Birthday Fun!

My little boy turned one year old yesterday. I know it's cliche, but this year went really really fast. One year ago I was sitting in my hospital room talking to my hubby on the phone while he was at another hospital with our baby. It feels like just yesterday. The frustration and scary uncertainty are not easy to forget. But through it all, we brought home the most wonderful little boy. Today, he waddles around the room playing with his toys and laughing. He throws his food on the floor when he's done eating. He pulls on my shirt to get me to carry him. What happened to my little baby who weighed only 4lbs 11 oz at birth? He's a toddler! So enough of my sentimentalness. Time for pictures!

Oh! The exhaustion!

Sorry for the long delay. Many of you probably realize how busy... or exhausted I've been. Well, Drew is now 8 weeks old tomorrow. Hard to believe, huh? And he even weighs what a newborn would weigh now! He's 7 lbs, 7 ounces. He's still pretty skinny, but boy is he long! I praying this is a sign that he will be taller than mommy. :) He's an amazing little guy. I'm sure every mother feels that way about her child. In premie world, Drew is only 1 month old, and he's already doing things in the books that a 2 month old is doing. He flipped from tummy to back on October 11. Unfortunately, daddy and mommy were a little slow with the video camera and never caught it on tape. I'm still trying! But what made me the most excited happened last Sunday. He smiled at me. An official smile looking right at mommy. He had done the little smiles when he was sleeping (the "gas" smiles), but this was the real thing. My heart melted. The love of a mother for a child really sunk in at that moment. It also made me realize how God must really feel about all of us. It made me want to cry. So I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of how cute Drew is. Enjoy!



Oh! I forgot to mention our first outing! We went to the covered bridge festival in Bridgeton, IN. Drew rode in a baby carrier on me the whole time. I think he woke up only once to eat. He was a trooper. We had a good time, and we didn't spend too much money on him. :) Once I get the pics off the camera, I'll post a few. Later!

Oh my goodness, what a week!

Troy and I would like to welcome our first child into the world, Drew Michael Stiffler.

Now I'm sure some of you are going, "Wasn't he due at the end of September?" Yes, he was. We had a little detour to our plans. So the story goes...

August 25, 2009: I went for my routine ultrasound and non-stress test for my gestational diabetes. So I had my ultrasound first and the tech said nothing about anything being wrong. In fact, she said he did everything he was suppose to do. Okay. Next test. This test went great as well. In fact, I didn't even have a contraction like I had the previous time. So far, so good! I called Troy to let him know things were going well and I was waiting to see the doctor for my checkup. I was sitting on the table, the doctor walked in and said, "He hasn't grown in 2 weeks. In fact, he's lost some weight. We need to take him out today." HUH?! Yeah. I freaked. And due to Drew still being breech, she said I needed to have a c-section. Normally with GD, you worry about having BIG babies. Not me. I have the opposite problem. I immediately called Troy crying on the phone. He ditched work and headed straight to the office where we talked to the doctor and figured out what we needed to do. So we spent the rest of the day preparing to become parents a month early... Drew was only 35 weeks.

Here's where things got even goofier. I work for St. Francis Hospital and had been planning on delivering there the whole time. Come to find out, there was no room for me to fit in their schedule. I wasn't an "emergency", but the doctor wanted to take him out quickly. We ended up having to have him at a nearby hospital instead. So August 26, 2009, I had a c-section. Drew was born at 10:51am. The c-section went fine. Loved the epidural. Also, kind of liked not having to actually feel labor. But then more fun ensues. Drew was 4lbs, 11ounces and was what we commonly refer to in the neonatal world as a "wimpy, white boy." What that means is he came out not breathing well. They worked on him for most of the day, but mommy was insistant about having him sent to St. Francis' NICU. Even the nurse helping Drew wanted to get him out of there. They were not equiped to take care of Drew's needs. (I was told the nurse was yelling at people over the phone.) So I spent all of Thursday at Community South, while my baby was at St. Francis. It was very difficult. My family was great. Troy was wonderful. I don't know how he managed to handle bouncing between me and Drew. Luckily, I got released on Friday morning and went straight to St. Francis. My poor boy was placed on a ventilator for about 24 hours, then placed on vapotherm (a kind of nasal cannula with humidity). Drew amazed everyone in the NICU, even the doctor. Most premies spend at least 2 weeks in the NICU, but Drew only needed one. We came home on Wed. evening. We've been doing great since. He needs fed every 3-4 hours, but he sleeps like a trooper between. Probably all the growing he still needs to do. I'm very thankful to God and all the wonderful people who have prayed for us. Here are some pics of my little pumpkin... who weighs a whole lot less than a pumpkin!

Pre-surgery

at Community South

at St. Francis on a ventilator

On our way home from St. Francis!

So much going on!

Drew's room is finally done. It looks AWESOME! Better than I had ever imagined. I hope he likes it. I'm sure in a few years I'll be changing it to something like transformers or Cars, but at least I can enjoy my hard work for a little while. :)



On other news, Grace has arrived home to America. She officially became a US citizen on August 14, 2009. We are SOOOOO happy to have her here. She is as beautiful as her pictures from China. I was amazed at how well she took our family in. I figured she'd be shy and want to stay in her parent's arms, but she let us all hold her. Grant just plugged kisses away on Grace. So far so good. :) I haven't heard anything else from the happy, growing family since they got home. I'm looking forward to some interesting blogs from brother here shortly. Enjoy the photos!

4D Ultrasound

Last Saturday, Troy and I took the grandmas to see their unborn grandson. For $200, it was worth every penny. It was AMAZING. Drew did wonderfully. He showed off better than we expected. Even the tech was pleasantly surprised. She said that at 26 weeks and still breech, usually you don't get very many pictures, but we got 42! Plus a 25 minute DVD of the whole thing. I tried to edit the movie a bit so I could post it on here, but I haven't yet mastered those skills. I'll have to call Erin. But here are a few of the pics we got. Drew is going to be the cutest baby on the planet!


And to add some more excitement to our family, my brother and sister-in-law FINALLY got the news about their little girl from China. Welcome Grace Min Wei Hawkins to our family. They should get to go get her sometime at the beginning of August. Yea!!! I am SO happy for you two! What a great big family God has blessed us with.