Doctor's Update #2

Back to the doctor today.
Ethan gained 2 1/2 oz's. He is now 5 lbs 3 1/2 ozs. He also gained another 1/4 inch, bringing him to 18 3/4". He is trying to catch up to his brother quickly.

We had a great weekend with Rick home. We didn't get many pictures as most of the weekend was trying to get some things done around the house and caught up on some sleep.

Everyone is doing well here.
We will work on more pictures soon.
Rick, Mandi, Jakob & Ethan

Doctor's Update!

Today Ethan went to the doctor. He grew a 1/2". He is now 18 1/2" inches. Trying to take after Jakob already. He hasn't gained any weight yet. He is 5 lbs and 1 oz. He still has 4 more oz's to get up to birth weight. The doctor doesn't seemed concern. We are just going back in for a check up next week. I expect that we will be there often. He is doing well considering all.

Jakob is doing good too. He went to play at his friend Sydney's today for a few hours. He is starting to take more interest in Ethan, especially when he cries.

We are home for the weekend. Looking forward to it. Should be able to get some more pics.

All our love,
Rick, Mandi, Jakob & Ethan

Home At Last!

Last night went well! Jakob slept great, Ethan not so much. Mom got about 4 hours of interuppted sleep. Hoping for maybe 4 1/2 tonight. :-). Overall we are doing good. Jakob is adjusting well. Today he tried to kiss Ethan it was very cute. No pics of that, Hands full making sure he only kissed him and nothing else. Grandma and GG were over today to play and help out.
Here are a few photos of the past week. Jakob has his own swing at GG's house. He loves it.

Grandpa came to the hospital to see Ethan. Mom had to sneek in the picture.

Jakob at Grandma's house. Just running around.

We gave Ethan a bath at the hospital before we headed home.

It really woke him up.

Here is my hand compared to the size of Ethan's body.

Aunt Mary came to visit before we came home.

Everyone is doing great. I am hoping to get some more pictures of Jakob and Ethan together. It is difficult to get Jakob to sit at all. Hopefully over the weekend.

Thank you for all the prayers, we appreciate all the love and support.

Rick, Mandi, Jakob & Ethan

My Brother's Home!

Welcome Home Ethan!
Today we took Ethan home from the hospital. We are all home tonight and doing well. I am starting to adjust, I have been getting into everything. I have been a bit naughty too, but I am just trying my mom and dad. Ginger has been barking alot, I think she is jealous of baby Ethan.
Mom said we will post some pictures tomorrow. It has been a long day and we are all very tired. We are headed to bed after we feed Ethan.

All My Love
Jakob

Jakob has been adjusting really well so far. We will see what tomorrow brings.
Ethan came home doing great. We go back to the doctor on Friday.
More pics tomorrow.
Love,
Rick, Mandi, Jakob & Ethan

Update on the Boys!

Here is the news for Tuesday.

Jakob is doing well. He is missing his dog Ginger very much. We are going to pick her up tonight. He walks around the house going Rah Rah! He is also cutting his 4th tooth. So he hasn't been in the best of moods today. Hopefully it will come through quick now, since it is so close to the surface.

Ethan is also doing great. He is eating what he should be. They are talking coming home in the next few days. They are monitoring a few things, but everything is headed in the right direction. Maybe Thursday if we are lucky! The hospital has been great, but it is not home.

We will let you know what we find out tomorrow.
Have a great night.
Rick, Mandi, Jakob & Ethan

Day 5 of Ethan's Life!

Today is Monday. Jakob went to play at Graphix this morning while Rick & I met with the doctors. Ethan is doing well. He needs to work on eating more. He is taking the bottle very good, but is still not eating enough at each feeding. They are hoping to have him to 50 ml in the next 2 days. So far he is 40 2x's today which is good. They are going to be doing some more lab work just to keep an eye on things. He is a little more awake than what he has been. They are very happy with his progress. Hoping by the weekend to maybe have him home. Jakob came to meet his little brother yesterday it was an interesting experience. He was very jealous, but did fine. Today he came again for a few minutes. A little at a time, maybe he will get used to the concept. We will see.

We meet with the doctors at 10'clock again tomorrow, so more information then.

Enjoy the pics.

Have a great day.

Rick, Mandi, Jakob & Ethan

Mom's Home!

Today was a great day. I am starting to get my energy back. We spent alot of time with Ethan today. He is up to eating 1 oz every 3 hours. He is taking it from the bottle each time. Jakob is back home with us. He had a great time at Grandpa & Grandma's. They looked pretty tired when they brought him home tonight. Last night he had them up every 1/2 hour. They are looking forward to more sleep tonight. Needless to say I will get much less. I am so glad to have him home though. We are already are playing toys and they are all over the house. This picture was taken last week as he is posing with his new slippers.Ethan had a great day today.

Papa returned back from out of town, so Nana & Papa came to visit today.

Rick and I spent some great time with Ethan.

I want to get back to play with Jakob. We will update more tomorrow after spending more time with Ethan and Jakob too. Hoping to get Jakob to the hospital again. We will see. You know his attention span is about 0, however he would love all the plugs in the nursery!!

Thanks again for all your prayers. Our God is amazing.

All our love,

Rick, Mandi, Jakob & Ethan

Quick Update!

During the night Ethan has had 2 bottles on his own. So he is starting to understand what to do.
They are cutting back his IV fluids and will continue to work on feeding him on the bottle. They are hoping to have him off his IV this afternoon. They will keep the needle in his hand, just in case they need to hook him back. So far he is progressing well. Better than Rick and I had expected.
Back to sleep.
Mandi

Pictures!

Here are the long awaited pictures of Ethan. We thought we would start with this nice picture. It was taken earlier today before he was hooked up to his feeding tube. Ethan has been doing great today. We were able to hold him and start to change his diapers (Rick got the dirty one) and change his clothes. He is on a feeding tube as he has not developed his suck reflex yet. He is also still on IV for the Nutrition that he needs.
Here is the 1st picture after he was born. We were able to hold him here for about 20 secs before they took him to get hooked up in the nursery. It looks like a sad picture here, but everything really helped him. Great Grandma came to visit today. He was doing great so we could get her in to hold him. He is resting in his little bed here.

Here is his home until he is ready to come home. It is 80 degrees in his cuddy.

Grandma came to visit too today.

Proud daddy doing great.

Missing Jakob in the family photo, but there are way too many plugs to unplug in the nursery. It would be very hazerdous to have him there right now. He did get to look at Ethan through the window.

Just resting in his bed.

Hoping I can go home tomorrow, it would be great to sleep in my own bed. Also I miss Jakob very much. However he is having lots of fun at Grandmas.

We will continue to post through the weekend.

Thanks again for all your support. Sorry it took so long to get you pictures.

Enjoy them.

Lots of Love,

Rick, Mandi, Jakob & Ethan

3:00 AM and Can't sleep!

Believe it or not I actually slept quite a bit on delivery day, so I am awake very early.

Things are still going well. They took Ethan off from the Cpap machine and he is breathing good. He is not tolerating the bottle feeding yet, but he is getting his nutrition on the IV. We will go see him in a while when Rick wakes up.

Rick is actually getting a full nights rest tonight. 1st night in a week. He is sleeping in the chair right next to me. I really like having him here. In addition the chair is much softer than my bed, so he doesn't mind. I tried to trade, but he thought I should have the bed. He is doing great though.

My mom took Jakob up to see us last night. He wasn't sure what was going on, but was happy to see us. I miss him a bunch, but hopefully will be home with him on Sat. Jakob is having fun at Grandma's though.

I am doing well. Feeling rested and ready for 1 more relaxing day at the hospital today before it is back home and then back and forth to visit with Ethan.

Thanks again everyone for all your prayers and comments. We really enjoy reading them.
I will hopefully get pictures up today. Sorry about the delay.
All our love,
Rick, Mandi, Jakob & Ethan

WELCOME ETHAN THOMAS BROWER!

Good news today.
January 15, 2009 At 12:15 Ethan Thomas was born. He is 5 lbs 5 ozs. He weighed a bit more than what they expected, so that is really good. He is 18 inches long. He did really well during labor. Mom did alright too.

Ethan is under close care right now. He is doing fine. He has a Cpap on to help his lungs push the air in and out. He is also on IV for nurtrition. He will probably be here for a while. The cord was wrapped around his neck once and the doctor took care of that quick. My doctor didn't get to deliver today as she was home sick with her kids. Dr. Kraus delivered and was great.

Hopefully I will be able to get home on Saturday, but we will be back often hoping to hold Ethan and help him grow.

I only held him for about 20 seconds today and then they hooked him up, so not much bonding yet. I don't have my camera cord here, so hopefully I will get that tomorrow. Then I will get some pictures posted.

Thank you so much for all the prayers and thoughts, we really appreciate all the support we had.

All our love,
Rick, Mandi, Jakob, & Ethan

Big Day Today!

Today has been a big day. We started out with a doctor's appointment for Jakob at the health Department. He has taken his TB medicine everyday for the past 8 months. Today starts month 9. He officially had his last appointment with his nurse today. We have seen her every month since June. After he finishes this bottle he is done. Yea. It will be such a relief to not worry about that pill. It is very stressful getting him to take it.


I had an ultrasound today and we were able to get some measurements. I started typing this as I was waiting for the doctor to call. Doctor Called gotta go.

Ok it is now a few hours later and we are at the hospital. Baby is under weight. Still 3 lb and 10 - 15 ozs. So my doctor wants to deliver. We are sitting waiting for her to come in. We got here about 3 pm and it is currently 5:45. Hopefully we will have another update yet tonight. Otherwise should have some news tomorrow.
She has me hooked up to the monitors right now everything is looking good.

Stay tuned for more fun.
Lots of Love,
Mandi, Rick & Jakob

More Christmas Pictures!

Here are some more fun pictures from Christmas. ENJOY!

Mom's appointments are still going well at the doctor. We should get all new baby measurements at the ultrasound tomorrow. Otherwise nothing new.

Love,

Jakob

Play Time!

The past few weeks I have spent many hours playing with my new toys. This is my new inflatable car. It came with plastic balls. I have a lot of fun with it. I can't wait to take it outside in the summer. Mom said I can maybe fill it with water. I love to swim.

We have been spending a lot of time at home lately. Mom's doctor said she had to sit more, so I get to play and watch Baby Einstein alot. I will let her tell you about what her doctor said.

Here's Mom!

Just before Christmas we were sensing some trouble with the movement of the baby. We have been through different tests and my doctor has showed a little concern on the growth of the baby. In short her thoughts are that the baby is not getting enough blood flow, due to my high activity with work, Jakob etc, etc. So I am under strict survellance with a NST test 2x's per week and an ultrasound every week. Since working 1/2 days and having to sit all the time, the tests have been going well. Just before Christmas the baby weighed only 3 lbs 15 oz. So she is hoping to get that here in the next couple weeks. That way if she senses too much stress on the baby she will feel more comfortable about taking it early. A NST is a test that is performed in the doctors office. I just have to be hooked up to a monitor for 1/2 hour. They monitor the baby's movement and heart beat. With the ultrasound they measure different things each time. Last time they measured the fluid around the baby, the blood flow through the cord and the heartbeat. Overall things are coming along and we are doing Ok. The tests have come back good, so we are just taking it one day at a time right now.

We will keep you posted.

Back to playing.

All our love,

Jakob, Mandi & Rick