Little Buddy

It's been about a week and a half now since James came home and we are finally settling into a bit of a routine. Luckily he's a good sleeper (one good thing about him being in the NICU is that he can sleep through anything!) so Keith and I only have to get up a few times during the night. During the day he's content to doze off if he's in our arms or being carried in the Baby Bjorn...and I've actually been able to get things done around the house! Our Christmas tree is up, presents are bought, gifts are wrapped and under the tree. We actually have food to eat and clean dishes and clean clothes. Amazing! :-)


We are getting pretty comfortable with all his medical stuff...injecting IV bags with medicine, hanging them, flushing his IV line, changing dressings on his wounds. It is still time-consuming, but it doesn't seem hard or overwhelming anymore (thanks for prayers about this!). Often times, one medical task leads to another. Like today, I went to change James' diaper and realized that the seal on the ostomy bag on his stomach had come loose, so there was stinky goo all over him. Change diaper. Wipe him down. Put on new ostomy bag. Realize that the dressing over his abdominal wound has also gotten wet. Change that too. Change clothes. Put on new changing pad cover. Take James upstairs for a sponge bath. And there you have it...a quick 45 minutes later and the "easy diaper change" is done! :-)


My favorite part of the day is definitely from noon to 6pm, when James is unhooked from all his equipment. During that time he feels like a "normal" baby and we can both roam wherever we please. It gets a bit annoying during the other hours of the day when I think to myself, "Oh, I'll just run upstairs and check my email or go to the basement and switch a load of laundry"...and then I realize that I have an IV pole next to me and I can't. But really, these are just petty little things and they mean nothing when compared to the fact that our son can be home with us every hour of every day. It's such a gift to be able to start bonding with him, learning about his personality and integrating him into our family life.


Maddie has gotten much better this week in terms of adjusting to everything. She still has brief meltdowns during the day if she's not getting enough attention, but overall she's returned to her happy-go-lucky self. She's even getting the potty training thing down and hasn't had any accidents for a few days now! We are so proud of her! She is showing that she cares about James, often saying, "It's okay Little Buddy. You'll feel all better in a minute!" when we are doing a medical task on him. She also loves to have her daddy tell her bedtime stories about Princess Madeline and Prince James and all their grand adventures together.

I wanted to send out a HUGE THANK YOU to people who have brought us food over the last two weeks...my mom, Jana, Alli, Cheryl and Heather. Oh my goodness, what a Godsend a meal is when there's a new baby in the house! If it weren't for their kindness and generosity, I think I'd be surviving on string cheese and crackers for every meal. :-) Here's a peek at my mom with James and Alli holding James for the first time.


P.S.--James is getting bigger every day. As of last Tuesday he was up to 8 lbs 10 oz, so I bet he'll be hitting 9 pounds this week! Wowzers!