A few more priceless moments

“There is a quiet place somewhere beyond tomorrow where your heart will find peace and the mists of troubles will begin to clear away.” ~Unknown

We made it another week at home with no returns to the hospital. Yes, things might finally be settling down. Though I miss many moments from the moments after Chance was born I definitely don’t miss the whirlwind of trying medical moments he and I faced over a month ago. I’ve come to accept I can’t keep him tiny forever, but I certainly continue to try to photograph him more hoping to embrace these moments with my little man.

As if I haven’t said it enough, I absolutely love flickr. I use it regularly to share photos but it’s been a great way for me to learn more about photography, connect with other photographers, and get inspired creatively. A couple months ago I connected with a fellow photographer, Dee Baughman, who makes the most adorable baby hats. I expressed an interest in ordering hats from her for my photography of Chance and before he arrived we planned out some super cute hats for him, like this one he wore last week when he was 5 weeks old.

Chance

Yes, we live in Florida and it’s pretty darn hot here, but I still had to torture my little guy with an adorable wintery looking hat because, well, he just looks so darn cute in this precious hat. I think Chance must agree.

Chance

Okay, he’s 5 weeks old here so he woke up easily and gave me the look…you know…the look like he’s thinking “Mom what in the world do you have me wearing?”

Chance

Ah, but he was still sleepy and we worked a bit more to take a few more shots, like this one.

Chance

Hope has been an amazing helper. She’s got to be the best big sister. Ever. As I was attempting to juggle a few things one evening this past week Hope offered to help with Chance when he was a bit fussy. Usually when he’s fussy I hesitate because he is a little more challenging to keep content and I’m not so sure how well Hope will do if he gets to his super fussy moments. But I gave her an opportunity to help out and she did amazing. Chance cuddled right up with his big sister and fell right to sleep!

big sister

I also collaborated with Dee on having her make a custom panda bear hat. Yes, those that know me know that pandas are just a tad bit special to our family. Though I remember growing up being teased because “panda” rhymed with my name, it wasn’t until I was much older when some of my closest friends and family helped remind me how pandas would grow to be something I hold so close to my heart. Now after all my troubles conceiving and miscarrying over the years I sometimes wonder if maybe I really am part panda, because that’s definitely something I have in common with them. Yes, I suppose like panda bears my little ones are highly valued because we went through so many challenges for every single one of them to be here.

Unfortunately it took a ton more work to get photos of Chance in a panda bear hat. Actually 4 attempts spanning over two days. I made the mistake of trying to take photos of him in it for the first time on April fool’s day. As you’ll see shortly he made me look like the fool.:)He started out wide awake and very alert but not so thrilled to take the photos I envisioned. It’s definitely not easy to photograph a squirmy baby in an adorable hat. We spent far more time adjusting his hat than taking photos.

panda baby

Then Chance let me know he had enough. Yes, just over five weeks old and this kid gives me the finger. Perhaps he just didn’t want to be photographed in the hat or maybe he’s had enough of me torturing him with photos since the day he was born. Okay, years from now I know this is the photo he’ll think is hilarious because something tells me he might get a little embarrassed to see himself in a panda hat by the time he’s a teenager.

panda baby {outtake}

Thankfully a little later he rested for me in his panda hat.

panda baby

The very next day we tried again. Once again he was awake.

panda baby

Later in the day he seemed to be in a content sleepy mood so I tried again. Though he sleeps well still these days he does startle and wake up a lot easier and when he does usually that leads to him being a bit more fussy and is much more work to get him into position. But thankfully it didn’t take too long.

panda baby

You’ve got to admit, he’s one cute panda baby.:)

panda baby

panda baby

He was finally sleeping so soundly that I was able to get close enough to photograph his sweet little lips for the first time since he was in the NICU.

Chance's lips

Later that same afternoon the kids were absolutely priceless. Chance was awake and alert and so I Hope & Jaylen spend some time with him on our bed. Hope of course elected to hold him more.

Chance w/ Hope

Of course Jaylen is in love with his little brother. He’s constantly coming over to point out his ears, toes, or to just touch him.

Chance w/ Hope

Before Chance was born I recall wishing I could keep Jaylen little for longer. It seems like the moment I got home from the hospital he grew considerably. He now talks so much more. Thankfully he’s finally officially potty trained. Yes, he’s officially not the baby any longer…and proudly proclaims himself to be a big boy.

Jaylen

Yes, he’s the “big brother” in the house.

Jaylen

You know things are gradually getting back to normal when we were all able to escape the house for the first time so that the kids could have a bit of fun playing putt putt golf.

golfing

Jaylen told us early on that he would be the “winner”.

golfing

I’m sure before I know it Chance will be playing things like this with the kids…but for now he’s clung to me in the bjorn when we make it out of the house. This was one of his first trips out in the bjorn…one of many trips he’ll takes in the bjorn in the first year or so. He was alert and enjoyed the trip in the beginning but quickly dozed off and we managed to make it through all 18 holes of putt putt without him making a peep. Yes, that makes me one happy Momma.

out w/ Chance in the bjorn

Needless to say we’re thankful things have settled down considerably and we pray they stay that way. I have to admit that with Chance having spina bifida I am left with him nearly 6 weeks old still worrying and wondering what else might happen, but for now we’re trying to remain content and feeling blessed with all the moments we get to experience. We have had a lot of people ask us what challenges Chance will be faced with and right now it’s still too soon to tell how much his spina bifida will affect him. For now we’ve been reassured by all the doctors that he should be treated like any baby his age, thankfully he has no additional medical needs thus far. His back is healing well and if all goes as planned he should get to have his stitches taken out this week. Our fingers are crossed that the next few months will be filled with less medical moments and more normal moments until he has his first appointment with the spina bifida clinic in August.

Time.

“Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time.” ~Jim Rohn

Chance is nearly 5 weeks old and I’m realizing it’s been nearly a week since I last posted anything on my blog. Time has definitely flown by this past week and my little peanut is continuing to grow. He’s about eight pounds now and growing more alert each day.  Though he’s growing I have to admit he reminds me so much of my “itty bitty” Hope. For a little longer he continues to fit into his newborn clothes and diapers and continues to sleep most of the day. Part of me refuses to believe that his “newborn” phase is nearing an end and as each day passes I’ve continued to spend a bit of time admiring my itty bitty baby boy and photographing him because I know it won’t be long before I’ll be missing him being this little. Yes, if only I could figure out how to hold time still for just a tad bit longer…but I can’t so I suppose embracing these moments through more photos seems quite fitting.

The other day Hope was looking at photos and said “hey, you’re taking a lot of photos of Chance!” I instantly felt like the guilty mother realizing that Chance has definitely stolen most of my attention the last month. Of course those that know my kids know that typically they get really excited for about 5% of the photos I try to take because I do take soooooo many photos — the other 95% of the time they seem to run the other direction, hide or whine about me trying to take their photos. But I know inside they really enjoy me taking their photos more than they admit and Hope’s reaction reminded me of that. This past weekend I spent a bit of time photographing all the kids together for a change. Usually photographing one can be fun. Photographing 2 together is a tad bit more challenging. Photographing 3 is definitely a challenge…especially when I wanted to get two kids to cooperate long enough to take photos with a sleepy baby. It’s kind of funny because it always seems sooooo much easier to do for other families but for my own it’s a bit more challenging. But thankfully I had Jason home to help. We totally bribed the kids that they’d get to play their daddy’s xbox games and thankfully it worked.

My 3 kiddos

Jaylen really wanted to play his daddy’s xbox…so much so that he agreed to let us put baby Chance on his belly for this photo. Someday when they’re both much bigger I’m going to look back at this one and say “awe….” and miss them both being this little.

Jaylen & Chance

Hope was very cooperative for photos with Chance. She totally adores her baby brother and continues to be a super big sister. She begs to hold him often during the day and now that she’s nine she has convinced me that she’s big enough to hold her baby brother while standing. She begged for a month and I finally allowed her to this week…of course with a lot of supervision. Now she proudly proclaims she’s able to help more. She also insists on helping me get him dressed every day too. When I’ve got my hands full with Chance she’s being a huge helper with Jaylen. Having her help has certainly helped make things a little easier having a new baby in the house. I remember how emotional Hope was after I miscarried in October 2009 and seeing this photo helps remind me just how much she treasures her baby brother knowing she waited anxiously for him to arrive just as long as I did.

Hope & Chance

Just about every day since we’ve been out of the hospital I’ve tried to photograph Chance as I would any newborn. I still have a handful of hats and other ideas to try…whether or not I’ll pull them all off before Chance grows too much bigger is another thing. When I was pregnant with Chance I stumbled across some super cute newborn baby visors being sold on etsy. You’ve already seen Chance wearing one. Here he is sporting another one. Now that he’s over a month old it’s pure luck that I am able to get him to stay this sleepy in this position. I got him into perfect position and I swear he gave me just one shot before he moved. Here’s the one shot of him in his cute new visor.

Chance

Often times I fight and fight to get him posed and come to realize I just need to leave him be and admire him. This was just a few minutes later after I realized he just didn’t want me to pose him for photos any longer.

Chance

I received a lot of great responses to Chance’s one month photos of him in his bowl. I knew I wanted to try to photograph him one more time before he grew too much more because those photos outdoors didn’t quite do Chance or the bowl much justice. Sure they were adorable but I wanted to make sure I created memories to look back on that would make me remember my baby boy and his special bowl even more. And to think, I nearly gave up on trying these photos because I felt he was getting too big and feared he’d fight me. But he didn’t. Yes, he loves his bowl.

Chance in his bowl

Chance in his bowl

Chance in his bowl

Though he did so amazing for these photos, it did take some work to get him into position. He fussed and fought me until he finally got comfortable. Once I took the first few photos I pushed my baby boy just a bit further. Yes, my poor children get tortured so much more than my students…I suppose that’s the consequences of being a child of a mother who is a bit of a perfectionist. I thought the first few photos of him were adorable and perfect but I wanted to try to get him to “curl” completely into his bowl…just like a newborn. But as I feared, he has grown just a bit too much for the photo I envisioned in my head. He fought me and refused to curl that little head and back of his to lay in that bowl so I accepted that a bit too much time has passed and this was about as curly as I was going to get him.

Chance in his bowl

It didn’t take long and he was so comfy that he began snoring a bit so it was obvious I’d be able to take some macro photos to admire him a bit closer. Like his big brother he has amazing eye lashes…yes, it’s the little things like this that amaze me.

03272011-chance6-bw

Though he’s still itty bitty there’s no doubt he’s gradually getting pudgier. As much as I’d love for him to stay little forever I am proud to see my little guy get a little pudgier because I’m working my behind off around the clock feeding this hungry little guy. Here he is with his pudgy cheeks.

03272011-chance7-bw

Today was a pretty dismal day in Florida. It rained most of the day. The light was horrible. Today was one of the very few days since being home that I didn’t put a lot of effort into photographing Chance…but I probably should have because he was so amazing today. He slept so soundly and cried very little all day. This morning when he woke up briefly I let him sit with Hope and Jaylen. He quickly dozed back off beside them. Yes, I didn’t need to pose this little guy…he just loves to sleep this way on his own. Go figure it’s easier to get him into a comfy position when he’s resting on his own terms. So rather than challenging myself today I snapped a few shots of him to remember this adorable moment.

chillin' on a rainy day

chillin' on a rainy day

The kids are quite cute with their little brother. Right now they spend more time admiring him sleeping or talking to him if he’s awake. I know they’re quite anxious for him to grow quicker than I am so he can play with them.

chillin' on a rainy day

I might not be able to hold time still, but I suppose photography will continue to help me keep these moments tucked away in my memory a little longer.

A month later…

“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” ~ Leo Tolstoy

Yesterday Chance turned one month old. One month. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long since he was born. It does seem like just yesterday, yet at the same time the last month has seemed to last an eternity at times. We’ve amazingly made it about a week and a half without being in the hospital and have gradually begun to resume our lives at home adjusting to all the changes having a new baby at home. Of course I’ve spent a little time each day making sure I tried to capture moments with our little man before he grows too fast. Though I’ve feared he’d grow too fast, thankfully he’s still rather tiny. He’s not quite as curly but he is still a sleepy little guy who has cooperated long enough every day we’ve been home to take some memorable photos with him. I thought I’d take a moment to share a few more of my favorite photos from the last few days.

Here’s Chance when he was 26 days old. Yes, he’s a smiley little guy.

Chance 26 days old

Chance 26 days old

Here he is at 27 days old. We tried to get him as curly as he’d get. He loves and prefers to sleep on his belly still.

Chance

Chance

Chance

Chance

Yesterday Chance turned one month old and we decided to celebrate by taking Chance and the kids out to the park for photos. I’ve attempted to convince parents of newborns how awesome newborn photos could be outdoors but of the 70+ babies most preferred indoor photos. I don’t blame them when going outdoors adds the stress of worrying about weather, bugs, and outside onlookers. I knew I’d definitely take some newborn photos outdoors of Chance but I have to admit I dealt with the same worries beforehand. Thankfully I had Jason and the kids with to lend a helping hand. Newborn photography can really be unpredictable when you don’t really know what type of mood the baby will be in and I have to admit that Chance has definitely had his moments where somedays he’s been super cooperative and I’d get to take some of the most dreamy shots in a matter of minutes and other days I’ve had to fight and work with him for so much longer just to get a few shots. So going out I wasn’t sure how much I was going to have to work with him or just what I’d be able to pull off but it so worth taking the trip out. We went to Dickson Azalea park near downtown. The park is fairly secluded but is known to have people walking or running through the trails a couple of which got to see us working with Chance for his newborn photos. It was definitely a memorable experience because as soon as we got set up and I posed Chance things just all fell right into place. Jason managed to snap a quick shot of me in the moment or two I spent getting Chance comfy in this bowl.

posing Chance for photos

Yes, these one month photos of Chance are among the many photos I’ve been conspiring to take for a long time now and it’s sort of need how sometimes the best things in life sort of fall together as they’re meant to be. I have to admit I hunted for a bowl similar to this since nearly as long as I’ve been doing newborn photography and I didn’t find it until about 2 weeks before Chance was born. And really, it was pure luck that I bumped into it. Finding this bowl was like that sign that I was meant to find that bowl just for Chance’s photos. Yes, it’s kind of amazing how sometimes things just “happen” when you least expect them to. It’s a bowl so special that I only plan to use it for Chance and you’ll likely see him photographed in it again as he grows. I had a “nest” like material custom made by an etsy user just for this photo a week or two before Chance was born. So though I had hoped to take photos of him in this bowl when he was much younger, it all sort of fell into place to take some perfect photos of my little man.

Chance

Chance

Yes, Chance seems to be like virtually every other newborn I’ve photographed…he loves to have his picture taken in a bowl. He loved it so much he smiled numerous times through this series of photos. I wish I could tell you all the trick, really he’s just a smiley little guy. Sometimes just talking to him provokes a smile. Other times, like in this shot, Jason stroked the side of his cheek with his finger and every time he did he smiled. But really, we catch him smiling often so I have to say that it’s a sign that he’s one happy little soul.

Chance

I’ve been waiting for people to scold me for not taking photos of all the kids together. It’s been really tough. I’m lucky if I get time to take pictures with just one or two of the kids together, but all three seems to be nearly impossible. One of the three seems to just not be interested and I just haven’t had the energy to really plan to take the really awesome photos I wanted. But knowing we were going out to the park I hoped to take at least one of all the kids together. We had to deal with a bit of whining and we only managed to get them to sit together by bribing them that they could play at the park afterwards. It was literally a moment or two of photos to get this one memorable shot of the three of them.

My 3 awesome kiddos

As the kids played at the park Hope stopped to take a quick photo of Chance & I. I’ve definitely been hiding from my nikon since I’ve gotten out of the hospital and know many of you have been wondering about how I’ve been doing. It’s been an incredibly tough month physically & emotionally and showing my face has been the furthest thing from my mind. It’s been tough for me dealing more challenges than I had hoped to encounter this past month but things are gradually getting easier now that we’ve been home for over a week. Over the last week I’ve definitely grown a lot more clingy with our little man.

Me & Chance

Today I photographed Chance at 29 days old. It’s the first time since we’ve been home that he’s truly had his eyes open when I’ve tried to do his newborn photos. He was a little fiesty this evening but we still managed to capture more memorable photos worth sharing.

Chance

Chance

Now as you all have seen his photos I’ve been sharing and you continue to say “awe—-”…let me introduce you to the real Chance. Okay, he doesn’t cry constantly but for half the photos I take he is fiesty like this. He’s a really great baby but if he’s hungry he is just as fiesty as this too.

Chance

I imagine it’s only a matter of time before we get to see more of his personality. Here he is looking uber cute for a brief moment during photos today. As much as I love sleepy babies, I adore that he was willing to show off his adorable eyes with you all today….something tells me you all have been eager to see him awake for a change. He still sleeps most of the day so we only get to see his alert side for maybe an hour or two a day right now.

Chance

Chance

A FEW MORE UPDATES
I had quite a few of you contacting me for more updates and asking how Chance has been doing. It’s been tough to contact you all individually so here I am again sharing the updates on my blog in hopes it helps you all feel better informed.

  • Chance’s back continues to heal. We went to his neurosurgeon today for a follow up appointment and his wounds from his back closure surgery and shunt all appear to be healing well. I have to say his back still looks icky but in comparison to last week it has improved considerably. We’re hoping in the next week or two that his stitches will be removed from his back once his back has healed a bit more. Until then we’ll continue his antibiotics for a bit longer and continue to clean and bandage his back twice a day.
  • Yesterday we brought Chance in for a Renal ultrasound. Tomorrow we will meet with the doctor that will help us assess Chance’s urological & renal health. In the NICU the tests left doctors with the suspicion that he might have a neurogenic bladder. I’m not well versed in all the terminology but they suspect that though Chance is peeing and pooping on his own well he may not be completely relieving himself because with each ultrasound he has had a full bladder. A big concern with spina bifida patients is that the inability to completely relieve themselves can lead to bladder & kidney infections. Bladder and bowel problems are very common with spina bifida and we really don’t quite know how Chance might be challenged, if at all, but we’ll meet with the doctor tomorrow and I’m sure we’ll continue to monitor his health in this area.
  • Chance and I have duked it out a few nights at home and I’m quite thrilled to claim a victory with breastfeeding. With Chance being in the NICU for nearly three weeks on feedings tubes and bottles majority of the time it did make the experience very challenging once we arrived home. At the NICU I only got about 4 or 5 opportunities to nurse him, all of which he did fine with in the NICU, but once we arrived home the first several days and nights were absolute torture for us both. I was torn between trying to nurse him myself and/or keeping up with a pumping routine where I’m easily producing more that twice as much as he typically eats during the day. He’s a fiesty little guy who definitely seemed to have taken to the lazy habits of being able to bottle feed so easily. He’s never had a problem latching at all he just would scream on and on like someone was hurting him. After a couple nights of working with him through lots of fussing he finally seems to have taken to nursing well. I’d hate to jinx myself but the last few nights have went very smoothly so my fingers are crossed that he continues to do well because we definitely know it’s what is best for him and as easy as bottles and pumping can be I think we all realize it just isn’t the same as me being able to feed my little one myself.
  • We all know Chance is a strong little guy. He’s proven it with as much as he’s gone through. If he wasn’t strong enough he’s doing amazing at lifting his head for his age and in the last few days he’s decided to begin rolling over from his belly to his back. He began a few days ago and I thought at first that perhaps it was just a fluke but in the last few days he’s continued to do so a couple times each day. He usually does it when he’s fussing. The other kids didn’t rollover until they were about four months old so to see this little guy doing it at 3 1/2 weeks old is pretty amazing.
  • Chance continues to move his legs and feet. The doctors are very impressed with his movement. It’s still too early to determine how much spina bifida has affected his mobility but the fact that he moves his legs and feet on his own is a great sign.

MANY THANKS…
It’s been more than a month now and I can’t help but pause to thank you all for your support since Chance was born. It’s definitely not been an easy month but so many of you have offered support, reassurance, and so much more to help our family. Some of you brought us meals. Others brought gifts. Some of you have helped us with the kids. Others are holding fundraisers. And so many of you are out there praying for our family. Thank you seems so small in comparison to how much so many of you have done for our family. You all have been amazing and our family certainly appreciates all the support and prayers that have been sent our way.

Letterpress baby!

”Success is the ability to move from one failure to the next with no loss of enthusiasm.” ~Winston Churchill

It seems like an eternity that I’ve been waiting to share these photos with you all. It should come as no surprise that I’m a little obsessed with typography, I believe it is a prerequisite to be a designer. This time last year I was in the midst of planning the printing of my business cards and elected to have them letterpress printed with the awesome guys at Mama’s sauce. As a designer I’ve always admired letterpress printing so it was a treat to get to see my cards printed first hand last year. As I did Mama’s Sauce’s owner, Nick Sambrato, allowed me to photograph the process of my cards being printed and some sweet letterpress wood cut type. As I photographed the letters last year I recall thinking…“how awesome would it be to photograph a newborn on letterpress type?” Yes, I’m sure it’s a thought only a typography obsessed designer who also coincidentally does newborn photography would think that.

So about a year ago I began what I’d consider a bit of a letterpress obsession, collecting what has since become a pretty decent size collection of letterpress wood cut letters with the intent to build a collage for the day I anticipated to someday have another child. I admit collecting the letters became a great distraction on days when I wasn’t so sure if we were ever going to conceive this little one and once getting pregnant it became an enthusiastic journey for me to collect enough letters to pull off this crazy idea I had in my head. Yes, if you’ve been around me this past year you’ve likely heard a tad bit about my ideas and obsession with letterpress wood cut type that I’m anxious to finally share. You may even have heard or seen our holiday cards this past year that were inspired by this letterpress collection. Many of you have asked where I’ve found all the letters and I have to admit it was a time consuming hunt looking online on various sites such as ebay and etsy. Some letters are dated back as far as the 1850s. I’ve since learned what a prized position it can be to own rare letterpress woodcut type. I suppose for me it is not just exciting because of my design and typographic interests but because all the work put into this typographic collage I think of as a part of history.

Yesterday I photographed Chance at 25 days old on top of the letterpress collage that I created. I spent most of the last year collecting close to 1000 letters to create this collage that is about 2′ x 3 1/2′. I didn’t begin assembling the collage until the night prior to Chance’s birth and just finished it this week. When creating it I intentfully added meaningful words, like Chance’s first & middle name, each of our names, miracle, spina bifida, kern, blessing and more. So here it is, finally, my letterpress baby.

No matter how uber cool it looks, I know that photographing a baby on wood cut letters isn’t something most would even consider doing with a baby. It was by far one of the toughest newborn photo ideas I’ve ever had to do out of the 70+ babies I’ve photographed in the past 3+ years. It took several attempts over a good hour or two of Chance fighting me every step of the way until I finally got him comfy. Needless to say it makes these photos that much more unforgettable for me.

I have this feeling I’ll have some designers who will enjoy taking a closer look at the collage. The slideshow below includes additional photos of the collage to help you all get a better sense of what went into making it.

24 days new

“Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better.” ~ Jim Rohn

This past week having Chance home has been a blessing, but it’s also one where I’ve felt the days slipping away quickly. As they do I’ve recognized more now than ever before that his “newborn” moments are certainly beginning to fade away. Perhaps it’s partly due to my role as a newborn photographer that I’ve come to feel a bit cheated out of his first three weeks of him being in the hospital. Of course it hasn’t stopped me from still trying to capture as many of the moments that he’ll allow me when I have the energy to do so but I have to admit it hasn’t been easy. I suppose it’s a good challenge for any newborn photographer to capture “newborn” moments past the typical newborn stage. Yes, something tells me the challenge to photograph him now will only help me become a better newborn photographer.

I spent time embracing these newborn moments yesterday when Chance was 24 days old. Typically I never photograph babies on black unless I know they’re going to be super cooperative because it’s so tough to get the exposure and light just right. I didn’t even question it yesterday. He fussed a bit but it was only a matter of time before he got comfy for some of my new favorite photos of him.

Yes, Chance still sleeps pretty well for me, however, it’s so tough to get my little snuggle bug to be as curly as he once was. Yes, the curly little guy I only got to hold a time or two before he lost his newborn “curl”. He’s known to stay stretched out these days so it did take some work to get him to get this curly for these two photos. Of course part of his problem is that his little belly is growing fast these days!

I have to say one of the only positive things I’ve had work in my favor with Chance having spina bifida is that the first 3 weeks of his life he was expected to sleep on his belly in order for his back to heal, something most suggest against for newborns. All of my children have been known to be stomach sleepers but this little guy definitely is most comfortable resting peacefully on his belly.

This past week when Chance was still in the hospital Hope’s class was assigned to write a persuasive letter. Hope elected to write Chance’s doctor a letter to persuade her why he shouldn’t be in the hospital. You’ve got to admire her persistence.

Hope’s definitely been happy to have Chance home all week. Yes, we’re a little amazed…he’s been home almost one full week without any trips to the hospital!

I’ve had a lot of you asking how Chance is doing. As you can see he’s growing quickly and getting pudgier by the day. His back is still troublesome for me to look at due to how it’s healing. We’ve been sending his doctor photos regularly with updates and we’ll get to see her next week for his next appointment so hopefully by then it’ll have made a lot of good progress healing. Right now though it looks pretty icky. We clean it thoroughly a couple times a day and continue to give him antibiotics to help prevent any infections. Aside from that he’s behaving like a typical newborn. He sleeps, eats, pees and poops non-stop all day and night leaving us a little more tired this week tending to his needs regularly, instead of the NICU nurses doing most of it for us. I can’t complain…every day we’re not in the hospital I consider a blessing.

F a c e b o o k   f a n   p a g e
T w i t t e r