30 days In...

We can not believe that 30 days have past since Hunter was born and this whole crazy month began. I guess if you want it to be any way this way is ideal...it feels like his surgery was 6 months ago. We feel so far removed it's weird. Maybe now that we are past it we are just pushing it farther behind us or maybe we are just accelerating beyond something we never want to return to...who knows, all that we care about is that we are moving in the right direction.

Hunter is incredible. He is beautiful in every way. He is a completely normal baby. We have been to the pediatrician and he is growing an ounce a day which is normal, he is getting longer (actually by the day) and he is eating like a champ. All of his "signs of trauma" (for lack of a better description; i.e stitches, holes, dura-bond--rubber cement that covered his scar etc) are gone. His scar is really cute, it looks like a seam in his chest, no redness, swelling or irritation. Dr. John did a great job closing him up. Because of the prior defect (that feels good to say) Hunter is a little small. He is one month old and probably just passed 7 pounds (just beyond birth weight). In utero the defect began to take over and it temporarily stunted his growth, then when he was born he had a little surgery that set him back, so now he is catching up and keeping Megan busy doing it...

Looking back on the past 2 weeks of home life we feel so blessed to have our little family together, healthy and adjusting to one another. Stella loves being a big sister and constantly asks to "kiss him", "touch him" and she loves talking to him. My theory on siblings who "act out" when a baby comes home is this; I don't disregard the fact that toddlers act out but before Hunter came home Stella was watched 24 hours a day, she was kept from getting into to trouble and she lived under a watchful eye as our first born...now that Mr. Milk Man is in town Stella has the place to herself and is watched half the amount of time...plus she wants to show off to her brother that she can do this and that...she isn't acting out as much as she is able to get into more trouble.
Since we've been home we have gotten used to our new schedule with medicine, checking Hunters heart rate twice a day etc. It's really not that bad, he gets two meds in the morning and one at night and I listen to his heart rate for 1 minute in the morning and at night with a stethoscope. Stella insists that she have her heart checked as well. Other than that we are having a very normal "new baby" experience and we are loving it. We are sleep deprived but we were ready to be. The second time around isn't as bad; with Stella I think we were so "shocked" at the interruption to our sleep schedule and our selfish lives that it felt harder, with number 2 you have no self so you just role with it. And having gone through what we did it's nice to have an "excuse" to see Hunter at any moment...day or night.

We are not totally out of the woods as we still have yet to see Dr. King, Hunters Cardiologist, for a follow up. This happens for the first of many times on the 25th of May. We assume that in this appointment Dr. King will take a ultra sound measurements of Hunters valves and left side of his heart to make sure that the increased flow from the opening of the Aortic Arch is promoting growth among other things. If it's not, than Plan B. Plan B ain't good. We need those valves to grow and that left side to catch up, if they are not growing the valves may need to be replaced as his heart grows and he grows...each of those replacements is open heart surgery. This is common with many CHD children. We are praying with everything that we have left in us that his heart is growing along with him...we feel confident that it is.

We don't know how to say thank you to everyone for being so incredibly generous, thoughtful, giving, caring and considerate to our family. It is truly a humbling experience to have gone through this but the most awe inspiring experience has been the outpouring of love from our family, friends, neighbors and even perfect strangers. We have received more flowers, gifts, cards, a beautiful hand made blanket, clothes, food...you name it, but the amazing thing is that it is not just from our immediate family or everyday friends. It comes from our entire community, our neighbors (and I don't mean just the folks next door) but people that are aquaintences and friends to people we don't even know. We are so lucky and so blessed to live in Lake Oswego, Portland, Oregon and the US for that matter. Starting with the medical care Megan received, then Hunter received, to the support from our community and now the continued genuine care and concern from our fellow man... it really makes you stop and think that people are inherently good and they want to help and they do care. If you stop to talk to someone and give them time, they will reciprocate, we have learned this. Often times life is to busy to get to know someone new, but as we have experienced over the past month, getting to know someone new is therapeutic, it helps you heal, to grow and makes this place we live in that much better. More importantly it makes you realize that we are all very similar no matter where you come from... It is those people that we have gotten to know over the years that have come running in our time of need...thank you again.

I plan to update the blog at certain "milestones", this is Hunters 4 week birthday, next will hopefully be the good news from the cardiologist visit...