Hard to believe.....

That my little miracle boy is going to go to preschool in the fall!!!! I still can't believe it. I look back to his traumatic birth due to pre-eclampsia and HELLP and NICU, and the illness that constantly tormented his body his first year, to the transfusions and all of this other stuff that is more recent, and am just amazed at God's goodness to us. This little guy has been through so much and is such an amazing testament to God and His amazing love and strength.
So my big guy and I went and checked out a preschool today! I was kind of nervous about it, but in speaking with the teachers feel totally confidant that they can handle the medical component of Sam, to which point they could contact me if needed. So anyways classroom sizes are small, they have three preschool classrooms, and we met with each teacher. All three were wonderful and Sam seemed comfortable with all of them. Unfortunately their morning program is already full so we are placed on a waiting list for that and then are on the list for the afternoon program.
Hard to believe that this little miraculous boy with severe IUGR and SGA is now big enough to go to school!!!! Time sure does fly!

Auntie Tracy in the NICU

Auntie Tracy came to see us today. It was so nice to have another smiling face. She couldn't believe how small Sammy is as her kids were both over 8 lbs and Jacob was 11lb 2oz. She is super woman, I can't even imagine having an eight pounder never mind an 11 pounder. Sam is doing well. We are now breastfeeding, he isn't quite strong enough to get all the nourishment he needs right from me but then I am able to pump and give him that as well. The IV should be out of his head tomorrow, which I can't wait for. And then hopefully we can transfer closer to home.

Jaundice

Well we are getting closer to being able to go closer to home. I can't wait. We haven't had an episode of bradycardia or apnea in two days, so we may get to go to the H. Hospital on thursday. Sam is now jaundiced so we are now sunbathing. He seems to love it. It is sad to not be able to hold him though. And his poor little feet are so black and blue from all the blood draws that they have to keep doing. He is starting to eat well, finally. They think he was doing so poorly because I was on magnesium and that just makes everyone feel crappy.

NICU

It feels like we might be here forever. The MD says that every time Samuel has an episode of bradycardia or apnea then he will have to stay for 5 more days. I am hoping that we can get transferred closer to home. We are starting to feed him and it is going okay, but sure is slow. He is down to 4lb2oz. They are giving him IV fluids to keep him hydrated. He is so cute and I am so in love with him.

He's Here

Our boy has arrived. Unfortunately he was 5wks early and has had some difficulty figuring out how to suck, swallow, and breath when he needs to. His heart rate has gone down a couple of times, so they are also concerned about that. Everything was so scary. I went to the doctor and found that my bloodwork was really bad, and my blood pressure went through the roof. Hard to believe that there was no blood pressure issues the entire pregnancy and then the day that my blood pressure goes up it is severe enough to have to induce. They said that I had severe pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome. They rushed me from our local hospital to a larger hospital where there were all kinds of specialists. I was told by a couple of people that work there that I was the sickest patient that they have had in years. Leave it to me:)

So this little guy is officially Samuel Lee and was 4lb 5oz and 18inches long. They also said that there was probably a small issue with my placenta because he should have been at least 5 and a half pounds. The NICU is wonderful and we are so blessed to have them caring for him, but I sure do want to take him home.