Growing

I took Duncan to the Pediatrician's office for a weigh in today and he weighed 6lb 6oz! Wow, we are so pleased. He even looks a little rounder to me. It's funny to see him at the weights our other children were at when they were born, he's almost up to Lincoln's birth weight. He's like a regular little newborn, who just happens to have been born over three months ago. We're still adjusting to our new schedule so be patient if we aren't very social, we love you all and we hope to get into a better routine, especially a longer sleep routine:)

Jane celebrates Duncan's arrival

Jane being 2 years old, we haven't given her a lot of opportunities to hold Duncan. This was one of the first times (photo taken today). As you can see, Jane was delighted. She was so happy, she put her underwear on her head. She may have also been celebrating the fact that she is currently over the hump in her potty-training adventures. Many thanks to Grandma for giving her a great start while we were coming from and going to the hospital. She hasn't forgotten anything since she potty-trained Amy about 15 years ago -- O.K., more like 29. Duncan is doing well. He acts healthy. However, he came home a week and a day ago and on Friday at the pediatrician's office weigh-in he had not gained or lost weight from his hospital discharge 2.5 days earlier. He needs to show some significant weight gain at this coming Friday's weigh-in. We're stuffing him. Since coming home, he has nursed a few times, but is still bottle-feeding.

Tuesday

It finally happened! He is home with us and doing great! There were no bells and whistles, we just put him in his car seat and took him out of the NICU. On my way to the car people kept pointing at him and saying "look how tiny" and I wanted to say, if you only knew how precious this tiny baby is, and how big. He is 5 lb 10 oz (remember when he was 1 lb 10 oz?). He does have a small issue that may have caused his bladder infection that will have to be looked at by a Urologist (probably misspelled that) but it is not because of his prematurity. He will also see the cardiologist, the opthamologist and physical therapist. His first doctor's appointment is on Friday. Other than the doctor he will mostly stay home with us and not have many visitors to protect his weak immune system. We are relieved and feel very blessed by your love and prayers. We feel blessed by the service and love from his nurses especially Judi and Rachel, although so many were great and blessed his life. We will never forget our time in the NICU and hope to continue special friendships we made there, but we hope never to see the inside of it again. His story continues and I will continue to update his progress as he continues his journey through prematurity. We love you all, thank you for your love and service to our family!
P.S. I could have never done any of the things I was able to do this last little six months without the selfless service of my wonderful Mother. A mother like mine is a treasure without value. I love you Mom!

Thursday?

Today my primary nurse told me that she asked the doctor when I could take my baby home and she said THIS WEEK! I can't even begin to describe the feelings I have as I approach this long awaited day. This is all hinging on having a perfect week with no Bradys and no setbacks. This week he will have a car seat test (to make sure he can still breath in the sitting up position of a carseat), a circumcision, a hearing screening test, a renal ultrasound (to check to see if he has kidney problems causing the bladder infection), I think that's it. More updates to follow:)
P.S. the I.V. went bad which is fine he just has to take his antibiotics by mouth, no more head gear, this picture shows the sore spot where the I.V. was taken off!
P.P.S. He weighs 5 lb 8 oz!!

What's this thing on my head?

It's a good thing they did all the tests they did. Most of the test results -- the ones that came back first-- were normal. Then the urine test results came back. They showed he had a urinary tract infection. So, today one of the nurses put an I.V. in his head. Yes, his HEAD. They tried to get a vein in his hand, but it wasn't working, so they tried putting it in his head because there was a good vein there. He's less likely to pull it out of his head than his hand. It's fortunate they didn't put it in his hand because he is always putting his hands to his face and sucking his thumb. They'll give him antibiotics until the I.V. either gets pulled out or goes bad. He gets the antibiotics once per day. The doctor says the infection may have been causing his bradycardias. It's not common for a premature baby boy to have a urinary tract infection, so the'll have to do other tests, including of his kidneys.

Thanks!

Thank you for your prayers. And a special thank you to all of you who fasted on Sunday for our little sweetie. He needs all the help he can get! The doctor ordered a group of labs that should be back in the morning. He had a rough night last night and a rough morning. Right after the labs were taken, he turned into a new person. He ate his bottle in 30 minutes with no problems. He stayed awake and looked around, wrinkled his forehead, slept and woke up again hungry and back to his old self. So let's hope yesterday was a fluke, since today was better than ever. We will get the lab results sometime tomorrow. Got these great pictures today thanks to a sweet nurse. He looked like he was clasping his hands together while he ate and the nurse said he was saying a prayer for his meal. He's wearing a onesie that says "Property of Mom . . . Forever". Just perfect as far as I'm concerned!

Say a little prayer!

Duncan had a rough day yesterday with breathing fast and eating poorly. It continued overnight so they sent a lab of his blood and did and x-ray. This could be that horrible setback you fear from the day you come into the NICU, an infection. Say a little prayer for him!

Brothers

Before swimming and fireworks, we all went to see Duncan. I left Christian and Lincoln to bottle-feed him because the girls were climbing in and out of closets and other disturbing activities. When I came back, Lincoln was holding him. He had waited so long to hold the baby by himself. I found out that Lincoln had helped feed him to. He's such a sweet older brother and really is tender with babies. He is such a special little boy. He loves children and is really good at taking care of them. He is going to be a big help when Duncan finally comes home.

New Look

This beautiful baby has no more feeding tube and I think it is permanent. He will be off oxygen for good as long as he stays healthy. I am blessed to have my Mom here taking care of the kids so I can be there for more bottle feedings. He is beautiful without all of those things on his face but I'm not sure I've gotten just the right picture yet that shows how he really looks. I'll just have to take more:) He will be home around his due-date July 22. We will be relieved to have him in our home and permanently in our arms. Just try to make me put him down! He is staying at the hospital because although he can breath, he doesn't necessarily think he has to all of the time, like when he is eating or sleeping. Plus his body tells him not to when the food is on it's way back up. He should grow out of these issues. He was supposed to be in the womb for another three weeks, not 11 weeks old. He made it to 4 lb 12 oz. He has to have consistent weight gain to go home as well:)