Liam was born on July 9th, weighing 7lbs and 15.6 oz and 19.5 inches long. He's a beautiful little boy with adorable and chubby cheeks. We were able to meet him the day after his birth and spent all morning and afternoon with him. That was an amazing experience. On his third day of Liam's life our day was a bit hectic. We were able to spend the morning with him and part of the afternoon, feeding, changing and just cuddling with him. Then our birth mother's lawyer arrived to finalize the adoption placement and grant us guardianship over Liam. That was a wonderful moment, but a little nerve racking as Keith and I had no idea what to expect. Once they left we were told by the nurses in the Nursery that it was time to transfer Liam to the NICU Step 2 ward.
This was not a shock to us as the doctor had explained all this on day one. You see Liam's birth mother had been taking a prescription drug throughout her pregnancy. This we were made aware of at the very beginning of the process. We understood the possibilities this would have on the baby, but thankfully no lasting effects.
So when Liam was born it was explained to us by his doctor that he would be held on a 7 day observation period to make sure that he is healthy and ready to go home before being released. On day two we really started to notice symptoms of withdrawal in his muscle tone and a bit of jitteriness. Then day three (7/11) we really noticed the shaking and his tightness. That was really scary and the difficult timing of the lawyer and the transfer to the NICU made the day all that much more difficult to deal with. Though we got through it and Keith was able to hold strong for me, somehow we got through the day.
After a good night sleep we returned to the hospital. The NICU Step 2 is much more ridged than the nursery, they are very good, and they have many rules. This made my morning a little unnerving. I have been fortunate to not have an experience of being a patient in a hospital (yet...knock on wood) and so seeing our little son in that little crib, hooked up to wires, and alarms going off was a little horrifying. But our wonderful nurse, Mandy, really took us through what was going on, answered all our questions the best she could, and if she didn't know something she found out for us in a timely manner. All those nurses in there are truly angels to all the parents in there.
Liam's little area is in the back of the ward tucked away in the a little closet that is quieter and darker than most spots. We found Liam wide awake this morning, just looking around and content. He likes to look around with a look of "what are you doing?" He loves to cuddle and sleep. Sleep is his favorite. We are working on getting him to eat more, he's having trouble putting the sucking and swallowing together, but Mandy says that is normal, we just have to keep pushing him. His withdrawal symptoms seemed to be okay today and less and less as the day went on. By the time we left we had managed to get him to eat quite a bit and also put him back to sleep. Overall it was a great day! I will take any progress over none.
Keith and I would really appreciate your continued prayers! We just want to get our boy home, but healthy is our prime concern right now. We really want him home, but we want him healthy more than anything. Please keep praying for him and us! God Bless!!!
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