Happy 10 Months!

I can't believe in 2 months my little man is going to be a year old! Needless to say, these past 10 months have been the most challenging times of our lives. Prior to now, having Nolan 34 weeks early was one of the scariest days of my life. When we found out he was a normal, healthy baby, I breathed a sigh of relief. My life was complete. I had two healthy children and a wonderful husband (and a smelly dog). That seems like years ago. So much has changed and our life will never be the same. I am not mad though; I would NEVER want anyone different. Nolan has changed me for the better. He has taught me more in the past 10 months than I have ever known in my 32 years of life. Once we conquer this battle and acclimate to our new norm, our life will be complete again. I think it will just hit me at the most random time; I will think to myself, "Wow, we did it. I have two healthy children and a wonderful husband. And a really smelly dog." I look forward to that day. I look forward to SO much. Mostly, I look forward to being a family. I can't wait to see Nolan and Riley bonding and getting to know one another again. She will be an amazing big sister. No one will mess with HER Noley.

Nolan had a great day. As the day went on, he seemed more like himself. Smiling, giggling, less agitated. The morning starting off with a nice throw up on our poor nurse. (Felt horrible.) This led to a morning bath. He had an echocardiogram and his picc line dressing changed AGAIN because of the morning throw up. We will meet with infectious disease tomorrow about his cultures. I am pretty sure Nolan will be on a 6 week course of antibiotics; ID (infectious disease) should give me an explanation into this. More on that later.

Today they did Valentine's pictures which was set up by a non-profit group called Zachary's Mission. It is so nice when organizations do things like this for families in the hospital. So, Nolan and I got some Valentine's pictures together. He is a bit swollen, and I wasn't quite ready for a photo session, but it caught us both in our natural state. A good memory together, me and my little man.

After a quick nap, Nolan rocked it for the PT ladies. He definitely likes the ladies...smiling, blowing raspberries...100% flirt. He is doing great with building strength in his core AND I am pretty sure on a flat surface he could roll himself to his belly. They don't advise him to do this right now, but soon enough we'll be able to start tummy time and rolling. While he received music therapy, OT came and we attempted to feed him pears. Didn't do GREAT, but didn't do horrible either. Practice, practice.

We started back slowly on bolus feeds later this afternoon. He did great, so tomorrow they will up the amount. If all goes well the rest of the week, I am anticipating they will start discussing discharge with us. We'll start getting lessons on how to administer medicines and how to care for his NG tube. I am so nervous for this. Also with him being on 6 weeks of antibiotic via IV, we'll have to learn how to care for this as well.

I am SO thrilled we had a good day. I missed my little man's laughs, smile and playfulness. He is such a sweet boy when he feels well. (He is so NOT sweet when he is NOT feeling well.) I hope this trend continues and Matt can start his weekend off by seeing a happy Nolan.

#nhos
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