Peyton Joseph

Okay, so this post is really picture heavy, but I don't know when I'll have time to do this again, so I figured I'd just post as much as I can now. So here's the story:

I never did go into labor on my own, so early on Wednesday morning, I went to the hospital to have my scheduled c-section. It went really well and Peyton Joseph Branham was born at 7:46am. He weighed 8lbs. 15 oz. and was almost 22in. long. He has dark hair and is a big, big boy! In fact, his chest is bigger around than his head! A few hours after he was born, he wasn't breathing as well as he should've been, so they sent him to the NICU to be observed for a few hours. Turns out he aspirated a lot of amniotic fluid when he was delivered and his lungs had a lot of extra fluid in them, making him work a lot harder to breathe. He was admitted to the NICU and has been there ever since. We just have to wait for the fluid to reabsorb on its own, and we don't know how long that will take. It could take days or weeks. The fluid has also caused a slight infection, so he's on antibiotics for that. He is also a little jaundiced, so they have him under a blue bili light to clear that up. As far as we know, he'll be in the NICU for 7 to 10 days, but it could end up being longer than that - it just depends on how long it takes to clear things up. Peyton's had a hard last couple of days, but today he's been resting a little better and is very stable. They've inserted lines into his umbilical cord for drawing blood and giving meds, but he also has an iv in his hand. He originally had a c-pap machine to help him breathe that covered his entire nose. He hated it, but it was what he needed. Today they replaced that with regular oxygen hose that fits in his nose, so much more of his face is visible. He's tolerating it pretty well, and seems to be much more comfortable. He also has to wear a shield over his eyes while the bili light is on, so we don't get to see a whole lot of his face at once. They're only feeding him through an IV at the moment, but I've been pumping so as soon as he's up to it they'll either give him my milk, or let me nurse him. His x-rays today show a slight decrease in the fluid in his lungs, but there's still definitely too much in there. Like I said though, he's stable and resting well. I try to go and see him as much as possible, especially since I get discharged tomorrow. I'm doing really well, and not in much pain. Just a little sore at the incision site, but I've been able to get up and be walking around a lot. Its been really hard not to have Peyton with me and be able to hold him and love him, but he's where he needs to be to get the best care right now. So that's all I know at the moment, we'll try to keep everyone updated as much as possible. Hopefully it won't be too long before he's totally healthy and can come home. Here's a whole bunch of pictures and there's a couple videos at the end. Thanks so much for all of you prayers and love and support, we so appreciate it!
PS Some of the pictures toward the end (the ones that look a lot more professional :) were taken by my good friend Julie when she came to visit. I just had to show them. Thanks Julie!