The last few months have been a whirlwind!  Oliver was in the hospital for about another month after my last post...he picked up bottle feeding really quickly and loved it.  He continued growing and developing with only one major setback - he had laser eye surgery on 4/30 to remove the enlarged blood vessels threatening to detach his retinas.  The surgery was successful, but Oliver had a hard time coming out of recovery and ended up back on the ventilator for a short while.  But within a week or so of the surgery he was back to himself.

His due date was May 13 (Mother's Day), and we received a phone message that afternoon saying his eyes looked stable enough to send him home on oxygen so we should talk about discharge!  What a great day that was!  We stayed over at the hospital the night of the 14th so we could take care of him during the night and get used to his oxygen equipment.  He had all his final tests and exams and was discharged mid-day on Tuesday, May 15 after 100 days in the NICU.  It was a bit of an emotional day for all of us...especially witnessing Kate's reaction to meeting her little brother for the first time.  So sweet...several tears shed. :)

 Oliver came home from the hospital at 6 pounds exactly...a gain of over 4 pounds from his birth weight.  And now he weighs over 10 pounds and is getting bigger, stronger and sweeter by the day.  He has started really interacting with his smiles and his eyes...he is getting more of a personality and had really become a wonderful addition to our family.  He is still on oxygen day and night since his lungs were so badly damaged from the ventilator and the pneumonia...we've been having regular doctor and physical therapist visits and have an appointment with a lung specialist at the end of August...hopefully we'll be able to get him off soon.  We'll all be so much happier!

The girls love him!!

Although it hasn't been quite a normal summer for us, Kate is still finding fun things to do...we've been playing a lot with her cousins who recently moved back from Colorado (hooray!), lots of sprinklers in the backyard, even a couple trips to the zoo and once to the water park.  She had a few sessions of summer preschool, plus gymnastics once a week.  She's getting to be such a big sweet girl and is already showing us that she'll be a great big sister to Oliver.  Hard to believe that we've been blessed through adoption with two amazing children - we love them so much!

Oliver Update

Oliver has been progressing well over the last couple of weeks, so I thought I'd post another update about what's new with him!

Since my last post, it was determined that the ventilator had contributed to a spell of pneumonia and he was pretty sick there for a while. It was really scary! But he finally pulled through and was strong enough to be extubated on March 17. He had the ventilator tube down his throat for a total of 32 days before moving to CPAP, a pressurized air flow. Unfortunately, the ventilator was a necessary evil which allowed him to breathe, but also caused quite a bit of lung 'disease.' It will be a while still before his lungs fully recover and he'll be able to breathe entirely on his own.

But, on to the positive news! He started growing really well once he got back up to his full feedings (fortified with extra calories, protein and vitamins), and now he's up to 4 pounds! He started regulating his body temperature really well, so he graduated from the enclosed isolette to an open-air crib last Friday. Now he wears tiny preemie clothes and gets wrapped in blankets! We were able to do the kangaroo hold several times with him (see the first photo below: skin to skin contact), and now we can hold him even more often since he's in the open crib. His lungs were finally strong enough to get off the extra pressure, and now he's on high-flow oxygen instead. He started on a volume of 5 L per minute about a week ago, and has weaned down to 3 1/2...once he gets down to 2 L, we'll be able to start trying to bottle feed!

So overall, we're pleased with how he's doing...he has definitely had a rough beginning, but hopefully all that is behind us now. He'll still be in the NICU for at least 3 or 4 more weeks, likely more...and we can't wait to bring him home!

Kate has been handling the transition well so far...it's tough that we go to the hospital so often, but she always has fun while we're gone. Hopefully the hospital will lift the RSV restriction soon, and she'll be able to go inside to finally meet him in person. :)

Kangaroo hold with his eyes open (also with the CPAP breathing apparatus)

In his new open crib with new tiny PJs

His first sponge bath (he didn't love it...)

Sleeping sweetheart...

Introducing Oliver!

On February 6, 2012 at 9:20pm, we were blessed with the arrival of our new baby boy, Oliver Micah James. His birthmother Rebecca was only 26 weeks along when he was delivered...he weighed only 1 lb. 13 oz. and measured 12.5 in. long! He is currently in the NICU and will be for the next several weeks, but he is doing well and we can't wait to bring him home!

So here's the LONG story of how he came to be ours...Rebecca selected us to be his parents in November. We were thrilled, and were very much looking forward to his due date of May 13. We attended her ultrasound, where we found out he was a healthy little boy, and stayed in close contact with her. Then in January she started having some complications with her pregnancy...she was in the hospital twice for excessive bleeding, and the ultrasound she had was a little bit concerning, but the doctors just advised her to take it easy and get as much rest as possible.

Then on February 1 we attended another ultrasound with her and the doctor told us we needed to take her to the hospital immediately where she was to be admitted for the remainder of her pregnancy! She had leaked most of the fluid from the baby's gestational sac, but didn't realize it because of the bleeding. They hoped to monitor her and keep her there for 8-9 weeks before inducing her at the end of March...but she didn't even last a week!

Monday night, Feb. 6, she started having contractions at 5:45, we texted a couple times that evening while she was waiting for the doctors, then at 8:30 we told her we were coming to the hospital to make sure she was OK. Her adoption case worker called us back a minute later to tell us that she was going in for an emergency C-section in 10 minutes! We rushed to the hospital and arrived after she had gone into the operating room, but I was able to quickly get dressed and enter the delivery room just minutes before Oliver was born. What an incredible experience to be in the room and see him come out...then to watch him immediately passed through the window into the NICU. I was in a bit of shock. :)

We got to see him later that evening and couldn't believe how tiny and perfect he was. The nurses were all amazed at how well he was doing with his breathing and he didn't seem to have any obvious problems!

Rebecca was discharged from the hospital 3 days later, and we all signed the adoption paperwork at that time. She's been back to the hospital to see him a couple of times, and we'll likely do some sort of formal placement once Oliver is released from the NICU. Oliver is doing fairly well...he had an infection in his second week of life that required him to be on a ventilator, receive a couple of blood transfusions, a few antibiotics, steroids, etc, but nothing too scary. He's been digesting his milk well, and his brain, heart, and lung ultrasounds & X-rays all look good! He passed the 2 pound mark a few days ago...so now we just hope that he will continue to grow and develop into a healthy little boy!

Quite a life-changing experience for us...we're so excited to have him as part of our family, and even more excited to bring him home as soon as possible! Kate still hasn't been able to see him since she's too young to enter the NICU, but she's excited and we know she'll be a great big sister.

SUCH a long post...I'll try to keep updating the blog every week or two if there are new changes. :) Welcome, Little Oliver!!