Preparing and a Long Week

We leave for Riley in exactly one week and wow I am feeling a little overwhelmed. I feel like there is so much that we use daily that we can't leave behind. For example we use a noise canceling giraffe, a jungle "tv", and a turtle that shoots stars on the ceiling just to get to sleep each night. Do I take all of these? Or do I risk not having a normal night of sleep? Hopefully I get a call soon and they can help with all I need to bring. I can only imagine what all I am going to be carrying in with me on Monday morning. I'll need more than one red wagon, plus our stroller. 

I don't know how everyone else is handling the heat, but we have resorted to moving our entertainment center to our basement. Our air conditioner isn't performing to it's finest lately, so this is our answer. So far I think it works out great. The only drawback is we can't hear anything down here. So if the world ends around us, we will have no idea. 

We have also been to my parent's pool lately to keep cool. Luke has turned into quite and water bug. He just floats in his float and usually gets very close to falling asleep because he is so relaxed. He usually gets a nice nap afterwards too. 

This coming weekend will be our town's Homecoming celebration. Last year we missed it due to being at Riley, but this year Luke will be front and center. My dad has worked for many months restoring his grandfather's 1926 Model T and he will be driving it in the parade this year and the family will be riding on the truck or walking along with it, including Luke. We will have 4 generations on the truck. Also Luke is part of the cutest baby contest. If you come to the Bristol Homecoming, please drop some lose change in his can as you cross the bridge. You can't miss that cute smile. Also, my Uncle Jack's shop Jack's Feed Shack will be holding it's 2nd annual cornhole tournament after the parade at his shop. It costs $20 a team and there is $200 payout to the winning team and $80 for 2nd place. All the proceeds will go to Riley Hospital for Children this year. Which means a lot to us, and we will be taking it down to Riley. So please if you are interested sign ups will take place till 3:30pm on Saturday right before they begin the tournament. Luke and I will be there.

I think that is a little run down for our week as of right now. Hopefully we will have more as the week goes on. 

Jordan

More Birthday Pics

All the babies born the past year, 3 total Riley NICU babies

All the kids at Luke's Party

Luke, Riah, Quin, and Kate after Luke's dedication

The Dannheiser side

Luke's Great Grandma and Grandpa Dannheiser and Quin.

Jenn and I with the babies after the dedication

Who else would put on a Snuggie in 95 degree weather, but Brenden

Borderline

Today was Luke's 12 month check up with his pediatrician. When we first go into the room, the first thing Luke has done is get weighed. I seem to always dread this moment. It is just something that I don't really want to hear. I see Luke everyday and I don't notice the changes like others do. Some have said he looks so big, however, I think that is his length to these people. Luke weighed in today at 14 pounds 0.5 ounces. If you can remember the past few weigh ins, you would know that Luke has not gained any weight. He might actually have lost some weight. However, his height and his head circumference is growing normally. Most would be happy to never gain weight, but this momma is not happy. It seems to always be a problem since the very first day. So....now our option is a inpatient stay at Riley to work with a feeding specialist team. This was brought up a couple months ago while at a developmental appointment. I didn't think it could happen at that point. Now that we have come to this point I feel some relief. I guess I have worried about his weight from the beginning and I have done everything they have asked. I have tried all suggestions that have been given to me. I am now using pediasure along with his formula just to see if it can help him as we wait for the schedule. So as of now Luke is diagnosed as borderline failure to thrive. I am hoping this will get us some answers, and we don't have to go as far as a g-tube. On a good note, Luke's cold is getting better and it isn't in his lungs. That is one thing to calm my nerves. Hopefully we can just get over the cough soon enough.

So please keep us in your prayers that we can FINALLY have some answers for Luke's lack of weight gain.

Jordan

Let's Party!

The past few weeks have been building up to Sunday! Lucas' First Birthday Party! And who would have guessed that the tot would get sick. It started earlier this week and has slowly worked its way through Jonathin and I and has stayed with Luke. However, we were still able to celebrate.

Our weekend started on Friday night when Luke's Great Uncle Mikey came in from Virginia. This is the first time Mike had seen Luke, like a lot of others this weekend. We had pizza and hung out at our house for the evening. Then Saturday afternoon Luke's NICU girlfriend arrived. Lily and her family had made the long drive up from Terra Haute to celebrate with Luke. I'm pretty sure I was more excited for this visit. Lily's mom Heather and I have became really close friends since we met in module 1 of the Riley NICU. We usually text one another almost every day. I know many people have made this journey with us, but Heather and I completely understand each other. It's a preemie mom thing. We sat but the bedside daily and endure all the doctor appointments and the news along with being a preemie. We understand each other. Also we can bounce information off of one another from doctors and therapists. 

Also on Saturday Danielle and Cassie made the drive up from Indianapolis to stay the night and hang out with Luke. It has been over a month since we saw them. It's great to socialize with people. I know Luke would have enjoyed it more if he wasn't under the weather. We had a nice Saturday at my parent's house where the kids got to swim, Lily's big sister Madison's favorite. We also had a good cookout thanks to my Mom and Dad. 

Then Sunday was a long and big day. It started with us going to church. After a year in waiting, Luke was finally dedicated in our church. It was something that I had wanted since he was born. This congregation has been there since the morning Luke was born throughout this entire journey. There were weekly updates and prayers. They would ask my parents every Sunday how things were going. It's special to us. Also, on a sad note, it was the last Sunday for our pastor of 19 years. He has been my pastor since we started attending Faith 17 years ago. He also married Jonathin and I 3 years ago. He was at the hospital the night before Luke's birth and throughout the first week while we were still at Memorial. He even made the trip to see us in Indianapolis. He would call my Dad often for updates to then pass along to the congregation. It was a very joyous and sad day at the same time. 

After church we had to set up Luke's party. It was no small feat. Let's just say, my Mom is a party planner. No stone is unturned. We had balloons, a pinata, kid goodie bags, movies from the NICU courtesy of Luke's Gampy, even a keg of root beer. Luke had a great turn out, over 100 people. There were so many people Jonathin and I felt bad that we couldn't talk to everyone. I can say that the celebration of the past year might not have rated on Luke's scale of fun yesterday, but it was great for Jonathin and I. In a way it was a little thank you from us for all the help and support our family has received over the past year. Jonathin made a little speech to thank everyone and afterwards we were talking that there is so much more we could say to all of you. Not one little thing over the past year has been forgotten. You all took care of us while we took care of Luke. Now I sit here and listen to him growl and scream at some of his new toys and our dogs I am humbled. I have tried to keep my emotions at bay this week and I know tomorrow will be the hardest of those days.

I can be upset at the slow progress that he is showing, but it is progress. A year ago right now he was still in my belly and we were laying in a hospital bed dreading what June 12, 2011 would bring. The list of complications hanging over our head and what all the little miracle would have to overcome. I can say now he is a FIGHTER. Even when unforeseen circumstances rose, he would get through it. He might be small, but he is mighty. I am a PROUD momma of a micro preemie and my own special Superman. Everyday he amazes me, just by being here. 

p.s. - Here is a little story for you. On Father's Day last year I gave Jonathin a picture frame with a picture of him holding Luke. That same day things were crazy and Luke was flown by helicopter to Riley and we raced around gathering everything. For the past year we have looked for this picture frame. We thought we might have left it at Riley or that Jonathin took it to work. On Sunday morning at church Luke's Great Aunt said she had something for us. Apparently for the past year this picture has been circulating at Memorial where the nurses asked if they knew who it was in the picture. Our one nurse that we became close too while there had been on maternity leave and finally solved the puzzle. My aunt just so happened to run into her at Meijer the other day and she had the picture with her to get to us. How great is that? Finally that frame is where it is supposed to be on Jonathin's night stand. Just thought that was a great story to end with. 

A Huge thank you to everyone that endured the heat yesterday to make Luke's 1st Birthday a success!

ooops, please ignore the horrible look of the blog. I've messed it up and can't fix it....soon there will be an update and hopefully I can fix this...hahahaha. help anyone?

Let's Play

I don't know what has gotten into our little man, but he is ready to play with some toys. I think he knows his birthday is coming up and that means more toys. I usually put him under his play gym for something to look at that isn't the swing. I have added more of his Lamaze toys too it like one of his therapists said a long time ago. All of a sudden I hear things crinkling and rattling and I look down. He has his feet in the air and arms around toys with both hands and putting things in his mouth. This is such a big step for him. We have been trying to get him interested in toys, but unless it is a ceiling fan or a light bulb forget it.

He showed his new skills to his therapist on Monday and she was so impressed with him. We went from no interest in toys to, "Look, I can hold one in each hand while standing!" Our physical therapist has also been working on Luke's sitting skills. His hamstrings were so tight when she started to see him and now we can stretch him almost all the way out without him crying. That is huge when he could barely go 30 degrees and we are not almost at 95. Now we get to work on his trunk muscles to tighten them up. I hope by his birthday we can have him sitting in his highchair straight for his cake.

We have also ventured into putting everything in our mouth. His hands have been there for a couple months, but now we can place our entire fist in our mouth. Then we spread spit everywhere. He has also taken up the new past time of sucking on his blankets so they are a big wet mess. Mommy is not a fan there. I am a person that when there is spit or spit up we immediately want to wash it and change things. This leads to a lot of laundry. As I write this, he is in his swing knawing on his yellow crocheted blanket.

Luke has also found a new bed buddy. TIGGER! Don't judge, but we bought him a Tigger after such a good day with therapy. I know...SPOILED. Can you blame us. Let me tell you, his eyes lit up like crazy. I'll post a picture. Then he held it the entire time through the store and that night when he fell asleep. It was cute. We think he likes the color. It is funny because his Uncle Calvin was " a friend" of Tigger's at Disney World right after we got married.

Oh what else this week...OH we are losing our physical therapist at the end of the month. She is from Fort Wayne and the drive up is too much since we are her only clients this far. The closest to us is in Lagrange. Of course this happens right as he is starting to do things. Hopefully we can get things figured out and keep a physical therapist. We still have our occupational therapist twice a month. She will be here tomorrow and we are going to work on a new sippy cup. We shall see how that goes. Also Luke made an unexpected trip to the doctors this week. He stopped really eating for a day or so. I wanted to make sure he wasn't getting another ear infection or sore throat. However, he checked out just find. He then came home and did just fine with some pedialyte. We are thinking that he just had an upset stomach.

Jonathin is currently knee deep in home repairs. The AC is now back up and working thanks to the repairman on Tuesday. We think we have a leak, but he couldn't find one. Good thing we have this home warranty for a year. Also we have another leak in the main bathroom. We knew about one that Jonathin has stopped for the time being. The whole downstairs bathroom has to be rebuilt when we decided to redo it, but for now we are good there. However he discovered a leak from the new shower that leaked behind the shower and wall and then falls into the unfinished part of the basement. The only way to the bathroom was by cutting holes in the bathroom wall and fishing around. He found the leak where the shower head connected. I don't think the guys that did the plumbing in the house have indoor plumbing. That seems to be our main issues in the house. Of course Jonathin is loving being Mr. Handyman. However, now my Mother's Day weekend will be spent fixing the bathroom wall and repainting the entire bathroom a new color. We have no idea what color they used and I don't want to try color matching. Also we have planned to finish pulling out the landscaping and repainting the windows outside. I was told the can of paint is from Luke for Mother's Day. Thanks Buddy.

That is about it this week. Hope you like the pictures.

Watching the game at Buffalo Wild Wings

How we sleep since the sun is in his room at 6am.

Playing with his gym

Tigger!!

TIGGER!!!!

Why Would I Lie?

As I am writing this, it is 82 degrees in our house and 2am. I just turned the AC to the disappointment of the husband, but Luke has a fever as of an hour ago. I say it is time. So awake I am while I monitor a warm baby and thought I would update a little.

We are finally settled into our new house and I think Luke likes it. He really can't tell us, but if he could I think he would say so. He now has two bedrooms due to all of his things he accumulated. He isn't spoiled or anything..cough cough. Today he spent most of the afternoon with his Gammy while Jonathin and I (mostly Jonathin) cut down 5 or so trees from our backyard. They were overgrown things probably from the 70's when the house was built. Now the yard looks to much better and bigger. I can already see the swing set in the next year or so. Next on the list is ripping out all the landscaping around the house.

Luke seemed to have a good day according to my mom. We are slowly working on a sippy cup to take juice. I would like to get a lot more fluids in him, but once again that can be a struggle. I'm hoping it isn't a preemie thing, but in the back of my mind I know it is. He doesn't like the big sippy cups and will take the small flat mouth pieces that go on a bottle we have. Hopefully today when his OT is here we can ask her some advise since she does do feeding assistance also. We had a little hiccup with his feeding when we did all the moving, but I think we are ironing that out now.

Now since Luke goes out more a lot more people want to "look at the baby." I've noticed and here lately we have been explaining a lot more about him. Don't think I don't like talking about my son, I mean come on I am a mom and he is ONE SPECIAL KID. I just can't get over the people that look at me like I am trying to pull a fast one on them. Honestly who would lie about their kid being a preemie? I would not wish this upon anyone. It is a very special club we joined last June, but not by choice. This one lady at Lowes yesterday just stared at me when I said he was a pound. Of course I forgot the 2/3 ounce, but I mean really. She just kept looking at me like I was from another planet. Yes Lady, there are miracle babies all around you. It's funny when you say preemie and everyone just assumes he was 4 pounds and in the hospital for a few extra days. I just smile at them and give them just a touch of our past year. But still, even if you are around Luke often you still don't know the half of it. Our little struggles that we go through daily. He seems "normal" now, but we have our struggles daily and our lists to accomplish everyday.

1. 18-24 ounces of formula daily - happens once in a blue moon.
2. 1 jar of meat daily - depends on his mood.
3. A lot of tummy time - let's be honest, how would you feel about refusing your child from rolling over and him crying nonstop and screaming as he throws his body around for long periods of time as you are told just ignore that part?
4. Work on getting any fluids in him as you can.
5. The on going poop issue - did he go today? Did he struggle?
6. Constantly asking if that was a cough you heard?
7. Adding butter to everything he eats.
8. Watching him lay everywhere, because he still can't sit at 11 months.
9. Stretching his hamstrings with diaper changes to the point he cries as you lift his legs....to help with sitting.
10. The wondering why Luke doesn't have a tooth yet?

These are just some things. Then you add on watching and hearing how it seems every other child around you is doing some amazing thing and others asking you why your child isn't doing it to. Simple...he is behind. That is all, and we except that. We work daily with him and believe me it doesn't stop him from being happy. No matter the anguish we feel daily with everything, I know I still have a toothless smile coming my way when I smile at him.

This morning I was asked for a couple pictures from a good family friend of Luke. She has some friends that just gave birth to preemie twins. She asked to give them a little hope for their situation. Who would have guessed that after everything, we can help others with just a picture of our Superman. I realize that I do that also while reading other blogs some days. I know with all of our struggles Luke go through I have hope to see him catch up and pass everyone's expectations. I mean look at all he has accomplished so far.

1. Living after only being given a 20% chance of survival
2. Coming home 2 days before his due date
3. Gaining 13 pounds!
4. Completely clear from oxygen and monitors
5. No feeding tube, and loving food

These are just a few things on that list. Everyday he does something that he should haven't done just by  being here. So, why would I lie about my amazing son, when I can talk about all he has done so far. As Luke's first birthday quickly approaches, I am letting myself feel more about what has actually happened the past year. I realize that even though I cried and cried when they told me he was coming early, I never let myself think things would end badly. I never would let myself think that we could loose him and how things could have been. Now, I see how it could have been and it overwhelms me sometimes when I look at him. I am finally letting myself feel some things that I build a wall up to prevent. I know on June 12, I will cry, but smile more. I thought I would put up some pictures, for some hope.

5 Days old, beating the odds

First time Mommy got to hold his hand at 2 days old.

Waited over 2 months for this...

Birthday!

Coming home from Riley.

Just a day at home with the oxygen tube.

Last day with oxygen.

No words...

First outfit at 2 months old and now 9 months old

2 miracles and 2 friends, even if they don't know it yet.

Sitting with assistance