Drew is home! He spent his last night in the hospital and we brought him home around noon today. He is doing great. Dean was so proud of him and wanted to hold him as soon as we got home. He also ran straight for the elephant that he got for Drew and helped him open it. Drew gave Dean a little suitcase with a motorcycle on it. Dean has been packing his toys up all afternoon and taking trips to the office. It is so cute watching him.

Well, during the night Drew moved upstairs to the regular nursery. He doesn't need the detailed care of the NICU anymore and I think they were just out of room in there. He is still on the monitors but hasn't had any more apneas and we are still set to bring him home TOMORROW!!

Sorry so late with this update. I've officially dubbed this day "Meltdown Day" for myself. Somehow the hormones and lack of sleep collided in a major cryfest this afternoon. Imagine that.

Well, Day 10 was the day that Dean got to go home from the NICU and that isn't going to happen for Drew. But he is doing so well that I am really praying it will be this coming week sometime. He made it through the night in the open crib and is doing great maintaining his temperature! Yeah!!

Well, we are still working on the open crib/maintaining temperature today. I'm not sure what happened last night. He was on his way to the open crib and then this morning was still in the isolette and the nurse had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned the open crib! So after we came back for the 12:00 feeding, she said she had talked to the charge nurse and was once again working down the isolette temp in order to get him to the open crib. It is like every day is a new day and a shift change for the nurses means we start from scratch! So, hopefully by the time we go back at 6 today, he will be in the crib.

Wow. The days are really running together. I'm not sure if I am coming or going most times! All I know is that I am washing my hands A LOT and getting to love on a tiny boy sometimes and a big boy other times. We are blessed with two sweet boys!

Drew had an awesome feeding this morning. It was the best one yet. He was really hungry and alert and ate like a champ! Somebody bring that kid some State Fair Fried Butter cause he's ready! It really encouraged me though because his last feeding with me yesterday was a bit rough. The monitor went off 3 times and we couldn't figure out why. So it was distracting and frustrating for all of us.

Today you get bullet points because I'm tired!

Drew is really doing great with his feedings. He is nursing well and taking his bottle well at night so mommy can stay home and rest!

We have seen Drew two times this morning. He is free from the IV now. He still has it in his arm but not hooked up to the drip and hopefully they will take the part in his arm out soon.

Sorry I'm late posting this! Drew had a wonderful Day 3! John and I both got to feed him a bottle. He is finishing his bottle every time so they keep increasing the amount and at the same time decreasing his IV drip. He should be off of the IV entirely by the end of the day today.

The nurse was really encouraging this morning and told me we might be sent home before the Tuesday "Dismissal' class. They are actually treating us like competant parents this time! She said we probably don't even need the basics class this time since we obviously know what we are doing and have dealt with a preemie before. (She didn't even make us demonstrate how to use the bulb syringe, like they did with Dean.)

After 9 days in the hospital, they discharged me around noon today. It is so nice to be at home. My mom is staying with us this week to help with keeping Dean while we run up to the hospital every three hours. I know that will be a huge help and I am thankful for her.

This cheered me up and thought you would enjoy it too!

I promise, pictures are coming!! My photographer has taken Dean home for the night so he will have to post them after bedtime. I am still at the hospital but get to go home tomorrow. Boy am I ready to sleep in my own bed! But it will be really hard to leave Drew here in the NICU.

He has done amazing today! He is actually eating from a bottle! I'm tearing up just thinking about it because it is a pretty big deal. Him not having a feeding tube is major progress. He hasn't had to get one yet since they just started feeding him today, but they were surprised as much as we were that he could take a bottle.

He started struggling a bit with his temperature and had to go into the the little glass cube bed (the one with the windows in the side for your arms). But at his last "touch time", the nurse said she was going to try to get him moved to the less critical part of the NICU. She said he is doing so great and doesn't need the the nurses attention as much as some of the other babies.

I asked her when they said that he was "older" than they thought, what that meant. She said the doctor said he was probably closer to 36 weeks by the way he is acting! We saw the Dr. this morning and he acted like maybe we had our due date wrong. I know for a fact that it isn't wrong but they can assume what they want!

The Power of Prayer:

This morning I was totally surprised to walk in the NICU and find Drew in an open bin! He is still hooked up to his IV and monitors, but he is already maintaining his own body temperature so he doesn't have to be under the heater anymore. He is now in the same type bin that they put regular babies in. What a big boy! They had also dressed him in a tiny little preemie outfit that said "sleep is for the weak" and he was sporting a lime green hand crocheted hat.

I got to hold him for about 45 minutes and change his dirty diaper. He is a really good baby. The nurses said he has only cried when they wake him up (which make sense because they only wake them up to poke or prick them!). He opened his eyes for a long time when we visited him last night. He finally looked tired so we left. The nurses said after we left that he was wide awake again and they had fun talking to him while he looked at all the lights above his crib. He's already a hit with the ladies! ha!

Something we have heard them say several times is "he is showing up OLDER in all our test than he actually is". The nurses really bragged on how well he is doing. We know why!

Drew Johnston Rolf is here!
Drew means "warrior" and Johnston is "son of John".

He was born at 11:12 this morning. He is 4 lbs 11 oz. He is breathing on his own and doing great. Mom and Dad are exhausted from a night of no sleep but we are happy that this little miracle is finally here!

He will probably stay in the NICU for three weeks unless they decide to send him home early. He has already surprised us with being so healthy for a 32 week 6 day old little guy and we expect him to keep doing great and get to come home early!

Still here in hospital-land! Everything is looking great. The nurses keep saying "that's a good looking baby!" when I am on the monitor. His heartbeat is healthy and strong. I feel like my post are the "same old thing" now with nothing changing, BUT it is a big deal that things are staying steady!

I have been blessed by all my visitors and friends doing such kind things for me. God is really showing me how much He cares about the little things through all the support. So many of you have sent emails and texts and messages and even visited and it is always just what I need when I need it. It is really keeping me sane. We appreciate your prayers and love SO MUCH. You guys are carrying us through this stressful time.