Post NICU-Half Birthday!!

Happy 6 Months!!!

6 months is the new 2 months!!! Today we celebrate the 6 months Stetson has made his way into our hearts, ALL of our hearts! His actual due date would call for him being corrected only 2 months and boy has he grown since we have welcomed him into this world and even since we have brought him home.

We have been discharged with our sweet miracle boy for a whole month now and life has for sure changed! You may have noticed I have yet to write any blogs or updates on social media and I promise it is not intentional. The transition from the NICU to home has been great and we have been soaking up all the love we brought home, but with this required some changes in which we have learned within this month to get accustomed to. Let alone the transition from 2 kids to 3 is WILD and busy! Big props to all the families with more than 3 children or children so close in age. Our kids are all 7 years apart and the older two are pretty self sufficient, so it definitely made it fairly easy when we were getting settled at with baby brother.

Stetson's discharge took us by a bit of surprise. Our last hurdle was feeding and we were told this would be one of the longest times during our stay. His NICU care team started introducing feedings about 1 1/2-2 weeks after his due date and I was terrified but excited. We started a feeding program for him and had some hiccups and mess ups along the way (which I will write a whole other blog on it at a later time) but he overcame them with the help of some of his team advocating for him and getting all things checked out prior to being discharged. We are so very thankful for everyone at Children's Hospital Colorado for listening to us and helping us make the best possible decisions on Stetson's behalf and even now. The NICU prepared us for home as much as possible but we were all so terrified to bring a once 1lb 4 oz baby home after spending almost 5 months in the NICU. I wrote down everything our care team told us, but was still very nervous and scared that I was going to do something wrong that would affect his health. I can't tell you how any times I've called the NICU, reached out to some our care team and his pediatrician, Children's pharmacy and more- each and every time, they were so encouraging and helpful. So understanding and reassuring that we are doing great. Since Stetson has been home, he has indeed been doing great! Going from a tiny little baby to now over 10lbs is truly beautiful to witness.

Coming home, we knew change was inevitable and we were pretty adamant about not leaving the house with Stetson as we do not want him exposed to much of anything; however, realistically we are an extremely active and busy family. Our older children play multiple sports and always have something going on. Staying home with him all hours of the day is just not doable as we want to be as present as possible for each child but also want Stetson to be able to get accustomed to life outside of the NICU and enjoy the beauty around him. Taking Stetson to and from anywhere is a trek, but we have managed to find a way. I have even taken on solo shopping trips with our baby and I tell ya, it's about 10 minutes of me getting out of the vehicle with him but it's fine- we are all fine! Our little fighter came home on oxygen and that we do have to take his oxygen tank with us wherever we go along with extra materials in case of any tubing changes during outings. He is also on a very strict medication schedule. If you are ever around me you will soon learn that my phone alarm goes off just about every hour with reminders. Yes, it drives me nuts sometimes, but anything for our little boy. When it comes to feedings, as mentioned above, Stetson's bottles are not your typical bottles. I can't necessarily prepare them for on the go. A formula bottle takes about 15 minutes at least to fully be ready for him to consume and a breastmilk bottle takes about 20-25 minutes to be ready for consumption. This is due to us having to add an additional thickener for every feed. With that being said, if we do go on an outing, we make sure to feed him right before and that we are home within the time for his next feed. We tend not to go too far for now and are satisfied to know that he has been doing so well with being out and about.

The beauty of time and just being still due to the presence of Stetson has been beautiful and so needed. To go through discharged after being in the hospital for just shy of 5 months, I knew things would be tough and as much as I have cried tears of being exhausted, I also cry tears of joy that our family is fully complete and we are learning a new way of life that our child is living. Stetson Rhett is such a calm baby. He has the most adorable pouty face and cry that it makes you giggle. If ever you find yourself in a rough predicament and question miracles, please think of Stetson. That 10% chance we were ultimately told was no match for him. I will continue to share more of his story very soon.

If you and your family are currently going through discharge or transition from the NICU to home, please don't ever hesitate to reach out. It's stressful, it's tiring, it's overwhelming but it's amazing once you can figure out a routine.

Thank you for being here! <3

xo,

TheHotMessBrunette