ahead. 

First Bath

When we gave Luke his first bath you can imagine that he wasn't too happy.  I was a nervous wreck b/c he was screaming so Scott got in there and got the job done.  Since then, Scott likes to give him his baths and Luke has really started to enjoy bath time.  He just lays there and relaxes now.  It's fun to watch and we love giving him baths now.  He hasn't peed on us yet either so that's a positive.  :)

 

 

Luke's First Two Weeks at Home

Luke has been home for 2 weeks now!  He's doing great.  We've been hanging out at home trying to adjust to our new life.  The new sleep schedule is WAY different then what we were used to, but it's gotten better everyday.  We're already noticing lots of changes in Luke.  His cheeks are fuller and he's a lot more vocal.  Luke's not shy to tell you if he's not happy and he's the loudest sleeper.  His snoring actually wakes us up.  Luke is also still eating like a champ.  He's up to 100-120mills of milk per feeding and he does not miss a meal - just like his mom and dad.  Ha!  He's up every 3-4 hours and then goes back to sleep.  It's so fun to see how much he's changing already.  I can't wait until he gives us his first real smile.  We see smiles everyday, but we know they're not on purpose yet and most likely just gas.  Here are some pictures from our first few weeks at home. 

Oh and for those of you Tess lovers.  She is doing great with Luke.  She's naturally started protecting him.  Everywhere we go with Luke, she's right behind us.  And we're constantly catching her laying her head down on his blankets.  It's so sweet.         

Here's a shout out to the grandmas and grandpas too!  They've been so great and have helped us so much these past two weeks.  Don't know what we'd do without them.  Luke is very lucky!  

 Look at those hands!!

So tiny on our bed

 Luke and Grandma Walkenbach

 Lounging on his lamb pillow

 Luke and Grandma Tenholder

Tess loves her little brother :)

Luke is Home!!!

First of all - Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!  This weekend was crazy getting everything ready for Luke to come home so I didn't get a chance to update his blog.  He did wonderful over the weekend so he was able to come home today.  He's been eating 75-80mills every feeding and he's now 6lbs 4.7oz!  Way to go Bubba :) 

We got to the hospital at around 9am this morning to pick up our little guy.  Lots of emotions - excitement, nervousness, etc.  We know the first week will be an adjustment for all of us, but I'm sure we'll catch on in no time.  We were scheduled to have our going home pictures taken at 11am.  If you'd like to check out Luke's first photo shoot go to, http://www.bellababyphotography.com/, click on view photos and enter the password: 0420luketenholder.  The photos will be up for 2 weeks! 

Here are a few pictures from our day...

Last diaper change in the hospital

First car ride.

Tess is already laying right next to Luke.  We knew they would be best buds.  :)

 

Doctor Check-up

Luke had a doctor visit today!  They checked his numbers over the last two days and it looks like the end of Luke being in the NICU is in sight.  He's been eating really well, his body temperature is consistent and he's gaining weight.  These are all things he needs to do before he can come home with us.  They're going to monitor his eating and his heart rate over the weekend and then reevaluate him on Monday.  And if his eating is still on track and he doesn't have any heart rate drops he'll go home on Monday.  If there happens to be heart rate drop he'll stay until Tuesday and then we'll be taking a heart monitor home with us so we can keep track of it at home.  All in all, it's looking like Tuesday at the very latest!  Way to go Luke! 

I'm ready guys!!

 

   

Feed Me!!

When I got to the hospital today I noticed that Luke's feeding tube was gone.  The nurse said that he ripped it out of his little nose that morning and she convinced the nurse practicioner to leave it out.  So they did and Luke has been taking his bottle feeding like a champ ever since.  Hopefully that was his subtle way of saying he's ready to come home! 

I've also noticed that Luke is much more active now.  The first week he would sleep so soundly and hardly ever woke up, but now he's a little wild man stretching all over the place and moving his little hands up around his face.  This must mean he's growing.  :)

He's getting chubby cheeks!

Luke likes to hold his pacifier while he sucks.  It's pretty cute. 

Passing Tests

Luke is barely 2 weeks now and he's already being tested like he's in school.  He has to pass a number of tests before he can come home - some of which are the hearing test, the car seat test and the 90 minute car seat challenge where he has to sit in his car seat all buckled up for 90 minutes straight.  They monitor his heart rate and oxygen levels the entire time he's in the seat making sure he can tolerate being in this position for a long period of time.  These "tests" are all promising signs that he is close to being discharged.  Here's a picture of him after his long day of these tests.  He was so exhausted and he looks like he's saying, "What the heck just happened to me!"

My Mom and Me

I'm on maternity leave now so Luke and I will be spending a lot of time together these next few months.  It's different since he's still in the hospital so I'm really looking forward to getting him home and starting our lives.  But for now we'll just have to document our time together while he's in the NICU.  I spend most of my day hanging out with Luke in his room.  Since I can't drive yet my mom and dad or Scott's mom and dad usually take me up to the hospital in the morning and then I go home with Scott when he comes up after work.  You'd think it would be a long day, but the time goes by so fast with him eating every 3 hours.  The nurses let us take care of him as far as changing him, taking his temperature, feeding him, etc.  But it's nice b/c they're always there to help if we're having problems.  It's pretty much like on-the-job training.

Father/Son Bonding Time

Since Scott had to go back to work only a few days after Luke was born, he gets his time in with Luke whenever he can.  He usually goes up to the hospital to see him in the early morning before work and then he comes straight up to the hospital right after work.  I have a feeling they've already had some interesting conversations.   

 

Already a lady's man :)

Luke's such a charmer.  Our favorite NICU nurse, Tammy took care of Luke for 2-3 days straight.  We were sad to hear that Tammy probably wouldn't get Luke again since she was scheduled to work with a different group.  We found out that at her next shift Tammy personally requested to take care of Luke that night b/c she thought he was such a sweet boy.  The ladies are already lining up for him....ha!

 

Luke's Progress!

Luke started out with an IV and oxygen tubes in the NICU.  These have both been removed and he has also moved from sleeping in an isolete to an open crib.  He's making lots of progress bringing him closer to coming home with us.  Hurry up Luke!  We're getting antsy!!    

Here's Luke in his isolete...

Here's Luke in his open air crib.  Much better! 

And here's Luke all bundled up...

Tess can't wait to meet you, Luke! 

First Sunbathing Experience

Luke's billirubin levels were high so the doctor wanted to put him under these blue lights to correct the issue.  This is normal for preemies.  He had to spend two full days 24/7 under these lights.  Poor guy!  I think we were more upset about it than he was though.  He was very calm and relaxed the whole time.   Since then, the billirubin levels have gone down! 

We were only able to hold him for one hour these two days.  That was really hard.  This picture makes us laugh because he has the most confident look - it's almost a glare.  My parents would say that this is the "Katie" look.  I guess we'll have to rename it the 'Luke" look now.  I'm in trouble.  

 

Luke's First Few Days

Here are a few pictures of Luke in his first few days in this world.  He is so sweet!  The NICU at St. John's is great and they have been really helpful so far.  Hopefully he won't have to be here too long, but we know he's in good hands. 

Luke has huge hands and huge feet.  He's totally going to be a little basketball player.  Here they are compared to Scott's. 

Luke's Temporary Home in the NICU

Since Luke was 5 weeks early he's going to be spending some time in the NICU at St. John's Mercy.  He needs time to learn how to breathe and eat on his own consistently.  We're not sure how long his stay will be.  They told us it could be anywhere from 2 weeks to his due date of May 26th.  We're bummed that Luke will not be coming home from the hospital with us, but we know he is in great hands.  We'll have to be patient and give Luke time to learn these skills he would have otherwise learned while in the womb.  We're asking Luke to do a lot of things that he would not have had to do at 35-39 weeks old, so he gets very sleepy very quickly.

Our Baby Boy is Here!

Luke Michael Tenholder was born on April 20th 2011 at 10:16pm.  He was 5lbs 15oz and 18.5 inches long.  He would have been a big boy if he'd gone to full term.  The doctor even said that in the operating room!  He is so sweet and perfect.  We are truly blessed to have such a beautiful baby boy in our lives.  This is one of Luke's first pictures.  He already has long arms like his dad.   

Our Journey Begins...

Little did we know that our baby decided that he wanted to arrive 5 weeks early and that we would be in the hospital on April 20th, 2011!  My original due date was May 26th, 2011.  This was obviously a shock to us all.  My water broke unexpectedly in the middle of the night (some say b/c of the barometric pressure - the temp dropped from the 70s down to the 40s that night) so we rushed to the hospital and found out that we would have our baby that day.  We were scared, excited and eager to meet our baby.  Here are a few pictures showing how the day went.  It was a very long 20 hours...

I was induced at around 7am that morning and they continued to try to put me into labor for 18 hours.  That's when they finally made the call that I would have to have a c-section...

All smiles in the morning.

The grandma's were there to keep us company. 

  Our last photo together before our baby boy decided to join us :)  Wow - what a day!  This was an experience I'll never forget.  It was definitely not how I imagined it would be, but it was still wonderful nonetheless.