Our precious baby boy decided to surprise us 3 weeks early! Tag Wyatt Burton was born on Monday, October 15th at 7:23pm. 8 lbs 14 oz and 21 1/4 inches long! Big boy for 3 weeks early. We named him after my grandad, Pete Taglialavore, who went by "Tag", and Luke's brother, Jordan Wyatt Burton.
To our surprise, after our big weekend with Jessica's shower and Logan's birthday party, I went into labor Monday morning and was having strong contractions about 2 minutes apart in the late afternoon. Our doctor was worried about several possible complications, and decided to take the baby by C-section that evening.
Tag did great for a few hours while he was with us in the recovery room...then started showing signs of labored breathing. Although not as uncommon as we initially thought at 37 weeks, his lungs just weren't quite mature enough yet. He was admitted to the NICU and was placed on a ventilator for respiratory support the next morning.
Thank you so much to all who have prayed for our family. We are so thankful to the Lord for our precious gift. What an awesome reminder of how truly precious life is....and how totally in control our God is!
Getting ready to meet this baby boy!
The whole crew is excited to meet their new baby brother!
Jen and Mom giving me some last minute advice....
Faith Anna helping out with her cousin Austin
My dad is worried about me....
And here he is! Tag Wyatt Burton. All 8 pounds and 14 ounces of him!
Love those shower caps!
In the recovery room. It was SO good to hold my sweet baby boy.
The kids all just wanted to touch him...
Look at those chubby cheeks!
Proud mama and daddy...
Logan was SO SO SO excited to finally meet his brother.
Faith Anna too....
...and Miss Beth. They all got a turn holding him.
Even Uncle Matthew!
Big ol' double chin!
Then the recovery room nurse realized his color wasn't looking so good...and his oxygen level wasn't so good. So off he went to the NICU.
This is on the CPAP machine. It just gave him a chance to breathe better without having to go on the ventilator just yet.
But, that didn't seem to work too well, so they intubated him. Here he is on the vent. Look how much better his color is!
See his precious little fingers holding the vent? He loved to do that.
Luke making sure that all the lines and tubes looked just right. I think he calls the NICU about every 2 hours to check on his boy. All the nurses just laugh and say, "It's Tag's Daddy calling again!"
We pray that he won't have to be there long. That God will just continue to mature his lungs each and every day. That he will make him strong and wrap His arms around him while we can't. We also pray for all the other tiny babies in that place. Tag looks so huge compared to their "normal" patients! Really puts things in perspective when we realize that some of those babies have been there for months and months. And our sweet Tag will probably only have to stay a couple of weeks at most. We are so blessed. Thank you Lord Jesus for holding him in the palm of your hand.
Getting all dressed up in his coming home outfit. Much better than those little white hospital t-shirts... :)
Check out the dimple on his right cheek. See it? Just like his big sister, Beth!
I love this picture. Just so peaceful...riding home in the car.
Luke and Faith Anna checking out the little man....
Look at Logan's face....such a proud big brother!
Granny Boo got to be there for the big Homecoming! (You might wonder where Beth is in all these pics....)
Here she is! While the allure of the new baby was quite great, the sandbox offered a whole different appeal. :)
First time Luke's mom was able to hold her newest grandson...
Checking out all the fingers and toes...
Looks like helping with the bottle won out over the sandbox.... !
Luke's first time to feed the little guy. Bonding...
