Home Never Felt So Good

We were scheduled to get out of the hospital last night after Cameron got his last dose of antibiotic at around 9pm. But then the doctor came in yesterday morning and said she talked to the pharmacist and he was actually getting is last dose at 1pm and we would be able to leave after that! It was so nice to finally hear some good news for a change! So we made it home around 4pm yesterday. Auntie Gaye took some pictures of our homecoming for us.

I don't know who was happier, me or Owen! He is still in shock that I am home. When he woke up this morning he didn't even come looking for me and then I called for him and he said, "It's Mommy!!!" He just couldn't believe that Mommy was here in the morning with him.

It was so nice to sleep in my own bed again. Here's what Cam and I have been sleeping in for the last 9 nights:

Doesn't he look so tiny?!?!

And this was a couch that folded out into a small bed that I slept on. They had a nice recliner that my mom and Cody slept on.

And here I am cuddling with my 2 boys. Ah, life is good again.

Cam had a great first night at home, waking up 3 times in the night to nurse and going right back to sleep each time. Thank you again for all your continued prayers and support. I think we are the perfect example of the power of prayer!

Our Little Trooper

Mom and Auntie Gaye got here yesterday afternoon, which has been a tremendous help to us. Auntie Gaye brought her laptop and the hospital has wireless internet in the rooms so I'm sitting here right now looking at my little angel and thought I would give everyone and update and post a few pictures.

Even in a hospital bed and hooked up to IVs, he's still as adorable as ever! Things have been going pretty well, save for a few hurdles that we've had to jump but Cameron seems to be leaping right over them all. I'm amazed at all this little guy has put up with in the last few days. He is just taking it all in stride. He had to have his 3rd ultrasound yesterday--this time of his spine. The doctor noticed that he has what they call a sacral (not sure how to spell it) dimple, which is at the base of the spine and very common. But it is good to check it out to make sure everything is ok and thankfully, she said his spine looks beautiful! The lesion he has is healing very well and the antibiotics seem to be working. The only bad thing is that we lost his IV site tonight. The nurse noticed that his blanket was wet and his head was swollen and filled with fluid. So they had to put in a new IV. The worst part was ripping the tape off his head but he made it through with most of his hair still in tact. They had some NICU nurses come up to insert the new line and they did it beautifully on the first try. The only bad part about it is that he has to wear an IV board that is the length of his entire arm so he can't bend it all or even get it into his sleeper. He doesn't seem to be bothered by it though. Of course, he is awfully tired from all the screaming he did earlier. He's been sleeping pretty soundly for about an hour and a half. Here are a few pictures that I've taken in the last few days.

He looks so tiny in this huge crib they have him in!

This was right after they put the PICC line in and he was still very sleepy from the sedation. This is before the horror we had to endure with all the blood loss.

Here he is with his little "hat" over his IV line in his head.

This was tonight right before they put the new line in. It was so nice to hold him for a bit without any tubes attached to him!

And here he is resting peacefully tonight with his new IV. I'm praying we don't have a lot of issues with the board in the next few days! We are just praying that this IV will get us through the next 3 days and we don't have to go through inserting another one.

Cody stayed with me last night but headed home tonight as he's not feeling well. Owen is having a great time with Grandma and Auntie Gaye, though he has a yucky cold that has prevented him from being able to visit Baby Cameron. I got to go home today and spend a few hours with him which was so nice. The doctor seemed pretty confident this morning that we will be able to go home on Monday, so we are cautiously optimistic. We cannot thank everyone enough for all the prayers and support we have received. We have such wonderful friends both here in Iowa and far away that have done so much for us in the past few days. We just couldn't have made it this far without it all. I know it was the many prayers being said for us that got us through each and every hurdle and I thank you all so much.

Where to begin...

I realize that I have been absent from the blog world for quite some time and I'm sorry to say that it hasn't been for a happier reason. I'm not even sure where to start as it is all a very long story so I guess I will just stick to the important information and leave it at that. Due to a couple of reasons that I won't go into, we had to take Cameron to the Pediatric Emergency Room in Des Moines on Saturday. Thinking we were going to be there for a few hours, maybe be admitted for a day at the most, we were told after a few hours that his white cell count was sky high, he had an infection and would have to be admitted for 48 hours. This, of course, was after they had poked and prodded him quite a bit, which was very hard as a parent to watch. They hooked him up to an IV and started giving him antibiotics as soon as we got to his room. He seemed to be doing well, never even having a fever, and still nursing like a little champ. So we were told that we would hopefully be able to take him home on Monday afternoon/evening. This was after even more poking and tests were done. On Monday morning the doctor came in and said that the culture came back positive for MRSA, a type of staph infection that is very resistant to antibiotics. She said that there was only one antibiotic that we could use that could be given orally and if that didn't work, we would have to try another, which could only be given intraveneously, meaning a longer hospital stay. Unfortunately, the results came back that the MRSA was resistant to the oral antibiotic and we would have to stay another 7-10 days to receive the full treatment of antibiotics. I was devasted but assured that it wasn't as threatening as it sounded and, thankfully, only showing up in his urine and not in his blood or spinal fluid. So I prepared myself for a long stay. Then yesterday we opted to insert what is called a PICC line. It is just a better IV and can be used for a longer period of time than a regular IV. It can also be used to draw blood, lessening the times he would have to be poked. Things went well when they put it in and then once he got back up to his room it started bleeding at the site. It continued to bleed for two and a half hours. They could not get it to stop. They called a NICU nurse up and she stood there putting pressure on his arm the entire time trying to get it to stop. His arm turned purple and is swollen but it did finally stop. There is still no real cause for the long term bleeding but we are all just very thanful it stopped. Unfortunately, they had to remove the PICC line so it was really all for nothing. In turn, he ended up losing quite a bit of blood so they had to do a transfusion in the middle of the night last night. It went well and his hemoglobin levels are back to where they should be. He is now at the hospital with an IV in his head because that was the only place they could find a good vein. He seems to have survived it all well, save for the pain in his arm. We are praying that no other complications ensue, the antibiotics will work and we will be able to take him home sometime next week. It has been hard on all of us as Cody has had to be at home with Owen and I have had to be 45 minutes away at the hospital with Cameron. I came home this afternoon for a bit to spend some time with Owen and Cody went to be with Cameron. I'll head back tonight and thankfully, my wonderful mother (who has already gone above and beyond the call of a mother) and my wonderful aunt are coming tomorrow to stay for a few days and help us out.

I can't even begin to say how scary all of this has been for us. I am still in shock that it is happening and I am praying constantly everyday that Cameron will make it through all this without any long-lasting effects and that we will soon be a family again. My biggest reason for posting this is to ask all of you to do the same. Please keep us and our brave little guy in your prayers. I will try to update when I can or have Beth do so for me.

Pictures Galore!

I feel bad because I took so many more pictures of Owen when he was born. Chalk it up to the second child getting the shaft....;) I have managed to take a few in the last few days that I thought I would share.

Brotherly love...Owen just adores Cam! Every morning when he wakes up the first thing he says is, "Go see Baby Cameron?" He is so cute the way he says his name, too. He always called him Baby Camera before he was born so Cody tried very hard to get him to say Cameron. So now Owen says, "Cam-er-on," very distinctly. Then he always wants to hug him and says, "He's so cute! He's my baby brother! I take care of him!" I still can't get over the difference in their size. Look at their hands!

Just like his big brother, Cameron got his thumb in his mouth shortly after he was born. I haven't used a pacifier with him because I'm still trying to get him to nurse really well, so he finds his thumb and he is absolutely content.

He has been spending a lot more time with his eyes open in the last few days. He is really starting to look more like a baby boy than just a squishy newborn.

Grandma and Cam relaxing

And finally, a family picture! I have been so tired and/or achy in the last 2 weeks that I just couldn't get it together to get a picture of the 4 of us. But we were finally able to do it tonight. I still can't believe we are a family of 4 now!

Cameron went to the doctor on Friday and things are going pretty well. He is now 5 lbs. 6 oz, gaining 7 oz. in just one week. The doctor was please to see that but would still like to see him nurse better and gain a little more weight before his circumcision. They didn't do it in the hospital because he was so small. Since they usually sleep a lot afterward, the doctor wants to be sure that he is a good nurser and has a little weight in his reserve should he lose some. So we head back this Friday to see how much he's gained and we will go from there. The nursing is going okay but I think it would be going much better if he weren't so congested. He started getting congested when he was 5 days old and he has been stopped up off and on ever since. The doctor thinks it is just a combination of the weather and that fact that he is so small so hopefully it will clear up in the next couple of weeks. I'm praying hard for that one because he just sounds so miserable when he can't breathe very well. And it kills me that I can't do much for him! We do saline drops but that's about all and they don't help as much as I would like!

Cameron's Hospital Picture

After nearly 2 weeks they have finally posted Cameron's picture on the hospital web page. To see it go here. Below is actually the picture we selected to have on their page but the woman called me this morning and said that in order for it to fit she was going to have to cut his arms out of the picture. And that was the reason we picked this one in the first place! So I had to choose another one but still thought I would share this one because I think it's so darn cute.

We are all still doing well, though I'm a bit exhausted. I still have no idea how I'm going to handle all of this when Grandma leaves me but I have 2 weeks to figure it out! Hopefully that's enough time! Cameron has been all over the spectrum when it comes to nursing. One day he's doing great and others it's just a chore to get him to wake up and eat. Fortunately for him, not so much for me, he is actually waking himself up today every 2 hours to eat. I am glad that he is getting the idea but the whole 2 hour thing is exhausting! I will be glad when we get into a better routine.

Owen is doing splendidly. Grandma bought him the Thomas Bedding for his big boy room and he just loves it. Now all we have to do is get some accessories and actually clean the room out for him to move in. Slowly but surely!

We finally have a mud and tape guy who says he can get the job done in the basement in 4 days. We're hoping to get him in here ASAP and then hoping that when Uncle Josh visits in 2 weeks he can help Cody get the ceiling tiles in. Then we just have to get the carpet in and we can move stuff down there. Hooray! Stay tuned for some updated Basement Progress pics!

Christmas, Cameron, and...Chaos!!!

Well, I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures. As the title states, it is chaotic around here! But we are all doing well. Cameron is eating like a champ, which is starting to take it's toll on me. He is starting to have what I call marathon nursing sessions and nursing for 45 minute stretches at a time. That means I only have about 2-2 1/2 hours in between each feeding to sleep at night, which is pretty tiresome. But I have my wonderful mother who gets up with me, changes Cameron and brings him right to me. Then she sits and makes sure I stay awake while I'm nursing him. We have some of our best talks at 4 in the morning while I'm nursing, though a lot of the time it's both of us making sure the other one doesn't fall out of the chair from falling asleep!

Owen is doing pretty well, though he's taking the adjustment a little harder than I thought he would. He loves Cameron and loves on him all the time saying, "He's so cute!" or "He's so teeny weeny!!" But I think he is a little more jealous than I thought he would be. I guess it will all just take time. We are hoping to get him moved over to his big boy room in the next couple of weeks since we weren't able to get that done before Cam arrived. I think that will excite him to have a whole new Thomas room.

That's about all that's going on here. So I guess it's on to the pictures!

Owen with his new Thomas train set which he absolutely loves. He had so much fun opening gifts. Every time he opened one he would get these big eyes and gasp. It was so cute! Then he started opening our presents when he ran out and he'd gasp and say, "It's a box!" like it was the best gift ever!

My two boys under the tree.

We have yet to let Owen actually hold Cameron because he is so small and we are afraid he will just want to hold him all the time. He could also pick him up if he wanted to do because he's so small so we don't want to put any ideas into his head!

Cameron has been spending a lot of time in his infant carrier due to some congestion. The doctor says it is his first cold. :( It hasn't gotten any worse so we are happy about that.

That's all for now. I'll try to get some better close-up pics of Cam and post them ASAP. Hope everyone is doing well!

Merry Christmas!

Well, I made the hike up the stairs tonight to read to Owen before he went to bed so I thought I would post a little myself. Unfortunately, I am just too tired to do pictures at the moment so my witty banter will have to be enough for now. :)

First off, thanks so much to all the well wishes we have received! I have thoroughly enjoyed reading everyone's comments and emails, as the well as the flowers and gifts that we have gotten. We are having such a great time with our new little guy, little being the operative word. I just can't believe how tiny he is!!! His weight dropped to 4 lbs. 13 oz. by the time we left the hospital yesterday. I am working feverishly to get it back up but he isn't cooperating with me all that well. They advised me to feed him every 2 hours but being that he is so small, he just likes to sleep all the time so it's difficult to get him to wake up to eat anything. Thankfully, he is getting something but it has been a bit of a struggle for me and I am pretty worn out and feel like a "milk machine!" Tired as I am, I don't feel nearly as stressed, hormonal, and pain-stricken as I did when Owen was born so I am definitely happy about that. I feel some pain and I'm definitely tired, but it has all been pretty manageable so far. It has all been made much easier with all the wonderful help I have. As you know, I wasn't very prepared for this child--I was planning on doing all of it last weekend with my mom here to help me!!! So they worked around the clock to get everything ready for Cameron and I to get home. My parents have been such a blessing to have around and Cody is at my beck and call doing anything I ask of him. I couldn't ask for a better situation! And even better, my mom is planning to stick around until mid-January so that will be a HUGE help!

We had a wonderful Christmas today, opening gifts off and on throughout the day. Owen got a Thomas train set which, along with the tons of other stuff he got, has kept him busy for the majority of the day. He is adapting well to having Cameron in the house and always comes over to him and says, "Baby Cameron! He's sooo cute!" My mom made a wonderful Christmas dinner and we just had a very relaxing day.

Well, I'm off to get a little rest before it's time to fire up the milk machine again. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! I will post pics of ours later this week so stay tuned!

Cameron Joseph

Cameron is now just under 5 lbs, but will hopefully get his weight back up quickly so they can go home tomorrow. He is doing great and looking so cute in these pictures! I can't believe how different he looks from Owen's newborn pics. The blonde fuzzy hair is just adorable! And where in the world did that come from??? Anyways, everyone is doing great and Sarah is feeling pretty well. She was especially relieved when she was able to get up and get a shower! Here are some great pictures Cody took.
Owen was so glad to see his mommy. Sarah said she put a present in Cameron's bassinet for Owen when he got there and it was wrapped in Thomas paper. It was one of the Thomas trains (I can't think of the name of the character) and Owen was ecstatic when he saw it. Sarah said he did great and is so gentle and caring with him. He is off to a great start at being big brother! And he is starting to say baby CAMERON a little bit better now instead of saying baby CAMERA :) What a sweetie.


Mom and Cam

Grampa Steve, big brother Owen, and Cameron

Gramma Debbie glad to be holding her new grandson after a long night of driving and arriving to Newton at 3 a.m.

Sarah looking beautiful while holding her most precious Christmas gift ever.

Christmas came early

Cameron Joseph Muhs arrived at 11:29 am this morning weighing 5 lbs. 5 oz. and 18 3/4 inches long. Sarah called Cody literally 5 minutes after he had been at work telling him she thought her water had broke. Thinking it was a false alarm, Cody emailed his boss quickly telling him the news and that he might be back at noon. Well, as it turns out he was wrong and Sarah was right (happens a lot I hear). In the meantime, Sarah rushed around the house getting herself and Owen ready to go. She hadn't packed a THING either! But she managed to get out the door. She kept telling Owen they were going to see the doctor today and mommy was going have a baby, so Owen kept saying all morning, "We're going to get a baby, we're going to get a baby!" Too cute! Cameron has sandy blonde curly hair and is just precious as ever! Mom and baby are both doing great. Sarah is surprisingly feeling pretty well. They are expected to come home Christmas Eve. Tomorrow, Owen will be introduced to his new baby brother. More pics to come. Merry Christmas everyone!!! It will definitely be one for the Muhses and Glodos!

Posted by Owen and Cameron's Auntie Beth

A Boy's Rite of Passage

I really don't think a man can go through life without trying on his mother's high heels at least once, do you? And just to clarify, Owen pulled these out of my closet and put them on all by himself. I meerly captured the moment. He was walking around in them saying, "I'm so tall!" Wear them proudly, son!

"C is for Cookie"

I guess it is fitting that that is one of Owen's favorite songs right now. He sings it constantly around here! We had so much fun last Sunday baking Christmas cookies for Cody to take to work. I kept him in his Christmas jammies all day because they just made for such cute pictures!

Please excuse the way I look--I'm 8 months pregnant, exhausted, and out of make-up and haven't been able to get over to Des Moines to buy any!

Thomas was always close by and, of course, had to have a little taste of flour and sugar.

It's hard to see but we are using the adorable snowman measuring cups that Cody's mom bought me especially for baking Christmas cookies with Owen. He thought it was so cool! He kept saying, "It's a snowman!"

This boy loves to use the mixer!

He got a big kick out of cracking the eggs.

As you can see by the look on his face, this was his favorite part--rolling and cutting the cookies. When we first got started he said, "It's Play-Doh cookies!" (because that's what we do when we play with Play-Doh)

After we cut the first few cookies he started counting them on the pan. I was busy cutting some and not paying any attention and then I looked over and every cookie on the pan had a tiny little finger print in it! Needless to say, we didn't send any of those to work with Daddy. We cut star cookies and every time he saw one he started singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." After a few times of rolling and cutting he'd had enough and just wanted to play in the flour so Daddy kept him occupied while I finished up. But we had so much fun and can't wait to do it again next year!