Andrew had to be in the NICU for 20 long days. To be honest he did a lot better than many of the nurses and our pediatrician expected. He never had to be put on a CPAP or ventilator because he was pretty solid with breathing (although there were a few times when he had to be put on a trace of oxygen), but the only thing keeping him in the hospital was being able to nurse and gain weight at the same time. Being a premature baby is pretty rough, but Andrew is a fighter. Instead of being able to grow in the womb, where you don't have to breathe or eat on your own, premature babies have to learn how to breath, eat, and grow all on their own. Once Andrew had the suck, swallow, breath motion down, he was home within a few days. It was a lot of up and down days, and quite an emotional roller-coaster, but I grew a lot through that experience, and it has definitely made me appreciate Andrew being home (even with the occasional blowouts and fussy days and long nights). Even during those "hard days" it is still so much better than having him in the NICU.
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| Right after Andrew was born |
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| All dressed up for General Conference. This is a typical Andrew move--putting his hand on his binkie and moving it around like a steering wheel. Pretty cute :) |
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| Andrew had to be at home for about a month before we could take him out in public, so this was our first outing as a family since we brought him home from the hospital. |
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| Andrew's baby blessing day :) |
I was pretty sad that I only had 6 weeks off, and half of that I couldn't even have Andrew home with me. I felt a little jipped out of my maternity leave, but at least I got 3 weeks home with him before I had to go back to work.
The week I went back to work was the same week of finals/graduation for Grant. My wonderful mother came into town that whole week and watched Andrew while I went off to work and Grant finished up school.
I'm so proud of Grant! He graduated with a wonderful GPA and a job! I'm so grateful for all of his hard work in school--it definitely paid off.
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| So proud of my wonderful husband! |
With Grant done with school he was able to be Mr. Mom while I finished up the school year. It was the hardest thing for me to be a working mom. I hated leaving Andrew every morning and couldn't wait to go home and be with him. I'm grateful for this experience though because it made me realize how much I really do want to be a stay-at-home mom. The Lord definitely works in mysterious ways. I'm grateful for the degree I have because it allows me to tutor and work from home if I need, but I can still be with my children.
Now that I'm finished it's just packing up and moving to DC! Time is certainly flying! I'm grateful to move and finally get some sort of stability. The past couple years we've been in constant change with me graduating, us moving to Lehi, me working, Grant finishing school, becoming parents, etc. Those years are fun (and I know I'm going to miss being around so many of our friends and family), but I'll be happy to feel like we're in a place that we can call home (as least for a few years) and feel a bit more established and grounded. More updates will come when we move!
