...and we're HOME!

Actually, Drake came home on Wednesday June 19th but juggling a two year old and an infant doesn't leave much time for blogging. I wanted to make sure we have a record of our first days at home though so later when I'm not sleep deprived I can look back and remember these special days :)

Monday June 17th Drake's doctor told us that if he kept doing well he would probably be released in two days. We were so excited, and a bit in shock that this whole hospital ordeal could quite possibly be coming to an end. One thing we have learned through all of this was that nothing is certain until the moment it happens. We held off telling to many people about this exciting news in case Drake took a few steps backwards and we needed to stay longer. Wednesday Andy took off work in hopes that it would be the day and we arrived at the hospital 45 minutes earlier than we normally do to make sure that we didn't miss the doctor when she rounded. As we were walking down the hallway of the NICU and into the neighborhood where Drake was I felt my phone vibrating in my purse. I had a one track mind though and figured I'd call whoever it was back later. As we walked up to Drake's room and were standing right behind Drake's nurse, Lori, I could tell she was the one leaving me a voice mail. She started laughing when she saw us right behind her and happily said "Drake gets to come home today! The doctors have already rounded and you can leave whenever you want!" Cue the happy tears and me hugging Andy like a crazy hormonal lady. Once I got that out of my system we decided we would stick around until we could get his hospital pictures taken (what's a few more hours when you've been there 5 weeks already!).

While we waited the nurse unhooked him from all the monitors. He had his central line removed the day before, and for the first time our baby was free of all wires. We both took turns holding him and kept catching ourselves staring at the blank monitor screen. We were so used to checking it to see his heart rate and apparently looked at it more than we realized.  After pictures were finished, Lori helped us load up all of our things and walked us out of the NICU.

I was so glad that Lori happened to be our nurse on discharge day because she was also the nurse we had the night Drake was diagnosed with NEC. She had been the one to see the signs and alerted the doctors immediately, and we were so grateful for her quick response. After the car was loaded I turned and gave her a huge hug and I think I said "thank you" at least ten times, but those words just seemed so insignificant when I thought of all she had done for our baby. After my second round of happy tears for the day I hopped in the car and we headed home.

Kellan was excited to see Drake at home...for all of five minutes, and then he asked if he could play with the iPad. :) He is a great big brother and always wants to know where Drake is and loves to make Drake "wave" and give him kisses.

Drake's last day in the NICU!

Headed home!

 

He gets lots of kisses from these two :)

 

 

Exhausted, but so happy to have him home!

 

"Drake, do you want to listen to music wiht me?"

 

4 weeks old!

Happy four weeks little buddy! Today you got to celebrate four weeks in this crazy world by getting circumcised :( I may have cried more tears than you did over the whole thing even before it took place.  I hated the thought of you being in pain after all you've been through already.

In other news, Drake tipped the scales at 4 pounds 11 ounces today and finished his feeding schedule. He is now being fed 37 ml every 3 hours. The goal he working towards now is to take it all by bottle. He had to have his feeding tube put back in yesterday because he cannot stay awake long enough to finish his bottle. Remembering to suck, swallow, and breathe is apparently pretty exhausting when you're 35 weeks old, and he's usually back to dream land after about 20-30 ml.

And a few pictures from our week:

Snuggling with my boy!

This eating burping stuff is hard work!

Enjoying the view from his new big boy crib

All of his weight must be going to his cheeks and chin! He has the beginnings of a double chin :)

Finally! Grammy Linda was able to hold her newest grand baby. Not sure who enjoyed it more!

So we're still hanging out in the NICU for awhile longer as he learns to master eating and breathing. He is making progress everyday and we can't wait until we have him here at home!

Great news this morning!

I still am in a bit of shock - in a good way!! Our little peanut now tips the scales at 4 lbs 10 oz...what?!? He has really started packing on the ounces :)  He has continued to take all of his feedings by mouth and is currently up to 19 ml at each feeding.  They advance his feedings fairly quickly until he is eating the volume he should be for his weight. If he continues to tolerate the feedings he will be up to 32 ml by Wednesday.

When we spoke to the nurse this morning she shared his new weight with us and let us know that he is now in an open crib as well! He is progressing well enough that we were told to bring his car seat in for his car seat test which will most likely happen this week. He may still have another week or two in the NICU but these are all steps towards coming home!

And for all of our family and friends who know that we have been waiting four plus days for this boy to have a dirty diaper on his own. He finally made it happen, and it was normal - no traces of blood!

Andy is on his way over to see Drake now and I'll be going this afternoon so we will have some updated pictures tonight of our little man in his new "big boy" bed!

Earning his "privileges" back :)

If you ask Drake, one week is a long time to go with no food in your belly! He has become quite fond of his pacifier this week since he wasn't allowed to have a bottle at all.  Now his one week of antibiotics and no feedings have come to an end and he had his first bottle this afternoon! He will be starting off at square one again and getting only small amounts (1 teaspoon) of milk by mouth every three hours. He still has an IV of nutrition so he has continued to gain weight and is now up to 4 lbs! Now that he's almost a half pound above birth weight you could almost classify his cheeks as big enough to pinch...almost :) In addition to earning his bottle back he has also earned his right to wear clothes again! I know I said this before but seeing your baby in clothes instead of just laying there naked is such a good feeling, and confirmation that he is moving in the right direction - towards coming home!

If he tolerates the small feedings over the next 48 hours they will begin slowly increasing the volume until he is at full feeds for his weight. He is fed with a bottle if he is awake, but if he is sleeping he is still fed using his feeding tube. He happily sucked down feeding #1 today all by bottle so we'll see what the evening holds. 

Kellan enjoyed a second visit to see his Drake last week and was a champ at wearing his mask while we were there. Anyone who knows Kel realizes what a HUGE deal it is for him to have something covering his face like this. The kid won't even wear a Halloween costume without freaking out. :)

After staring at Drake lost his interest he moved on to practicing his yoga moves.

Check it out guys! I'm tube free...for a few minutes at least!

 Drake had two extra visitors today, Carolyn and Kellan both made the trip with me this morning. Carolyn + iPhone + iPad + snacks kept Kellan busy while we waited three hours for the doctor to round this morning. Thank you Carolyn!!

And here is our 4 pound boy this morning! 

We are excited to see what this week holds for our little guy. We pray that his digestive system is ready to handle his feeds again and we are able to move that much closer to having him home with us!

A HUGE answered prayer!

Drake's x-ray this morning was all clear with no signs of pneumatosis (hydrogen bubbles in his intestines!!!) To have it turn around so quickly is amazing and a huge answered prayer! 

When I got to Peoria this morning I had missed the doctor rounding by minutes, she was in the room next to Drakes. She was kind enough to come back and share the great news and answer questions. I think my main question was a repeat of "The x-ray looked normal? The bubbles are totally gone!?" She said yes every time I asked :) Drake will continue to be treated for one week with antibiotics and no food to allow time for his intestines and stomach to fully heal before small feedings will start again. It is possible this could happen again once feedings resume, but the doctor said it is unlikely. As easy as it is for my mind to race ahead and begin worrying about what is to come in the future and if this will happen again next week I'm choosing not to. Traveling this road with Drake has been the ultimate lesson on the importance of living in the moment, and this moment is a positive one for our little guy and for that we are so thankful! Thank you thank you Lord for healing our baby!