Letting Others hold Joshua

For the first month or so Joshua was in the NICU we were only allowed to hold him twice a day. So I would hold Joshua in the morning and Brian would hold him in the evening. We wouldn't let anyone else hold him because we felt like we as his parents should get to hold him every day. We never asked for extra holdings for him because he had such a rough time before.

Then sometime around Memorial Day they said that we could hold him a third time. I held him the extra times for the first few days and he did great. Brian and I decided that someone else could hold Joshua. My parents were out of town on an anniversary trip, so we called my sister Heather and asked her if she would want to come hold him. Heather was the first person besides Brian and I, and the NICU staff to be able to hold Joshua. Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of it.

I am pretty sure at some point Emily came and held him at some point, but I don't have a picture of it, and I don't remember. Sorry Emily. Nathan wasn't allowed in the NICU at all because he was too young. You had to be sixteen to go in and Nathan was only 12. The closest he got to Joshua, is once Joshua's area was by a window to the hall, so Nathan came and the nurse picked Joshua up and held him up to the window so Nathan could see. Poor Nathan.

When my parents came back they were able to come hold Joshua too. The first picture I have is with my dad holding Joshua.

The next picture is with my mom holding Joshua. The one with my mom is taken later, it must not be the first time she held Joshua, because I am pretty sure she held him before my dad.

On a side note, my parents were very supportive when Joshua was in the NICU. They visited him all the time and even went to the "You have a baby in the NICU class" a couple of weeks before Brian and I made it there. Then after over a month of waiting they were finally able to hold their first grandbaby.