Ethan Tyler Couts

We had our baby! Ethan Tyler Couts came into the world at just 34 weeks. Life has been emotionally challenging for me, but I feel so blessed to have him in our lives and that he is doing well. I just went into pre-term labor on my own, and even with the meds the doctor gave me to stop my contractions, labor just happened. After delivery, my doc checked my placenta and told me it was beginning to detach. If it had detached more than 25%, he says the baby would have died within minutes. What a blessing that he is alive; and though it is a challenge to have him in the NICU (it is really really hard to leave your baby there and go home), I feel so grateful that he is alive and well.

I cannot begin to say how much I appreciate all your thoughts and prayers. They have been so helpful!

The following is an email Spencer sent out to some of our friends...I have not been able to forward it on yet, but I am posting it here in hopes you can all get the update.

Dear Friends and Family,

Debbie and I are happy to share the news of the latest addition to our family. Although I thought we were way ahead in the game, I will never again doubt a mother’s intuition.

Just making it to 34 weeks in the womb, Ethan Tyler decided it was time to make his grand entrance into the world last Friday at around 9:30 in the morning. Mother and baby are doing well.

Thank you for the thoughts and prayers. They have been felt and appreciated!

Spencer & Debbie


In case you are interested, here are some essentials. Please do not be alarmed by the information. Things look very positive and any long term or severe risks are minimal. Ethan still has some minor hills to climb but he is doing really well and on his way. (Modern technology is amazing!)

- Again, mother and baby are doing well.
- Debbie was released late Sunday night.
- Ethan will likely be released towards the beginning of next week.
- Ethan was born at 4 lb. 14 oz and 18.5 cm.
- Ethan continues to make good progress.

Primary concerns with being born at 34 weeks
- Limited Strength & Energy
o 34 weekers have limited strength.
o They need to focus on the most important activities.
o Breathing / Digesting / Eating / Body Temp / Etc.
- Lung Development / Breathing
o Ethan is very blessed to be breathing on his own. (Very positive)
o Every now and then his breathing count (per minute) is a little high but still in an acceptable range.
- Digesting / Feeding Ability
o Ethan is doing really well digesting his food. (Very positive)
o He’s now up to 40 cc’s / 3 hours. (Very positive)
o Ethan does well sucking from a bottle but exhausts himself quickly. (Positive)
o He needs to switch off eating from a bottle and through a tube (gavage).
o We’re hoping to feed him strictly from a bottle in a day or two.
- Body Temperature
o Ethan is currently in an incubator to help maintain his body temperature.
o This allows him to allocate energy towards other important activities.
o He’s likely to be taken out of the incubator in a couple of days.
- Bilirubin Levels
o Ethan’s levels were a little high on Monday.
o He’s receiving a little light treatment and doing well.
o The levels came down yesterday.

Additional Notes
- The hospital is +/- 3.5 minutes from the house with no traffic at 70 mph.
- There is no advantage to sprinting out of the house at 3:30 a.m. if you are barefoot (you have to go back).
- We washed and folded all the infant cloths a week ago Saturday (because of Debbie’s strong prodding)
- Matthew is super excited about hugging and squeezing Ethan.
o We were concerned (and still are) about how jealousy might work into this but Matthew loves visiting Ethan and wants to hold him really bad.
o We’re now more concerned with Matthew being rough in showing affection.

Ethan soon after birth (this is a picture of a picture, hence the 80s look)

A baby Tan :)

Just Relaxing