Wow... Home...

The last few days have been an emotional roller coaster ride. We have not posted in a while because despite feeling that Asher was making substantial progress each day it was hard to put anything up here.

We arrived at the house a little bit ago with Asher. Yes he has been released from the NICU early. Praise the Lord.

We are blessed to have such a group of friends

This morning looking at this update site Matthew noticed that it has been visited by at least one person in every continent of the world. It is so reassuring to know that Asher and his family are completely surrounded by friends and family who are pulling for us and committed to praying for our little angel. 

Here is the ClustrMap from this morning. The red dots represent visits to the site. The map updates once per 24 hour period. Clicking the image will allow you to see a full size version.

We are blessed to have such friends.

Not much happening... But quite a bit is going on!

Matthew went to Asher's 8 and 11 AM hands-on appointments. When he arrived for the first one the Neonatal Physical Therapist was evaluating Asher's ability to bottle feed. She was very happy with his progress. Working the nipple, swallowing and breathing all in the right order and for the appropriate duration each is a lot of work and coordination that most of us probably never think about. 

Today is Nana Cheri's last day here to help with the kids. Andrea is going to miss her. She leaves for Phoenix on Wednesday morning very early. She got to go with Mike, Linda, Mandy and Jodie to Red Lobster and have the all you can eat shrimp. A good chance to spend some quality time together. 

Andrea went to her doctor appointment at 10:00 so they could check on her blood pressure and see how she was doing. They were happy with her health. Her blood pressure was ok (well for her) and they checked her incision. Everything seems to be fine.

A friend of Matthew's from work brought some chicken and potatoes for dinner. Braydn, who hates potatoes, asked for seconds. Tony, we are going to need your potato recipe!

Just a quick update. Thanks for reading.

Braydn Meets Asher

Time for the proud big brother to meet the new little rascal. Seems everybody else is fighting a bug so he got to come into the NICU and meet his brother. He was very proud.

He got just as excited about getting a turn to take photos with the digital camera. First he tried some shots of Asher. Next, he took a photo of the view from Asher's room that you might be interested in seeing.



Then, he took a shot of all of the rest of us in the room with Asher. They let mommy and daddy be in the room with him as Daddy's arms are pretty full. The nurse in the photo is one of the many Awesome "mommies" that Asher has taking good care of him in the NICU. We all joked the other day that Asher has staff.

You can see Andrea got a new haircut.

Asher Meets Uncle Kelly

Kelly and Toni drove down from Denver to meet Asher Zane. Kelly is Asher's uncle and Godfather. Here is photo of him holding Asher for the first time. He didn't want to put him down and he could not believe how small Asher was.

Only two people can go in to the NICU at a time and it is for a limited window of time just after he gets his "hands on" appointments every 3 hours.

Hopefully Miche will be down to meet the little guy sometime in the next week. Andrea's siblings are all hoping to come at Thanksgiving time so they can meet him.

Hungry Baby

We are walking out of the hospital as this is being posted. We just finished feeding Asher. He ate 25ml out of his 30ml from a bottle! He is making such great progress.

Andrea got to spend much of the day with her mom as well as her aunt Linda and uncle Mike. Sydnee has not been feeling well so the kids still have not met the baby.

Mostly today has been a restful day. Asher's mommy and daddy got to be with him when he turned 7 days old at 12:18 today.

Great News!

As of just a little bit ago Asher is out of his incubator and in a standard baby bassinet! We are overjoyed.

Nana Cheri Holding Asher

Here is a great photo of Nana Cheri holding baby Asher. She is out here in Colorado helping with stuff around the house and with the other kids.

Andrea has really enjoyed having her mother's support and encouragement during this difficult time.

Thursday Night - Mommy and Daddy Visit Asher

Asher is back on oxygen when his mommy and daddy stop in for his 8 PM feeding. The nurses explained that it is normal for him to go back on Oxygen with everything going on.

Matthew shot a quick video of Andrea rocking Asher in the chair.





This video is the first that seems to portray an accurate view of just how little Asher really is. You can see at the end of it when Andrea is using her pinky finger to push his oxygen tube in place. See the screen-shot below.

Bottle Feeding!

Today at Asher's 11 o'clock feeding change etc. they let Andrea try feeding him 3ml via a bottle. He does not seem to quite get it yet as far as what he has to do with that thing but he is starting to get the sucking down. They told us that swallowing is not something the baby can do until between 34-35 weeks of development. As of tomorrow he will be 34 weeks so this is the time to start trying the bottle. He is up to a total of 24ml of mother's milk (mostly through his feeding tube) and is still on the IV as well. To give an idea of how much mother's milk he gets each feeding 24 ml = 0.811536545 US fluid ounces. This is humorous considering mommy has been able to produce an average of 5 fluid ounces each time she pumps.

Andrea and E-ma got to get lunch together with Matthew this afternoon. It was simple but it felt like a celebration for the many blessings that God has brought in to our lives as well as the way that Asher is progressing so well. Andrea is doing very well despite feeling torn between being at the NICU and being home with the other little ones.

Andrea - Headache at the Hospital

Andrea is at the hospital visiting the baby. Her headache has been getting worse through the morning. She finally stopped at the nurses station and asked them to check her BP. It is very high so the doctor is having her go home and be sure to hydrate well and put ice on her neck.

Mommy Holding Asher

Andrea is doing so well. She hasn't even been taking any major pain medication. She is just on Motrin. Here she is holding Asher before she was discharged from the hospital. He is just snuggling in with her and enjoying the time rocking. He loves it when we kiss him. It is much easier to kiss him now that the IV is not located on his head anymore.

Here is a quick video clip of him rocking with mommy.




Zooming in for a closer video he looks like he is chewing gum...





It is hilarious how premature babies look like little old people.

Papa Jerry and E-ma Hold Asher

So, Papa Jerry drove from PHX to Colorado Springs on Friday night then back to PHX on Tuesday so that he could bring E-ma to help with the kids and stuff. Monday night he got to have a special meeting with Asher. They pulled him out of his incubator so that they could rock in the chair for a few minutes.

Next, E-ma got her chance to hold him for a couple minutes. Here she is with tears in her eyes getting to know her newest grandson. You can see in both of these photos that he has his "crown" on. This is his IV that had to be moved from his foot because his foot had problems.

E-mail Sent To Co-Workers and Friends

Friends,

Thank you so much for your prayers over these past few days. Andrea and I feel so blessed to know that we have so many brothers and sisters holding us up in prayer (and food, Susan makes a killer lasagna).

I have attached a picture of or newest family member to this email. They are hoping to start feeding him later today with his feeding tube. So far it has just been used to get yuckies out of his tummy.

Andrea is doing very well. She just went for her first short walk a few minutes ago to go see the baby. He looks so sweet sleeping in his incubator. Makes you just want to hold him. Andrea is healing magnificently and may get released as soon as tomorrow or the next day. My mom will be here helping with the kids and providing morale support this week and next. Andreas mom is here this week but may stay longer. I don't know how we could manage without them.

They have told us that at this point his target date to leace the NICU is his due date (day after Thanksgiving). He is a strong little guy so he should get released in 5 weeks or so.

Again thank you for your prayers and please continue to pray. We have some challenges ahead managing our home and providing breastmilk to a baby living in an NICU 15 miles from home, but God is good and we know he will give us strength and provide our every need.

Thanks again,

The Nimeth family

Oh and he is 17.5 inches long and weighed 3 lbs 15 ounces. ;)

Andrea Holding Asher

The Grand Entrance - Asher is Born

After a morning of nervous waiting, it was time for surgery. Matthew would accompany Andrea in the operating room.

It was amazing how quickly everything happened. Seemed like only minutes passed and they could hear a cry. Matthew was sitting behind the curtain with Andrea and could not see the baby either. The doctors were talking about something and the voice of the Neonatal Dr. saying something about him "looking good" could be heard over the hum. As Matthew looked behind where he was sitting he could see that the Anesthesiologist was surfing the web on his iPhone oblivious to the miracle that had just happened. Andrea said, "just wait." to Matthew hoping they would get to see the little guy together so Matthew waited. Less than a minute later the Neonatal Dr. called out, "Daddy come over here."

Matthew leaped out of his seat apologizing to Andrea for leaving her side, excited to meet his son and being careful to not look over at the surgical procedure taking place. Coming up on the group of Neonatal staff working on the baby Matthew caught his first glimpse of Asher. Just then he peed (Asher, not Matthew).

"Well those parts are working." One of the nurses said. Matthew cried and struggled to find his camera and snap a couple of photos. He stashed the camera back in his pocket and walked over to Andrea as she asked how the baby looked. "He is so handsome." Matthew said in a daze.

After that Matthew was asked to cut the umbilical cord and he was handed the baby so that he could carry him over to Andrea for her first introduction. She kissed baby on the face before Matthew and baby were ushered down the hall to the NICU.

Asher Zane Nimeth, born on 10-11-08 at 12:18 PM
3 lbs 15oz, 17.5 inches long

No Soup For You! - Er bagels anyway...

So Andrea woke up at the hospital and begun having breakfast with Matthew. She ate her banana and just as she had had a bite of her bagel with cream cheese, Dr. Weary came in to talk about what was up. She politely put aside her breakfast...

Andrea a couple of hours before surgery

"Looks like we will be inducing you today!" He said. Andrea's eyes got big. Then she asked him a question that would forever alter her opinion of bagels. "Is the baby still in a breech position?"

"Oh, he is in a breech position?" The Dr. asked. (Keep in mind that the Dr. had just come on his shift, in fact he was still wearing jeans. He hadn't had a chance to read her entire file yet and he is not Andrea's normal Dr.) "Hmm, we'll need to do a C-section then, we will need to wait until noon so that the food in your stomach is gone."

The nurse sadly carted Andrea's uneaten bagel out of her room and we thought we could hear her start munching on Andrea's bagel as she walked down the hall. (That part is not true, she ate very quietly.)

This was a bit scary. Andrea has never had an operation before.

Not Tonight!

By the evening they decided that they wanted to give Andrea some steroids so that the baby could get an advantage outside the womb. This would mean that she could go to sleep and get some rest (night number 2 in the hospital). Matthew stayed at the hospital with her to keep her company.

Hospital beds and couches are so amazingly comfortable. If you have not tried getting a good night sleep in one we highly recommend it. It might even change your life.

Friday - What Now?

Matthew got Sydnee and Dawby ready for the day and packed up some clothes and stuff for them. Who knew what this day would have in store. At the Hospital they had taken Andrea in for an advanced Ultrasound session. The results of this?

1) They found some problem with the placenta.
2) They determined that baby had not grown in over 2 weeks.
3) They determined that it was likely that Andrea would need to be induced early.
4) They confirmed that the baby was in a breech position.

The doctor told us to expect Andrea would begin being induced by evening time. This began a flurry of text messages and cell-phone calls trying to make all of the needed arrangements for a very early baby.

Great Friends

Matthew had to leave Andrea at the hospital alone Thursday night. Laura had graciously missed her class that night so that she could continue watching the kids. Matthew dropped Braydn off at a friends house who could watch him overnight now that he seemed to be feeling better. Dawby and Sydnee already missed their mom quite a bit.

Bed-Rest! Who is Gonna Watch the Kids?

Thursday afternoon Matthew's parents decided that they would drive from Phoenix to the Springs so that Matthew's mom (aka E-ma) could come and help try and extend Andrea's pregnancy by watching the other kids for a week or two. They planned to leave on Friday afternoon.

At the Hospital

When Matthew arrived at the hospital they had already determined that Andrea would be staying the night at least. They were beginning to see signs of very advanced Preeclampsya and they were concerned for her health. Mostly we waited around and hoped for the best. It was looking like she was going to be on bedrest for a long-long time.

Phone Calls

The first call Matthew made was to some dear friends named Kris and Laura. They have 3 girls near the ages of our children and they are both Nazarene Bible College students. They happily agreed to watch the kids while Matthew went to the hospital. Time to get the kids all ready. Oh but calls to Matthew and Andrea's parents had to be made.

The Appointment

The doctor decided that Andrea's blood pressure was way too high. She sent her immediately over to the hospital. Her doctors office has a directconnection to the new hospital. They sent her over to the Birth Center, she was admitted, and she was put in room 3306. They started more testing and at this point she was waiting for Matthew to show up at the hospital. He had to find someone to watch the 3 other rugrats.

Headache from God...

Matthew stayed home with a killer headache. This made going to the doctor's appointment a little easier on Andrea because she was able to leave Dawby and Sydnee home with him (and Braydn was home sick) while he waited for the Excedrin to kick in. She had not been gone for very long when She called home telling Matthew that she had just been sent to the hospital.

It is amazing how quickly a headache goes away when you have a rush of blood and adrenaline go through your body.