If you want the rainbow, you must have the rain.....

If you want the rainbow, you must have the rain sung by one of my all time favorites, : Annette Hanshaw


So here we sit, 24 weeks later, 168 days, 6 months, longer than how long I was pregnant when I found out something was wrong with my pregnancy, and in three more weeks it will be as long as I was pregnant with him(27 weeks) which we will most definitely still be here. Chad and I were walking into the NICU today in disbelief at how long we have been doing this, driving to the hospital, climbing up the stairs to the second floor, pushing the button and waiting for someone to buzz us into the nicu, scrubbing up for 3 minutes, etc. but also, we are completely grateful that we ARE still doing all of this, especially in light of the last few weeks, we really get how lucky we are, so no complaining or whining here!!!!!!! Remember ye ol post of "it can always be worse"...well it got worse, and we are ecstatic that he is back on track. Right now my little Buster is 8 pounds 6 ounces, 22 inches, and his head measurement is 14 and 1/4 inches, his head circumference is now bigger than his height was at birth (11 3/4) which just amazes me how tiny he really was.

Right now he is doing swimmingly on the cpap. Today they got him down to a pressure of 5, 4 being the optimal point at which they would finally be able to switch him back to the nasal cannula, which could be sometime this week if his oxygen stays as low as it has been(between 25-40 percent). They tried to wean him off of the nitric oxide but his oxygen went up, so they decided to keep him at a rate of 5 and said they would also continue to give him the nitric on the nasal cannula which is fantastic as it helps to keep his lungs to stay open, and does not have any major side effects, so to get him back on the nasal cannula would be great as it is way more comfy. We also are able to hear his sweet little voice again, just barely, as when he was intubated it strained his throat and when he was extubated he loses his voice and he sounds like a kitten who has been smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day. And most importantly, we get to cuddle again, and let him melt in our arms as he drifts off to sleep.

During all of this time we have had the lovely pleasure of a couple of folks, Janut and Jim, who have become dear dear friends of ours, and we hope to one day see them up in there home town of Seattle. They are amazing wonderful people and have done so much for us these last three weeks. They came at the most amazing time, right when Thurston took a turn for the worst and we are unbelievably grateful for all they have done for us, watching Viola, cooking up some great meals, cleaning, and most importantly, being great company and lending some wonderful sympathetic ears. Again, I am actually in the process of writing my thank you post, making sure I detail every single person who has helped us on this crazy journey that I will post once Thurston comes home. I say this time and time again but you will not meet more grateful people. We just cant believe the love and outpouring of support we have received and it has made me feel so wonderful about humanity in general. Hows them apples for you.

So yes its been a long journey and it is no where near being over, but ultimately, this has taught me so much, that in life sometimes going through something really bad makes you realize how lucky you are, how much you take for granted, how beautiful life is and can be. Sometimes if you want the rainbow, you must have the rain.