23 days & counting...

Today marks 23 days that our little peanut has been in the T1 nursery. Its too long, but they are doing a great job at taking care of him and doing all things necessary to help him out in his little life. They discovered an abcess on his bum now, so they have to remove it and he has a nice little IV in his arm now administering an anti-biotic. If you have a moment,please pray for this little guy, he needs all the love and prayers he can get..its just too much for a 3 week old to go through!
He is still eating like a champ, a great burper, his sleeping is getting better. There are lots of things in this situation that we can be thankful for! He is still on morphine as well, but only once a day. His scores are getting much better. They need to be under 8 and last week they were at 19 and the last two days they were at 8-9. So, thats a great sign!
He makes me smile every time i see him. He is the cutest little thing & i cant wait till i can snuggle him full time...it works out for both of us cus im dying to hold and love him and he loves to be held and cuddled :)
God is good, even through this little life He has been teaching me so much about myself!

Our christmas visit..

Christmas day wouldnt have been complete to us without a visit to our little peanut. So, we braved the bad weather, prayed for protection and got there and back safe and sound. It was so worth it. We had an awesome visit. We sat there for over an hour just admiring him, looking over his charts and praying for him. Then he woke up to feed so after the nurse administered the meds i got to hold him. He was super grumpy cus he was starving but Ivon got the bottle ready and i fed him and held him and sang to him. He is doing alot better. His scores are coming down, they are down to one dose of morphine a day, they are reducing his other meds. He is still in the isollete because he is dealing with irritability he cant be over-stimulated, so its nice and quiet and dark in there for him and it seems to be helping his sleeping. Ive got a great eater on my hands, who at 3 weeks old can easily polish off a 6 oz bottle every two hours! Thats a really big amount. He was born at 6 14 and now weighs over 7 lbs (he did loose weight in between). He is gorgeous, simply gorgeous and i cant wait to take him home and enjoy him! The road ahead certainly isnt going to be an easy one, but God is leading and were confident this is His plan (for now) and we are going to do the very best we can! Thank you to everyone who has prayed for us and for our little peanut! It truly means alot to us!

Another update...

We can get a daily update on little peanut. The doctor does their rounds every morning and we are able to call the in the afternoon and get the latest update..so here it is:
He has been given morphine because he didnt react well to the decrease in medication. He is back in an isollete to make his environment a little quieter (he is very agitated) and to be able to monitor him a little more closely.
He is strictly feeding from a bottle and getting better and better at it on a daily basis! He still has a raised temperature and they are trying their best to get that under control as well.
Things are not going so well with mom (would rather not share the details).
We plan to go and spend some time with him on christmas day. We really want to bond with him as much as we can before we bring him home. We know now that it definetly wont be for christmas, but with all the chaos and the noise it is probably best for him. And..ulitmately we want him to feel the best he can and the nurses are doing an incredible job taking care of him!
Thank u to all of those who have prayed, it truly means alot!

2 weeks old..

Our little peanut at 2 weeks old...

Still in waiting...

We went to visit our little peanut yesterday. He is officially 2 weeks old. I feel as though ive missed out on so much of his little life already. He has changed incredibly! His hair went from being a jet black to a beautiful brownish aburn color. The shape of his little face is changing. He makes the cutest little faces with his mouth. Even though i didnt physically deliver him, i cannot beleive how in love we are with him. I think everytime i bring this up someone has a comment like, "dont get too attatched" or "wont he be leaving right away?" The reality is yes, yes he could leave and yes there may be a day down the road that we will have to say Goodbye, but for now, i am going to love him with everything in me and pray that God will allow us enough time with him to atleast make his life a little bit better. He has already been through too much. It isnt fair, but we have no control. The only thing that we have is the ability to introduce him to Jesus, and to love him, and to provide him a safe, warm home and to treat him like one of our own.
The nurses never want to give out a timeline of how long he will be in the hospital, but our prayer is that he will be home for christmas. He is being bottled fed exclusivly!! YAY!! And..he is slowly being weaned off his meds and that in itself is wonderful, wonderful news!!
Praise God for all of it!

A thankful heart...

So, with everything going on, its so easy to get lost in all the negativity life throws at us, so i decided once a week i would post 7 things that i am thankful for...
1) My incredible husband
2)A fridge, 2 freezers, and a pantry FULL of food!
3)A warm home
4)Our THREE gorgeous amazing children!
5)2 vehicles
6 My parents are only blocks away now
7)The fact that we are able to celebrate christmas

Little Peanuts progress...

We went to see our little peanut again this morning. My heart feels so heavy. This little guy is almost 2 weeks old and has already endured too much for his little life, but not giving up without a fight! He is doing much better..his feed at 5 am today was strictly bottle fed and since then he has been doing about half bottle feed/half tube feeding! Praise God for that because on Sunday he was still strictly on tube feeding! His temperature is starting to regulate, his diaper rash isnt nearly as severe and he is not nearly as irritable! What a change in a few short days. However, he is still currently on two meds and needs to be off of one in order to be dishcharged, so were praying that he continues to do well and can finally come home very soon! The nurses never want to give a time line but they arent convinced he will be home for christmas, so we are expecting the same.
We got his crib today and were excited to set it up tomorrow and then we are completely ready for him!
I cannot wait to bring him home and give him all the love he truly deserves ♥

1 week old...

We got the privelage of spending little peanuts 1 week old birthday with him:) He is doing alot better. He is on his second round of meds (which he will most likely come home with) and he ate from the bottle for the very first time today which is a HUGE step! We are hoping and praying that we can bring him home for christmas, but we will only know with time. We are waiting till he is exclusively feeding from a bottle, and today was a great start..here is a few more pictures of our little peanut :)

Update on little peanut...

We phoned the hospital and although he is doing really well considering all he has gone through, they have had to up his medication and he still is not feeding on his own. All things considered, he is quite the fighter!
The nurses are spending tons of time with him so that makes me feel well. It bugs me so much that he is that far away and we cant do anything about it. Were going on sunday to spend most of the morning with him. Im soooo looking forward to that!
So, please keep this little guy in your prayers, that would be much appreciated!

Our little Peanut....

As most of u know, Ivon and I have decided to foster. It was something we felt we were being called to do. We decided to jump in and try it. So, were almost completely licensed and now the waiting game is over. We were already placed once with two children (sibling group), but it didnt work out. Its personal so id rather not go into full detail. Well, while me and my best friend were christmas shopping yesterday i receieved a phone call on a little guy. A very little guy. He was born sunday, and for reasons id rather keep to myself he is currently in the hospital. We got the chance to meet him today. We were so very excited to meet him and were looking forward to taking him home and raising him, (he is a permanent placement). I like to keep things personal so ive decided to refer to him as "little peanut" on here out of respect for all involved.
It was instant love. I know there are chances he could leave, im confident (from all ive heard) that he wont, but there is that chance. Im not allowing it to hold me back from loving him. He felt like one of ours, and the feeling was so real. It still completely amazes me how awesome God is, and that we get the chance to love and care for little peanut.
Heres a little sneek peek.....( he was not a happy camper when i took this picture)