Dylan Dreyer shares happy update on baby Russell

Good news! Dylan Dreyer's baby boy is breathing on his own and gaining weight after arriving six weeks early on Wednesday.

The TODAY meteorlogist gave a happy update about her third child, Russell James Fichera, on the 3rd hour of TODAY Thursday from her 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. Dylan's water broke six weeks early on Sunday night.

"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 and ended up with a September baby.

"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."

His name also has a family significance, 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."

Dylan also credited the staff of the NICU at New York-Presbyterian for everything they have done.

"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."

Russell is barely a day old, and he already has two nicknames. His parents call him "Rusty," while Calvin already calls him "RJ."

"We're going to have some fun," Dylan said.