GOING THE EXTRA "S"MILE.............

So its been a while and lots to update. First and foremost, my mommy is back in town....FOR A WHOLE MONTH...wow we really have had a ton of help lately and I just cant believe how lucky we are to have my mom back for so long(thanx Juju and Mimi, Shannon, Lonnie, Patrick, Trish and Winnie for helping with everything else). That's going to help a ton as Thurston is now 3 months old adjusted and needs alot more mommy and daddy time to work on his milestones, or should I say SMILESTONES.......

I know I previously posted he smiled and he did but it wasn't necessarily a social smile, you know the kind where the baby actually KNOWS that he/she is smiling at you, in response to your smile etc. As any preemie parent will tell you, especially in Thurston's case where we were told about all of his high chances of having alot of neurological issues, any and all milestones are huge, bigger than huge, because we are told early on that our children may not achieve them. Well this baby is just yet again, "proving those statistics all wrong". I remember that I told everyone I would shout it, scream it when I saw that first social smile, the one that every parent waits for with bated breath, the one that melts your heart...Here I am SHOUTING FOR JOY WHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Well not only did we get one but we were recording it while he did it. How lucky was that. It of course made me tear up, cry even, it was just priceless:





He is also doing everything a normal newborn should so far....he is reaching out and trying to touch things, he looks around at different objects with intense interest, he is starting to coo just a little, he kicks his little legs and arms, just like a normal sweet little newborn should, we are just so relieved and delighted. I think everyone is. He is also 9 big ol' butterball pounds which is still under the 5th percentile, but he is acutally in the 13th percentile for his height(22.6, according to the average percentile charts) which is absolutely unheard of for a micropreemie, growth restricted, IUGR baby. Way to go my little man. I am just so proud of my son.

Another incredible joyous tidbit of info, although I was not really surprised to hear this(no pun intended) is that he passed his newborn hearing test...YEA....that is just one more thing we can check off the worry list. Thurston always showed signs that he could hear so it wasn't something I was ever truly concerned about, but it sure is great to have it verified by the professionals.

On the medical front not a whole lot has changed. He is still on the nasal cannula at 5 liters anywhere from 40-80 percent oxygen. They did finally wean him off of the nitric oxide as they do have plans to do a swallow study and an MRI which they need to transport him for and a nitric tank would be quite cumbersome to do that with. He still cannot eat by mouth as they want to do the swallow study first to make sure that he is not aspirating while he eats so he is still being fed through the ng tube. They also have him on a continuous feed as they think it is helping with his reflux and oxygen needs. He is still on too many medications to list, but hopefully they can begin weaning him off of a few here and there, especially the seizure medication once they rule out any neurological issues(see...hows them positive apples for ya).

When I was checking his chart today to see how much he weighed I had to do a double take at the day he was on in the NICU.....181 days and counting.....GULP...After this long you just kind of stop adding it up but that just kind of threw me for a loop. And the truth of the matter is, Thurston could quite possibly still be in the NICU by his first birthday, and yes that is a very daunting thought, but we continue to be grateful for all of his progress and we feel so lucky that he is such a little fighter. He shows me everyday what true strength is, what an unbelievable and tenacious spirit he has, and honestly when I think of how much this little Buster has been through, there are no amount of miles I have or will travel back and forth to the NICU that compare to how many miles he has traversed to be where he is, how much he has endured to be here and to stay with us......this kid truly has gone and continues to go the extra mile!!!!!!!!!