Going under

I went to see the surgeon today and I was lucky to get the last spot for surgery this Saturday. If I didn't get it, it would have been another 2 or 3 weeks before I would have been able to get it done. So on Saturday I am getting my gall bladder removed. It isn't that bad. It is a 30 minute procedure and I get to go home the same day. I think I can handle that. I told my mom that I just wanted to check out all the hospitals in the great Phoenix area-West Valley, Banner Estrella, St. Joe's, and now Arrowhead. I should write a review on each one.

It will be nice to be able to eat something other than cold meat sandwiches and chicken. I think I have had my fill of chicken for awhile. They said the recovery time is about a week so here's hoping that is right. My mom and sister will be helping us take care of Duncan. I do like having people here, it makes the confinement to the house a little more bearable, and I'm totally paranoid about Duncan's lungs so only certain people can come over-which is sad because I just want to show this little cutie off. I'm really glad that my family lives close because I have just been so paranoid that I will have another attack in the middle of the night with Duncan home. He can't go to the hospital. So my sister and Aubree spent the night Saturday and my mom has been here the last two nights. Thank goodness for family that's willing to help out.

Duncan is doing better. He seems to be getting adjusted to being home. I think I am getting a better handle on things as well. The lack of sleep is a little more manageable. I really wanted to have my next baby close to Duncan, but I think I need a couple of years to recover from this one. Maybe even 3.

So long, Going home

Duncan had to say bye to Brooke -his primary nurse the entire 3 months he has been there.

Dr. Nasar had to say goodbye as well.

Going home-FINALLY!!

Sorry it has taken so long to get this up, but it has been a few restless days around here. Last Thursday Duncan was released from St. Joe's where he has been for the past 3 months. He has had a long road and it isn't over yet. Justin and I spent the night at the hospital with him Wednesday night, that is an interesting experience. I'm glad we did it because it allowed me time to ask questions and figure out what he is like when he sleeps. He is one noisy sleeper. He grunts and grunts all night, but he is asleep. When we came home my parents were here waiting. It was so funny, they brought their video camera and camera and as we were walking in my dad tried to start the video camera, well the battery was dead so my mom grabs her camera and the card was full. It was funny.

Duncan is doing well. He is still trying to get adjusted to being home. Each night is a little better. He just wants to be held all the time. Even to sleep. So it has been a little bit of a struggle at night. Last night was our first night alone with him. My sister and mom have been staying the nights with us. Which I highly recommend the first few nights because you really do need sleep. He did come home on oxygen just 1/8 of a liter which is just above room air, so it really isn't a lot. He is also on an apnea monitor. He doesn't have apnea, but the dr. wanted to send him home on it. So far so good.
I didn't think I would cry when he left, but it was harder to say goodbye than I thought. Dr. Nasar was crying as she came to do her final eval of him. She said he is her miracle baby. Brooke was pretty sad as well. Her last day with him was Tuesday so she had to say bye early. Tears were shed, we left at 7pm so she could have a little bit of time with him. Not that she won't ever see him again. She lives about 10 min. from us. She even came over Thursday after we got home. We call her too. Justin called to ask about some medicine-she just knows Duncan and we trust her. She was so great with him and he loves her too. I really loved the hospital staff there. There were a few nurses that were less to be desired, but overall they were great. We loved Dr. Nasar, she was so great with us and Duncan. She is a very, very good Dr. I feel blessed that we got her.

Duncan isn't done with the Dr.s not by a long shot. He already went to his pediatrician the day after he came home. I really like the Doctors and their office is really nice and close. Everyone says he looks really good. He looks like a normal new born. The movie they had us watch about preemies at the hospital was interesting because all the babies still looked so tiny. Duncan is not tiny. He is growing and doing what he needs to do. I just pray that he continues that way. He weighs 7lbs 9oz. We have to be very careful about who we let over because he does have lung disease; so please don't take offense if we can't let you in the door.

I will continue posting and let you know how Duncan is progressing.

What a Change

This little old man was so tiny Justin's ring fit on his arm. He had tubes and wires attached all over. Can you believe that baby is the same as

This baby! He looks so different. In the first picture he looked just like my Grandpa Cothrun, now he looks like my brother Ben. It is amazing what modern technology can do. It isn't how I imagined having my first baby. I didn't want to watch him grow on the outside of the uterus. I told him that when I said I couldn't wait to see what he looked like I didn't mean it literally.

Now that road that seemed never ending is finally coming to an end. The Dr.'s and nurses are about 99% sure he will do fine with his eye exam tomorrow and we are in the discharging phase. As long as all goes well, we will be spending the night at the hospital tomorrow and then on Thursday our baby will finally be at home with us. Then it will be real. Then the sleepless nights will begin.

More baby shower

I wanted to show a couple more pictures I forgot. Two of my sisters-in-law couldn't be there because they live out of state so I wanted to show a couple more. This is probably Justin's favorite gift Duncan got. Superman pjs. He got a lot of blankets, clothes and toys. He will have to be changed 3 times a day to get through all the clothes that he has.

This was the dessert table. The 'D' in the back, my sister painted it to match Duncan's bedding. It will be hung in his room soon. See those cookies on the platter? They were sooooooo good too. I seriously was so excited for all the food. Those cookies were lemon and oh soooo yummy. I was very impressed with my sister and her baking.

Baby shower pt. 2

My SIL Elisabeth made some of the decorations and then mailed them. These onesies are so cute. My favorite one is the tie. Too cute. They hanged them up like a clothes line with more 'd's.

My sister Suzi and my niece Aubree-their so pretty.

Lots of gifts. The cradle is from my mom.

The other decoration that Elisabeth made, this cute banner made of fabric. I love it. This is only half of it and it is still hanging in my dinning room. I'm going to hang it in Duncan's room.

I will put pictures up of Duncan's room next.

Beautiful Baby Shower pt.1

My sister threw me a beautiful baby shower. There was a lot of really yummy food and lots of my friends and family. We had a really nice time and the decorations were so cute I couldn't take them down for days. (one is still up). My sister came over one Sunday and I taught her how to use the Cricut paper cutter that I have (love it), and she made all the cute 'd' decorations with it. The mini chocolate cupcakes were soooooo good. Butter cream frosting is the only kind of frosting in my book. All the food was delicious. My SIL Heather helped with some of the food and made my favorite, apples with apple dip. And the salad my mom made was yummy.

Update

Okay, a bit of sad news, Duncan had to go back on oxygen on Sunday. I even waited over 24 hours to share the news because I thought he might go back on it. But when he made it through Friday night and all day Saturday, I thought for sure he might just make it. But then Sunday morning he bradied (heart rate dropped) in the 60's which isn't good. He recovered and was doing okay and then did it again. His nurse decided to put him back on the oxygen. So now he is on oxygen, still just above room air, but he just needs that little bit a little longer. However, this is not going to keep him in the hospital and pending his eye exam on Wednesday, as long as all goes well and he doesn't need any type of laser eye surgery he will be going home on Thursday. His Dr. is 95% sure he will NOT need any type of surgery. Justin is going to give him a blessing again tomorrow because I just don't know if I could handle another week in that hospital. I am just done with being there and done with leaving my baby at night. So please pray for him that his eye exam will go well and that he will be able to leave on Thursday.