So far, this has been one of the best weekends ever! Record snowfall here in DFW and we're loving every second of it. We've built snowmen, we've had snowball fights, we've sledded at the neighborhood hill (which now looks like a bunny slope at a ski resort). We've had more fun with Deano than we have in a long time. There are more pics and videos to come, but here's a few from this afternoon.
Drew's beginning to smile more and more these days. We caught him on camera tonight giving some pretty big grins and giggles and wanted to document it on the blog so we can remember these moments. He'll be a big boy like Dean before we know it!
Ok, so it wasn't exactly Christmas (New Years Eve actually), but the tree was still up at the house and we needed some cute Christmas pictures of the boys. So I fired up my new camera and snapped away while Jess wrangled the boys. I'm still learning the camera and new lenses, but all things considered these turned out pretty good. Here are my favorites.
So I've been tinkering around with some new time lapse video techniques and came up with this today. I was offloading and organizing all of our photos over the last 16 months and had an idea to throw them all into a time lapse video. It was a hair brained experiment (like most of mine are), but I think it turned out pretty cool! The film has 2770 photos ranging from Sept. 2008 - Dec. 2009.
Buckle your seatbelt because the pics come at you at the rate of 24 per second. It's wicked fast, but if you look closely enough, you might catch a frame of yourself if my camera's been aimed at you at any point over the past 16 months.
(On a small scale, I imagine this is what it looks like for your life to flash before your eyes.)
FYI: If you click on the video and go to youtube you can view it in HD.
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.
We all napped this afternoon. We're so happy to finally be all together. It has been a long few weeks. We are so thankful for answered prayers!
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!!
So today he has a great nurse and we are just checking things off the list:
-Hearing Test
-Circumcision
-Mom & Dad take CPR
-Car seat test (they put Drew in his car seat for an hour while he has his monitor on to make sure he can breathe well while in the seat.)
We are all ready to have him home! Dean is really excited and thinks that someone is going to just drop Drew off at our front door! I keep trying to explain that we will have to go get him and bring him home. It will all make sense to him soon.
Thank you so much for all your prayers. One more night without our Drew and then our family will be complete.
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.
I must confess that I was irritated with Drew's nurse this morning. It was a lady I haven't met before but she didn't seem to know what was going on with him at all. Every question I had was answered with an "I don't know" or "I'm not sure". So that is how Meltdown Day started for me.
John had a meeting all morning so Dean got to spend the morning with one of his favorite pals. We are so blessed with amazing friends who keep stepping in and helping when we need it. But John came home this afternoon to find me in full meltdown. Poor guy. So he went to the 3:00 feeding to see what he could find out...or maybe he was just trying to get out of the house. ha! Just kidding. He was super sweet and tucked me in bed with strict orders to get some rest.
And here is another story of how God works.... At the hospital, crazy nurse starts asking John about fishing! Out of the blue, just like that, he has an instant fishing friend who is more than happy to find out anything he needs to know about Drew! AND, best of all, DREW HAS A DISCHARGE DATE OF WEDNESDAY!!!!I know tomorrow is a brand new day and there is a very good chance no one will have any idea what we are talking about when we say he is supposed to come home Wednesday, BUT we have some hope and I got all the tears out of the way today so we are ready to celebrate!
So, Meltdown Day turned out pretty good in the end thanks to my determined husband who likes to fish.
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!!
I just got home from seeing him and got to give him a bath. He looks extra tiny without his clothes on and blankets wrapped around him. He didn't fuss about the bath and actually seemed to enjoy it. This morning he was wide awake and so cute with his eyes open. It is nice to see him more alert.
Tonight Dean gets to peek at him through the window! This will be the first time the brothers meet. Dean is really excited about it. It has been a bit of a disconnect for him to only see pictures of Drew. He doesn't really understand why Drew isn't in my tummy and yet isn't home with us either. So I hope tonight will help things make more sense to Dean.
Keep praying for us. We hope we are in the home stretch!
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.
He is eating great as usual and they have decided to let him eat as much as he wants at his bottle feedings. So this is great news!
He gained weight again so apparently getting lots of calories. More good news!
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 is eating good today. He finished up the photo-therapy last night at midnight and his jaundice levels were back to normal this morning. They are turning down the isolette temperature and working to get him into an open crib by tonight. So if he is maintaining his temperature well, that is one of the last hurdles. I am starting to get my hopes up that he might come home early next week. He hits the 34 week mark tomorrow.
He has a little roommate now because they are so crowded in the NICU. I spoke to his roomie's momma and her little guy has been there for three months! So that really put things into perspective for me and I am grateful that we won't be spending that kind of time at the hospital.
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.
He was still on the jaundice lamp this morning. The nurse today acted like it was news to her for him to stop doing the photo therapy and move to an open crib. What?! Don't these people talk to each other?! The doctor will have been by before I am up there again so hopefully they will get things worked out.
Every day I am trying new routines with his feedings so I don't wear myself out trying to make it to all of them. I am also trying to work out the best times to get quality time with Dean as well so I am not home when he his napping. I don't want him to feel abandoned. Yesterday when my mom asked him what he wanted for dinner he said, "I want my momma and daddy to come home.". Luckily we were pulling in a few minutes later!
Drew is in his own private room now! The only reason for this is they are out of space in the NICU and needed his old space for a more urgent care baby. It is pretty nice to have our own little cubby hole, especially for nursing.
He is still on the jaundice lamp but should be done with that tomorrow.
They will try him in a normal crib tomorrow and see if he is doing better maintaining his temperature.
Spoke to the Dr. today and he said they will monitor him about 5-7 days more and watch for apneas and then talk of sending him home. If the apnea is a huge issue, he said they will send him home with a monitor. I really don't care as long as he is home! He has only had one apnea in 6 days so I'm sure it won't be a problem.
He has eaten really well so far today and is much more alert. We actually get to see his eyes some now.
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!
Today he was borderline jaundice so they are starting him on the photo-therapy blanket. It is like a jaundice lamp except it just slides up under his shirt so he doesn't need a mask or anything. It is really common for preemies to have jaundice and isn't much of a concern. Since he is eating and pooping good, it will probably pass soon.
The nurse practitioner said today that he had a spell in the night where his heart rate dropped. She said they need to watch him for an entire week since that time. This was a bit discouraging because it has only happened that one time and he recovered on his own. I wonder how many full term babies that this happens to and you just don't know since they aren't on a monitor. Or how many times it is an equipment malfunction.
We learned with Dean that it really depends on WHO you talk to as to how long your kid will be in the hospital. Some people are very negative and cautious and think your kid needs to live there until he is two. Others are very positive and hopeful and want to get them out of there quickly. I hope that the RIGHT person comes a long soon and decides to discharge him! After his jaundice passes, he won't need to be up there really (in my expert Momma opinion!).
We go to the "discharge class" tonight so we are just going to keep jumping through the hoops and pushing for him to come home soon.
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.
This last feeding, they let me nurse for the first time! He did really great and I think he gets more milk that way so hopefully we can keep that up.
And we signed up for the discharge/CPR class that is tomorrow night so that is another check off his dismissal papers.
Many of you have asked how often we get to see him. We can go in as much as we want, but we are only allowed to touch him every three hours. At his "touch times" we can take him out of the "box", change his diaper, take his temperature and feed him. We usually stay with him about an hour and then let him rest. So, it is a little stressful because we don't really have enough time to go home and then back again in our short two hour window. So please pray for us to have energy! And pray for Dean to be understanding of all our coming and going. Last night as we were going up to the hospital, Dean said, "but I need you!". He wasn't upset, he was just letting me know. This morning he asked where we were going and when I told him he said, "me and you goin' to the hospital momma?!". So it is a lot for him to process and we are praying that Drew will be home soon and we will get to celebrate as a family.
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.
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!
