One More Procedure

Drew is really getting fun. He has is own little routine with everything and he makes sure that we keep it consistent. Today he started to giggle a little bit, we get so excited everytime he does something new. His favorite thing to do continues to be staring at his right hand. He makes a fist and then just stares at it, it is so funny:) It is a lot fun to take him out now, we have taken him to a few restaurants and Drew also went to his first movie! He loved watching the new Indiana Jones movie, we just had to keep his ears covered. On Friday Drew will have what will hopefully be his last visit other than check-ups to the hospital. He is finally getting his hernia repaired:) We get to stay with him over night and hopefully take him home on Saturday. He has overcome so much, hopefully this will be the last time he sees a hospital or doctors office for the rest of the summer.

6 Months Old!

Wow it has been a while since we have posted an update about our little Drew boy. He kind of takes up all of our time:) It has been so much fun to watch him grow these past few weeks. Last week Mommy got to celebrate her first Mother's Day as a new Mommy. It made Jenn feel a little old, but it was a very sweet day. Mommy got a card from Drew and she was surprised with some cute pictures of Drew that her parents had taken. Drew had his 6 month check-up with his pediatrician yesterday and he is doing awesome! Drew weighs 11 pound 11 ounces and he is over 22 inches long! That puts him around the bottom 2 percentile for a 6 month old baby, but for his adjusted age of 2 months old he is right in the middle average for weight and height. His pediatrician keeps saying that even though Drew will face some challenges, we couldn't have hoped for a better outcome! Today Drew went up to have a check-up on his eyes for the r.o.p.. His ophthalmologist said that his eyes have fully recovered from the laser treatment and that the r.o.p. is completely gone! Drew is at risk for some side affects from the treatment such as near sightedness, but it is amazing that they were able to efficiently treat him and save his vision. We feel very blessed for everything that he has been able to overcome, Drew has been through a lot and it looks like the most difficult challenges might be behind us. Drew will meet with his pediatric surgeon this week to decide what to do with his hernias and then hopefully we shouldn't have to take him for anymore check-ups or treatments for a couple of months. It is nice that the warm weather is finally here and that RSV season is over. We have had a lot of fun taking Drew to some low key restaurants and on walks to the park. Recently Drew has started to smile a lot:) It is incredible to watch him interact with us and smile. He has also found his right hand. He will make a fist with his right hand and just stare at it for while and then start sucking on it. We wish that we could know what he is thinking about, he is getting really curious and it is so funny to watch him bat at his toys and kick around. It is hard to believe that he is 6 months old, it is impossible to imagine life without our little Drew boy. We love him so much.

Big Boy

One week ago Drew weighed 10 pounds! He is growing so fast, we could never have imagined that he would do so well. It seems like it was such a long time ago that Drew was in the hospital, almost like a dream. We are excited for it to start warming up so that Drew can go outside, and visit his nurses! We are fortunate that he hasn't gotten sick or had any problems since he left the hospital. His eyes are doing really well and the doctor is confident that they will fully heal and mature well. Drew will probably have his hernia operation soon and then hopefully the rest of this year will be pretty uneventful. Drew loves to throw his little fits if he is being ignored or doesn't want his diaper changed, but he quickly calms with some attention and his binky:) We love him so much, and we are cherishing every second with him.

Almost Nine Pounds!

Drew weighs a whopping 8 pounds 15 ounces now! It is hard to remember how small he was just a month ago. Since coming home Drew has gained 2 pounds 9 ounces, he weighs 40% more than he did four weeks ago! He has also gained an attitude:) He knows that all he has to do is let out a little whimper and someone will rush over to pick him up and entertain him. Drew loves his little stuffed animals (an elephant and his bear), he loves his bottle, binky, swing, mobile, mirror, boppy pillow, car seat, and he loves to be on his tummy. Pretty much Drew loves everything except for sleeping in his crib or getting his diaper changed. We love everything about our little guy, he is so much fun!

Three Weeks Home

Drew has been home for three weeks and he is doing great! He is still pretty much in control of his own schedule and we love tending to his every need:) Last week Drew had his eye check up and it went really well. His right eye has completely recovered and his left eye is looking good but hasn't fully matured. Drew has another check-up in two weeks to see how his left eye is doing. We just keep praying that he will not have any major long term difficulties with his vision, so far Drew has been very fortunate. Drew has been working really hard on keeping his head up. He loves laying on his tummy and doing his push ups. He also love his swing and loves to be held almost every minute he is awake, which we love too. He has brought us so much joy, we still get excited to feed him and bathe him and play with him as if it was our first day at home with him. He has given us a more meaningful purpose to our lives and we look forward to watching him grow.

Getting Big

Drew has been home for more than a week and he is doing awesome! Today Drew had his second check-up with his pediatrician. Drew's doctor said that Drew is doing as good as anyone could hope for a baby born at his gestation. He is gaining weight pretty quickly now. He came home weighing around 6 pounds 7 ounces and now he weighs 7 pounds 5 ounces. Drew is loving his new home, but he still requires us to follow the schedule that he was on at the NICU:) Drew also misses his nurses and we are looking forward to seeing them soon so that they can see how big he is getting. Drew has an eye check-up scheduled next week, we are praying hard that the ROP has subsided. It has been a lot of fun to spend so much time with him, better than we could have ever imagined.

Home Sweet Home

There aren't words to describe what we have experienced today. The emotions were much stronger than either one of us anticipated. It was extremely difficult to say goodbye to our wonderful nurses. They have given us the greatest gift and we have become very close to them. It is impossible for us to express the gratitude and appreciation that we have for every nurse, doctor and specialist that cared for Drew. Our primary nurses especially devoted so much time and love to give Drew the best possible chance at life, we already miss our nurses and we will always cherish the time that we were able to share with them. At the hospital there is a long hall that leads to the NICU which we have walked countless times. After Daddy saw Drew for the first time he walked out of the NICU and sat down on the bench in that hall and cried for twenty minutes. Early on in Drew's life each time we walked down that hall on our way to visit Drew we never knew what to expect or what new challenges we might learn of upon entering the NICU. After our visits with Drew we would walk together just Mommy and Daddy every night 119 times down that hall leaving Drew behind and we would wonder when and if our little boy would ever leave the hospital with us. As we walked out of the NICU doors and into that hall with Drew it hit us that we were really taking our little miracle home. We felt nervous and excited but mostly amazed at what had taken place at the NICU during the past four months. No matter how many times we talked about Drew coming home it never quite seemed real until that moment when we were walking out with him. We weren't prepared for the range of emotions that came upon us, it was almost bitter sweet. Drew slept in the car all the way home, but the second we pulled into the garage and stopped the car he woke up and Mommy and Daddy just smiled. We showed Drew around the house and most importantly we gave him a tour of his new room. He has seemed a little surprised and out of his environment but as each minute passes he is getting more and more comfortable with his new place. Drew has made sure that we keep the same schedule that he was on at the NICU. He starts getting fussy about every three hours and then demandingly cries for his bottle:) We love our new life with Drew at home, our house now has bottles and diapers and baby stuff everywhere. This is one of the greatest days of our marriage. This experience has been a roller coaster of emotions and a great builder of our faith, we have developed a great appreciation for life and for the miracles that God grants his children. It is hard to imagine how we were able to get through the difficult days during Drew's stay at the NICU (fortunately most of the days were good days). We have spent a lot of time looking at pictures and remembering how little and fragile he was. As we reflect on this experience we have come to the conclusion that nobody could endure such an experience alone. We felt uplifted by each other, our family, nurses and friends. We felt strengthened by God and we believe that he placed wonderful people at our sides to carry us through these four months. God sends his children to help one another and to carry each other through trials. We hope to become the type of people some day that God can send to help one of his children in need. Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for your love and prayers, and thank you to the IMC NICU for the miracle of life.

Coming Home!!!

Drew is coming home today!!! He has been off of oxygen now for almost three days. Last night Drew had to pass his car seat test which required him to sit in his car seat for an hour and a half without any heart or breathing problems. He did pretty good, he just got a little bored then fussy and then he went to sleep. We spent last night with drew in our own little hotel type room without any monitors. It was wonderful to spend all night with our son, Daddy got a little sleep but Mommy stayed awake for most of the night keeping watch and cuddling with our little guy:) We are excited to become real parents, this has been an incredible experience. We cannot express our gratitude enough to God and to those who cared for Drew, what a miracle he is.

No Oxygen!

Drew is getting so big! Drew now weighs about five pounds 12 ounces and he is getting some pretty chubby cheeks. He took a huge step today, Drew was off of oxygen when we walked into the NICU today around 3:oo pm and he was still off of oxygen when we left at 10:00 pm!! We were so excited for him, he looks so grown up without his nasal cannula. We hope that he can last through the night without his oxygen but we are so proud of our little guy for how long he has lasted on his own, this was a nice surprise today. Drew usually likes to pull on his tubes and yank the prongs out of his nose and because he didn't have his nasal cannula in we had to find him a new toy to play with today. We went home and got him his Denver Bronco crib mobile. Drew spent about ten minutes staring at the little horses going around and then decided that it was time to try and grab them. He had so much fun reaching and hitting the horses and Drew would kind of get a proud look on his face each he was able to touch one. We are so amazed at how far he has come and we know that he still has some challenges ahead but we have been extremely blessed to watch his miraculous progress. Drew is so precious to us and we are privileged to be his parents.

Patience

Drew had his eye check-up on Wednesday and they are slowly continuing to get better. There are still some areas that need to mature before he can come home. Drew's doctors believe that it could take as little as one more week but as long as three more weeks until his eyes will be mature enough to come home. We appreciate the wonderful care that Drew is receiving, it has been absolutely miraculous what they have done for our son. We have been looking at a lot of pictures of Drew's first month of life and they almost seem unreal. It is hard to believe that our little boy who now weighs over five and half pounds was once only one pound four ounces! When we think of the countless hours dedicated by nurses and doctors and the number of people who have cared or prayed for Drew, we are extremely humbled and grateful. We try to spend as much time as possible with our son, it is so much fun to play with him and watch him in his swing. Drew loves to eat and play, he gets fussy when he is awake in his crib and demands to either be held or placed in his swing:) We love him so much.