Robbins Family Update

I'm home ... but without my husband or our Liam :( Bill stayed at the hospital tonight so I could come home and be with David. Liam is doing MUCH BETTER!! PRAISES TO JESUS!! He is keeping his blood sugar up and eating a bunch! He was on 10 units/hour of glucose and is down to 7. Once he gets off the IV, he'll need to be stable for 12-18 hours and then he can come home!! Hopefully by the middle/end of the week. Oh... and Grandma Joy and Dandad come in tomorrow!

David and Grandma have been staying at our house for the past few nights. David does GREAT at their house, but after 2 nights, he was ready to be home. We played tonight and he took a bath. When I sang him his goodnight song, he looked up at me and smiled before putting his head on my shoulder. I missed him a lot and really felt I needed to come home to him tonight. Here he is this morning when Grandma went in to get him!

Liam and I had some 'skin to skin' time this afternoon. His nurse brought over a recliner for me to sit in and have him lay on my chest in between feedings. This is done mostly for premies, but it's good bonding for all kids. Bill really felt he needed to stay with Liam tonight and do his feedings.

I am so thankful for a husband who is a wonderful daddy to our two boys.

Thank you for your prayers!

Big Brother

David spent today with Grandma, Papa, and Auntie Alice.

They played at home,

went to Costco and

then came to visit us at the hospital.

Due to the swine flu, no one under the age of 18 is allowed in the hospital.

So Bill and I came down to the lobby to play with him.

He was SO EXCITED to see us and, of course,

I cried a little when he came running up to us to give us hugs and kisses!

We played for about an hour and then they left to get lunch and

put David down for a nap while we fed and cuddled with Liam.

Tonight, they all went to the Christmas Eve service at their church and

David was able to play in his classroom

(the same one he goes to for the Mom's group we are in!).

He is asleep now after a fun bath and dinner!

Thank you Grandma, Papa, and Auntie Alice for taking care of the

BIG BROTHER

so we can care for the

LITTLE BROTHER

Liam is doing very well. He's still in the NICU because he's not eating much yet. His oxygen levels are great and his blood sugar is staying up. Now we just need to get him to eat more and we will be able to take him home! Thank you for your prayers!

It's a BOY!

Introducing...

William (Liam) Dan Robbins

7 lbs 1 oz and 18 inches long.

He was having trouble with his blood sugar, so he is currently in the NICU. At his 10 PM check, his blood sugar had gone up:

We are now praying it stays up so he can join us in our room again soon.

We just went in again at 1 AM and Liam's blood sugar is doing great!

There is another minor set back, though. He is breathing just fine on his own, but his blood/oxygen level is low. After taking a chest x-ray, it was discovered that there are little holes in the 'balloons' that surround his lungs (I'm sure I'm not explaining this right, but it's close!). This probably happened when he took his first big breath. It will heal on it's own, but in the mean time, he was on oxygen through his little nose and is now in an oxygen 'hood' for 4 hours. We will go back in around 4:30 or 5 to feed him and check on how he is doing.

We will keep you posted! Thank you again for your prayers!

David spent the day with Grandma and is sleeping at Grandma and Papa's house tonight. Unfortunately, he is not allowed in the hospital at all. We are hoping tomorrow he can come down here and we can meet up with him in the lobby and at least be able to see him and hug him. He'll have to wait until we get home to meet his little brother!

We are very excited to have brothers so close in age

and pray they will be best friends as they grow up!

So sorry this is a mismash of information. I pieced together a few emails to give this update. Besides, I've been up since 6:30 this morning and it's now 1AM! Oh, and I went through labor!

Bed time for us!

Love,

Bill, Donna, David and Liam

Here and There

There is no rhyme or reason to these pictures,

other than they were all taken this month!

Just thought I'd share a little of our daily life.

Yes, it's daily that David sits on/in the dishwasher!

Yes, I see the butter knives.

And yes, when you ask him to smile,

this is what you will get!

Or this one...

This is a book from Grandma Joy and Dandad.

They brought it (and another one) with them on their trip in October.

They are David's two favorites and the only ones he reads!

Little People: Busy Town

and

Cars and Trucks and Things that Go!

A Baby Shower

A few weeks ago, our church blessed us with a baby shower!

We had a great time and enjoyed the company and

blessings of our friends there.

We played a few games.

This one is a stroller race!

Baby Update

We had our appointment yesterday and the baby and I are healthy and growing! YEAH!!

Last week we had an appointment with an NP. After talking with my doctor, it was decided that they would induce this week. Unfortunately, nothing was ever written in my chart AND no one ever called the Perinatologist (high risk doctor - for my heparin) to see what he thought.

Yesterday when we went in, the doctor actually called the Perinatologist to get the opinion of the expert! They decided I should be induced at 39 weeks instead. So when the doctor went to the hospital yesterday afternoon, he registered me to be induced next week.

So...if the baby doesn't come on his/her own in the next week, I will be induced on December 23rd at 8:30.

My last dose of heparin will be the evening on the 21st, so I will not take it at all the day before. This will help with bleeding and I'll be able to have an epidural (I bled a lot with David and wasn't able to have an epidural because my heparin level was too high).

So that's where we are. Kind of crazy to be able to plan an end date and not just wait around for contractions to start or my water to break!

The bummer for us is that we really wanted to avoid having a "Christmas" baby. We didn't want Christmas and birthday to get mixed in together every year. We'll just have to get creative and maybe do 1/2 birthdays every once in awhile!

I think that covers it!

Hope you all have a GREAT week!

Love,

Donna, Bill, David, and BROB 2.0

Eighteen Months Later

We recently had David's 18 month check up and our little bear is THRIVING! His doctor said we don't need to adjust for him being early because he is right on track in all areas. We are so thankful for a HEALTHY, GROWING boy who loves to giggle, give kisses and hugs, play wherever we go!