We're Still Here.....

73 days.
1,741 hours.
104,460 minutes.
And counting.

That's how long Harper has been in the NICU.
There are so many things he hasn't experienced yet that most babies his age have.

He's never had a real bath. Only a soap and water washcloth bath.
...never had a full bottle.
...never laid in a crib, or sat in a bouncy seat or a swing.
...never seen his nursery or the mobile above his own crib.
....never hung out with his dad while watching football.
...never got to sit with his sisters while they play.
....never sat in the rocking chair with Mommy.

But he is very, very loved and all of this stuff will be waiting on him as soon as he gets home.

He got to wear his first outfit over the weekend.
But it's so frustrating because he has so many people who look after them, that what
they want him to do changes from day to day.
We were told over the weekend that we could dress him so that they could start turning the
temp down on his box so he could move to the new open bed soon.
So we dressed him. And he looked adorable. And I thought it was a new chapter.
And I ran out and bought more preemie clothes and washed them and brought them to the hospital.

And the next day when we got there, he was in nothing but a diaper.
And we were told by the doctor on call that day that he wouldn't move out of his box until he gained more weight.

Luckily he is cute whether he has clothes on or not.

He had his first bottle on November 30. Tiny, tiny bottle.
They start out super small with it so he can get adjusted to sucking, swallowing, and breathing all at once. It's a big task for such a tiny boy!

 

Told ya it was tiny!!

 

He loved it! I knew he would because the boy loves to eat.

We took it super slow, as in he would get 3 gulps and then I'd let him breathe, then repeat.

I was so very proud of him!!

 

 

He continues to get 1 bottle each shift, so 2 bottles per day.
He seems to love them and would drink more if given the option, but he has to work on breathing while he's getting it, that's our main goal right now.

He was moved to low flow oxygen on Sunday.
Which was super exciting....but also super fast.
Sometimes they just try to move way too quickly in my opinion, but I'm no doctor!
He didn't handle it well and it didn't help that he had a horrible nurse that day.
(No offense, but a nurse can truly make or break your day. Luckily we usually have amazing ones!)
So he was moved back to high flow before the day was over.

I wasn't too disappointed because I still know he is on the right track.
His breathing has improved TONS!
He has a lot of trouble keeping the prongs in his nose because he is a big time wiggler.
It seems as if everytime he moves, they come out.
But he handles them being out well......which is an amazing sign!
I've read about so many preemies who had their prongs out accidentally but handled it so well
that the doctor just left them out. I'm hoping that happens for us.

This is him on the low flow. Even though he isn't on this anymore, I'm excited about how tiny

the breathing tube is. This is the oxygen that he could quite possibly go home on. And knowing that you can still see most of his face and the tube is so tiny, makes me feel a lot more ok with it!

Doesn't he look handsome?!

And fat?!

He's finally starting to fill out and look like a newborn. :)

 

Harper has a long way to go, but he is making amazing progress.

We are still praying for Christmas, but I'm beginning to think it might be easier if he came home like the day after Christmas. Because once he's home, I plan on going NOWHERE!

 

Kate wrote a note to Santa last night and asked for nothing but for her baby brother to be home for Christmas. I love the way they love him.

 

 

We are blessed in many, many ways. And I'm praying that BH continues to grow strong and get ready to come home to his family. We are ready, car seat and all!!

 

#HurryhomeHarper



 





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