New Pictures of Luke...

Hanging out with Dad...and kind of smiling!



Post-bath cutie pie!!



Gotta love those dimples...



This is what Luke does. He kicks and kicks and turns himself in his crib. We always find him sideways!



Asleep with Daddy.

First Bath!

Well, a week after getting the okay from the pediatrician to give Luke a real bath, we finally bit the bullet and did it (we'd only been giving him sponge baths before). We were sure that he would hate it, but believe it or not, he LOVED it! When we first lowered him into the water, he screamed, but then he realized it was kind of nice and cozy and he quieted right down. As we bathed him, he just chilled out and enjoyed it, cooing away. It was great. Then when it was time to take him out, I was sure he'd hate that, too, but when we wrapped him up in a cozy towel and rubbed him down with lotion, he acted like he was at the spa getting a massage. He was so calm and content. SUCCESS!!! Here are some post bath pictures. We couldn't take any pictures during his bath, because we needed all four hands just to get the job done and keep his head above water!

Picture Day...

I didn't have any decent pictures of me with Luke, so we had a photo shoot last week. I think Luke looks pretty cute, if I do say so myself...I look tired! We got some pics with Dad, too....didn't want to leave him out.

We're going home!!

We got the okay to go home late Sunday morning. We were SO excited. We finally got to put Luke (and mommy, too) in some real clothes. We packed him tightly in his little car seat, and he thought it was pretty cool. He just kept looking around like, "What is going on, people?" He loved the ride home and was very alert the whole time. We were giddy knowing we were just minutes away from being home for good!

Luke waiting to go home.


In the car on the way to his new house...not quite sure what's going on, but enjoying the ride, nonetheless.


Asleep in his new house...All that travel wore him out!

Three and a half days in the NICU...boo-hoo.

It was a long 3 1/2 days, but we got through it. Here's a little bit of what went on...



Luke hanging out under the lights...
His little blindfold protected his eyes from the bright lights, but it never wanted to stay in place. All the wires were monitoring his vital signs. They were more annoying than anything because they kept falling off and making alarms go off. We could only take him out from under the lights to feed him. It was so hard leaving him alone in his little room in between feedings!

It's hard work breast feeding, so Luke likes to snooze in the middle of eating. I am trying to get him to wake up in this picture.

Phil takes a turn trying to get Luke to wake up and eat. What a good daddy!


Luke is awake!

He's finally here!!!!

Luke Daniel Tatum
Born April 29, 2009
9 lbs, 9 oz.
21.5 inches long

So after 41 weeks of gestation and about 8 hours of labor, Luke decided to come out and meet us! It was a long wait and labor was really intense for the last few hours, but it was really worth it. I was able to deliver without an epidural, which was my goal, so I was very happy with that once it was all over. Luke's big head came out fine, but his shoulder got stuck and his heart rate started to drop, so the doctor had to use the vacuum to suction him out. Poor little Luke had a big bruise on his head and nose as a result, and the doctors think that these bruises have been what has caused Luke to have jaundice. His little immune system wasn't ready to break down the excess red blood cells that the bruises produced, so his bilirubin levels spiked, causing the jaundice. Luke has been in the NICU now for 3 days under the lights, and we are praying that he will be able to go home tomorrow (Sunday). Please keep him in your prayers, that he may be healthy enough to go home and stay home!