New Year's Eve

A very quiet night at home, we still cheers'd with champagne and stayed up until midnight.  Well, 2 of us did.  Happy New Year!

Baby's First Christmas

This post is picture-packed.  Don't say I didn't warn you!

Besides bringing a healthy baby home, our only Christmas wish was bringing him home in time for Christmas.  We are blessed!

Christmas started with a Santa picture, of course!  I was thrilled when the pulmonologist at Children's ended our first appointment with (without my asking!) "And yes, you can get a Santa picture.  Just find out when they open and be the first one there to avoid the germs."  We've been discouraged from really taking Wyatt anywhere but doctor's appointments so this was a welcomed surprise.  We took him to see Santa where my sister works and they were so wonderful, whisking us in and out and we got our keepsake photo.  Clearly Wyatt was thrilled by the experience.  Ha!

Thankfully, our pediatrician encouraged us to join our families for Christmas festivities as long as all were careful about illness and handwashing so celebrating we did!

Christmas at my mom and dad's was next.  We always celebrate with my siblings and parents the week before Christmas.  It was the first time Wyatt was with all of his cousins.  I think my favorite line from the night was Romy's, "I'm the ONLY kid that has EVER held Wyatt.  And his clear mustache isn't even gone!"  (We told her that he could be held by kids when he's off oxygen and his cannula is out but this was an exception.  One she was excited by.)  

As always, it was a great evening filled with far too many gifts and even more laughs.  

On the 23rd, we celebrated our first Christmas as a family.  It was rather low key and included an exchange of gifts.  We decided to start a tradition of gifts for Wyatt this year with - something you need, something you want, something to wear, something to read.  

Shortly after came December 24th.  The annual Christiansen Christmas Eve.  Starting promptly at 4:30 this year at Uncle Ron & Auntie Ann's, we honestly arrived at 5.  We are not late people but boy is traveling with a little on (on oxygen!) a whole different story.  Keep in mind we headed straight from this event to Matt's parents' place in Yakima, too!

As always, festivities started with the nut in the rice pudding (I got it this year!), a delicious meal, singing Christmas carols, dancing around the Christmas tree, treats, the Christmas story, and gifts.  It was so fun to have the whole family together.  Even Wyatt.  It still feels surreal to have him WITH us!

After the Christmas Eve festivities ended, we piled into the car and hit the pass, continuing our tradition of Christmas Day (plus a few more) in Yakima with the Longs.  As we left, I assured everyone we'd be fine as Wyatt would sleep the whole way over.  He had to be tired and that coupled with his love for the car would mean he'd be out before we hit the freeway.  Well, I ate my words!  He was wide awake the entire trip over.  I held Hector (giraffe pacifier) in the entire trip.  Luckily, he was happy, even if he didn't sleep a wink!

With nothing more than a few flurries at the summit, we made it over the pass just fine and many of them were still up to greet us (after 1 am)!  We got Wyatt out of his "best" and got to bed.  Santa was on his way, after all!  The next few days included lots of Christmas, Rachel's birthday, and Cindy's birthday.  The star of the show the entire time was Wyatt.  Some had never seen him and most had never held him.  Merry Christmas & Happy Birthday!

You were and will always be our best Christmas present ever.

Our Christmas Miracle

When Wyatt saw the pulmonologist last week, they wanted him to be "cleared by cardiology" before even discussing an oxygen wean.  They want to make sure his heart is functioning at its full capacity and isn't working harder than it should (which is sometimes indicated by poor oxygen saturation).  Decreasing his oxygen support would stress his heart if it wasn't working properly.  This wasn't an appointment we were looking forward to  - just a little nervous that there may be bad news.  The day before Christmas Eve.  

So, we loaded ourselves into the car as usual (in addition to a baby, car seat, stroller, and diaper bag, we also have an oxygen tank, an extra one - just in case! and the oxygen saturation monitor.)  Keep in mind that Wyatt is tethered to both the tank and the monitor around the clock.  Upon arriving at Children's today, though, the nurse said we looked like pros.  Apparently we've got this toting-around-a-baby-on-oxygen-thing down.  Take that, chronic lung disease!  

At any rate, our appointment at Children's was, as they have each been so far, great.  Great in that we are met by fantastically skilled and communicative nurses and doctors.  We always feel like our questions our answered, our concerns are addressed, and we are informed.  Things started great with a weight check.  Boom!  Up 7.5 ounces since the pediatrician's appointment last week!  He's now weighing in at 7 pounds, 11 ounces and is in the 40th percentile for weight (based on his adjusted age - due date).  He's not yet on the charts for height but we know he's short and that preemies often take up to 2 years to catch up in this area so we're not concerned.

After being connected to 14 leads in an infant EKG and after lengthy 78-image echo cardiogram, the doctor met us with great news.  His heart murmur is innocent and there is not a single heart defect or concern in that little heart of his. 

As the doctor initially "interviewed" us he marveled at the fact that our little 27 weeker eats well, is gaining weight, required no surgeries while in the NICU, has no retinopathy of prematurity, and just looks great.  "He looks great," the pediatric cardiologist said over and over again.  We continue to marvel, too.  Every single day.

And with that, another appointment done, another box checked.  

He truly is our Christmas miracle!

All tuckered out on the car ride home.

3 Months Old!

Today is my due date.  You were supposed to make your debut today, Wyatt.  Although it has been a challenging 3 months, we feel blessed to have had 3 extra months with you "in the real world."  We love you, buddy.

I think the highlight of Wyatt's 3 month "birthday" was simply the fact that we celebrated from HOME!  The day itself is a bit of a blur (as many are) filled with diaper changes, bottle feeds, and lots of snuggles and naps and really, we wouldn't ask for anything else.  We're so proud of you, our BIG boy!

Home Sweet Home

It's wild to think that today I'm having  a baby.  Today is Wyatt's due date.  What a three months it has been!  As you know, we're home and thrilled to be here with our boy...before Christmas!  It's truly the best gift ever.

As is true with any family, these first few weeks have been spent mostly in our pajamas, sleeping when we can, fixing many bottles, feeding often and staring at our little miracle for hours at a time.   We've had people bringing us meals (THANK YOU!) and visitors arriving, excited to see Wyatt.  At this point, grandparents, aunts, and uncles are those privy to holding.  

We've been given many stern warnings about hand washing, germs, and keeping Wyatt healthy to avoid re-hospitalization.  We're housebound except for doctor's appointments at this time.  Hearing that this is an "extreme flu season" and "the vaccination isn't working as well as it has in the past" are not things this mom likes to hear on the news but we'll make it!  Anyone who comes will see this sign on our door.  If you're one that visits, please know we only have Wyatt's best interest in mind and aren't trying to be difficult.  Thanks for journeying with us!

In addition to the "usual" bringing-baby-home events, we're managing Wyatt's home oxygen, too.  We're thankful he has it (because he needs it) and the monitor does provide peace of mind (when it's not alarming, that is!)  However, moving about the house with a tank of oxygen and a monitor isn't the easiest to navigate so most of our time is spent in the family room or in our bedroom (where he sleeps).

We've already seen the pediatrician and the pulmonologist at Children's.  Cardiology, nutrition, weight checks, and more pediatrician visits are in our near future.  So far so good but we truly have no idea what challenges Wyatt may still encounter.

We continue to enjoy each and every message, meal, gift, card, and email.  We're continually amazed by how many people are following our story.

After 78 Days, We're Home

We thought we were set to discharge on Monday.  Unfortunately, the doc on Monday wanted Wyatt to have 5 days "event free" and Monday was only day 4.  We got to Tuesday and the doc wanted him to go 24 hours without having any kind of choking incident (he did choke on his bottle a little bit early on Tuesday).  We came home last night, got a good night's sleep, and hoped we were walking in to our last day today.  And we were!  Last time taking this exit.  Last time pulling into the parking garage.  Last time scrubbing in.  Last time entering room 139.  It was an emotional day.  

The doc had all the discharge papers ready, we'd been schooled on home oxygen support the day prior, and we got our things packed up and on the cart (including Wyatt!).  One of our favorite nurses, Di, walked us out and each staff member we saw cheered for us.  We really got to know most of the folks on that floor during our stay!  We headed to the car, loaded up and headed out.  

I sat in the back with Wyatt and immediately fell to tears.  There was so much leading up to this day and it had finally arrived.  It's safe to say we both feel relieved, grateful, excited, happy, scared, worried, fearful, and terrified!  In addition to bringing home our fragile preemie, he is coming home on some oxygen support which we'll be monitoring and managing.  All that said, it has been a fantastic day.  We couldn't be happier to have our boy home.

A huge thanks to our families who had our home decorated for a grand Wyatt welcome.