Josiah's 1st Halloween

This is Josiah's 1st Halloween....he dressed up as a newborn baby! =) Josiah & his mommy stayed home while Daddy took the girls out trick-or-treating.

It was too cold and Josiah was too young to go out trick-or-treating....so he & mommy stayed home together, all snuggled up....enjoying our time together.

Josiah & Mommy

This was taken the day I was discharged from the hospital. Josiah was receiving his tube-feeding at the time, but you can't see the feeding tube or the bottle of breastmilk/formula mix behind me that was in the process of going into his NG tube via gravity.

Josiah ~ October 21, 2006

The "sweet feet" of Josiah

Our little man...relaxed in his isolette in the NICU

Josiah & Mommy's hand

Josiah & Mommy's hand ~ taken after his second IV was removed.

Josiah ~ 3 days old

Mr Josiah @ 3 days old --- with his feeding (NG) tube in place. At this point, he was only about 4.5# but still has a double chin and quite chubby cheeks!

One Very Proud Daddy and One Lucky Son

Daddy & Josiah --- Prince Josiah was 15 hours old in this photo

"Kangaroo Care"

Josiah & Mommy doing "Kangaroo Care" (aka skin-to-skin contact). The NICU encourages this type of care as it helps the little preemies to regulate their body temperature and encourages bonding, etc. Josiah still enjoys this "Kangaroo Care" and is such a little "snuggle bug"! This photo was taken during the first time I got to hold Josiah...he was just over 14 hours old ~~ those 14 hours seemed like ETERNITY!

Josiah

Josiah ~ only 2hrs old and already I have Daddy in the palm of my hand!!Daddy holding Josiah's hand. Josiah is @ 2hrs old and on the CPAP machine to help him breathe due to his respiratory distress issues he experienced at birth.

Josiah ~ just under 2 hours old

Josiah ~ on the CPAP...before the feeding tube (NG tube) was placed the next day.

Prince Josiah ~ with "his girls"

Josiah with his 3 older sisters at 30 minutes old! Josiah was in the resuscitation room while he was being stabilized prior to being moved to the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit)/DNCC (Doernbecher Neonatal Care Center) area. Look at the pride on those girls' faces! He's a lucky little boy!

Announcing the arrival of our SON!!!

We are proud to announce the arrival of our new son: Josiah James LeRoy Roberts! Josiah arrived via c-section on Monday, October 16th @ 10:26pm. Little Josiah was born 6 weeks early at Oregon Health & Sciences University (OHSU). He weighed 4# 11.5oz and was 17-3/4" long.

Our little guy's due date wasn't until November 27th, but needed to be delivered via an urgent c-section due to a fetal/maternal hemorrhage caused by a partial placental abruption (meaning the placenta was detaching from the uterus and Josiah's blood cells were entering his momma's blood stream). The doctors said that if he wasn't delivered that night, he could either likely bleed so much that he needed blood transfusions or could be stillborn.

Josiah spent 14 days in the DNCC (Doernbecher Neonatal Care Center)/NICU and was discharged on Sunday, 10/29. At his lowest weight, he was 4# 4oz, but was up to 4# 13-oz at his doctor's appointment on Tuesday, 10/31. Josiah is on an apnea monitor 24hrs a day. This monitors his respirations as well as his heart rate. The heart rate is what the doctors are watching the closest since Josiah's initial EKG indicated he might have the same heart condition Mariah has. We do get several valid alarms going off each day (with the monitor showing a low heart rate), but many of the alarms are due to the electrodes not sticking to his skin properly. One set of electrodes should last @ 2 days and we have to change them at least 2x/day! This monitor really gives us peace of mind, especially in the night.

Josiah is calling for his momma, so I will try to add to this post later!