Catching Up - Review of March

Spencer is over two months old now and doing well. He's 6 lb 2 oz now and so he's growing really well. We've had a few scares over the last few weeks when he hasn't been able to recover on his own when he stops breathing and has heart rate drops, but I guess that is why he's in the hospital and able to get the help he needs quickly. The doctors also thought he might have a staph infection, but thankfully the lab work came back negative. He was able to start oral feedings on Mar. 23rd., which means he can breastfeed or have a bottle once or twice a day. The main goal right now is for him to learn to suck, swallow and breathe while eating (as opposed to his natural tendency to stop breathing), and he is getting better at doing that each day. Despite ups and downs, we know the Lord is blessing our sweet boy and are so grateful for the progress he has made. It is truly a miracle. Thank you for your continued prayers, we know the power of prayer is real.

3/7/10

3/7/10

1st picture of father and son - 3/7/10

3/8/10

Grandma Ginger's 1st time to hold Spencer - he's two months old now!

3/15/10

My daily spot for holding Spencer. I love the time we spend together - it's priceless!

St. Patrick's Day - 9 weeks old

The view from our front door on the 1st day of spring.

a toothless grin

Kate lost her first tooth! Can you tell she's excited? That night we received a thorough commentary on the tooth fairy. According to Kate, there is a boy tooth fairy for boys and a girl tooth fairy for girls. "Oh I hope the girl tooth fairy visits me! And if I wake up while she is almost ready to get my tooth, then maybe she'll fly away and never come back!? Ohhhhhhh I will make sure I go right to sleep. Sadie doesn't believe in the tooth fairy but I DO." love love that girl. Fortunately the tooth fairy made it and now Kate is $1 richer. I don't know if that is the going rate for baby teeth but I think that there's been a lot of inflation since my days .....

our sweet baby boy

Isn't he beautiful?

photos from February 2010

progress

Our little man is making some progress and we are thrilled. Having a preemie means being on a roller coaster, having good moments and bad. But we feel so blessed that Spencer is having many good moments and getting bigger and stronger each day. He is now 3 lb 11 oz and big enough to be dressed and swaddled. He also got low enough on his ventilator settings that he was able to get off the ventilator and move to c-pap, which gives him breaths through his nose. It took him a couple days to stabilize, but he seems to be doing better. Hopefully he'll be able to stay on c-pap and eventually lower his settings. The c-pap actually looks scarier - it's a lot more gear. Plus all the head-gear scrunches his face - I promise he is not as chubby as he looks in these pictures.

mama heaven

I got to hold Spencer for the first time on Jan. 24th (he was almost 2 weeks old). At this young age, they have me do "kangaroo care" which means holding him skin-to-skin while he has a feeding (for at least 1 1/2 hours but up to 3 hours). I hold him almost every day (except this week because I have a cold) and it is mama heaven. The first time I held him, his body was so tiny I could barely feel his weight on me. There are definitely some scary moments while holding him. Babies his age just forget to breathe sometimes (apenea) and that can make their heart rate drop significantly (bradycardia - aka brady). It is emotionally draining to hold him when I can feel he is not breathing and all the monitors are alarming. But it makes me grateful that he is in a place where his nurses can help him when that happens, and as he grows those episodes will hopefully happen less and less.

Is there anything more amazing then holding your sweet baby? I love being a mom.

Announcing: Spencer Brian Peterson
born January 13, 2010 at 10:06 PM
1 lb 13 oz, 13 inches long

Spencer is a week old today. He is in stable condition and doing well for how early he was born. I am finally home and feeling better every day. We have a long road ahead of us, taking a day at a time with Spencer's condition. We feel so blessed that he is doing relatively well so far and have faith that the Lord will continue to bless him and help his body grow stronger. We are so grateful for your continued love, support and prayers. Your faith has truly blessed our lives.

I will try to post more details and updates as often as I can.

Update

Just wanted to give everyone an update since my last post - things have been crazy! On Dec. 7th I was hospitalized to have my contractions monitored and I have been here ever since (and will be until I deliver). I have just had a lot of complications with this pregnancy so I feel good about being in the hospital so I can be closely monitored and get help quickly if needed. On Dec. 21st we found out that one of the babies had passed away. The doctors haven't been able to find anything that caused it or that we could have done to prevent it, so that is comforting. We feel very blessed that the other baby is still healthy and doing great. Things are still pretty high risk but we are hopeful that the baby won't be born for a while longer. Each day that goes by means he is more developed and will be stronger when he is born. We've also been so incredibly blessed to have family and friends that have been taking care of us while I've been on bed-rest and in the hospital and I am truly grateful for having such wonderful people in our lives.

I also want to thank everyone for their fasting and prayers on our behalf. Many of our prayers have been answered and we're seen many miracles in this pregnancy. I know the Lord is blessing us in so many ways and I am so grateful for the faith that has been exercised on our behalf by our family, friends and ward members. We are so blessed to have the Gospel to strengthen and bless us during difficult times. I know it is the only way that I have been able to feel so much peace and know that somehow everything will be ok.