It hurt my heart this morning when during rounds, the nurse said he was 21 days old. Another “normal” thing I always took for granted with my other babies was snuggling our 3 week old baby on the couch at home. I can’t wait to introduce Noah to life outside the hospital where where his brothers will poke him instead of needles, the too bright sun shine in his eyes instead of florescent lights, and the people around him love him instead of those who chart about him.
The angel of the Lord encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them. Psalm 34:7
There is a silver lining to being here in the NICU these last weeks. It’s been good that I am away from my boys to process the loss of the baby we thought we had, and am learning to be thankful for the gift of Noah. Dave went home a few days ago to bring some normalcy to the boys, and do some work. Otherwise, Dave and I have been together here, and have had so much more time to process than if we brought Noah home 2 weeks ago. I am thankful for the time I’ve had getting to know Noah, and giving him that extra snuggle time. It’s been good for both of us. How many moms get to know their 4th child *uninterrupted?!*
When I thought, “My foot slips,”
your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.
When the cares of my heart are many,
your consolations cheer my soul.
Psalm 94: 18-19
Noah has had good progress!
He has been nursing exclusively for the last several days (3 or 4– I lost count). Feeding Noah is very time and energy intensive. I’ll spare you the details, but it feels a bit like performing a circus act and being trapped in an elevator at the same time. (I am not sure how we’ll do this at home with my other boys needing me too) Yesterday he was up 50g, and today he was up 15g. That’s 2 oz in 2 days!! He’s weighing in at 6lbs 4oz. When he lost weight for a while, they were talking about fortifying, and bottle feeding. Noah has shown himself to be a terrible bottle feeder, so gaining while nursing is a big deal!
His platelets have remained stable at around 20,ooo for at least 10 days! This means he will only have to be tested once every 2 weeks once we get home instead of the twice per week they had first suggested! He is still a long way from being in the normal range (150,000-200,000), but not dropping any lower means his body is producing some on it’s own!
He is breathing room air almost exclusively, and after failing his carseat tolerance trial after just 20 minutes a few days ago, he passed today with no desaturations!! (I wonder if they will send us home with oxygen after all?)
Tonight is the sleep study we waited all weekend for. Depending on what the findings are, the earliest we may be able to go home is Thursday. Pray for Noah to be delivered home timely and safely.
It has been amazing to see this little boy who was so sick upon his arrival 3 weeks ago change to being robust, awake, and behaving as a newborn should!
I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
let the humble hear and be glad.
3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt his name together!
15 The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
and his ears toward their cry.
17 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20 He keeps all his bones;
not one of them is broken.
Excerpts from Psalm 34:15-20
We love you Noah!
Noah, the Bible says, “Noah found grace In The eyes of The Lord …..” I know God has extended grace to you for a special reason on this old earth. God loved you so much. So do we! We can’t wait to hug on you and love you.
Gramma Shar and Grampa Har.
Hugs and kisses.
Praise God!!
Lots of prayers still being said for you. So thankful for the improvements. God is so good!
Such wonderful news Courtney!! God is good! It’s so awesome when we get to see our prayers for Noah’s improvements be answered!
Noah sounds like he is doing wonderfully! I can almost imagine the circus act needful for nursing. Abigail had to be prone at all times – no laying on her back, or having her head elevated above her rear, for a few weeks. We got special dispensation for diaper changes and the car ride home. (Later, she had to ALWAYS have her head elevated — which meant, theoretically, elevating one end of the crib mattress while not allowing her to slide down to the bottom and get cozy. That was the beginning of realizing doctors are not always practical people. They make suggestions with no clue how they can be carried out.)
Psalm 94:18 is one of my “go to” verses. It has carried me through many difficult times. The words of the Lord that you have hidden in your heart will carry you when man’s words (and diagnoses)discourage you.
I was thinking yesterday about your time with Noah and how special it must be. Your heart is torn to be with the rest of your family, but God has set this time a part specially for the two of you.
As an added bonus, you get to physically heal without bouncy boys jumping on your incision! There will be time for that soon enough.
To everything there is a season . . .
Oh I love those words you use. Praise God. Give Noah tons of kisses from Auntie Charity 🙂
I’m so glad you have had this exclusive time with Noah. We experienced the same with Bella, we were at the U of M/Fairview for her first 5 weeks. It also sounds like you have a unfaltering faith! Keep up the excellent working!!! I look forward to meeting all of you soon!!
Shelly, Bill, Joey and Bella Henk