My Little Gemini

It is hard to imagine that just a few days ago I was picking up 3 new maternity shirts along with a maternity bathing suit (thank goodness the tags are still on them, now if only I can find the receipts), hanging the finishing touches in the nursery, having fun during our maternity photo session, and prepping for a MDW gathering at our house.  It is still surreal to me that Landon had bigger plans for us this past weekend than we could have ever imagined.

We still don't (and may never) know what triggered Landon's early arrival.  We didn't experience any major hiccups or concerns throughout my pregnancy.  In fact, I was looking forward to my 30 week appointment that was supposed to take place this morning.  I was looking forward to seeing Dr. Dennis again and asking her about my recent spike in weight gain over the last week.  While concerned at the time seeing the scale creep up so quickly every day, it turns out the weight gain had a major impact on Landon's current stability.  The suspicion about the early delivery is that my placenta may have had an infection and there may have been two reasons why we went into labor: my body was beginning to reject the pregnancy or Landon knew he needed to get the hell out of there!  I like to think it was his smart intuition that led him to entering the world 10 weeks early - he must have been prepping the last week by storing up the extra energy for his fight!

For those who know me, I am a proud Libra and am often intrigued by zodiac signs and the occasional daily horoscope.  While waiting for the CHOP transport service down to Penn Hospital I needed to know what our little Landon's horoscope was for his birthday and it couldn't have been more fitting:

"Step up and make the first move -- your initiative is almost sure to be rewarded..... all you need to do is get the ball rolling and you should find success."

Throughout the last few days he has certainly taken that approach and has been such a trooper.  Although we had many scares and tremendous concerns, the progress he made within the last 24 hours has been remarkable. 

Today began with a 4am phone call from Leah, one of his night shift nurses, letting us know that they have successfully removed the breathing tube and have inserted a newer technology of the CPAP, which provides a few extra support breaths through the nose ventilator to support his respiratory needs.  This was a huge win as just the other night his lung collapsed, which had us in a panic.  We were too excited after receiving the good news that we hopped out of bed right away to make our way into the city before the morning rush hour. 

Throughout the day Landon was very stable with strong vitals and successful feeding sessions.  He has been a very active boy so far (even in my belly), but today it seemed like he was able to get steady rest.  Landon and I had a special bonding moment today as at one point he began flailing his arms, legs and letting out the most precious little cry.  We hadn't heard him cry since being delivered and it immediately melted our hearts.  I suppose my mother instincts are starting to kick in as I quickly opened the side panel to the incubator and rested my firm hand over his legs.  Instantaneously he stopped crying, immediately settled down and was back to sleep in no time.  That moment was such an amazing, magical feeling - it is indescribable how quickly and powerful our love grows for him every day! 

The day ended recently with another victory when Lance called into the nurse staff prior to their shift change for another update.  Landon had an ultrasound performed today on his brain in order to test for brain bleeding, which is very typical in various grade levels for preemies this young.  This was the big test to determine whether or not Landon would be susceptible to any long term disabilities or developmental issues and we were anxiously waiting the results.  We were hopeful that his results would show a grade level 1 or 2 at best, but the call revealed that there are no signs of any brain bleeding and we couldn't be any happier!  This was just icing on the cake today after the successful day we had during our visit.

On that note (and not to jinx any further progress) I will leave it at that and begin praying for many more victories tomorrow!  I am incredibly thankful for all of the overwhelming support from all of our family and friends, the phenomenal doctors and nurses taking care of us, the visits from our parents and sisters, and the conversations with the other NICU mommy friends I am meeting in the lactation lounge.  Most importantly, I am thankful for my amazing husband with his constant care, attention and love through one of the most difficult experiences we are sharing together.  Landon and I are extremely blessed to have him in our lives.  Here's to another day closer to being able to hold and kiss our little guy!