New Pictures!

"Man, life is rough for me. All this eating, crying, pooping, and peeing is wearing me out! I better take a nap and ponder my situation."


Cole's first (of many!) trips to UC. Go Bearcats!!


Cole wants to know if you have tickets?!? To the GUN SHOW!!!!


Mommy and Cole before church!


Neetie wanted Cole to enjoy the outdoors, but insisted he wear his hat!


Everyone gets to take a nap sometimes!!

The Family!

Dad is just getting him ready!! (Is that really the Heisman pose? Nice!)

Cole at his best!

Clover is warming up to Cole, although she definitely feels neglected at times. Here some pics of her standing guard over her new little brother!

Cole's first's..

So, it has been 1o days since the last blog and we have done MANY "firsts" for Cole. Also, Mommy is back to writing the blog (at least this time). Since the last time we have written Cole has had several trips. He has been to Applebees, Neetie and Paw Paws, Five Guys, Church, TGI Friday's, University of Cincinnati, Zac Taylor's house, and so on.. He seems to really like the car and tends to fall asleep whenever we go anywhere.



The antibiotics are going great! We have only 5 days left. Mommy and Daddy have really gotten the hang of it and I even do it alone while Nate is at Football. It will be so nice for Cole to have NO cords, wires, etc in less than a week. The home care nurse was here today to change his bandage and check up on him. The biggest news was his weight. He is now 9 pounds, 5 ounces. He is really packing on the pounds.

Neetie has been out again for some overnight stays and it has been SO HELPFUL. I don't know what I am going to do when all my help heads back to school. I do love having so many teachers in my life. I also need to thank everyone for all the thoughts, prayers, messages, calls, etc. It has been amazing to see so many people being so caring to Nate, myself and Cole. We can not even begin to share with you how much it has meant to us. We have been receiving meals from a group of Nate's friends and can't believe how much that has helped. You forget to eat when you have a little one and when they food is brought to you, it makes it so much easier. Again, THANK YOU to everyone!!

Being a mom has already been amazing! You really do have no idea what love is until you have a little one depending on you. This whole experience has brought Nate and I so much closer and I do not know what I would do without him in my life. He has already been an amazing dad and I can not begin to explain to everyone what he did for me and with me during labor, delivery, recovery and these early weeks. Also.... He passed his Master's exam that he had to take when Cole was 2 days old- we were really excited to get the letter today!! He has 2 classes finished and 2 to go this summer!

We do have several new pictures of some of these events and I will try to get them uploaded soon. More to come....

Finally settling in!

It is about 10:30 Saturday morning; day 3 of the entire family being home! Cole is doing very well, getting good sleep during the night an d eating very well! He made his first visit to the pediatrician on Friday. Everything went well and he even weighed in at a hefty 8lbs. 9oz.!!! Gaining weight like a champ! Neetie spent her 2nd night with us and has been a HUGE help as we have been getting settled. She will heading home sometime today. Paw-Paw just arrived and is holding and feeding his 3rd grandchild as I type this.

Cole is becoming more and more comfortbale (as are mom and dad) with receiving his antibiotics 4-times a day. We have the weekend to enjoy before football for dad starts on Monday. Luckily it is only camp, so I will only be gone about 4 hours or so. Two-a-days don't start until August 3rd and Cole will be off his antibiotics at that point. This will make things a little easier and less hectic for Megan! Take care and see ya soon. More pics on the way!

Cole is home from the hospital, FINALLY!!!

Well, Cole was released from the hospital today. After receiving his PICC line on Tuesday, we began discussions about having home care come to the house so that Cole did not have to stay in the hospital until August 1st! (this was the original plan, YUCK!) Well, we were able to get things set up and now he is at home!! He will still be receiving antibiotics on a regular basis, so we have to be careful about over-exposure. There is lots of hand washing and hand sanitizer being used at the Baughman household. Regardless, mom and dad are happy to be home and excited not to be driving to the hospital twice a day. Below are some new pics, both from yesterday and today.


Mom and dad finally at home with their precious cargo!! "Welcome home, Cole!"

Neetie was already at our house waiting for her newest grandson to arrive.

Clover is very interested in the addition to the family. She is not sure what to think of Cole!

Cole takin' his first ride in his care seat!

Aunt Cara stopped by on Wednesday morning. She was super excited to see him! (That's what she said!!!)

Mommy and Cole!

New pictures!

Grandma Linda stopped by Wednesday morning on her way to Atlanta. She had a solid 25 minutes with Cole and said she could have held him all day long!

Cole with his very proud dad on Wednesday morning.

Kate visited on Tuesday night, so Cole wore the outfit she bought him. They are both a "Big Deal"!!

Paw-Paw got a chance to be with Cole on Tuesday night as well. Cole said, "Thanks for the Skyline Paw-Paw!"

Neetie was super excited to hold Cole! However, she wasn't sure what face he was making, but she definitely thought it wass cute!

Here is the transport truck Cole and Megan hitched a ride in down to Children's Hospital. That is one serious ride, Cole!

Cole's first field trip!

Cole embarked on his first field trip today. He went to Cincinnati Children's today to get a PICC line (Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter) inserted into his arm. After it's in, they thread the PICC up his arm, across his chest, and stop it near his heart. This enables the antibiotics to be dispersed into his bloodsteam in a more effective manner. This takes the place of his IV , so he no longer has the "club" on his hand.

The transport team from Children's arrived around 8:30 and loaded him onto their special baby gurney. Megan got to ride with Cole and I drove down and met them in Radiology at Children's. Megan did not want to go in the procedure with Cole, so I got the nod. The ladies who performed inserted his PICC were awesome, even though they were both U.K. fans. However, Mary, who works for Child Life and sat with me during the procedure, is a Bearcat and we had some good conversation. Cole was OUTSTANDING for the whole thing. He slept through the entire procedure and received an Official PICC Certificate that reads "Congratulations Cole, you have successfully received your PICC line." They even bandaged him with CoFlex that is Bearcat Red!! After the procedure, he went back into the baby gurney and back into the transport truck. We were all back at Mercy Anderson by 11am!

Cole is eating very, very well. He has gained weight and as of last night he weighs 8lbs 1oz. He looks absolutely great. Now all we have to do is have a discussion with the doctors about whether he will stay at the hospital or if he will come home and have a nurse come and visit him. Stay tuned!!! (More to pics to follow as well!)

Monday, Day 4 of life with Cole Baughman!

First, I will load some more pictures later. We are now juggling a pretty hectic schedule since Megan was discharged on Sunday, yet Cole is still at the hospital. We are at the hospital for 2 morning feedings and then again 2 more feedings in the late afternoon and evening. We skip his feeding in the early afternoon so we can take a break from the hospital. However, a lot of our time is now spent pumping for milk. It's truly amazing the things that you get excited about when you are new parents - we got 60 ml's of food for Cole during the last pump, WooHoo!!!!

As for Cole, things are looking better. They removed his feeding tube after his 7:30am feeding! Also, they are no longer giving him a constant drip via I.V. AWESOME - 2 less tubes going into his body!These two tubes were removed because he is consistently eating the right amount of food. Mom and dad are also changing diapers on a regular basis as well. (What goes in must come out!) Tomorrow he is being transported to Children's so that he can have a Picc line put in. Once the Picc line has been placed, he will return to Mercy Anderson immediately; he will not stay at Children's. This Picc line will replace the current I.V. in his hand. The doctors have determined that in order to beat the bacteria in his blood, he will need to be on antibiotics for 21 days. The Picc line is the most effective way to get this medicine into his bloodstream. So, after tomorrow we will have a discussion with the doctors about whether he will stay in the hospital or if he will get to go home and receive home health care for the duration of the 21 days. It really is up in the air at this point, so I will keep you posted about this.

Thanks again to everyone for thinkning of Cole and our family as we work through this. I will continue to post and keep you updated. Take care!

Sunday Updates!

First things first, here is the update on Cole. Dr. Whitsett (who is the Chief of the Neonatology and the Director of the Perinatal Institute at Cincinnati Children's) was making rounds today and talked to us. He said Cole is doing great and he "looks terrific." He said that the bacteria he has is serious if not treated, but Cole has been on antibiotics from the start and he is going to be just fine. He will have to be on antibiotics for probably 3 weeks, but as soon as he is eating enough food, he will get a pick line (like a port) to replace his I.V. and then he can go home. At that point, a nurse would come to the house and give him his antibiotics. So, after some insecurities yesterday, we have gained a lot of confidence about how well Cole is doing and we are excited about the positive feedback we have continually received about him.

I have posted some new pictures from today (Sunday) and you can see them below this post. In these pictures you can see a few things. Most prominent on Cole is his feeding tube. It looks worse than it really is, but the good news is that they might take it out soon. He is eating very well and they haven't needed to give him any food via the feeding tube.

Cole was greeted with a present from his cousin Logan, which is his little Curious George doll that can be seen below. Aunt Kristen came and visited on Sunday and even got to hold Cole. Chad, Amy, Logan and Avery visited one last time before they went back to Nashville. They immediately jumped into bed with their Aunt Gi-Gi when they arrived. Even though Logan and Avery are not allowed in the Special Care Unit, they were able to see their cousin from outisde the glass doors. Logan was very upset that he couldn't come in and see Cole, so Aunt Gi-Gi had to go out and console him.

Pictures from Sunday!

Click on the Pictures to enlarge them for better viewing.

Saturday - Day 3, I think?!?!

Well, we are winding down another day here at the hospital. It's very hard to actually put a time frame around this whole ordeal! We are now working on 3 hour increments as we start a regular feeding schedule with Cole.

I had to leave Friday night around 9pm so I could get home and get some sleep in preparation for my Master's Degree Comprehensive Exam. The exam was from 8am until 12:30pm. Whew, glad that is over, luckily it is pass fail! Neetie Stojakovich spent the night with Megan and then Paw-Paw joined them in morning along with Grandma and Grandpa Baughman. Aunt Amy and Uncle Chad were here as well, all keeping vigil with Megan as they ran more tests on Cole. Unfortunately, he has a gram 1 negative rod bacteria. We have no idea what this means (we aren't doctors), but it looks like Cole is going to have to stay in the hospital a total of 10-14 days. We are very sad about this:( We are so ready to take him home and enjoy him and start our new family. But, he has to get better and he has to get antibiotics, so the hospital is the best place for him. He has a small feeding tube in his nose because they are trying to ween him off his I.V., so there is one more wire to navigate when holding and feeding him. However, having said all that, he is doing very well. He has been through a lot of stress and trauma and everyone is impressed with how strong he is and how he is responding to feeding and everything else.

Megan is due to be released tomorrow, but we will probably stay here most of the day. After that, we will probably be spending most of our days here at the hospital and our evenings at home. I have posted a couple more pics of mom and dad holding baby Cole!! Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers! Stay tuned for more info!

Day 2

Today has been much more normal than yesterday, but still busy! It's 6:15 now and we have a few visitors today. Grandma and Grandpa Baughman arrived at about 9:30 and finally got to see their first grandchild. They were super excited, but I had already warned Cole that Grandpa Baughman was coming and to keep an eye on him; you never know what Ol' Reid will do! We got a surprise visit from some of Megan's relatives, which was awesome! Her Aunt Phyllis and Uncle Don, along with her cousin Marissa, arrived and promptly got a chance to see Cole. They only stayed for about an hour and we are so grateful that they drove so far to see us! Cole mostly sleeps, so not too many people get a chance to hold him, but Aunt Phyllis and Grandma and Grandpa Baughman were able to hold him.

Around lunch time, Lyndsey and Kyle Ballenger arrived and we had some laughs; it was great to see the both of them! In the afternoon, Kate R. visited for the 2nd time and Neetie and Paw-Paw Stojakovich arrived. We also received a surprise visit from Dave Robinson, the Head Minister at White Oak Christian. What an awesome gift to have him come and pray with Cole, Mom, Dad, and Grandma Baughman! Danielle and Steph dropped in around dinner time. Danielle was able to offer a ton of advice (she works at the neo-natal care unit at Good Sam) and Steph was able to take some notes as she and her husband Tony are expecting their 1st child! As they were leaving (which happened while writing this post) Amy Fitz arrived to visit!

Holy Surprise!! Chad, Amy, Logan, & Avery Stojakovich JUST arrived, unexpectedly, from Nashville!! YEA!!!

As I finish this post, Cole is doing well and he is supposed to start his first ooportunity to feed at 8pm tonight. Unfortunately, he has to stay until at least Wednesday as they have discovered a bacteria in his blood work. It's not anything major, they just want to take care of him and make sure they kill that bacteria with antibiotics. Physically he is great, responding to sound and light and noises. He is pooping and peeing, yawning, sneezing, and doing baby things. He looks and sounds great, but mostly he just sleeps, which is great for him as he recovers from his traumatic events. I have included some pics below. Thanks to all of you for keeping Cole and Mom Baughman in your prayers, they are definitely working! See you all next time and feel free to leave comments here on the blog!