Benjamin Cohen William Franz... BIG BEN (Nov. 23 thru Nov 27)

Benjamin Cohen William Franz... BIG BEN (Nov. 23 thru Nov 27)
November 27, 2009

An incredilby big name for a tiny boy.Benjamin, due January 14, 2010, made his grand entrance into the world on Monday, November 23, 2009 at 8:07pm.
Talk about a surprise ending to a pregnancy! What a joyous surprise.
Now then, Benjamin made his decision to be born shortly after the baby shower. Melissa went into labor on Saturday evening and was brought to the hospital to stop the contractions... Somebody had different ideas. By Monday afternoon, the doctors started thinking differently, and by Monday evening the decision for a cesarian deliver had been made.
Benjamin weighed in at a whooping (yes, this is supposed to be humor) 3 lbs and 8 oz. He is 16 inches long. He cried when he was born and praise God- he is breathing on his own!
He is handsome and strong and has loads and loads of long blonde hair. He looks like Shaun with Melissa's hair! The nurses have all fallen in love with him and are combing and styling his hair.
Because he is so tiny, the nurses have told us he will probably be in the hospital until his original due date of January 14th.
Today he met... Mommy and Daddy. Grandma Mary took a quick peek with daddy before she went home.
All is good in our world.
As of 11/24/2009: Benjamin still breathes on his own... and is suckling already. He is strong and advancing in leaps and bounds. Melissa and Shaun were both able to hold him today.
As of 11/25/2009: Benjamin has jaundice today. Keeping him under ultraviolet lights and his eyes are protected... but he is still breathing great, eating up to 11cc of food, and he is incredibly active. The jaundice is typical - and nothing at all to worry about... unless of course you are his parents or grandparents... then you tell people what you have been told about it being within the boundries of normal, but you worry anyway.
Today he met his Aunty Margaret (Augie) and his Great-Grandma Peggie.
As of 11/26/2009* - Thanksgiving Day: The jaundice has completely cleared up... the UV light has been removed and his beautiful face is once again open for us to see completely! No more cover up for the eyes. He improves so fast for such a tiny guy.
He has gone from 11cc to 17cc of food. He has been taken off IV... now the port is the only thing there in case he will need it. He still has the feeding tube, but is also eating from the bottle.
I picked Melissa up today from the hospital - she was released on Thanksgiving. We went up to see Benjamin before we left... he is so beautiful, I can not believe how perfect he is... so incredibly tiny but perfectly formed. He held my hand... pictures of it are somewhere here... still figuring that part out.
After our Thanksgiving meal, Melissa and Shaun went back up to see Benjamin. It seems whenever he hears Shauns voice he smiles. Guess Shaun (a night owl anyway) will be up singing to him at night - once he gets home.
As always, we are truly blessed and all is good in our world.
As of 11/27/2009: Received a text from Melissa... Benjamin has gone from 17cc of food to 23cc. He is one hungry guy... of course he is burning calories simply by existing right now - with all the growing he is doing.
More to follow.