Thank You

Just wanted to say thanks to the person who took our blog pictures and put together a small photo book through Snapfish. We just got six of them in the mail and were excited to have something small to carry around in a purse/wallet/briefcase. There was no indication of who put these together for us, so if you want us to know, please tell us...otherwise, thanks to the currently anonymous gift giver.
~Rachel

Happy Thanksgiving!

5lb 60z Christopher takes on a 12lb bird...and sleeps to tell about it.

Ahhh...thanksgiving. The holiday that is about giving thanks, and we have a lot to be thankful for indeed. We had a bit of a scaled back holiday, all things considered, so that we could still celebrate but not be overwhelmed. Grandpa D. came down along with Auntie Meg, and somehow we managed to cook enough food for about 35 people. It was a great and relaxing weekend. I'm not really used to the slow pace of weekends/holidays now that Christopher is home. It basically entails sleeping in as long as possible because we're exhausted, and then chilling out all day long, passing him back and forth while he sleeps on people and feeding him every 3 hours. He's eating really well now, just so fast that we have to pace him or he throws up. Good problem to have, I guess.

Starting about 4 days ago, Christoper started to "wake up", staying alert and interacting with us for longer periods of time. Before then, he would wake up to eat and then just go back to sleep until his next feeding. His doctor said that as he nears his due date (still December 9th!) this will be more and more the case. It's fun to be able to interact with him more and to see him start to hit some developmental milestones. It's a bit confusing in some ways, because some 2 month old milestones he's hitting (tracking objects with his eyes, waving his arms around like he wants your attention) while others he's behind on (smiling, etc.) because he's technically not supposed to be born yet. Everyone says that he'll catch up right around 2 years old. I disagree with them; I'm pretty sure that he'll be way ahead of the curve by then =).

















Being held for the first time by Grandpa Didyk. He was so proud! And he also took the opportunity to inform me of a Didyk tradition that I was not aware of: Grandpas don't change diapers.















Auntie Meg holds her first nephew. They had fun together mumbling and watching football. We even let Megan warm up leftover Turkey with gravy by herself!
















Our first Thanksgiving family picture. I'm confident that every dish we made weighed more than our son.


















I almost forgot to mention this, but my brother Tony and I kicked off the holiday on Thursday with a rare get-together to play some Axis and Allies D-day. For those of you who aren't giant nerds, Axis and Allies is a series of strategy board games based on the historic events of World War II. Because each game takes between 4-7 hours to play, Tony and I don't get to play that often. This was a nice break from routine and you'll be relieved to know that in the first game the Allies indeed defeated Nazi Germany. However, the second game ended at a draw due to time.

Christopher gets another shot on December 7th that will help with his fragile immune system. Maybe after that we'll get the green light to relax things a little around here...I'm tired of inadvertently eating hand sanitizer =). He hasn't had an apnea spell in a couple of days now, so that's some good progress, too.

Happy Turkey Day, and here's to Christmas!!!!!

Love,

Andy

Christopher with his stuffed animals from Grandma Steury and the big elephant from Aunt Anna and Aunt SaraBeth. Mommy's having fun taking pictures today. We're waiting to celebrate Thanksgiving until Grandpa Didyk and Auntie Meg arrive on Friday. Today we're just relaxing and hanging out with Uncle Tony - playing board games and eating cookies. It's fun!

Precious Times

Daddy and Christopher enjoy snuggling before bedtime. It's such a joy and a blessing to have these precious moments with him after so many days of leaving him in the hospital. He is a delight and we are thankful for each day spent caring for him.















Secure in Daddy's love - our precious miracle.



Christopher has had a rough couple days, poor little guy. Yesterday he had to have his eyes examined again. They take some wires and pry his eyes open and hold them in that position while using another instrument to move his eyeball all around to look at it. He was slightly unhappy about that. The doctor said his eyes are still not fully developed, but they are progressing as they should - no signs of retinopathy of prematurity yet - PTL! His eyes are a little bloodshot today, but don't seem to bother him much. Then this morning he took another trip to the pediatrician for a check up, where he had to get his 2-month-old shots. Four of them! Again...slightly unhappy. Needless to say, he's been a little more sleepy and fussy yesterday evening and today, but better than I thought he would be doing. No spells - so that's wonderful. He now weighs 5 lbs. 4 oz.! Thanks for your continued prayers. Sleep-deprived Daddy and Mommy still need them.

~Rachel

Brrr...

It's 41 degrees outside, and Christopher just went for his first walk. We took a picture of him in his carseat/stroller unit, but unfortunately I can't get it to upload. Oh well...we'll take another picture next time - He did look pretty cute all bundled up and covered with a warm blanket in his little seat. We just went around the block for today - it was nice to get some fresh air.

Today was our first day alone since Christopher came home from the hospital. My wonderful mother and sister stayed with us for a week, helping around the house and caring for Christopher on Friday when I had to go to school. They were a tremendous blessing as we tried to settle into some sort of routine. (no routine yet! :) )

Christopher continues to do well. He's had a few apnea/brady spells, so we've been thankful for the monitor, but only one of them even required us to do anything. All the other times, the loud beeping startled him enough that he was fine.

Thanks for your continued prayers.

Love,
Rachel


Aunt SaraBeth came for a visit. After spending the day with me at school,
she was happy to reach our house Friday night and hold her nephew.
Doesn't she look proud?

Firsts

My first bath. I liked sitting in water, and I really like getting my head scrubbed.















My first look at my new crib. (Ok, so I was sleeping and not really paying attention, but I was there.) Thanks Gramma and Grampa Sobota.















My first dance with Babu. For those of you who know my Babu, don't worry - it wasn't one of his crazy dances! =)





















My first trip to the doctor's office. Lucky for Daddy and Mommy, it's just at the entrance to our subdivision, only 3-5 minutes away. Thanks to Babu and Nana for my nice carseat.





















My first photo session. Daddy set up a studio in our living room. I let him take a few pictures...















...before I told him I was cold, tired and hungry.















My first kiss...uh...no...but I still liked it.














Daddy and Mommy say thanks for praying for them...I'm doing a good job wearing them out, but they love me lots and are very glad I'm home. Me too.

Love,
Christopher

50 Days, 11 Hours, 44 Minutes, 2 Pounds, 4 Ounces, And Then...

...CHRISTOPHER CAME HOME!
Though it wasn't a very nice day outside - cold and wet - Christopher was content in his carseat and didn't fuss the whole way home.


He was welcomed home by:















Aunt Anna Leigh,






















Uncle Silas,






















and Nana (who promptly cuddled him close and sang him a lullaby).
















After Daddy gave Christopher a tour of the house, Daddy, Mommy and Christopher rested on the couch.
















Weighing in at 4lbs 12 oz, Christopher tried out Daddy and Mommy's bed...















...but decided his was a better fit.


Praise the Lord that the first part of this journey has come to an end. We're so thankful to all of you for the hours you have spent in prayer for us and our little man. God has blessed us with wonderful family and friends who have been a tremendous support over the last two months. As Christopher continues to grow, please keep him in your prayers. He came home on an apnea monitor and had two spells during his first afternoon home, but we've been clear since then. He has to have 30 days without a spell before we can send the machine back. As long as we're watching him during the day, he doesn't have to be hooked up to it - so mainly he's wearing it at night. The only time he's been put down was for the few hours he slept last night. We're trying hard to spoil him after all that time in a sterile box! :)

We love you all and will continue to keep you updated.

~Rachel

Was it a morning like this?

A perfect start to a wonderful day. As I drove to school Friday morning, God gave me his first blessing for the day: a spectacular sunrise. The words to the song "A Morning Like This" played through my head as I stopped to take a pictuer. I smiled to myself, wondering if the joy I was feeling knowing as soon as school was out I was headed to the hospital to spend the night there with our son, was anything like the joy Mary felt when she found an empty tomb. Was it a morning like this? An empty field, enveloped in fog, with the promise of a new day raditating across the sky in brilliant colors? I imagine it was.

It was hard to concentrate all day. Andy and I were both so excited...first, we were off to spend the nigth at our son's "place"...then we'd take him home to ours.

Here's what the last 24 hours in the hospital looked like:
















Christopher waves goodbye to all his nurses and Dr. Jundy.















Kathy, Diane and Rita. Three of Christopher's wonderful nurses, all say their goodbyes.















Daddy, Mommy and Christopher happily sitting on a couch together for the first time. We ended up spending the night in the same room we stayed in the first few days after Christopher was born. That was kind of weird, but also redeeming in some ways...almost the way "it should have been" the first time around.















Mommy feeding Chrsitopher - one of many times throughout the night/early morning when Christopher decided he was hungry. We think he must have realized he was out of the NICU and didn't have to stay on their nice three-hour schedule anymore...he could wake up and eat anytime he wanted.
















By morning, everybody was tired...even Christopher decided to sleep. This was his first nap with Daddy on a couch.

Everything went very well...we "passed." As we said goodbye to all the doctors and nurses Saturday morning, we laughed about how it was bitter-sweet...how all of this was just "life" now...it's what we do...get up, go to work/school, go the hospital, feed Christopher, go home, sleep...and start again. We were so blessed to have such wonderful staff caring for our son. God was truly looking out for us and using wonderful people to meet Christopher's every need. Thank you to the Saint Joseph East NICU staff - you all are amazing!

~Rachel

Some of my favorite moments...

...from traffic school. Yes, it's true, even nice, good-looking, intelligent people with perfect driving records can get speeding tickets. For instance, I got one this summer doing 18MPH over the limit trying to get to a canoeing place on time. I mean hey, who likes to be late for canoeing? After Robocop pulled me over, he didn’t even ask me why I was going so fast or if I even knew why he pulled me over. He just gave me a ticket, made some mechanical whirring sounds, and stomped back to his cruiser. Being pulled over by an IRS agent with IBS would have been a more personable experience.

Because nearly doubling the speed limit is bad, I had to go to traffic school (a good 4 months later, so that I could really associate the incident with the punishment). Our instructor was a really special guy, so I thought I'd share some of my favorite quotes from the evening with you, along with my interpretations of what he was actually saying:

Instructor: "My style of teaching is to use a lot of lectures. I find this to be very effective."

Translation: I bore people professionally, and I am very good at it. Veeeeery good.

Instructor: "Here you see two identical rosters. One is a photocopy of the other. This means they are the same. They are duplicates because we need two copies. Please sign both so that we have two copies that are identical."

Translation: All of my brain's representatives are serving other functions. I'll say the same thing over and over to fill time, and try my thought again later.

Instructor: "The road can be a dangerous place. Everyone needs to just flow with it and love your neighbor. Let's try it, what do we have to lose?"

Translation: I forgot what the DMV told me to say here, but who can argue with loving your neighbor? I think I'll have cheeseburgers for dinner. Yeah, and some of those fries that you make in the oven. Who does those? O'reida? Yes, I think I'll have some O'reida fries. Is C.O.P.S. on tonight? I love that show. Mmm...crispy.

Instructor: "This is the part of the class that I talk about traffic laws. I don't like to spend much time on it though."

Translation: Cleary these people know what all of the laws are, since they all broke at least one of them. Also, if loving your neighbor is wrong, then I don't want to be right.

Instructor: “Now, I must confess, there is something that I do when I’m driving that isn’t against the law, doesn’t make me a bad driver, and I probably wouldn’t do somewhere else. Sometimes I sing along with the radio. This isn’t bad, and it's not wrong, but I do it sometimes and it can be distracting.”

Translation: Actually, what I really do is dress up in drag and blast my Tina Turner and Cindi Lauper mix tapes while lip syncing and putting on makeup.

While this isn’t illegal either, it should be.

Thanks for taking this magical journey with me through the gumdrop forest and into traffic school.

--Andy
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Saturday

The day for Christopher's home-coming is officially set for Saturday (as long as everything progresses smoothly). Andy and I will go to the hospital Friday afternoon and spend the evening and night with Christopher in a room in the hospital. It's called "rooming in." We'll be responsible for all his care, and they'll show us how to use the monitor they'll send home with him. Lord willing, on Saturday morning we'll buckle our little man into his carseat and drive him home!!

He's doing well. The only apnea/brady spells he's had in the last three days have been about one-two a day while he was feeding - so just some reflux - and he's come out of those without any oxygen. Dr. Jundy decided to try to wean him off his diuretics over the next couple days so he can go home on fewer medications. That would be nice, and here's a picture of why:















"Aw, Mommy, that yucky medicine again?" (One of his many faces right after we squirt the medicine in his mouth)


...Christopher doesn't really like the taste, though he doesn't fuss or put up a fight, just contorts his face into the funniest expressions. We like his medicine! =)

According to his nurse today, Christopher "got his pencil sharpened." Our midwife came in today and did his circumcision...poor little guy. Though he didn't appear to be bothered at all. We were told he didn't even make a sound, thanks to Lidocaine cream and shots. He was a little tired afterward, as evidenced by his lack of enthusiasm over his bottle, but I'm sure he'll recover quickly as he's a little piggy. He guzzles his bottle (45mL) in about 15 minutes. Christopher is also doing better nursing too...20 mintues at one of his feedings today...way to go, little man. Daddy and Mommy were proud of him. Thanks for all your prayers.

~Rachel

Light At the End of the Tunnel

According to the doctors, we should have Christopher home sometime this week!!!!! He's doing well taking all of his feedings by mouth, and he weighs 4lbs 4 1/2 oz. The doctors have taken him off one of his medications to see if he'll be okay without it (not have anymore apnea/brady spells) or if he still needs it. Either way, if everything else goes well, he could be home by Thursday. We're very excited and very anxious at the same time. It's a little stressful trying to get the last few things in order so our home is ready for him while still trying to visit him more often to feed him too. We covet your prayers and appreciate all the love and support you're giving us. Thank you.

Love,
Rachel

The End Of...

...Clinicals!!

Yesterday was my last day of nursing clinicals, FOREVER (or at least the last ones I'm required to do to be a nurse. I guess if I decide to go on and do something else some day far in the future, I might have to do a few more, but that would be for fun...) Now all that's left is class on Fridays. These last few weeks have been a true test...God has been so faithful in giving me the strength I've needed for each day. Thank you so much for all your prayers, encouragement and support.

...and...
















...TUBES!! No more tubes for Christopher!

















Christopher was able to get rid of his NG (feeding) tube yesterday. He's now taking all his feedings by mouth and weighs 4lb. 2.5 oz. Please pray that his apnea spells requiring oxygen will stop NOW, as we've been told that he has to go 5-7 days without a spell before he can come home. Otherwise, I think he's pretty much ready. He had a spell this morning, so I guess we're on count down from today, so pray hard!

~Rachel