The highs and lows….

But definitely more highs!!

Last June 6th our lovely little man turned 2 months old! Time sure does fly so fast. It honestly doesn’t feel that he’s been at the hospital for that long. I guess that’s a good thing. Probably the reason why it feels that way is because we don’t really ask when he’s coming home. And now that I think about it, I’ve never really asked the doctors or the nurses. I know you’re thinking I’m crazy.

Nick and I don’t ask because everytime we visit him, we just see how is he’s doing that day and we will be able to tell if he’s ready to go home or not. Yes, he is growing and getting healthier, his feeds are increasing but slowly. There’s no set date on when he’s supposed to be home. If there was, that would make it easier for everyone won’t it?

It does feel like it’s soon. But soon could be in a couple of days or in a week. So yes, I don’t know when he’s coming home. I’d rather keep it as a surprise myself because if there was a set date and then he gets a brady (heart rate goes down suddenly) they’d have to keep him there for 5 more days. And that will be heartbreaking. I like how it happened for the baby that was next to Des. The mom was talking to her daughter,  “Ok..you’re going home this week. You’re going home this week.” (She was saying this as she was feeding her baby) The nurse then told her, “You know she could go home tomorrow.” The mom was like, “What? Are you serious? Tomorrow? Really?” That conversation obviously happened after her baby has been doing good with her feeds. With Des? He’s not there yet. But he’s close.

I’m telling you, there are highs and lows. He did so good with his feeds yesterday and today was another story. I guess we forgot to tell you guys. (Good news coming up) Turns out, Des is anemic! Why is this good news? Well, the reason why he hasn’t been finishing his feeds is because he gets tired fast. He’s using more energy and not enough time to make red blood cells. And, the doc said, he is going to grow out of it. Preemie’s have a tendency to get anemic, so it happened to Des. Oh why is this good news? Oh yeah… it’s not because of his brain bleed that’s why he’s not finishing his bottle. He definitely has the skill to swallow, breathe and pace himself when he feeds, he’s just tired.

The doc said, hopefully, the closer he gets to his term date (June 13th) the stronger he gets and won’t get tired as much. It doesn’t mean that he has to go home right away on his term date, he could stay longer, or leave earlier. It’s just a way to gauge how things are going.

So Des’ nurse told me he’s been tired with his feeds today. I came expecting to nurse him. But when I tried, he was actually pretty tired to even do that. Yesterday he had tons of energy. My poor baby.

They don’t have to treat his anemia, it’s not concerning enough for them to do anything about it except just give him his usual vitamins that already contains iron. Other than that, he really just needs to grow out of it.

Another news we haven’t told you, Des is growing so fast they had to lessen how much milk he’s taking. He’s now 6 pounds 11 ounces. And he’s gaining 2 ounces a day. Wowza! What a big boy! I mean look at this guy.

He’s definitely making our hearts melt everyday. He’s already got so much character and making all the lovely nurses fall in love with him so bad. A couple of nurses have already whispered to us, “We’re not supposed to have favorites, and don’t tell anyone, but Desmond is my favorite.”

He’s not a crier. If he’s gassy, he will just grunt a little bit and release. Haha! I’d say he’s an easy baby. Well for now that is. I don’t know how he’d be like when he comes home.

He likes to smile too! I still haven’t seen a full smile to see a dimple. But I think he does have a dimple.

As I type this I can’t help but be thankful of how blessed we are to have such a lovely boy. Another thing to be thankful for is that, he had a routine cranial ultrasound today and the results came back the same. Which is good. There’s no swelling or any change. His brain is just healing now from the bleed. Thank you Jesus!

There are tons to be thankful for everyday. Sometimes, the bad stuff gets so discouraging, but the highs are definitely taking over the lows. It’s so easy to dwell on “Why isn’t he home yet?” That’s just going to get us so depressed. Nick and I proclaim and say,  “Thank you Jesus because you have healed him. For making him whole and healthy!”

Things we are thankful for:

• For sweet nurses who are not just doing their jobs but loving on Des as well.
• For God’s provision for paying bills and therapy (We are also qualified for in-home care. When Des comes home, a nurse will come and visit, see how he’s doing, help with therapy and answer any questions we have. All that for a year for free)
• Our pandesal baby is not a pandesal anymore. He’s a loaf of bread!
• For the joy that Des brings in our life.
• That we get special training from nurses on how to take care of our baby and babies in general.
• That God has never left us nor forsaken us.
• That we have friends and family that are supporting us and encouraging us throughout all this.

Prayer Points:

• For Des to have the strength and make the right amount of red blood cells to finish his bottle on every feed.
• For Des’ brain to just keep healing. Healing right and that there will be no effects of the bleed.
• For patience and perseverance for Nick and I as we wait for Des to come home.
• For joy to keep building in our home and in the hospital.

We hope you all have a great weekend. Til the next update. 🙂

MamaPandesal