Hi everyone,

Things are going great with Drew at home. Hannah and Hollise love to feed him and Houston...he thinks Drew is great as long as long as he is in the swing and he can swing him higher and higher. (just when we're not looking)

Drew has an appointment tomorrow at 1:30 with the Dr so I'll update later.

Andrew is finally home!!!

Houston is so tired from playing with Drew all morning...thank goodness, lol

Doesn't Hannah look like a Happy Big Sister

They're wearing their "I'm a Big Brother/Sister Shirts and seeing him in person for the first time. You think Hollise is excited?

This past week has been full of so many ups and downs. Earlier in the week Andrew was put back on the oxygen because he was sleeping so sound and dropping his O2 level. He is not exactly having trouble breathing, he's not always expanding his lungs enough to oxygenate the blood as he should. His doctor said that would push back or date for bringing him home. Alan and I talked with his doctor about bringing him home on oxygen. We had a very healthy, month old boy in NICU that could be healing and on oxygen at home. It was so hard on all of us being so far from him. I just knew if we were able to have him at home he would progress much faster. I was only able to feed him once a day and see him just over an hour a day. After 37 days I just needed my little boy home and God has given me that wonderful gift.

We have him at home with portable oxygen tanks and a machine that uses the air in our home to generate his oxygen. We were a bit concerned about the kids...3 2 year olds, tubes, tanks, machines, new little brother....just screams trouble. But this has been far from what has happened. They love him so much and understand the "tubes" are there to help Drew. Drew's first feeding at home he had plenty of helpers!! They all brought him a diaper and burp cloths and wanted to hold his bottle. They've really been a big help.

Drew is adjusting really well. At first it was really quiet in our room and Drew was used to constant noise..he didn't like the quiet so much. Now he's sleeping so good when it's nice and quiet. He started fussing yesterday because I was talking on the phone in our room. He's such a peaceful little boy and we're so thankful he's home.

He will have a check-up next Thursday and they'll monitor him off the oxygen in 3-4 weeks. Hopefully he won't need it at all by then, if so that's fine. He will heal in God's time and although I'm not patient my Mother and Step-Mother told me this past week sometimes we just have to be patient and wait for God. How right they are. Thursday I was at the hospital thinking about all the changes the Lord had made in our lives just the last week and I can't help but think of the verse Dennis Crabtree kept on his desk. "Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord" Psalms 27:14 That's exactly what Alan and I had to do...we just needed to be patient and wait for Him.

Thank you very much to Carrie Edwards and Dawn Morgan for dinner last week. I'm not sure if Alan or the kids liked the ice cream better. It was a wonderful dinner and the thought from the both of you really made me feel so good. I just can't describe what that meant to me.

Brandy Monfort....the last brownie was eaten about an hour ago!! I don't know what you do different than I do, but Alan thinks they're fabulous.

Mr. Tommy Luke, I really appreciate the thoughts and prayers for our family. Thank you for the diapers!!!

Thank you all for keeping up with our family and keeping us in your prayers. It means so much to us. Please keep your prayers coming.

Drew and His GrandMama

Drew with Mimi

Drew and Gammy

This morning Drew had some bloodwork done along with an x-ray. His x-ray shows his lungs are clear!!!! His bloodwork was great...Prayers are being ANSWERED every day!! God is just so good.

You know, Alan and I knew we had things good. But it wasn't until we started hearing other stories or seeing others going through similar situation that we see how wonderful our family really is. Our Mothers and our Step-Mother have stopped, rearranged, changed plans and done whatever is needed to help Alan and me. We know they don't mind and that's just the supportive family we have...we're truly fortunate because not everyone has that kind of support. Our Dad's help too, but my Mom, Gina, and Jackie really do so much for us. They have been keeping Hannah, Hollise, and Houston for us (often). They've stopped work to help us, they've cooked, cleaned our house, given baths, ran errands, anything we've needed to keep things going. I can't thank the three of you enough. We just couldn't go through this without you. And I know there are so many more to thank, but these women are truly wonderful and so special to us and our children's lives.

Thank you

Drew is officially the coolest kid in the NICU

Oh no!! Mom has covered my hands...where did they go???

I love my hands

Mommy fixing my tubes :)

Daddy and my new swing

Check out his new swing!! Drew is now 4 weeks old and as I said before he's staying awake more often. He needed something to keep him occupied. He gets so relaxed after his afternoon feeding in this swing.

He's still on the nasal cannula, but he really is doing great. One of his Respiratory Therapist talked to us about the amount of oxygen he has been on and explained some of this to us. We just didn't understand why he had been doing great around 30% and the last day or two he's been on 6o% or around that. I was actually worried he was going backwards with this. But this isn't the case. He's only on 100ml of flow per minute of the percentage of oxygen. So the RT said this is like standing on one side of the room and blowing him a puff of breath and him catching it....it's really very little. He said at this rate with the 100ml of flow it's really the flow he's needing more than the oxygen (probably). He just needs that push into his lungs rather than him taking that full breath alone. This made us feel much better about everything. He just needs time to grow his lungs and we'll be just fine with waiting on God's timing and Drew's. Although I have to admit it's very hard.

His doctor will probably do another x-ray of his lungs on Friday along with checking his blood gases and checking for infections. He doesn't show any signs of infection, it's just a precaution and normal procedure. The amount of oxygen he requires actually tells them more day-to-day what's going on with his lungs rather than an x-ray. The x-ray just confirms the direction things are going right now. So we'll just have to see.

Lisa, thank you so much for taking time to make dinner for our family. We were able to have leftovers too...and the corn casserole was awesome!

So, Drew has had a big week meeting his Mimi on Monday, GrandMama on Tuesday, and today he gets to meet his Gammy. Tomorrow I'll post pictures of him with each of them. I wanted to wait to be able show them all at once...I'm weird I know.

***You'll need to pause the music at the very bottom to be able to hear the video

As soon as I think I'm missing out...God proves me wrong!!! Which is just fine with me. Yesterday the nurse asked if I would like to give Drew a bath and I have to admit I was nervous. Gina (Mimi) was with me and she videoed the whole thing so Alan would be able to see it.

My Mom is coming today (GrandMama) and this is her first time to see Andrew in person. She's only seen him through a window and pictures. She can't wait to get her hands on him!!! I'm excited.

Here's the video of his bath...it's more a soaking bath..but it was fun

For some reason reality set in the first weekend Andrew was born about how sick he really was and somehow that reality slipped away from me. He's maintained his weight really well and now he's really starting to gain weight and grow. Last night he weighed 6lb 10oz. It's really deceiving holding him, feeding him 80 ml of formula and seeing him want more. He's awake from early, early morning until mid afternoon looking around and checking out his little crib. He falls asleep after we feed him in the afternoon and then he only wakes up to eat until about 2 or 3 a.m. By that I mean he only wakes up for his feedings between that time. He doesn't sleep for 12 hrs.

One of his doctors gave us the go ahead Saturday afternoon to try him off the nasal cannula. I was changing his clothes and after about 15 mins off the oxygen his stats were fine. The doctor happened to be standing there and thought..why not..let's give it a try. Drew was able to stay on room air a little over 2 hrs before going back on the oxygen. I thought he did wonderful..2 hrs is a long time after being on oxygen every day of your life. He has started sleeping so sound late afternoons and evening that his oxygen is turned up to 45%-60% and he's on a little lower in the mornings. The doctor also told us they would like to monitor him 5-7 days after he's off oxygen to make sure he has no apnea spells or anything. That's comforting knowing we'll be bringing home a healthy little boy. On the other hand that tells us we've got a ways to go to get him home.

Last night was really hard for me. I called a little after 10 to check on him and he was swinging. They had him in a swing keeping him occupied until time for his feeding. After hanging up I lost it..tears, runny nose, couldn't breathe, the works. This is our last little baby and still we haven't had the opportunity to bring any of our children home and cuddle with them or anything within days of being born. I'm sure this sounds like I'm a whining...I just can't help it. Drew is days from being a month old and still our family is split between locations. Many families have to go through much harder times I know, but for us this is harder than what we had with our triplets and that's tough. Thinking of my little boy laying in a nursery crib, looking around for hours just isn't comforting. I feel like I should be right there...and I can't. Hearing he was in a swing last night just brought the reality back. He's growing and changing and he's experiencing things like a swing, bouncer, baths, etc. in the hospital and for all of those firsts we haven't been there. It's heartbreaking. On the other hand he's where he needs to be. His nurses spoil him and I truly feel like they give him special attention. I'm just having a hard time right now...keep us all in your Prayers.

Great news today....Andrew is moving to the third step-down room this morning. They were admitting more babies and once again he is the wellest (i'm sure this isn't a word) of the sick and gets to move. This is great! He has eaten 80ml (90ml is 3 ounces) through the night and this morning. I told you he's a little pig. They don't plan to do another x-ray until later in the week. But they tell us the amount of oxygen he actually requires tells them more than the x-rays sometimes. God is truly amazing...I feel we are getting closer every day to Andrew being at home.

Hannah, Hollise, and Houston love being back in school. We love it too because they're finally just as tired as we are after supper, lol.

**Watch the slide of pics even after it shows the ones on the page bc there are more coming.

Our Family

This is where he was...scroll down..he's overcome so much!!!
He's a very determined, strong, little boy

Daddy feeding Andrew for the first time

Andrew and Hollise have dimples (this was yesterday)

Andrew's first bottle

So tired after visiting their brother

Visiting Andrew yesterday was so much fun for the kids. He was right under a window and they were actually able to see him good for the first time. They saw me change his diaper and feed him. They would just smile and say "hey Andrew". It was nice for them to know he really does exist. We were worried they would think he was just this picture on our fridge...but they love him. Houston was disappointed this morning he was going to school instead of seeing Andrew...but once he was with his friends he was just fine.

Alan and I are so glad they were able to go back to school today. They've enjoyed being home, playing with grandparents, and being lazy...but they really needed something normal in their schedule. This will be really good for them.

Andrew is now eating just over an ounce of formula...he's a little pig. He's still on the nasal canula and between 30%-40% oxygen. He's doing great and he looks wonderful as you can see in his pictures. He's such a happy little boy.

Please keep praying for our family! We appreciate all your prayers and support.

**Brandy...thank you for the club sandwiches and rotel!! I finished them off yesterday, :)

Andrew's moving to a crib today...

We had a great update this morning. Andrew is still on the nasal canula with a little bit of oxygen...but he's getting to move to a crib. He'll still be in NICU for a little bit but this is such a big step for him...and for us. We were told to bring him some clothes to wear. I'm so excited about getting to dress him. He's going to be the cutest little man in the building!! We will also get to hold. Alan can't wait!! They've allowed me to hold him once for a few minutes, but Alan hasn't been able too.

Please continue to pray for our family and all the babies in the NICU. We know we're only getting through this hard time because of all your prayers. We can feel God taking control of our lives right now..it's nice to know we're in such Awesome hands.

Thank you all. I'll try to put some pictures on tomorrow.