Dylan Dreyer‘s newborn (who arrived six weeks early) is breathing on his own and gaining weight!
The TODAY meteorologist gave a positive update on her third child, Russell James Fichera, from her hospital room at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.
“He’s in such good hands up in the NICU, which actually takes a lot of pressure off of me,” Dylan said. “He’s doing wonderful, he’s gaining weight, he’s breathing on his own, and he’s doing awesome.
“He just was in such a rush. I thought he could at least wait until today because today officially is 34 weeks. I guess that’s just a huge milestone in baby world.”
Russell was born at 2:38 a.m. on Wednesday, weighing 5 pounds, 5 ounces. Early Sunday night, Dylan’s water broke six weeks early.
“I’m glad I got here when I did because they were able to give me two rounds of steroids, and that was enough to kind of boost his lungs,” Dylan said. “When he was first born he just had a little bit of oxygen, but ever since he’s been really breathing on his own.
“He is gaining weight, which is awesome, I mean not much, but the fact that he started off 5 pounds, 5 ounces six weeks early is not a bad thing.”
Russell is Dylan and husband Brian Fichera’s third son, joining Calvin, 4, and 1-year-old Oliver. They had planned on having a November baby but things changed!
“Which is wild because I really only have winter babies,” Dylan said. “Calvin was December, Ollie was January, and I was like ‘OK let’s kick off the holiday season in early November with little baby Rusty. ‘
“And sure enough, Sept. 29. It’s a different sign, what is it now, a Libra? I didn’t do any research on Libra. There are no clothes clean, there’s no crib in the house, nothing was planned. It’s wild, I can’t believe he’s here.”
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His name also honors their family, as Russell is Brian’s father’s name, and James is Dylan’s father’s name.
“We finally worked in a family connection,” she said. “Both our dads started crying when we told them. It’s just been really special. I can’t believe I was going to have to wait until November to meet him, and he’s here and healthy.”
“I’m actually sleeping because the baby’s being taken care of,” she said. “I’m not, ‘Is he hungry? Does he need a diaper? Is he cold? Is he hot?’ He’s so well taken care of that I actually slept last night. This is the best I’ve felt.”
In addition, Russell already has two nicknames. His parents call him “Rusty,” while Calvin already calls him “RJ.”
“We’re going to have some fun,” Dylan said.
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