He isn't my baby anymore! He has grown up soo much the last 2 weeks. It makes me sad.

This is the doctor that did my c-section! She was amazing and her quick thinking saved our lil guys life! We will forever be grateful !!! (Sorry I look horrible. This was like 3 days after having an emergency c-section!)

Sorry I haven't updated in awhile, I just do not have the time. I get the boys up and ready in the morning and drop them off where they are staying for the day then head to Lafayette. I spend all day with Tyler in Lafayette and then head home around 5 or 6 to pick up the boys. By the time we get home, get supper and baths, I am exhausted. Then I have to make time for housework and laundry.I would take my laptop with me, but it is BROKEN!

Anyways on to the update about lil Tyler. He is doing good. The infection is pretty much G-O-N-E!! Woo hoo!! He still has 3 days left of antibotics. He is still on the vent. He is breathing at room air but they have the pressure set on 46. He still needs help keeping his lungs open. He is now getting 11 cc's of breast milk every 3 hours. He has an IV that is in his head. Sounds worse than it really is. He did have one in his hand but he was moving it around to much so they took it out. The scan of his head looks good. No bleeding on the brain still, which is really good. The x-ray of his lungs looks good also. Doctor said we are moving in the right direction, it just takes time.

The rest of us are hanging in there. The boys are doing really well. They have a lot of grandparents, and aunts & uncles to keep them busy. Helps the boys and mommy and daddy A LOT! Josh and I are both pretty much EXHAUSTED all of the time. This has been really hard on us. Although Tyler still isn't out of the woods yet, we feel confident that around September or October we WILL be bringing him home.

Tyler's white blood cell count is up, which is a sign of infection. They are running a ton of tests on him to find out if he does have an infection. He is taking a steroid right now to help his lungs. The steroid could also cause his white blood cell count to increase. We just have to wait and find out which it is. He isn't acting like he is sick. He doesn't have a temperature. He still looks really good. He really needs the steroid to help his lungs so they can get him off the vent. If it is the steroid that is causing his white blood cell count to increase then they will stop it immediately. He had three different antibiotics today just in case it is an infection. Doctor says the xray of his lungs looks good. He had lost some weight this past weekend. He was down to 1 lb 14 oz. He is now back up to 2 lbs 1 oz. He did have to get blood yesterday. We knew it was coming. They take so much blood out for testing. It was only a matter of time. We are still waiting on him to open his left eye. It is really close. He is now getting 4 cc's of breast milk every 3 hours. He is having bowel movements and peeing a lot, which is really good. As long as he keeps tolerating the breast milk, they will keep increasing his feedings.

Tyler's condo (that is what Josh calls it) in the NICU.


This lil guy melts my heart every morning when I walk into the NICU and he opens his eye. Still waiting on the left one. It should be really soon.


Holding mommy's hand

This is where they gave him blood yesterday.


Look at that hair.

I love this little foot.



Daddy holding Tyler's hand. So sweet.

Tyler had a bad day yesterday. The doctor lowered the pressure on his vent to see how well he would handle it. It didn't go well. As the doctor told us it is a "numbers game". They have to find the perfect pressure for him and it might take a while to find it. The doctor said as long as we aren't going backwards we are fine. The first couple of days Tyler seemed to really be moving right along. Yesterday it didn't go as well. We know he is going to have bad days. He had to be "bagged" 5 or 6 times yesterday. He hasn't been sedated and every time there was a lot of noise in the NICU he seemed to get a lil irritated and would get upset and just freeze up and not want to breathe on his own. They would bag him and his stats would go right back up. Tonight I plan on going home to sleep and coming back tomorrow morning. I have been at this hospital since last Thursday. It is going to be HARD to leave Tyler here. But I know that he is in good hands and I still have 2 other boys that need mommy also. I'm sure there will be lots of tears shed on the way home. We can call the NICU anytime to check on Tyler, plus they will call us if ANYTHING happens. I can't wait to take a shower and sleep in my own bed! These hospital beds are not comfortable.

Can't forget about Tyler's BIG brothers...

Grandparents have been keeping these boys busy so mommy & daddy can spend as much time with Tyler as possible .......

He has his right eye open...........

Josh, Jake & Brayden were here tonight to visit Tyler and mommy :) It was sooo nice to be able to give them kisses and hugs! I have really missed them. They were finally able to meet Tyler. They were both REALLY excited. It was soo sweet. They had each brought a stuffed animal to leave with Tyler. They were just amazed at how little he is and what each wire was that he is hooked to. Before they left Jake said "Hi Tyler, I'm your big brother Jake. I love you". It brought tears to my eyes. They are both going to be good big brothers. I was really disappointed when we found out that Tyler wasn't a girl, but after seeing him i just feel so complete. I don't need a daughter. My three boys (well four, including Josh) is all I need. Obviously I didn't get my tubes tied with how everything was done in a hurry, so Josh is the one who will be getting "fixed" :)

Tyler opened his right eye today. Of course, it wasn't while I was in the room. We weren't expecting it for another couple of weeks. The left eye is still all "goopy", so it will be a few more days for the left eye. His jaundice levels were 6.8 earlier, so he will more than likely go back under the light tomorrow. The doctor has reassured me though that that is to be expected. He hasn't had to be sedated much today, which is unusual. He is usually wiggling around if not sedated. He was just relaxing all day.

Two of my very close friends came to visit today and brought Josh & I a card with money they have collected from some of our friends. Of course it made me cry. That is just so sweet of them to do that. We appreciate it so much. Every single person who has given us anything will be getting a thank you card as soon as I have time. We appreciate everything. I know I say that a lot, but we really do. We are very lucky to have family and friends who would do anything for us.


Scrubbing up so they can go see Tyler......






And here they are meeting Tyler for the first time......

Lil Tyler is doing good again today. His jaundice levels are at 5, which is slightly higher than yesterday. If the levels increase to 8 then they will put him back on the light. Not a big deal. Doctor said it is normal for the babies to be taken off of the light and put back on several times. Tyler weighed 2 lbs 1 oz when he was born and now weighs 2 lbs 2 oz. :) Hopefully he will get breast milk today. They need to see if there is any "green" stuff still in his belly. If there isn't he will get the breast milk today. If he does, they will hold off for a few more days.

Josh hasn't been able to make it here the last couple of nights. He will be here tonight though. I can't wait to see him. I'm sure it will make Tyler happy to know daddy is here.

I can't say thank you enough to everyone who has helped us any way they can. We are very blessed to have the friends and family support that we have. I have had tons of visitors, which makes it a lot easier. The NICU is pretty much letting everyone back to see Tyler. Of course, you can't go back if you are sick. The boys haven't been able to meet their lil brother yet. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks though.

Well I better start packing my stuff, so i can move into my FREE room tonight. :)

Thanks for all your prayers. They are working!!!

Jake and Brayden eating a snack after swimming at Nana's house..

Update...

Talked with Tyler's NICU doctor this morning. She said he is doing very well. He is more stable today. His jaundice is gone, so he doesn't have the light above his bed. He also doesn't have the eye protectors on anymore, since the light is gone. They are going to try to start giving him some breast milk tomorrow. Hopefully his tummy will handle it okay.

Not sure if I am getting released from the hospital today. I am still waiting to hear from the doctor. The doctor is trying to get me another night here. Not a big deal if he doesn't. This hospital will allow me to stay in another room for FREE while Tyler is in the NICU. I will probably not go back to Logan until Sunday. Next week I will probably be in Lafayette during the day and at home with the boys during the evening and stay in Lafayette with Josh on the weekends.

Have I told you this NICU is amazing? Dr. Chua is awesome. The nurses are fantastic. They genuinely care. It is just a wonderful feeling in the NICU. They really care about the babies they are taking care of. Makes this process a whole lot easier.

Josh hasn't been able to make it here the last couple of days. He is busy working and taking care of the boys, laundry and dishes. He is such a good husband and father. Hopefully he and the boys can all make it down tomorrow. I can't wait to give them all a hug and kiss! I miss them soo much.

Well I am back off to visit Tyler in the NICU. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers!

This is where lil Tyler Ryan will be spending the next 2-3 months......





Look at the size of that diaper....so small.









Finally you can see his face....


His tiny lil foot.....

He's here.....

Tyler Ryan Erickson was born July 12 at 8:21 p.m. He weighed 2 lbs 1 oz. He is named after Uncle Ryan (my brother), who is celebrating his birthday today, July 13th. How cool that the nephew that was named after him was born the day before his birthday. We had hoped that he would have been able to "bake" a few more weeks, but that didn't happen. I felt fine all day on Sunday. I was able to take a shower and go to the bathroom by myself. I had lots of visitors. It was a great day until I got up to go to the bathroom right before all my visitors were leaving. I got up off the toilet and noticed about 7 inches of the umbilical cord hanging out. I yelled for Josh, who then went screaming out the room for the nurses. Within seconds the nurses had me on the bed shoving the umbilical cord back in and wheeling me down the hall (running!!) to the operating room for an emergency csection. I have never been so terrified. It seemed like it was taking forever and I knew every second that passed was a second closer to losing Tyler. They finally got me knocked out and it wasn't long after baby Tyler was born. When they pulled him out, he was unresponsive so they have him some chest compressions and within seconds he was back. It is SCARY how close we were to losing our lil guy.

He is in the NICU here at Home Hospital, and they estimate that he will continue to be here for another 2 - 3 months. He seems to be doing really well so far, but as the doctors have told us we have many rough days ahead of us. We just pray lil Tyler will be okay and able to make it home in the next 2 -3 months. We haven't been able to hold him. It is going to be a while before we are able to. I was able to touch him today. Such a wonderful feeling. I could just sit and stare at him all day long in the NICU. He is absolutely perfect.

I am soo proud of my wonderful husband who is really stepping up and taking care of me and the boys. He has done sooo much and he still has to work. I honestly couldn't ask for a better husband. I love him sooooooooooooo much!

I am hoping to get released on Wednesday or Thursday. I will plan to be down here most of the time during the day and then at night home with the boys. It is going to be hard to balance time with Jake, Brayden and then Tyler here in the NICU. It won't be easy, but we will get through it.