Time flies...

Dear Patrick,
I can't believe that you're a month old today. How far we've come from that first moment that I touched your tiny little hand before they took you down to the NICU!

You've gone through a lot in the past 31 days! You started off needing help with your breathing - first with CPAP, then the nasal cannula (boy did you not like those prongs in your nose!), then breathing all by yourself! You used to forget to breathe every now and then, and the doctors gave you caffeine to help with that. It's been a long time since you've had an apnea spell, and it's so nice to see your little face without those tubes.
Your bilirubin levels have gone up and down more times than we can count. Some days we find you bundled up like a burrito,
and other days you're stretched out with only a diaper and your shades on. One of these days, they'll turn off the lights for good.

You graduated from IV nutrition, to a feeding tube, and then to bottles. You've been so hungry lately that you've been eating your whole bottle and the nurses haven't had to use the tube at all. When we came in to see you this morning, you had your feeding tube out. Before your 9AM feeding today, you were so eager to eat that you were chewing on the doctor's arm while she was examining you. You are serious about eating and sure do get impatient when we try to burp you mid-feed!

Your IVs and your PICC line are out, and you are allowed to wear clothes from home. Dad and I can hold you now, and are able to take you out of your isolette without help from the nurses.
You only have your monitors on now! You grew too quickly to wear the hats I knitted you, so I made you an emergency hat this week. Pretty soon you'll be too big for your preemie clothes!


So much has happened since we heard the doctors say, "It's a boy!" We worried, cried, and prayed, and learned so much more medical information that we ever thought our heads could hold. We touched your little hands and held you for the first time, and cried happy tears. We changed your tiny diapers and fed you your first bottles. We celebrated as you've grown. We washed the pump parts about 200 times. The past month has brought your dad and I so much closer than we thought possible. And, we love you more than you could ever imagine.

We can't wait until we can put you in your little orange car seat and fight over who gets to sit in the back seat as we drive you home!

Love,
Mom