Welcome Brantley Carter!

Welcome to the world:

 Brantley Carter Sides

Friday, July 6 at 2:38pm

8 pounds 0 ounces

21 inches long

I'm doing great!  I had a very easy, smooth, and quick labor and delivery.  (More to come on that later.)  I have also experienced little to no pain since his birth.

Unfortunately, Brantley was placed in the NICU about six hours after birth due to some difficulty breathing.  Yesterday morning, it was determined that the breathing issues may have been due to an infection in his lungs (a fairly common thing) and he was started on antibiotics.  After 48 hours on antibiotics, they will re-evaluate.  Best case scenario, he will be released Monday or Tuesday.  Worst case at this point, he will stay in the NICU for a full seven days to receive more antibiotics and to be monitored closely. 

As of this morning, his breathing was significantly better and white blood cell count (a sign of infection) was improved, as well.  Despite the breathing issues, his oxygen levels have always been near perfect.

In addition, he spit up some neon-greenish junk yesterday - a sign that something could be upsetting his stomach.  They did a stomach x-ray to check things out.  The x-ray wasn't perfect, but didn't show anything abnormal either.  The did another stomach x-ray this morning and things looked much better!

On a positive note, his brain seems to be healthy and normal!  A head ultrasound was performed last night around 7:00.  We haven't yet heard the results, but our pediatrician anticipates a positive outcome.  Cognitively, he is acting like a normal, newborn baby.

Of course, it's hard not having Brantley with us in our room at all times, but we can go see him and hold him in the NICU whenever we want.

Daddy is doing great and is so in love with his little man!  

I am being discharged later today, but we are planning to stick around and "board", as the hospital calls it.  They have rooms where we can stay until Brantley is discharged, so that's where we'll be!

Thank you for all the congrats, well-wishes, thoughts, and prayers!  I seriously can't keep up with all the texts, calls, emails, and Facebook comments!  Thanks also for all the requests to come visit.  We would LOVE visitors and can't wait to see everyone, but have been telling people it's not worth their time since Baby Brantley is not with us.

I have TONS of photos to share (imagine that - I already told Brantley to get used to Mommy's camera flash) and more blog posts in store, so stay tuned!