Weston's been home a year!!

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A year ago we were bring Weston home from the hospital. I never thought anything would be harder than having to leave your baby in the hospital for three months but coming home there would be more challenges.
Learning how to replace an NG tube, waking up so many times at night to give meds and to give him his feed. After a month of being home Weston catching pneumonia and being in the hospital three days before Thanksgiving. Coming home on oxygen and now getting used to having an oxygen tank in the hallway and oxygen tubing all around the house.
Watching how he is breathing if we need to turn up or down his oxygen watching his pulse ox monitor to see what he is stating.
Doing great until March when he caught RSV which was turning into puenmonia, having a five day hospital stay, I'll never forget the ER doctor calling for a crash cart, words a parent should never hear. Coming home learning how to do breathing treatments and to continue to watch his breaths per minute.
Over coming oral aversion and learning how to eat everything in site. Coming off oxygen after being on it for 5 months after he caught pneumonia the first time in November. Coming off his NG tube after 13 months and having no set backs.
I would not trade any of these experiences. Our faith in God has grown. We did not know if our baby would come home and then he did. We were worried about his catching a cold or RSV and guess what he did, but he/we have over come with God. All through God, without Him we would not be where we are today celebrating Weston being home a year!! Praise God.
Thank you all for all your love, support and prayers through this part of Weston's life.
He continues to amaze us he is cruising around everywhere, he has taken a couple steps by himself. He is becoming more independent and he has the greatest personality, he is a jokester and loves to laugh and smile. He gets in fights with his brother and gets jealous. He eats everything, he loves green beans and hot dogs and chicken nuggets. He is drinking from a sippy cup and loves water. He loves sliding down slides and playing with cars.
We are so truly blessed, I cannot wait to see what we have in store for this year.

Jenny

No more Specialists

We are so excited that we have no more specialist. Weston's GI doctor released him from care two weeks ago and we are praising God. But then there seems to be something missing this time last year Weston was still in the NICU, we were waiting to see if he would take anything from the bottle, wondering if the doctors would let us take Weston home on a NG tube. I am so glad that we only have our pediatrician now. Then the worry starts, worrying about flu and RSV season, you forget about sickness when it has been so nice and warm through out the summer months. I know Weston is strong having had RSV and pneumonia last year and once this year. But still scary. We are going to start limiting visits to the store and mainly just take him to church and try and limit his exposure to things. I know he is stronger this year, I know his little lung is growing and that he is our miracle and he continues to amaze me everyday. I asked my husband last night if I should call him pediatrician just to talk and ask if he was would be worried about Weston this year, but as we talked I started to realize Weston hasn't followed any textbook if he had, he would not be here today. Weston has set his own medical path and I praise God everyday that He is in control.

I love to eat

Weston continues to amaze his daddy, his therapist and myself. We think back to a month ago and he was not eating really anything by mouth a littler here a little there and now he is eating everything by mouth. It is so exciting. I have started giving him bigger bites and he tolerates them all so well, sometimes it is hard to remember what a struggle it was just a couple months ago at his first birthday. His days fluctuate, if he takes a lot of fluids he doesn't eat a lot of solids and then the opposite the next day a ton of solids and less fluids. He loves his vegetables he is not quite sure about fruit, but we are working on it.
Weston's OT is so excited that he is doing so great, he shows no oral aversion what so ever, he is manipulating his food really good moving his tongue just like he should and is managing his food. Weston is also trying to walk every where and he gets into everything.
We have our appointment with Weston's GI doctor on Tuesday and I can't wait to see if he has gained any weight and I pray that we are discharged from his care. Weston has taken huge steps this past month and we know that is it all God and He has blessed us so richly with Weston making all these changes.

Where am I?

This morning Weston had his Bayley developmental study and physical exam by one the of the neoatologist that had him in the NICU.
The therapist who did Weston's study was so nice and it was so neat to watch Weston do the different tasks set in front of him. I was with him for his cognitive test and Timothy was with him for his motor and language tests(one of us had to stay with Quinton)
The results from his test and they are testing him as a 13 months old since he was born at 37 weeks and that is the lower part of the premature scale.

For Cognitive which is how he explores new toys, solves problems and new experiences he got --16 months
For Receptive Communication which is identifying pictures, following simple directions and preform social routines he got --10 months
For Expressive Communication which is non-verbal expression such as smiling, babbling and laughing he got --13 months
For Fine Motor which is assessing muscle control like following objects with their eyes, grasping an object, and bring hand to mouth he got --13 months
For Gross Motor which is measuring his ability to crawl, make stepping motions, support their own weight and stand he got --10 months.
Weston's physical exam went really good, the doctor said he looked good especially for being as ill as he was.

Timothy and I are praising God for these results, the doctor said that Weston's verbal would pick up since he is advanced cognitively. We weren't sure how he would score on his motor skills but his therapist has been watching his gross motor and his muscle tone in his legs. We are so blessed. Another step in us knowing that Weston is getting healthier.
I am still worried about this upcoming winter and the unexpected we had two hospital visits and one we almost lost him. We continue to pray daily that God continues to heal Weston and that his lungs continue to grow and get stronger.

Thank you all for your prayers we know they work miracles.

Jenny

Oh the Places You'll go

Those are the words I keep telling Weston, especially when he is crawling away from me at top speed. He is everywhere and in everything right along with his big brother. I never thought this day would come, when you are used to your baby just being in one place it takes some getting used to, but it is so exciting at the same time, him examining everything for the first time it is so amazing.
Weston is doing good with his feeding, he has some bad allergies and they have set us back a little this week with all the snot draining down his throat but he is doing great. We are working back up to 18-20 oz of milk a day not including all the table food he is eating. It is so exciting. On Thursday we go to the NICU clinic for them to see how Weston is developing which is really exciting he is doing great and I can't wait to show them :)

Feeding is going GREAT

I wanted to let everyone who is following Weston's eating adventure that he is doing great. We haven't had a weight check so I can't say for sure he is gaining, he feels like he is :) Anyways, he is doing great on taking more and more food. He has eaten 1 chicken nugget, 2 pieces of ham and he is getting better and better at more solid food in his mouth. He is up to taking 18 oz of milk a day, which is awesome, we are so proud of him. He has come so far in two weeks, it is amazing and we know that is all because of God that he is doing so good.
Weston is also crawling everywhere and getting into everything. He is also pulling himself up on everything and we are working with his therapist to start walking, which is so exciting and scary all at the same time. My baby is growing up into a toddler like he should but it is happening so fast, usually you get a couple months to move from stage to stage not weeks. But I am so excited that we have come this far and that Weston continues to amaze us. We are so blessed.

Jenny

Eating is going great

Weston is really enjoying eating by mouth. He is getting better at taking more by bottle the most he has taken is 17 oz, which is awesome! Plus those 17 oz have a caloric intake of 41.1 per ounce so that helps. He is doing really good. He is on antibiotics for his ear infection and I can tell he is feeling better everyday plus the fact that he is chasing Quinton around everywhere. Now that he has learned to crawl that is no turning back, he shots down the hallway and is off doing his own thing. It is so exciting to watch him go and for him to take things in for the first time, I love watching the world through my children eyes. We are still working on taking more by spoon which is a work in progress since he is taking so much by bottle but hey we are off the NG tube he is doing everything on his own and it is the awesome power of God that we are seeing. We are so blessed. Life is GREAT!