21 long weeks

So after 21 long weeks of emotional, physical and mental roller coasters, terms like septic work-up, bilirubin, pda, rop, cbc, cp, ot, pt, ivh and list gets longer have now passed us, somewhat! JONATHAN is home where he should be! He is doing great he has no tube, no wires, no oxygen and no monitors. O.k so I will admit it was a bit nerve wrecking our first night, I was constantly checking him but everything went great. When he was discharged our only concern was his feeding and that he was losing weight a big no-no, so we all agreed to see what he would do when he got home and hope and pray he would just take off and gain weight. The doctors made arrangements for a visiting nurse to come see us once a week and his first pediatrician appt would be the 19th two days after he came home to check weight and make sure he is not losing or we could have to put a tube in him so we could feed him through that (I think not). So we went to his ped appt. and he was 9lbs 2 ozs the doc was so surprised that he was 9lbs he said to us (me and the two grandmas) that he thought Jonathan would be around 5lbs! He said preemies don't get on the growth chart but Jonathan is in the 25th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for length! So our gaol is from here to just keep putting the weight on him, the doc was very impressed with him! Then came our visiting nurse, when she first arrived she said to me looking at Jonathan I must be at the wrong house because he doesn't look like a preemie he is huge (I just have to laugh. I love it!!) She came on Monday and he was still 9lbs 2ozs that's o.k hes maintaining his weight. Then the ped appt Tues. 22 his weight 9lbs 4ozs the doc said well he is doing everything great! The visiting nurse came back on the 25th and he is up to 9lbs 7ozs!!!
so everything is going great, I have to admit that the feeding thing gets to me sometimes I start worrying so much it seems I am always sticking a bottle or breast in his mouth, I get so wrapped up and think oh no is he gaining weight and yes I log every cc that goes into his belly and he is pretty consistent however I don't count the breastfeeding time cause I have no idea how much he gets but I know its just a snack (for now till I can bring my supply back up)! During the day Jonathan is a snacker eating every three hours plus a snack or two in the middle of those three hours, at night I wake him up every three and he eats very good almost always asleep through those. He stays awake all morning with a two or three naps of a whole 20-25 mins but is fast asleep around 7pm and up at 6am ready for the day, he is such a big boy!! He was a bit shocked at his new surroundings and these two big things that run around and bark, he didn't care for his swing or anything but his bassinet and of course being held! He now enjoys his swing for about 1/2 hour but not a bit longer! He is very squirmy doesn't like to be still except when he is sleeping thank goodness, he starting to roll over he will get about half way then roll back, he likes his bottles warm not cool and of course not hot and trust me he will let you know if its not to his liking, he will get that nipple out of his mouth he will close his mouth and not let anything near there till you warm it up and put a little drop on his lip and then he will let you know if its o.k! I have no idea where he got his stubborness:) He poops and pees great I think he had christened everywhere in the living room!
He will be getting p.t twice a week to help his neck muscles he really favors his right side so we need to work with him on his left, we have a visiting nurse once a week we see his pediatrician once a week, he has eye appt every two week, he see the cardiologist next month and he will be going to an audiologist next month! So the appts. don't stop but I think we are all handling it well because its a lot better than being in the hospital!!
And yes we have been keeping in touch with our nurses (Kim and Jennifer) we do miss them a lot but we know we can visit them! So that is all for now!
LOVE you all

Jonathan is going HOME!!!!!

can you believe what I just said but its true our NICU roller coaster is finally over we are taking him home tomorrow the 17th!! Also Jonathan requires no oxygen or feeding tube he is doing everything himself! We need to work on his feedings but he'll get it cause his daddy has no problems eating so I am sure he won't either:) On a sad note I am so upset at my ob doctor she did the circumcision and it required 3 stitches not to worry though everything will still work, they just got a blood vessel that wouldn't stop bleeding. he is such a trooper he didn't really react to anything just give him sugar water on his paci and he was set! His mommy was more upset than him. Justin and I have waited 21 weeks for this day and its here it is a bitter sweet good bye to some of the greatest nurses especially our 2 primaries Kim and Jennifer however I think jonathan is going to be apart of their lives for a very long time. I think we convinced kim to watch him for a wedding in August, I told her I would just go to the ceramony and she said if she watches him I have to go to the reception too! Well we have a ways to go for august for me to think about that! So my next blog will be about him home!!YAHOOOOOOO
P.s We thank you all for you continued prayers! We also know we couldn't have made it this far without GOD he really protected Jonathan and kept him safe!