A New Normal

Week two at home and we're settling into our new normal.  I have to say, it's a pretty awesome normal.  I just look at the three boys in my life and get all weepy realizing that this is our life.  When we were waiting for Will to arrive, we really had no idea what to expect of his day-to-day health.  I couldn't imagine bringing home a baby with a failing heart.  I thought I'd be overcome with worry and watch his every breath.  While I do stare at him as much as possible, I have complete trust in the strength of Will and the wisdom of his doctors, and the staring is 95% out of joy and only about 5% worry.  That being said, we did have our first of what I'm sure will be many scares.  On Friday, after a feeding, his breaths seemed extra labored, which was something the NICU nurses and doctors told us to watch for.  After calling the pediatrician, we took him for a chest x-ray to rule out fluid build-up in his lungs.  Turns out it was just reflux, actually silent reflux, where there isn't actually any spit-up, so we weren't aware he was uncomfortable.  The labored breathing, according to the cardiologist, will just be Will's normal.  Watching your baby work to breathe is sad, there's no two ways about it, but the doctor assures us that as long as he's eating and gaining weight (he's up to 7lbs, 2oz) he is doing well.  So, for now, we'll take him in for weekly weight checks, meet with the cardiologist again in a month, and pray that he doesn't need any medication before his surgery, which they think will be around 4 months.

Here he is loving his first bath at home, thanks to the swaddle bath technique.