Put me in coach, I'm ready to play!

Today Max had a doctor's appointment and I could not believe my ears when I heard he weighed 5 lbs, 5.5 oz and had grown to 19 inches long! Our little guy is getting to be a normal size newborn. Tomorrow is officially Max's ONE month birthday and I am so glad that he broke the 5 lb mark. He is doing really great with the exception of some gook in his eyes that has to be medicated and thrush in his mouth. Really small potatoes compared to what some parents deal with in a 7 week early child.

I have posted one of Max's photos from the hospital on this blog so that you all can see how precious he is! I love this photo and can't contain my oohs and ahhs when I see it. He really is such a beautiful boy. We continually realize just how lucky we are. Max has been doing so well and has started to really get down to business in eating. He eats 2-3 oz of either breast milk or formula every 3 hours so he is zipping right up the weight charts. Unfortunately, I have had to supplement his breast milk with formula for the time being due to his time in the NICU creating a deficit in me in providing for Max's daily food. I am able to produce about 2-3 bottles for him a day and the rest has to be formula. I am praising God for that amount that I can give him though so that he gets the most health benefits possible.

We received the big fat NICU bill today and all I can say is Thank you God, Thank you Anthem Blue Cross, and Thank you Starbucks. If not, we would be filing bankruptcy due to the bills accrued during this visit as well as my C-section and hospital stay. I am astounded at how amazingly God provided for this beautiful guy we now have and for us as we battled through the NICU journey. He is still providing as we see deficit from being on no income for almost a month.

God is so incredibly good. Thank you for stopping in to check on our dude. Those are our updates for now. Tomorrow I will be posting Max's letter of the month and another one of his pictures and a picture of Max at the 1 month mark! YAY! We have made it ...with your prayers!

Thank you again

Anthony, Erica & Maxwell

Three weeks old and HOME

I was hoping to update the blog a bit earlier than this but unfortunately due to our very expensive three weeks of no income, we shut the internet off at our apartment to save on luxuries for a bit. Today, I had to run to the library to print a document so now was a good time to update you all on Max's progress. Max reached his goal of 100% of his feeds by mouth on February 8th and we thought we would be headed home immediately but the doctor's wanted to see a bit more weight gain so the next few days were spent awaiting just 10 grams of weight gain.

On February 10th, Max gained 40 grams and we were headed home. We have been enjoying have Maxwell home so much since we brought him home. He is doing great and has had his first pedetrician appointment where we learned he was 4 lbs, 12 oz which means since leaving the NICU, he has gained almost 2 oz. We are getting into a schedule and learning new things about being parents. The big test starts tomorrow as Anthony returns to work and I go at this thing alone. Say your prayers for me.

I wanted to also report that God so completely provided for our time in Louisville and we were able to have our entire time there in lodging, food, and gasoline provided by YOU...our friends and family. We feel so incredibly blessed to have you all in our lives and Max is lucky to have you all as well. We will continue to tell him the story of how God richly provided and he is so loved. Keep Max in your prayers as he climbs the weight charts and grows into a healthy FULL TERM newborn. Right now, he would only be 35 weeks gestational age so we want to keep him in prayer for development and health.

We love you all and thank God for you daily.

Anthony, Erica, & Maxwell

Update from Louisville

So last I wrote about Max, he had just been cleared of having Hirschprung's disease in his Bowels. That was some of the best news we had received up until that point while being here. We have received much more good news since that post. The doctor's decided to begin feeding Maxwell more in order to check and see if his colon was working properly yet. It wasn't long before he had his first (non forced) bowel movement indicating that he, indeed, did have a working digestive tract. It is amazing the things that you will celebrate as parents...poop is one of them!

A few days into him eating again we began to see weight gain. First, it was 20 grams here and 50 grams there but today after inching his feedings up and praying, Max is back up to 4 lbs, 8 oz. He is only one oz away from his original birth weight. Another thing that has improved is that his jaundice levels have been down enough for him to not be under the "tanning bed" style light but just a tube that goes underneath his blanket in the bed. When I last wrote, Maxwell was also in a warming bed as he could not maintain his temperature and had never worn clothes. As of today, he has been wearing clothes for three days and can maintain his temperature in an open crib all by himself! My boy is growing and progressing by leaps and bounds.

Since Max's digestive tract was the issue, we knew that we would be taking (no pun intended) baby steps toward him eating. I decided to breastfeed Maxwell and that means I have been pumping and stockpiling breast milk since he was born and they have given him minute amounts in order to get him up to speed. Today was a huge step in Max's health as well as our relationship. Max breastfed for the first time!!! He latched right on and ate for 20 minutes which is fantastic! We are so proud of our little guy and all of the progress he has made.

We are really excited to see all that God has done and we appreciate all of the prayers, concerns, and help we have gotten while we have been here. We are now staying at an extended stay hotel that our friends, Stephanie and Josh Hardy provided for us. They are friends we met at Maternal Fetal Medicine who are also undergoing their own battle with a preemie in the NICU. If you could extend your prayers to their little guy, Bennett, that would be great as he is going through a heart murmur, has endured several blood transfusions and seems to have a bumpy road ahead. They are from the area and felt that helping us out with lodging was on their heart. Such a lovely thing for them to do.

Thanks to the kindness of our friends/loved ones we have been getting by in food and gasoline and are working towards having enough money to cover our bills for while Anthony had to take FMLA leave from work. He has missed or will miss over 3 weeks of work that is unpaid. That has been a challenge for us to trust God and just be together but we both feel it is for the best as I am still in the recovery period for surgery and Max is still in the hospital.

Maxwell was moved again from the Kosair Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (of the highest degree) down to a more intermediate level which means he is on the path to discharge. We have spoken with the doctor on Max's case and she told us that she was not comfortable stating when he would be discharged but said it would be at least another week. We are hoping that it is exactly that...the least it can be. We are very homesick, exhausted, and ready to bring our little guy home to meet all of the wonderful family members and friends who have been there for him and us through this journey.

Speaking of the journey, it has been a rough one. It is incredibly hard to say goodnight to your child every night and walk out the door and sleep somewhere else. It is incredibly hard to ask another adult if it is OKAY for you to hold or touch your baby. These things have been a challenge for Anthony and I and we fully believe without the grace of God and your prayers, we would be crazy these days. We are forever grateful to you all for your love and to God for his help and Max's quick progress and recovery. There have been so many parenting lessons and life lessons learned these last two weeks that we have no idea how to incorporate or write about what those are.

I think to make it very quick and concise we have learned

-- to love Max with a tenacity that only can happen day by day. To love your children with a daily love keeps you focused on the important things like praying for them, saying encouraging words, and giving them affection and attention that is unrestricted

-- Being kind to each other in marriage becomes far more important when there is a little one. Anthony and I have always made it a point to be kind and compassionate to each other but being each other's best friends this last two weeks has been paramount as he is the ONLY person who gets how I feel about Max.

-- Being able to do self-care was one of the most important skills I developed as a therapist. It has come in handy as my mind has been taxed, I have been in full anxiety mode and still have to feed myself properly, take care of my spirit, recover from surgery, and be married and breastfeed.

-- People really are pretty great and care about us! We have some of the best friends on the planet!

I hope you are all doing well and thank you for your continued support, love, and prayers

Anthony, Erica & Maxwell

Yes, we know...you're a boy!

Yesterday we had our 23 week ultrasound at our specialist's office and as always, it was fun and exciting to see our little Max moving around and finding new ways to aggravate the ultrasound technician. When we were there last time, they were doing the anatomy ultrasound and Max did not want to show a few parts of his heart and one portion of his spine. We were trying to get those photos yesterday and it turns out Max is shy about his heart but he has no problem letting us know OVER and OVER that he is indeed, a boy!

We were able to finish the ultrasound except for one photo of the blood going into his body from his heart. We are hoping he will cooperate in a month when we have another one. He is weighing in at 1 lb, 8 oz and the doctor feels that is exactly where he needs to be. We are so grateful for that since babies of diabetics tend to get too big too fast. So far, my blood sugars are staying in good control and Max is not in any danger.

Some things that were concerning over the last week of appointments were that my blood pressure was steadily going up. I do not struggle with high blood pressure at all but it seems that the last trimester, it is going to raise a bit. Although both of my fantastic doctors assured me that this is completely normal and I am not at any dangerous level, please keep Max and I in your prayers for the duration of the pregnancy so that we can stay as healthy as possible.

News on the delivery front: Upon talking to my doctors, it seems that the delivery could go a couple of ways in terms of location. At first, it was stated pretty clearly that I would be giving birth in Louisville. However, the new idea is that Max could be born closer to home if a couple of things go as planned. Babies of diabetic mothers tend to have under-developed lungs when coming early (by early I mean before 38 weeks). At about 38 weeks, they are more developed and can usually prevent having to be given oxygen and needing any special help. So, that being said...if Max waits a bit and comes around 38-40 weeks or beyond, we will most likely be able to have him closer to home. If he feels he needs to come a bit sooner, we will probably need to deliver in Louisville in order to have a NICU that meets those needs and the specialists that are trained more thoroughly to deal with those issues.

I am at peace either way. I know that my little guy will come when he is supposed to come and God has his hand on both of us during this stressful but exciting time. As I go into the third trimester on Monday, I am starting to get excited about new things like enjoying my baby shower, getting the nursery entirely ready for Max, and enjoying the last few months of Anthony and I being....just Anthony and I! Please continue to pray for us and help us praise God for our miracle. We appreciate all that you guys have done over the months to encourage us, pray for us, and remind us that we are going to be great parents. That never gets old to hear!

Thank you

Erica & Anthony