I'm Back!

I'm sad to see that my last post was in the beginning of August, but considering all that has happened in our life since then, it seems forgivable.  The short version of the story is that we sold our house in 60 days (start to finish), started new jobs, and moved back to Visalia (our home town).  We officially moved into our new house the weekend before Thanksgiving.  Since then we have been very busy adjusting to our new jobs & for me, being back at work full-time with two kids at home.  Both kids are doing great, especially Callan.  He will be 7 months old on Tuesday and is crawling everywhere, pulling up on everything and on the verge of walking!  So needless to say, light has gotten very busy and we have installed some baby gates :)  We had another echo, the 4th since leaving the NICU, and met with our new local cardiologist.  Callan's heart still looks great and he is continuing to thrive.  Somedays, it brings me to tears to think what a success story he his and what a miracle God has performed with his little life.  I was introduced this week to a mom who is going through exactly what I went through with Callan, so I came back to my blog and read all my old posts.  I am so thankful to be past those dark days and on the other side with my healthy boy in arms.  I mean that pretty literally since Callan is such a mama's boy these days and cries anytime I am more than 2 feet away!  That's okay, I'll take it!!!  I've also decided, aside from starting to blog again to keep a journal of Rylie's phrase of the day since she says something so funny every day.  I will share a few from this week:
1. When told to eat her food before she could have her milk "This is terrible!"
2.  When her toy stopped working in the car "This is a problem"
3.  When her shoe fell off in the car "Oh man, this is serious!"
HA!  I love that funny little girl :)

1 Week Home and Counting

I am so happy to report that since we have been home, Callan has been doing amazing.  He is getting stronger and looking healthier every day.  A big concern while we were in the NICU was weight gain, but since we have been home (1 week) my little boy has gained an entire pound!!  At this rate he will be a pudgy boy in no time :)  We had our first follow up appointment with the cardiologist today.  She was very pleased with his progress.  His x-ray looked clear, his heart sounded strong, and his blood pressure was good.  We go back in a month for another follow up and a repeat echo.  If the echo looks good, they will take him off two of his medicines, which would leave him just on asprin until he is 1.  It was interesting being back at the hospital today.  Although it was just a week ago that we came home, it already feels like so long ago that all of this happened.  I am still in awe at just how much Callan has endured in his first month of life and thank the Lord every single day for my healthy and happy family.  So far, Callan is an easy baby.  He has a short temper and gets quite mad very quickly when he is hungry or when you change his diaper, but is content the rest of the time.  I can't wait to see more of his little personality come out over the coming months :)

We Are HOME!!!!

Just 2 days shy of 4 weeks in the NICU, Matt & I finally got to bring our baby boy home.  To be honest, it was both great and scary all at the same time.  We have been home 2 days now and are doing well.  We definitely are still trying to settle into a routine.  Just keeping track of all of Callan's medications and giving them at the right times ( around the clock) is like a full-time job.  Rylie is doing amazingly well with having "baby brodder" home with her.  She constantly wants to kiss him and hug him.  Thankfully my mom is still here so Rylie is getting a lot of attention.  We go see our Pediatrician tomorrow and have a follow up with the Cardiologist on Tuesday.  I am not sure what the exact follow up schedule will be the next couple of months, but I know it will be extensive.  Overall, we are all doing great and are so happy to be home!  Thank you all for your unending support and prayers.  We are so lucky to have such great family and friends and really appreciate all your encouraging words.  More updates to come as we settle into life with 2 kids under 2 :)

The Nesting Urge Returns

These last few days have left me with a serious case of the blahs or in a major slump!  So many times I have gotten word and given hope that Callan is coming home only to discover that he will have to stay "a few more days".  He finally got over his infection and his feeding has been much better lately since we introduced medication for reflux.  The latest concern is that he turns completely blue and his oxygen saturation in his blood goes way down anytime he gets mad and cries.  He recovers quickly as soon as he is calm, but it is concerning to me and the rest of his medical team.  His heart is completely fine, so that is good news :)  They are suspecting that it is due to increased blood pressure in his lungs, which is present in all newborns but goes away within a couple days.  They are going to trial a medication to try and resolve it.  The funny part of this all is the medication is none other that the infamous "little blue pill" aka Viagra!  How many people can say that there 4 week old son is taking Viagra.  I guess the medication was originally designed to treat pulmonary hypertension (what Callan has) but was re-labeled and marketed after discovering this "positive" side effect!  Ha!  The drug companies obviously knew they would make way more selling an ED medication than a heart medication.  They will know if it is working within 24 hours, so fingers crossed.  It was my personal goal to have him home before Thursday, which marks 4 weeks since Callan was born.
So, in light of me hitting a wall of disappointment every couple of days, and Rylie crying for me last night and today, I decided to come home today for a couple of hours.  As a result, the nesting urge began surging stronger than ever!  I have gone through 3 bins of clothes (that I currently have no place to put away), set up Callan's bed in our room, and organized extra crib sheets and burp cloths by the bed :)  It is taking every last ounce of will power not to start rearranging furniture!  I am really hoping that by the weekend we will be home because I am going stir crazy over at that hospital and really tired of living out of a suitcase!  I would pay a million dollars to sleep in my own bed with my little boy sleeping next to me!

On Our Way Back Up!

Things are looking up again.  Callan's infection is being treated with antibiotics and his lab numbers are looking good :) As a result of the infection Callan ended up back on oxygen and a feeding tube.  We also discovered that the poor guy was suffering from horrible reflux, which I am told is common in "cardiac kids".  Thankfully due to my 6 month struggle with Rylie's reflux, I noticed the signs right away.  Who says you don't learn from the past ;)  So, today when I walked in to see my little man I was pleased to see that he was off the oxygen and that they are talking about removing the feeding tube this afternoon or evening if his feedings go well today.  If we stay the course, we should be going home in the next 2-3 days.  It is my personal goal to ensure that Callan does not spend is 1 month birthday in a crib at the hospital!  So we have until next Wednesday to bust out of this joint for my goal to be met.  As he gets better and the idea of going home rolls around in my head, I must say that I wonder how I will acclimate back into real life.  I feel like I have been living in a bubble, completely unaware that the world around me continues to go on :)  Thankfully it is summer, so I won't have a million episodes of my favorite shows on DVR to catch up on :)

Infection!

Today was nothing short of an emotional rollercoaster! It started with me packing my adorable going home outfit for Callan in my bag and ended with a new IV, strong antibiotics and several tests. This morning when I went to see Callan I noticed a quarter sized red spot by the bottom of his incision. Initial blood tests showed no elevation in white blood cell count, but as the day went on, the spot grew, a fever emerged and white cell count increased. The doctors took both blood and urine cultures but it will take a couple days to get the results. Thankfully we caught it early, but Matt and I are both very nervous about the infection spreading. These next few days are going to be crucial, so please be praying for healing! We will most likely be here for at least another week while they monitor the infection.

Coming Home Soon!

Yesterday was a big day!!!  Callan got his last chest line out, his pacemaker wires out, his medicine reduced and is off oxygen.  He also got his chest bandage removed.  So, we have officially met all our milestones to go home.  Actually, we got wind today that we might be going home tomorrow :)  We are trying not to get our hopes up, but to say the least we are sooo excited.  For all of you that live close, we will keep you posted about when we are ready for visitors.  Keep your eye on the blog for updates from home and of course lots of picutres.