Getting Close

We had to dress up Drew in his Jazz uniform for game day! He was wide awake when we got back to the hospital after the game. We like to think that he knows when we are coming:) Drew is doing so awesome with just about everything. He has become a fantastic little "big" eater. He gets a little mad after his feeding when the bottle is empty and we have to entertain him so that he will forget about his desires for more milk. Drew loves hanging out in his swing and in our arms, he is getting more and more bored with his crib and we just spoil him by picking him up every time he gets fussy. Drew's slow maturing eyes are pretty much the last challenge that he has to overcome before he can come home. Today his eye doctor decided that it would be best for Drew's eyes to have another week to mature before he can come home. We are so fortunate to have such wonderful doctors and nurses who work so hard to give Drew the best quality of life possible. It is miraculous what they do for these little babies, their love and care for our little boy will always be greatly appreciated. We are getting very excited and we can't believe that he could possibly be coming home next week! We are praying that his eyes will continue to get better and mature so that he can come home soon, but after all that Drew has been through we consider ourselves extremely blessed that he has done so well and we will happily wait as long as needed. We love Drew, he continues to bring our family so much joy.

Drew Says "GO JAZZ"

We had a pretty fun day today. One of Drew's nurses gave Drew a Utah Jazz outfit from build a bear! We dressed him up for good luck and so that he could feel like he was at the Jazz game with us tonight. Daddy took a ton of pictures and he was so proud of his little all star but if Drew wants to play ball he is gonna have to learn from Mommy:) Drew is doing really well and he is doing a great job with his feedings and seems to be making slow but steady progress with his lungs. He will have another checkup tomorrow with the eye doctor to determine whether or not Drew will need a follow up laser treatment. Depending on the status of his eyes tomorrow and if everything goes right, we think that Drew could possibly be home as soon as the beginning of next week! We are praying that his eyes will show some significant improvement, but we also know that we need to be patient and allow Drew to have the best opportunity to grow and mature even if it means that he will need to stay at the hospital for a little while longer. He is getting to be so much fun and we enjoy every second that we get to be with our son.

Latest and Greatest

Drew is doing really well. We weren't able to take very many pictures this past week because Drew's eyes were pretty sensitive and his lights were dimmed most of the time. So the past couple of days we have had a lot of fun taking lots of pictures and playing with him in his swing! Drew loves hanging out in his little swing with the music playing. He is doing a great job with his feedings and takes all of his bottles. He no longer has the feeding tube, and we think that he is getting close to coming home! He just needs his eyes to mature a little more and a few other things need to improve but he is doing awesome. We have been extremely blessed. Drew is such a little miracle and a gift to us from God. We are so grateful for all of the love and support that our family has received. We are getting pretty excited, we love Drew so so so much.

Back On Track

Drew's laser therapy on Friday went very well. He had a pretty stressful day and had to go through a few changes that he didn't like at all. His feedings had to be stopped before the surgery and Drew had to be placed back on the ventilator because of the anesthetics that pretty much knocked him out. It was a long day for Drew and for us. Seeing him just lay there almost lifeless due to the anesthetics and back on the ventilator was a little hard for us. The laser therapy lasted around and hour and a half and the doctor told us that it went really well. We will learn more about the results from the treatment over the next couple of weeks. Drew took a while to wake up afterwards and he was pretty groggy when we left him for the night. When we came back on Saturday morning the nurse told us that Drew woke up around midnight and that he got frustrated with the endotracheal tube so he just pulled it out! Just like that he was off of the ventilator and back on the low flow nasal cannula! Drew makes us laugh, he is a determined little guy and there is no stopping him. Well last night Drew was back to normal and decided to take the entire bottle for the first time! He has taken whole bottles for nine out of the last eleven feeds!! It is hilarious to watch him wake up about fifteen minutes before feeding time and he starts screaming for his milk. We call Drew our little piggy because he kinda snorts when he first starts feeding and he goes crazy trying drink the whole thing at first. After about twenty minutes he finishes and usually falls asleep, but today he was wide awake for five hours and demanded that we hold the binky in his mouth and sing him songs. He pretty much is going to get his way with everything, we figure that he deserves whatever he wants:) Well if Drew keeps this up we are told that he will probably be home within the next few weeks and we will get to be real parents! That will be an awesome day, we are so blessed and we love our little guy so so much.

Loves His Bottle

Drew wakes up every three hours and can't wait to start sucking on his bottle. Today he did so well taking his bottle, it was like a switch was turned on and suddenly Drew knew how to suck, swallow and breathe all at the same time. It has been amazing to watch him grow and learn. He is currently taking about half of his milk by bottle, which is awesome! On Wednesday Drew had his eyes examined. The eye doctor has diagnosed Drew with Retinopathy of Prematurity. Simply put it means that Drew is at risk for retinal detachment which can cause vision impairment or even blindness. It has been decided that tomorrow Drew will undergo laser therapy which we are praying will be the only treatment needed and that he won't have any long term difficulties with his eyes. Drew has had so many challenges and he has fought so hard to overcome them. We know that he will fight hard and overcome this challenge as well. Drew has been very blessed, he has also blessed so many of us who have been able to witness the miracle of his life. We just keep praying that Drew will be blessed with the strength and desire to overcome this most recent challenge and that his doctors will be inspired to perform well. We love Drew so very much, he is so precious and sweet.

In An Open Crib!

Drew graduated from his isolette on Friday night to a "big boy" open crib! Mommy and Daddy were so happy to see their little guy all grown up just hangin out in his new crib. Drew has done remarkably well for a while, and we are thrilled with his progress. Drew now weighs three pounds five ounces. He is still learning to take a bottle which might turn out to be a long process but he should get it soon. Tonight he took about 6 milliliter's (which is his best yet) by bottle and then we were told that he got tired. Mommy and Daddy hold Drew every day and he absolutely loves the attention. His hair was all spiked on saturday and he was having so much fun showing off for the camera. Drew can be fiesty at times but he is so sweet that he just makes us smile and laugh. We keep praying that he will continue on his miraculous path so that we can bring him home some day.