So it is New Years Eve and a time to reflect on 2011.
I must admit, I really don't remember too much of 2011. Jonathan came into our world WAY to early, but through all the tough times, we were all able to make it through and we now have our whole family under the same roof since June 9th. I couldn't be more proud of him and am soo happy to say that he is my hero for what he has accomplished in his life so far.
We had an appointment on Friday, December 30th with the Neonatal Follow-up clinic. One of the fellows that was in the NICU with him was in the clinic...he has not seen Jonathan since he was discharged, so he was very happy to see him and even came out into the waiting room to say hi to him before we went back to the room. His admitting doctor was also in the clinic and she was soo happy to see him as well (again, she has not seen him since he was discharged). The NICU nurse practitioner was in the clinic (she has seen him a couple times after discharge..and we have also been in contact a few times). And of course the neonatal follow-up clinic isn't complete with out the therapist on hand to evaluate him.
Jonathan sitting all by himself...12/15/11
So the doctors were very happy with Jonathan's weight. Just to refresh, in October, we went to the clinic and Jonathan had fallen from the 50th percentile down to the 25th percentile on the weight growth chart. He is now climbing back up to the 50th percentile...just goes to show that he really was constipated and I was right that he needed something to help out...not just prune juice. Jonathan is sitting up on his own (with support of his own hands). He is just about ready to push himself up to get ready to crawl. The therapist said she was super happy with him and everyone agreed that he is a textbook 6 month old right now...right were he should be (for his adjusted age).
I even got him to stand long enough
for me to snap this picture...12/15/11
So since his weight was getting back on track, the doctors decided it was time to bring his formula down from Neosure 27 cal to Neosure 24 Cal. So this will be able to give him more fluids in his diet. This should help with the constipation and I should be able to cut back the miralax, but we will see how he does and gauge it off of that. Something else that should help is they actually pulled him off of the lasix. Since this is supposed to help him get rid of any retaining fluids, now that he doesn't have this medication (as long as he does well), this adds more fluids back into his diet as well.
As the therapist was evaluating Jonathan the doctors were watching and his admitting doctor said she didn't think there was any worry for CP (Cerebral Palsy). She said that he is moving his arms and legs and kicking and it doesn't appear there will be any issues there. She then looked at me and said what was his brain bleed and asked if it was a 2 or 3. I then smiled and said it was a grade 4. The fellow doctor that was there then said yeah, this is why we do what we do....it's a roll of the dice, but it makes it worth it to see babies like Jonathan...the ones that have everything against them and they pull through.
So to help shorten this up so I can move on to other topics, everything went well...we are down 1 more medication, the head tilt had corrected so there was no need for any physical therapy, formula calorie count is down. Jonathan is even possibly ready for Cheerios!! (or a snack that dissolves in the mouth...apparently plain Cheerios does that). We go back to the neonatal follow-up clinic in March.
So through everything that we have been through, we have managed to pull through that we ended the year on an extremely high note.
Now looking forward to 2012, I am looking at my 12 in 2012 and am happy with those decisions to make me a better person...So here's my list and I will print this out and hang it on my fridge or by my calendar (not sure which...maybe both)....so here is my 12:
January - 30 Minutes of "Me-Time"
February - Make a Chore List & Stick to it
March - Set a Budget
April - Have a Workout Routine
May - Eat Healthier
June - 1 Hour of Reading Time Daily
July - More Quality Family Time
August - Be more Organized
September - Blog at least twice a week
October - Learn Something New Everyday
November - Finish Christmas Shopping by the End of November
December - Create better sleeping habits
At this time, I do feel these are all realistic, but as life goes on we will see if I need to make any changes or re-arrange some of my months. So, that is where I stand and I feel I have soo much more to say, but I will leave it here tonight....It'll give me something to say tomorrow :)
I hope everyone has (or had) a happy AND safe New Year!!
Some of you may have heard this song. I heard about this song probably about a month or so ago now. I must say, I need to learn the lyrics to this song as it is such a catchy tune and oh so true!! So I'm thinking if I blog it...I may learn it better :)
The first time I heard this song, it literally brought tears to my
eyes. When I first heard this song, I had to learn more about it...so
now I'm sharing with all of you and I hope you find some enjoyment out
of it. For any of you who have never had a preemie, this song describes
the NICU...just not the scary stuff. For any of you that have had a
preemie...it'll bring you right back to the NICU. Because it is so
catchy, it doesn't bring me back to the scary times, but really it
brings me back to the first time I held Jonathan.
Jonathan 5 Weeks Old..My First Time Holding Him!
I was not emotional
when I FINALLY held him (he was 5 weeks old the first time I held him)....I really thought I was going to be emotional though! Whenever I think about that time though, I do tend to get a little emotional.
So this moment is where I go when I hear this song and yes, I get a little teary eyed. I do stop and think about our extended family at the hospital. If you have had a child in the hospital with an extended stay...I know you know what I mean.
So here are the lyrics to The Preemie Song.......
NICU @ NITE (The Preemie Song)
By: Hugh Blumenfeld
I had a baby son, it was just a week ago He came a little early, 'bout a month or so
So they put him in the neonatal unit where the premies all sleep
Up in maternity the mamas all coo
watch their babies grow fatter and gurgle but a few
are in the neonatal unit where the babies go beep beep beep
beep beep beep beep beep beep beep Well they count all the fingers and they count all the toes
They count every single milligram he grows
They measure all the poop and they measure all the pee
And the little tiny babies go beep beep beep beep | beep beep beep beep Little tiny babies with their bears and their dogs
And their wires and their tubes and the nurses in clogs Make their rounds every hour, it's a very busy schedule to keep
And they rock and feed the babies and they all keep time
to the IV pumps and the monitors chiming
In the neonatal unit where the babies go beep beep beep
beep beep beep beep beep beep May they all grow happy and healthy and strong
May we never know the difference before too long
Except for the nights when we wake from a dream
of a room full of babies going
beep beep beep beep | beep beep beep beep aah-ah, ah-ah-ah
So, I just need to add that in looking for the lyrics to the Preemie Song, I came across another blogger on a preemie site (inspire.com) that listed a couple songs that reminded her of her time with her daughter in the NICU. One of the songs was Through the Glass by Stone Sour. I have to admit....this song is also quickly becoming one of my favorites. This song is bringing me back to a much harder difficult time in the NICU and listening to the song (not watching the video), really takes me through our journey and I wish I would have connected this song before...although I probably would have just cried every time I heard it (kind of like I am now....I should really stop hitting repeat).
So those are songs that I found after the NICU was done. But while we were going through it, it did find myself crying a lot to Beautiful Boy by John Lennon and (ok I know it's going to sound weird, but here it goes) Friends in Low Places by Garth Brooks. You know what though...I have some great family and friends that helped pick me up and get me through the day. That's the thing with the NICU, it's a one day at a time, phones don't leave your side, jump when the phone rings, wide awake if it rings in the middle of the night, kind of thing.
So I'm sure I brought some tears to your eyes (sorry), but hopefully, I finished this blog with a smile on your face.
By the way...shot out to my Mom-in-Law....today is her birthday!! We Love you Mom-in-Law aka Mom aka Grandma :)
Ok so I was going to blog this tomorrow from my laptop, however, I am awake and can not sleep. So, just maybe I need to clear my mind a little bit. There just won't be any pictures in this blog...there probably wouldn't have been to begin with...just sayin :).
For those of you who don't know what 12 in 2012 is, let me do a little explanation. This is a little way of introducing new habits to better ourselves in the new year. Instead of changing everything all at once and trying to keep up, we change (or add) 1 habit a month. By the end of the month, it has become a new way of life by doing this on a daily basis, when the next month rolls around, we add another habit, and so on. So this is in a way 12 new years resolutions, but I am not looking at it that way because I have never made a New Year's resolution knowing that I wouldn't keep it. This is changing me for the better and just so happens to start in January.
So one of the things that I need to do is make my list. This is what I have come up with, and I have put a lot of thought into this list, and who knows, it may change with a little inspiration from other people.
So here it goes....
January - Take 30 minutes each day and designate that as "me-time". When hubby gets home, he gets the baby and I get my me-time with NO interruptions. I have come to realize that I need to be able to recenter myself and not be constantly on my feet and moving to cook, clean and take care of everyone else.
February - I need to make a chore list and stick to it. I started to do this a month ago, but I seem to get side-tracked and then end up doing everything all at once. I actually did even make a chore list...the problem is I didn't stick to it. (stole this one from a friend...thanks, I really needed that and you know who you are)
March - Set a budget. I do pretty well on managing out finances. I handle all the bills and the "checkbook" (quotes because there is more online billing anymore, but the term is pretty much still the checkbook). I would like to make the budget a little bit more concrete. Since we have decided that I am staying home, we are down 1 income. I think I would be able to handle this easily, it would be getting my hubby to be able to do this as well. He likes to go onto his card trading website and trade or buy things from other people (more trading then ever). But he also likes to buy cards when sets come out. He usually goes to the atm every week and pulls little by little out so I don't see a big hit out of the account and then have to shuffle some bills around. So March is time to sit down and figure out what can be spent and when.
April - Start working out. Notice, I set this in the spring for a reason. Nicer weather!! I want to create this habit when it is a little bit warmer out and I can start by just putting Jonathan in the stroller, getting out and going for some walks. I know I said working out and not walks...but hears the thing, walking is working out, so if I can't get out to walk, due to rain or whatever, then I stay in and do a workout routine at home. So I will have to do some planning on this part to figure out a workout routine to do. I am open to suggestions, just remember, I'm not going to start until April.
May - Start to eat healthier. Since I will now have the workout thing down, maybe I should start eating healthier too. I have really not eaten very healthy the last few years, so I need to do this. I have never really been the health nut, and I'm sure I will still have a couple of my greasy favorites for dinner...I just need to eat less of them and more of the better stuff!! I have already done a few little changes in my life to start that...I just need to do it with the food now. For example, (for any of you that could be looking for tips), I cut out pop from my diet a while back. I started out getting the propel drink mixes and mixing them into my water (I also have reusable water bottles, very "green"). I found them to be very sweet so I just mixed the packet into more of the water, the packet also lasted longer that way. As time went on, I decided to buy lemons instead of the packets. Couple of reasons for this change: 1) they were cheaper and 2) they are healthier. So got a little off topic there, but hopefully someone will find that useful!
June - Read an hour every day. This is not to be confused with "me-time". I need to start reading more often. Whether it's me reading to Jonathan (which we all know would not take an hour), or me reading by myself, I need to start doing this. If I can spend an hour on facebook reading status updates, then I can spend an hour reading a book to keep my brain sharp and healthy. Not that I don't love seeing what everyone is up to, I just need to spend less time on the computer reading and more time reading an actual book.
July - Spend more quality family time. I love spending time with my family. However, Dan is working a lot and I'm hoping that maybe next year we will get more quality time in and do more family outings together. His job may slow down the overtime next year, so this might be more possible with him. There is always free activities to do around and I really want him to be there and be a part of it. This also isn't just for him and Jonathan, this also includes my parents, siblings & in-laws. Like I said...I love spending time with my family!!
August - Become more organized. I do feel I am an organized person. I just feel that since Jonathan has entered our lives, I have slipped a little and fallen behind. I need to get back to the organized person I once was and file my paperwork as it makes it into my house. I also need to reorganize some of our kitchen cabinets as they have slipped as well.
September - Blogg at least twice a week. Maybe this is the reason I am blogging right now. I can't sleep, so this happens. As long as I keep up with my blogging, maybe my mind won't be so full of things and I will be able to rest a little bit more.
October -Learn something new everyday. You always hear you learn something new everyday. I really want to encourage that and actually learn something new everyday. I need to open my mind up a little more and hopefully, this will make me a much more well rounded person. I'm sure this will help me keep up on my blogging.
November - Finish my Christmas shopping by the end of November. This year, I was nearly done with the exception I only needed to get a few gifts online by the end of November. It felt AWESOME!! Of course, I would find something along the way for Jonathan, but it seems you are never really done until you tell yourself to stop and then have the will power to do it!! So I want to have the goal of having it completely finished, so we are not scrabbling trying to find a good deal. I just want that sense of relief again...it really is a great feeling!!
December - Have better sleeping habits. Jonathan has a bed time....I should too (as I type this at almost 3 AM). It's a good thing is a good sleeper at night time...I'm sure I will be exhausted when I put him to bed tomorrow. Hopefully, Dan will be able to stay on Days in 2013 so I can continue to see him more often, if he moves to afternoons, one of my changes here will be messed up.
I have to admit....I didn't have my list planned out until I started typing it. I think I may have had 3 or 4 things planned in my head. But as I started typing it, more stuff just came to me. I did go to a few places for some inspiration, so between me typing this out and getting the inspiration, the brain storming just happened. So for now, this is my list (with my explanations). I may change some things and rearrange some as well...for now this sounds good, at least until I go to bed and read this with fresh rested eyes...LOL.
One of my favorite recipes is quickly becoming the whole chicken in a crockpot. This is SUPER easy and we all know we can NEVER have too many easy recipes. So in case you don't already have this SUPER easy recipe..here you go.......
First you need a whole chicken (I know kind of a given). I usually buy one and put it in my deep freezer so I have it when I need it. I feel that the chicken cooks better if it is completely thawed out. For me, if it has been in my freezer, it is most likely frozen solid. I put it in my fridge for 2 days (yes, this is the part where it takes some planning), after the 2 days it is pretty well thawed.
The next step would be to spray your crockpot with a non-stick cooking spray (Not sure if it really needs to be done, but I do this...better safe than sorry). Put the chicken in the crockpot and season with your favorite seasonings. Then cook on high for 1 hour, and then on low for 8 to 10 hours....then it's done!! Now wasn't that easy. :)
Sorry, I do not have a picture of my chicken....maybe next time I will remember to take a picture for you :)
I have experimented with a few seasonings with my chicken now. I am a BIG fan of tastefully simple's garlic garlic seasoning. I use this all the time in numerous recipes. So it was only fitting to use this in my chicken. I sprinkle some on top and also some in the cavity of the chicken. I also use paprika. Last night, I added some rosemary. It was still pretty tasty.
I have also noticed that the recipes I have seen actually say to wade up foil (usually 4 balls of foil) under the chicken....I have not done this. Maybe I will try that the next time too and see how it turns out. Usually when the chicken is done cooking, it is doing the normal thing that all crockpot's do to food...it is falling apart (this makes it very easy when you are carving it).
We do have left overs (only to be expected when there is only 2 of us eating a whole chicken). I usually take the meat and make another chicken dish. I have made Chicken & dumplings, Chicken casserole, BBQ chicken sandwiches, chicken tacos, ect...you have cooked chicken, you can do a lot with cooked chicken. (If I went on some more I'd be sounding like Bubba from Forest Gump).
So even though I have made the whole chicken in a crockpot a few times now, I have yet to make the chicken broth. Until now......today, I have decided to make the broth (in a crockpot). It too was very easy, but since it is still cooking, I don't know how it is going to turn out. So just because the chicken is gone, be sure to put the bones back in with the juices so you can turn it into broth (then you don't have to buy some broth for a while). The recipe that I used is to add 6 cups of water, 2 celery stalks, 1 carrot, and some basil. However, something tells me that I may have added too much water and probably would have been fine with maybe 4 cups of water...but we will see what happens, the flavor might be a little diluted. Don't forget to cook it in your slow cooker for 8-10 hours on low. After the cooking is done, strain juice from the crockpot and store as in the fridge (at least that is what I am doing). Veggies and chicken from the bones could be used in soup as well....I have not made homemade chicken soup yet...I'll let you know when I venture into that territory.
One thing I do have to tell you is to beware on your chicken dinners (unless your family REALLY loves chicken). My hubby get chickened out after 3 chicken meals in a row...then I have to give chicken a break for about a week for him. I could eat chicken all the time.
Before I start this post, I want to give a shout-out to my sister. Today is her birthday...So Happy birthday to my favorite sister (ok so she's my only sister...but still my favorite!!)....We Love you and hope you have a wonderful day.
Onto today's post. As promised, I will update you on Jonathan's development.
When Jonathan was discharged on June 9, 2011, he was diagnosed with Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP). Once he was discharged, we had weekly opthamology appointments for a few weeks, which then turned into every 2 weeks, then a month, and now we are on our 6 month stretch. He goes back to his opthamologist in February 2012 (Jonathan will be a week shy of a year old at that time). So the last time we saw the opthamologist was the beginning of August, 2011. At that time, the doctor said that it appears Jonathan's ROP was correcting itself...so he was growing out of it. His diagnosis was downgraded from stage 2 ROP to immature.
Jonathan has had some visits with his Early Intervention (EI) Team. His team is put together with 4 therapists; Speech, Occupational, Physical and Developmental. When this was set up they put this group together who are more sensitive to the micro preemies and their behavior. They first saw him in August. They said that he was doing really good at that time. His adjusted age when they saw him was just over 2 months old. They did say his reach and grab skills were 50% delayed, but they didn't feel that he needed to have any treatment at that time. They did say part of the delay was most likely due to the ROP. But over all, they felt that we could just do some exercises and "play time" at home to keep him developing in the right direction. So no treatment was recommended then.
In October, 2011, we went back up to the Neonatal followup clinic. There were a couple concerns there. The first concern was that Jonathan had fallen off of his weight curve. So the nutritionist was in the room and it was suggested that we keep him on the high calorie formula (he is on Neosure 27 Cal.). They wanted to keep him on this for about another month and then we can start the rice cereal when he was 5 months adjusted. After talking with the Nurse Practitioner, we decided to start him on the cereal 3 weeks after his appointment and she also said she didn't feel he had fallen off of his curve was as big of a deal as they were making it out to be. She said he was in the 50th percentile because they had gotten him there and maybe he just wasn't comfortable there. He is now in the 25th percentile. After talking with our county health nurse that follows him as well, she said she had him in the 25th percentile when she was here in September. Our Nurse Practitioner said that if he is still on the 25th percentile curve in our December visit, then that will be his curve, he may just be more comfortable there.
There was also a concern that he had a slight head tilt to his right. He has actually had this problem since before he was discharged. It was just more prominent at discharge then it is now. However, the neonatal doctor did say that she would like to see this corrected and if it doesn't get corrected by December, then she will be ordering some physical therapy....so we were given some stretches to do and orders to do them as often as possible.
Jonathan...Our "textbook" 5 month old
during one of his first feedings
In November, 2011, Jonathan's EI team came back to do another evaluation on Jonathan. Jonathan was days shy of 9 months old, however, his adjusted again was almost 5 months old. They said that they were once again happy with his development and he was a "textbook" 5 month old. I did bring up the concern of Jonathan's head tilt, and they said that it appears to be correcting (at least in their eyes). They said it was only a very slight tilt, but it could be more prominent when he's tired or upset. So we will see what our December visit at the clinic says...until then, we will keep doing our stretches.
Jonathan's EI team is planning on coming out for another evaluation in February 2012 when Jonathan is about a year old. They said to not be surprised if they recommend treatment at that time, the goal in the 1 to 2 year old range is to close the gap between his chronological and adjusted ages.
February already appears to be a busy month for us. Already scheduled in February are the EI team, 1 year Pediatrician appointment, Ophamology, The County Health Nurse, and something tells me the Neonatal clinic will want to see him then too (however, that is not scheduled yet). So that is pretty much where we are at with the development side of things. Jonathan seems to be doing everything that he needs to be doing at this time. He is cooing and laughing and playing....and so much fun to have around!!
So don't forget to laugh today, and if you need some help, here is some encouragement....
And now a word from our sponsors..... (sorry, didn't get a lot of pictures in on this post, but at least you've got 2 videos to see)...
So it appears that Jonathan's story is all caught up at the moment. So I'm not really sure what the next entry will be about...we will see what idea pops into my head.
Most everyone reading this is aware of Jonathan's NICU journey. Quit a journey it was!! I have decided to blog again...at least when I have time. So although it may not be everyday, I will try to blog as I can. So this will be Jonathan's journal and just our life in general all in 1. I have also decided to back up a few steps and open up our life and fill everyone in on how we got to the point that we are at now. So...this blog might be a long one, so it's a good thing that Jonathan is sleeping.....So here is our story up to now (ok, so I might stop it early and do another blog to finish up where we are at...but we will see)
Our Wedding Day
Dan and I meant back in September 2001...late September (I'll move quick during this part). In December of 2006, he proposed to me and we were married on June 14, 2008..(see I told you). This is a picture of us on our wedding day!!
Sammy
We have 2 dogs. We have Sammy (above), she is our Chocolate lab and she is now 11 1/2 years old. Dan had Sammy before we meant. This picture is a couple years old...but you get the point :) She may have a little bit more white fur on her now.
Dakota
Just a tad over 6 years ago, I told Dan that Sammy needed a friend (multiple times). So Dakota (a black lab mix, rescue) entered our lives. Ok, so I brought her home and Dan came home from work and found a puppy at our house. I guess I was a little sneaky about it, but he never did say no to her once he laid eyes on her (and he never said no the whole time I kept saying Sammy needed a friend)...and he cuddles with her to this day!! So here is a picture of Dakota (right)...
Our First House
We bought our first house in April of 2009....
So now that we had our first house, we had our dogs, we were pretty content. We had been trying to conceive, but so far we had no luck. So in February of 2010, we decided to see a specialist...since there was still no luck at his point. We went through all of the testing that needed to be done and go figure...everything was "normal"...but we still weren't conceiving. So we tried 3 rounds of the IUI which is an insemination..none of those worked.
We decided to take a little vacation after the 3rd round (actually we didn't know if it took at this time or not). So we went to Vegas and got some relaxation in.
Dan and I in Vegas...May 2010
We also figured this would most likely be our last chance to do something like this since we were going to be having a child....at least in our thoughts it was hopefully have a child!! We came back from Las Vegas and got the negative test result. So we sat down with the doctor...who is the best fertility specialist EVER!!! Ok so he's the only one that we saw, but he and he staff are AWESOME!! If you ever need a recommendation, let me know...I'll give you his information!!!
Anyway, we sat down with him and we decided that the next approach was to go through IVF (In-Vitro Fertilization). He was very confident that we would be able to conceive this way. So by now this was late June of 2010. Unfortunately, we were too late to go in with the July cycle and they didn't do an August cycle. So we were set to go into September. This actually worked out pretty good because then it gave us a little bit of time to save up some money to help pay for all of the medications and procedures. So in September of 2010, after the egg retrieval was completed, and the eggs were fertilized...we had some great embryos that they were able to implant. So they implanted 2, and we were actually able to freeze 6...Just in case!! A couple weeks after the implantation, we found out our dreams were coming true and I was pregnant!!!
So that sums up the fertility roller coaster...I know this really didn't describe a roller coaster, but for those of you that have been on it...I'm sure you can relate...it truly is a ROLLER COASTER!!
I probably had the most ideal pregnancy ever. I never had any morning sickness, no heartburn, no aches...I felt normal!! Except for 1 thing...this little miracle was growing inside me. At 20 weeks we found out that our little miracle was a boy. We decided that we would name him Jonathan Robert. Dan picked Jonathan and I said his middle name will be Robert after my Grandpa. So it was settled!! Things were coming together...or so we thought. At 22 weeks on the dot, the scariest thing in both of our lives happened (I'm sure our families lives as well). On February 14, 2011, my water broke. I was in labor and was given a magnesium drip to attempt to stop labor. I got sick, and my water broke from the pressure of my muscles. Everyone thought for sure that I would be delivering little Jonathan at this time. But he held on for another 6 days. So 22+6 weeks Jonathan Robert was born. It was February 20, 2011 at 4:26pm and he was 1 pound 5.5 ounces and 11 inches long. We knew Jonathan was a miracle to begin with...but we never knew how much of a miracle he was until he came into our lives!! So at this point we are now onto the NICU journey.
We were told a lot of things while I was in the hospital on bedrest....NONE of it was good!! Generally, he wouldn't survive. He's too small for a vaginal birth, he would not be able to survive the pressure of the muscles, It would have to be c-section. His lungs are just barely there, there is not medical equipment small enough to be able to intubate him. We even heard this...if you want to consider late term termination we can get you to a facility to do that. We wanted to give him every opportunity he had available to him. So we were in it for the fight!! My labor started around 3:00 pm, I called the nurse around 3:15 pm, she checked me out and said everything looked fine. She decided to get the doctor just in case, the doctor checked me and I was dilated to a 3. They moved me into labor and delivery (L&D), put a new iv in my hand checked me again and I was a 6. Moved me into a larger room considering the neonatal team was going to be there, checked me again and I was fully dilated at 4:10 pm...and as I mentioned, Jonathan was born at 4:26pm.
Jonathan 4 Hours Old
This is a picture of him at 4 hours old...there were able to intubate him!! So it isn't a very clear picture because of the high humidity (as we got used to the NICU, we called this the baby's own personal rain forest). Also, because we weren't expecting him, Dan took this picture on his cell phone...Thank God for camera phones!!
Jonathan 24 Hours old
So we were told he wouldn't make it through the night....this is a picture of him the next day... So because his skin was so, so fragile, we were not able to put anything next to him to compare size, so he does look big here...but like I said, he was really only 11 inches long.
Jonathan 1 Week Old
So he survived the first night, but we were told the first 24 -48 hours were the honeymoon period, he will probably not survive through the week....Here's Jonathan at a week old. In this picture, I was able to put my hand next to him because we were doing some of his care at that time. Note that in this picture his eyes are still fused shut. A baby typically doesn't open their eyes until they are 24/25 weeks gestation.
Jonathan SEES 2 Weeks
So we were then told he wouldn't make it to see 2 weeks old. Jonathan opened his eyes on his 2 week birthday...
Holding Jonathan for the First time at 5 weeks old...Kangaroo Care
I held him for the first time when he was 5 weeks old...
We did have a huge NICU roller coaster, but to help shorten this blog entry, Jonathan came home after 109 days in the NICU.
Sammy & Dakota were finally able to meet him after smelling his clothes (we brought laundry home and they were able to get his scent at that time..kinda funny, eventually they just started licking the clothes). So here is his video of him coming home..
Jonathan did come home on oxygen, but in our follow-up appointment with the neonatal clinic in October, he was removed from oxygen! He is down 2 medications since he has been home and now currently (as of 2 days ago) weighs 13 lbs and is 24.5 inches tall!! This is Jonathan today...(ok so this was on Thanksgiving day..November 24, 2011, but I wanted to get a good one of him smiling)
So that's our family....
I know this one was long, I'll try to make them a little shorter next time. But that is the background and I'll try to keep up on my blogging. So, this won't be just about Jonathan, but I'm sure he'll be the topic of most. Tomorrow, I'll go more in depth on Jonathan's development (as I know I need to update everyone on that as well) and how he is doing there.
I do plan on doing one more caringbridge update as I need to put some sort of a closing there. They give you the opportunity to print your journal into a book and I would really love to do that for Jonathan and give him the book when he is old enough to understand. Of course, there is a cost to that, but I think it'll be worth it.
So until next time...Enjoy, you never know when it will end!!
