Swinging and Hanging with Aunt Meri

Miller finally got to meet his Aunt Meri this weekend, and he was pretty excited. Meri had just come from a 5K (apparently some people enjoy that kind of thing), but she still made time to come give Miller a snuggle.

Miller also got to try his baby swing for the first time this weekend, and he really liked it. He was fussing a little, and he pretty much sacked out when Mike put him in it. It was a gift from Meri, Jen, and Courtney at the shower, so thanks again, ladies! Anything that helps him sleep is much appreciated :)

Miller's First Bath at Home

Here's Miller getting his first bath in his little bathtub at home. Mike and Nana had to give him his bath, because when I gave him his first bath at the hospital, I almost cried because he got so upset. Apparently, newborns don't like baths at all.

He did a little better this time, so maybe he'll learn to like them. In any case, he looked really cute in the bathtub. It was like a baby hammock.

Miller's First Day at Home

Miller is excited to be home. Here he is snuggling with dad and checking out the camera.

He likes hanging with mom. His going home outfit was very cute, and a gift from his Great Aunt Julie. He looked awfully handsome in it.

Nana got to give him his first bottle at home, and although he slept through most of it, I think he enjoyed it.

Here he is after his first night at home in his basinett.


He looks like he's making himself comfortable, doesn't he?

Miller is Home!

Great news! Miller got discharged from the hospital today, and he is home with us! The dogs were very excited to meet him, and were very gentle when they greeted him. Sadie is now laying next to his bassinet, and every time he fusses she looks in to make sure he's okay. It's pretty funny.

I'll post pictures later when I get them downloaded.

Wireless Baby

Now that Miller has his feeding tube out, he's looking more handsome than ever. Is this the cutest face?

Here he is charming his Aunt Ninny. He definitely enjoyed giving her a snuggle.

New Pictures of Miller

Miller has had lots of visitors over the last few days. Now that everyone can hold him, he's much more fun to hang out with.

Miller with Grandpa Brant

Miller with Grandma Brant

Miller and Aunt Jana

Miller with PawPaw and Grammy

Miller with Nana

Extreme baby close up

Sleepy boy

Here's Miller wearing a cool onesie that his friend Finley let him borrow.

Great News!

Miller got his oxygen support removed yesterday, and he's now breathing completely on his own! Yay!

Miller's Progress

It's been awhile since I updated, but I wanted to put some new pictures up. Miller is doing great! He got the breathing tube taken out of his throat, and how he just has some oxygen support through his nose. As of today, it was on the lowest setting, and we're thinking they'll probably take it out and he'll be breathing completely on his own today or tomorrow. Yay!

He also is able to eat enough to where he doesn't need IV nutrition anymore, so they've taken his IV line out (you can see it in the first picture on his head). This makes it much easier for us to pick him up and hold him. He's almost a wireless baby.

Now that he's feeling a little better, he's also able to take a bottle. He gets pretty sleepy when he's doing it, but he's really good at sucking it down. Learning to eat normally is probably going to be the last thing he'll need to master in order to leave the hospital, so hopefully he'll continue to do well with his feeding.

Overall, he's a much happier and healthier baby than he was just a few days ago, and we're really hoping that he'll be home in the very near future. It's always hard to say with a premature baby, because they all progress differently. With all the progress he's made in the last few days, though, we are feeling really good that he'll be home soon.

Mike and Robin Headed Home Today

I am getting discharged from the hospital this afternoon, so Mike and I will be sleeping in our own bed tonight. It will be hard to leave Miller here in the hospital, but obviously it is the best thing for him for now. And I don't think Mike will miss sleeping on the tiny couch in my hospital room.

Miller is continuing to improve, slowly but surely. All of his doctors and nurses are great, and we know that they are doing everything they can to get him home with us. It just can't move fast enough for me and Mike, and it's hard not to have a specific time frame for his recovery. However, we do know that it's just a matter of time, and these few days are just a drop in the bucket for the time we'll get to spend with him in the coming years.

Please keep him in your prayers as he continues to get stronger, and thank you all for all the calls, emails and text messages. It means a lot to us.

Baby Miller is a Trooper

Well, Baby Miller has had a very exciting first couple of days. When he was born, even though he was doing some pretty impressive yelling, they suspected that he was having a little trouble breathing, so they went ahead and took him to the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit, in case you are as clueless about these things as I am). Lung problems are very common in little boys that are born a couple of weeks early, so our doctor had warned us that this was a possibility.

I got to see him in the NICU that night after I was done in recovery, and he was resting peacefully in his little tiny hospital bed. He looked awfully sweet, but it was really hard to see him with a tube up his tiny nose and an IV in his foot.

Yesterday afternoon, because he wasn't improving as much as they would like, they did a chest x-ray and found that he has a Pneumothorax , which is a small hole in the lung, common in newborns for a variety of reasons. Although this definitely sounded scary, the good news was that it was small enough to heal on it's own. Unfortunately, they did have to put him on a breathing machine with a tube down his throat to help him breathe while the hole repairs itself, but it's done him a world of good already.

This means he'll be in the NICU for a few more days, and unfortunately, he can't have any visitors (other than me and Mike and his grandparents). It's really hard for us to see him like this, but we know this is only a temporary set-back, and we appreciate all the support from our friends and family. We know that he'll be ready to come home before we know it, and he can't wait to meet all of you!

Miller Allen Brant is Here!

We are so excited to announce that as of 6:01 pm 3/9/09, Miller Allen Brant is here!

I will spare you guys the fun c-section photos and the ones of Miller getting goo toweled off of him, but here are a few fairly sanitized photos from yesterday. As you can see, he's awfully cute, if I do say so myself :) And awfully cranky about being cold.

Here's my first look at him once he was all toweled off and ready to head off to the NICU. He was still fussing a little bit, but he was the sweetest thing I'd ever seen. He's just so little and precious. It's hard to believe he belongs to me and Mike!

Hard to tell who he looks like yet, but once he got calmed down a bit, we could at least start to speculate. What do you guys think? Any guesses?

Because he was a few weeks early, Miller's lungs had a little fluid in them, and they aren't quite done developing, so he is going to have to spend a couple of days in the NICU. The is doing better already as of today, so we are hoping it will be a fairly short stay. It's hard not to have him with us in the room, but we are spending a lot of time with him down there.

He is just darling, and we can't wait to bring him home and introduce him to the rest of his family. Vince, Sadie, Thor, Pumpkin and Stinky have no idea what's in store for them!