99 days...............

DYLAN IS HOME!!!!



Over the course of the last 2 days the words "I can't believe he's actually home" have spilled from our mouths numerous times. 99 days really is a very long time. I know it may sound crazy, but although we were beyond excited to come home it was a little bit sad leaving the hospital. Obviously we got over it pretty quick, but it was hard leaving some of the people who have spent so much time, effort, and love into helping our little boy get better and grow. He was a much loved little boy in that hospital and that fact was very evident as we made our last walk through the NICU doors. The entire NICU staff got together as we were leaving to say their final goodbyes to Dylan. We saw a few tears from a couple of his nurses, respiratory therapists, and neo-netalogists. That place will always have a special place in our hearts. We know some of the NICU staff reads this blog so we would like to take this opportunity to say thank you again for all the love you have all shown us.

As you know, Dylan is off oxygen, but still has a feeding tube. During the night for the first couple months he will wear a heart and lung monitor. It's just a pre-cautionary thing they do for the majority of preemies when they come home. The night before we took him home we had to sleep over at the hospital to make sure all the equipment worked properly. It was our first family camp-out in our own room. Dylan was a good boy, but wasn't too interested in sleeping. He didn't cry, but made little grunting and snorting noises. The result was a very sleep deprived Mommy and Daddy as they spent most of the night rocking, singing, and telling him stories.





But I'll tell you what, he sure love to sleep/nap on his Mommy and Daddy's chests.









This whole thing seems so surreal. He has been under such a watchful eye for so long and then all of a sudden they hand him to us and say "well he's all yours, good luck". It feels a little overwhelming, but we're excited to get him home and see him continue to progress. He still is having a few issues with eating. They say he's volume dependent and is too comfortable with smaller amounts of volume. We've been instructed to do stretches everyday to help his tummy. Please pray for Dylan to get better at eating.



We love our little boy with all our hearts and feel so lucky to have him in our lives. We realize that we still have hurdles to clear, but the Lord has blessed us already so much through our trials and we know that everything will work out.

Surgery, 6 lbs, Coming home soon!

It has been a busy few days and this is a long post. Dylan had surgery on Thursday. My poor baby! He did awesome though. They fixed both hernias and also circumcised him while he was under anesthesia. Dylan knew something was going on the whole morning. First of all he couldn't eat and he was not thrilled about that whole situation. Second...he was not too keen on being intubated and put back on a ventilator. It took the Respiratory Therapist quite some time to get the breathing tube in. He was not cooperating even with some sedation on board! And third, he had to have 2 IV's. Of course he ended up with one in his head. He has giant veins in his little bald head that scream at the nurses. They simply can't resist. We've all decided that he's too smart for his britches. They pretty much had to tie down his arms so he wouldn't pull on anything. When we were wheeling him down to the Operating Room he was just looking around everywhere. He has only been out of his little room 2 times in his life and he knew something was up. He came off the ventilator 2 hours after surgery. His little voice was so hoarse. His cry was really so sad, you could hardly hear it. All in all he did great he just doesn't really appreciate his diaper being changed. I imagine it is quite sore. On top of all of that he just received his immunizations. Thank heavens for Tylenol.



So now for the other good news...Dylan reached 6 lbs on Wednesday the 14th! He is pretty much like a normal baby now. Some of his preemie clothes are even getting a little too snug on him! I tribute his amazing growth to me...the dairy cow. He pretty much eats milk shakes all day long. Thank you to my mom (Who I could absolutely not live without) who helped me clean out my deep freezer and organize my milk so that I could shut the lid. We pretty much can't buy anything that has to be frozen because the freezers are full. You all should start cleaning out your freezers because I may just start showing up on your doorstep with bags of milk! Its all good though...I'll just use it in his cereal until he is 5! JK!

We are preparing to come home! We are set to be out the hospital doors on Tuesday!!!!!! We are thrilled to be bringing Dylan home. We are in the process of getting trained on the feeding tube equipment and monitors that we will be going home with. Jeff doesn't want to learn to put a feeding tube in Dylan. So I say...I guess I'll never go back to work! HAHA I wish!

Have I mentioned that I LOVE being a mother. It is so amazing. I had a great mothers day last week. Dylan made me a card. Which was so cute! (The nurses are so great! Thank you). Jeff surprised me with a Kitchen Aid. The red one that I have been wanting for a long time. Thanks honey I love you so much. We spent a lot of time with our families and talked to Mark. We are excited for him to come home in a few months. Thanks to all of the Mothers in our lives. A special thanks to my mom who has been with me through everything in my life and I know is my #1 fan. I could have not made it through the last few months without her. Thanks Mom, I love you!

Last year before my Grandma passed away.

The Due Date

Isn't he the cutest little thing that you have ever seen? Today, May 6th, was my due date. Dylan is now 12 weeks old and 5 lbs 6 oz.



Linda, one of Dylan's nurses, is so creative. She is always taking pictures of him. They did this little photo shoot to celebrate his due date and surprise us with these cute pictures. She even took out his feeding tube for the occasion(the red marks on his face are from tape). He looks so cute without tubes. I can't wait for that day when they come out for good. Thanks so much Linda it definitely brightened my day!



He is going to be such a great little fishing partner for Daddy. Jeff can't wait for Dylan to catch his first fish...he talks about it all the time. As you can tell from the pictures, he has been practicing and he's getting pretty good.



So we added another scrapbook page to his wall. Linda even made up a poem for his big day. We love you Dylan!!!!

Life isn't about getting through the storms, it's about learning to dance in the rain!

I love this quote. It seems as if we are coming to an end of our NICU stay(83 days so far). We hope and pray for that every day. Dylan is getting so big. He weighs 5 lbs 4 oz. He seems absolutely HUGE to us, but our view is obviously skewed! We still have at least 2 more weeks. I wish we had a date that we were going home so that I could make a countdown chain or something! The surgeon from Primary Childrens is coming to see him Thursday to decide if they will fix his hernias before we go home. They don't usually like to do it before they weigh 8 lbs, but we hope that they will. If they agree to do it he'll have surgery somewhere around the 15th. He still is having a hard time eating. There is talk that we'll be taking him home with a feeding tube, but we'll see how the next few weeks go. Annie, the occupational therapist, works with us 3 days a week on eating. We have pretty much tried about every trick in the book. She says she is going to write a book on him after we figure him out! Annie is amazing, she has been working with newborns for over 20 yrs. I don't know what I'd do without her help. The doctors keep saying that eventually the light bulb will click and he'll take off and eat...so every day when I wake up I pray for that. Sometimes it feels like its never ending, but I can't imagine my life without my two boys. I am so lucky. My due date is coming up in a few days. It was on May 6th. It's crazy to think that we wouldn't even know our little angel yet. Last night Jeff said, "Can you believe he is ours? He is just so perfect." I'm sure it will become much more real when he is home and we are up all night! I can't wait!

Daddy is our BYU Grad

Jeff finished at BYU in December receiving his Bachelor degree in Urban, Rural and Environmental Planning. He is now working as a City Planner for Park City. BYU had commencement last week. It was a fun couple of days. I was supposed to basically be waddling around at his graduation...about to give birth any day. Since that is obviously not the case, we were able to get some pics with the 3 of us that I absolutely love! Good job honey. I love you!






After the commencement we ran into David Graham, one of Jeff's best friends while growing up in California. Even after they moved to Utah, both of their families have remained close so it was cool to see the Grahams and catch up.

Jeff was cracking up when he dug up this picture of the two of them with their 3rd grade teacher Mrs. Little at their 5th grade graduation. Wild Rose Elementary 4 life! It was hilarious chatting how they've had both an elementary and college graduation picture taken together.