- [Duncan] Up in the sky.
- [Chris] Up in the sky toes?
(Duncan laughs)
- Down toes. (laughs)
- [Chris] Down toes.
(Duncan laughing)
(bright happy music music)
- [Jessica] Aw, so sweet!
Good little boy.
- We're going home today.
- [Jessica] We're going home.
We're all packed up.
Look at that, hey!
Hey!
- He did his breastfeeding, and then he--
- [Jessica] Then I pumped.
- Yeah, and he had some stuff that you pumped earlier.
And since that's all gone, we're supplementing
with a little bit of the formula.
- [Jessica] Getting him ready for his big operation today.
- Oh, that's right.
We're going to the ear, nose, and throat doctor.
- He doesn't wanna hear about it.
(laughs)
We're going straight to repair his tongue tie,
and I did have a great, great,
great lactation consultant today.
She helped so much.
We got him latched on both sides and sucking a little bit
with the help of a nipple shield.
We were putting my pumped colostrum at the tip of it
to get him excited,
and the fact that he's kind of lazy at it,
to get him going, and that worked.
So we're feeling hopeful right now.
She said we're gonna have good feeds
and we're gonna have bad feeds
and that's okay and to expect for it
to not just always work out,
so it's gonna be a learning process
and we're working through it.
We're pretty much all packed up.
I wanted to show you a couple things
that come ready in the hospital room
'cause I talked about it a bit when I was packing my bag.
And I just wanted to show you kind of
what our hospital supplies.
It's gonna be different everywhere,
but just to give you an idea of what you can expect.
The bathroom's huge, I don't even know.
I've never had one this big before.
It's really fancy.
This is my bathroom, and there's a big shower too,
which I didn't take.
They provided the cold packs, so these are ice packed pads.
They provided this spray, Americaine,
and these are like Tucks.
I've actually always gotten one of those spray things,
and they're awesome.
Make sure you take those home, they're so good.
But in the past, it's always been a brand called Dermoplast,
which I really liked.
This one I was gonna try and be like,
"Hey, what's this one like?"
But I actually didn't even need to
because I didn't have any tearing, or I don't know,
they called it intact.
Like, I gave birth intact I guess, I don't know.
But I've been feeling really, really good, like silly.
This postpartum has been really easy on my body.
I didn't have any tearing,
and I also didn't even take motrin or anything after.
I think maybe because the breastfeeding wasn't very strong.
My uterus maybe wasn't contracting as much
and giving those extra pains.
Anyway, it's been comfortable at least,
I mean, as comfortable as you can possibly get
during this time.
They also provided these underwear.
These are, I think they say reusable,
but they're disposable undies.
These pads, and I feel like people
are always shocked by these pads.
I'm gonna put the camera down so I can open it up for you
and show you how big they are.
They gave me these pads,
and they are that big, they're giant.
They're really massive, and actually, right after delivery,
they were stacking 'em up.
They gave me two on the little undies.
And they actually put the ice pack on top of the pad,
like a whole thing.
Then they also gave me this peri-bottle.
After you go pee, you squirt yourself with this,
make it nice and warm, it's better if it's warm,
and that's how you clean yourself off
without having to do like an aggressive wipe.
This is really sweet.
I don't know if the hospitals have ever done this before,
but they gave us a toothbrush and toothpaste.
We had brought our own, so we didn't need it.
Moisturizer?
I don't know.
It's the Four Seasons in here.
So, for the baby, they gave us some newborn Huggies.
These were nipples that we were feeding him with
that the lactation consultants did.
I haven't gotten these before, but I needed them this time,
so like nipples and this was a nipple shield.
These are the famous hospital pacifiers
that everybody seems to love,
and we've been using that a lot for training him to eat.
This is the excellent bulb syringe.
Grab this.
Grab multiple of these.
These are the best.
They're a larger size than you get in stores
and they're amazing.
Pampers wipes 'cause, like, let's be fair,
Huggies, Pampers, we're not gonna battle it out.
They always do these cute little newborn hats,
and these blankets
are really traditional newborn hospital blankets.
They also put him in a little robe onesie,
cardigan-y thing that has a tie on it,
and I've also seen those at every hospital
that I've delivered at.
Same with these hats.
All the babies I've ever seen come
with these little pink and blue stripey hats.
So that's a lot of what they provided already for us.
They also have been giving me meals.
Just overall, taking really good care of us,
taking good care of Christopher.
They bring him a little snack.
He doesn't get treated as nicely as I do, but (laughs).
- I didn't work as hard.
I didn't do as much work.
- Yeah, right.
Oh my gosh. - To make the baby come out.
- He's saved me every single night.
He's been up for a lot of,
he's let me rest so much,
and I haven't let him rest as much.
So, Christopher's been amazing.
He deserves all the snacks and all the coffee.
- I'm making up for all the sleep that you lost
during pregnancy that I didn't,
so we're good. - Look at you.
You're such a dad with your bottle.
- Hi!
Milk face.
Feeling good? - Milk face?
- [Christopher] Feeling good about it?
(laughing)
Yeah.
- All right, we're off to clip that tongue tie.
He also actually,
I don't know if I mentioned this but,
so he's got a tongue tie in several places,
which our other kids have had,
but also his cheeks are too tight, so we're supposed
to ask about clipping his cheeks or something.
I don't get it yet.
We don't know.
- Tongue tie is a term.
It doesn't mean that his tongue is tied
in several different places.
- I showed it. - Oh, okay.
- I showed it yesterday. - Just wanna say.
- There's, like, the frenulum, there's spots.
And so his cheeks are also up here very tight.
So we need to talk
to the ear, nose, and throat doctor about that
and see what he can do.
So, off we go.
He's wearing his little hospital outfit.
That's where it was.
Bubba.
You're so precious.
Okay, let's get you dressed in your clothes.
Very nice hospital outfit.
That's what they gave him.
You're so tiny.
Look at the little sweetie.
You are so sweet, you smart boy.
Love you.
(chuckles) Crossing his little legs.
Hi!
Cutie, look at you in your clothes.
This is a newborn size BONDS Wondersuit,
to give you an idea of how little he is.
Of course maybe you get the idea
just by the fact that the pacifier takes up his whole face.
I know I've talked before about how we avoid pacifiers
usually in the first couple weeks
as our kids are getting used to breastfeeding.
The reason he uses one is
because he really needs therapy in his mouth
for learning how to suck.
He's been working on it with the pacifier,
so it's actually his physical therapy
is having the pacifier, and we have worked
with three different lactation consultants now
and an occupational therapist from the NICU,
so rest assured, if you've heard otherwise,
we are in the best of care.
Doesn't mean ultimately we will necessarily 100% be able
to breastfeed, but we're really headed
in the right direction with it,
and I'm hopeful that it will work out.
All the lactation consultants have said to me,
"You will be able to breastfeed."
A couple of the things we really need to see,
he is doing, so we just need to work on
and repair some of the other things,
and we should be able to get there,
so we're working on it.
Yeah, sweet boy.
You look so good in your clothes.
Yeah, let's pick you up.
Mama's gonna hold you.
Another thing I keep saying,
I guess because of the new Apple update,
but I feel like I keep calling him Dark Mode Jacob
because I feel like he looks so much like Jacob
but then his hair and his eyes are dark,
so he's like, he's Dark Mode Jacob.
(chuckles)
(uplifting strings music)
So, he just finished his operation.
His cheeks were very tight, so the doctor was able to go in
and laser disconnect them from here.
He also lasered underneath the tongue
and he lasered at this area.
Right after the procedure,
I was able to nurse him right away,
but he was really sleepy 'cause he cried a lot throughout.
So he was definitely tired while nursing,
but even though he was tired and falling asleep,
I still feel like it was the best feeding session
I've had with him, so I'm really hopeful.
I felt like at least four strong tugs,
which I wasn't feeling at all before.
There were still a little bit of the, like,
light suckling, as opposed to actual nursing,
but in general, I think it went really really well.
It's still gonna be a lot of learning for him.
He really doesn't have much of an impulse to suck,
but it could be just because the sucking thing
is really hard, and now that it might be a little easier
and once he feels like a lot more energy from
all that that took out of him,
that procedure took out of him,
I'm hoping that he'll wake up and just kind of feel ready
to take it on in a new way
and I'm really hopeful.
He's on his way home so we get
to take him home today and be home!
We weren't 100% ready so there are some things we
will need to run out and purchase today.
But it's no big deal, we can do this.
We made a bunch of doctor appointments,
he has a lot of things we need to follow up on
and some specialists we need to see
but we'll get there when we get there.
We're working on finding a hospital grade pump rental
right now and we have an appointment
with a specialist for him
and we also have his follow up
with his pediatrician tomorrow
because his weight loss was so much they wanna make sure
they're really seeing him frequently right now
and making sure that he is growing
and doing what he needs to do.
So we're just doing all those follow ups.
Welcome to your new home! - He loves it here!
- He looks so cute, I love you Luke!
- [Jessica] Aw and look what we've got!
- [Parker] A stroller!
- Oh my goodness!
So we've told the kids that the baby and I are just home
from the hospital so to make his transition
as best we can, our home will now be turning
into a hospital, and the first thing Bailey asked was,
"Can I put on my scrubs?"
so we were like, yeah.
What that means is that the goal is to keep it
as clean and as quiet as a hospital
and then also for the people in this home
to act as the nurses and just be really helpful
to me and to the baby and offer assistance,
and they're playing the parts of hospital workers.
To that's how we're handling this little transition moment
and they're having a lot of fun with it.
We'll see how it goes.
- Hi I'm Bailey, how can I help you?
- [Jessica] Hey Nurse Bailey, well,
I think I'm probably all set,
I think you know what?
Will you look through the drawers
and see if I have any mother's milk tea?
- Yes.
- Thank you.
So you've got hand sanitizer in your pocket?
That's so wise.
- [Chris] And you've got your scrubs on?
- Mm-hmm.
- [Chris] Nice.
Oh nice, good one.
(bright folk music)
- I'm having a new baby!
- [Chris] You have a new baby?
- Yeah!
It's so little! - Oh my goodness.
- [Parents] He's so little!
- [Chris] He's very little.
- He's drinking his milk.
- [Chris] He's drinking his milk right now.
Is he doing a good job?
What have you been doing while mommy and daddy
were in the hospital with the baby?
- Sitting.
- [Chris] Sitting?
- That's it.
- [Chris] That's it? Just sitting.
- The baby go home now.
- [Chris] Yeah, the baby's at our home now.
- [Jessica] He's at his home, 'cause this
is his home too, huh?
- [Chris] Are you so happy that he's always gonna be here?
(kissing)
- He has little hands.
- [Chris] He does have little hands.
What else does he have?
- More hands!
- [Chris] More hands, he's got two hands?
- Yeah. Fingers.
- [Chris] Oh yeah.
- And more toes.
- [Chris] Mm-hmm, little tiny toes.
Oh my goodness look at those little tiny toes!
- [Duncan] Up in the sky.
- [Chris] Up in the sky toes?
- Down toes! (laughs)
- [Chris] Down toes!
(laughing)
- Up toes! (laughs)
Down toes. (laughs)
- [Chris] Down toes!
- Oh my goodness!
(laughing)
- [Jessica] Alright, yeah.
I'm gonna hold him still but you can cuddle
with him a little bit, okay?
You wanna help burp him? - Ooh, yeah, you
got a little burp?
- [Jessica] Yeah.
- [Chris] Do you know how to burp the baby?
- [Jessica] Okay what you're gonna do
is you're gonna do it very gentle just pat, pat, pat.
- [Chris] And just pat his back, nope his back.
- [Jessica] Here look, here wait.
Put your hand right here really quick.
Look your hand is the size of his little head.
Don't pat his head. - No, don't pat him,
don't pat him.
- [Jessica] Just gentle pats, touch his hair.
It's so soft.
- Ah!
- [Jessica] Yeah and now go like this to his back,
watch Mommy, watch, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.
Not hitting just tap tap. - Can you do that?
- Like this: tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.
Can you do that?
Yeah, just like, oh.
Gentle. - Good!
That's good.
- [Jessica] Ah, that helps him.
That helps his tummy.
Good job! You keep doing it.
Yeah.
Yeah!
Yeah.
- Hi!
- Hi! (laughing)
(singing)
- [Parents] Be gentle!
Be very gentle.
- [Jessica] Oh I think he thinks that's funny.
(laughs)
- These feet are the cutest feet in the world.
Guess who's feet these are?
Throw that in the comment section down below.
- [Jessica] I think they know who's feet they are.
- No, they have to guess!
- [Jessica] Okay.
- And just smell them.
Through the camera, here.
Bring the feet up.
There's some.
Look at how tiny his toes are.
Like, in real life these are ginormous,
I mean ginormous.
- I'm so happy to be home!
We had a really good hospital stay.
I think the hardest thing about it was definitely
just the feeding drama but overall I'm really glad we
were there and that we had all the support we had
because we had so much great support!
We ended up with the greatest lactation consultants
I've ever met with, the occupational therapist
from the NICU was amazing!
I'm so glad that I had access to them.
They're very supportive of me doing everything I can
to breastfeed and we're working really hard to do that
and now I'm also connected with them.
If we continue to have troubles,
I can then make an appointment with a lactation consult
who I loved, so I'm all dialed in with that
and we'll see what we need moving forward.
And we're also renting one of the hospital grade pumps.
We're trying very hard to track that down
because I think the nearest one that is available
is about 100 miles away so that's tonight's journey.
But I think we've found somebody who can at least pick it up
for us and then we'll figure out a way to connect with it.
And the other thing that I thought about when I was
at the hospital that is one of my biggest downsides
to hospital stays, and this is so minor,
but I thought I'd point this out
'cause it bugs me every time
and I never really think about it otherwise.
Look at all the bracelets I have to wear.
I am constantly wearing all these bracelets
which isn't that big of a deal but when you're trying
to nurse a baby and then also
when you're having trouble nursing a baby,
it's really hard constantly having
these scratchy things right on the baby's face
and in the way.
So I'm about to cut off my bands,
I'm very excited about that.
I mean I know that it sounds like maybe silly,
but it really is one of those things
that drives me bananas the whole time I'm at the hospital.
So snap snap clip clip.
- So tiny!
(calm acoustic music)
His eyes opened a little bit just a second ago.
- [Chris] Isn't it interesting how dark his eyes are?
- Yeah!
Hi!
(calm acoustic music)
Hush. Shh.
It's okay, are you hungry mister?
Do you want some food?
- [Jessica] Bailey, what's it like to feed him?
- He's so small.
- Can I try it?
- You wanna try this one?
(calm acoustic music)
- I'll hold.
(calm acoustic music)
- More burps? - You okay?
You can pat a little harder.
(laughing)