Blessings

So annoyed just about finished with an update and somehow I lost it! I know I said I was going to update more and then I disappeared. My only excuse is that Derek came home on 02/04. He has been home 2 weeks and 2 days and we are loving every minute of it! I am just really loving being a "mommy" again. I have my older kids and I love being their mom too but there is something about taking care of a newborn that is special. Maybe its the sleep deprivation, LOL. I will post some pictures at the end of the blog.

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately. Life never goes quite exactly as you plan. It brings to mind the quote that goes something like "Life is what happens when you are busy making plans". Before I found out I was pregnant I had a plan. I was going to school part time earning a degree in communications/journalism. I had my job. I was looking forward to my older children becoming self sufficient and old enough to leave home alone so my husband and I could travel. Then came Derek and I feel so incredibly blessed. The good Lord or the Universe or whatever you believe in knew what I needed/wanted better than I did. I now can't imagine my life without Derek in it. I am glad everything happened the way it did. The difficult pregnancy and birth, the struggles in the NICU. It has made me appreciate the experience of new motherhood even more.

For those of you curious our little man is up to 5lbs 3.5oz and 17 1/2 inches long as of his last check up. He has an appointment with the eye doctor tomorrow. He sees his doctor for a check up on Thursday. Still waiting on an MRI 

I am still planning on getting that degree, it will just have to wait a little longer and I am so okay with that! For now I will be going back to work in a few weeks and taking care of the Peanut and that will take up the majority of my time. I am looking forward to all the milestones that Derek will be experiencing and sharing them here in this blog.

Sir Derek is now awake and very vocally letting me know he is hungry so pictures will have to wait but I promise to add them later this evening, maybe while I am watching the Oscars.

Where does the time go?

I cant believe my little boy is just over 6 weeks old and it has been almost three weeks since we lost my dad. I feel like such a slacker because I haven't updated in awhile. Life has been a little  crazy. We had my father's memorial service on Sunday. It was an incredible turn out. My father was such a wonderful man. I learned some things about him I did not know. For instance he was a deacon in the Church of the Ladder Day Saints. Who knew? He had a mouth like a sailor LOL! I also knew he had some lifelong friends but I had no idea how life long. One of his friends made a speech and said they had been friends since they were three years old. My dad was also a pack rat. He saved a receipt from  car repairs he had done in 1986 for a car he had not owned for several years, among other things. I loved him very much and am going to miss him more than words can say.

As for Derek, he is now up to 3lbs 4 oz. His oxygen has been decreased to 1/4 liter per minute and he hovers right around 30% oxygen. Yesterday they gave him a bottle for the 1st time and he did wonderful. He is now getting just over one ounce per feeding or ml's. We have signed up for a discharge class as the nurses have said he may come home sometime in the next three weeks.  I am anxiously awaiting the day we put him to bed in his nursery for the 1st time.

Derek's First Christmas

Yesterday Derek was 3 weeks old. Today he is celebrating his first Christmas. Where exactly does the time go? In one sense I am happy it is going so fast because I want him home with me. On the other hand that means I will be back at work that much sooner.

Haven't been to the hospital yet today which causes me great anxiety. I have been busy baking cookies for the NICU nurses. They are taking good care of my little one :) I will be VERY happy when I can drive myself again. I love my hubby and he has been wonderful but he can't seem to get himself up in the mornings. I can be up every 3 hours to pump and by 10am I am ready to get to the hospital to see Derek. It is a physical ache and I can honestly say I have experienced anxiety until this happened.

What's new for Derek? He has lost his umbilical cord stump, we were able to do Kangaroo Care, he is eating 20mls every 3 hours and as of last night he weighed 2lbs 1 oz. He is going in the right direction!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours! We truly have our Christmas miracle this year :)