Home at last!

Saturday, August 13, Tucker was finally discharged from the NICU and just in time for Paige's birthday party! :) Friday, we were told the great news that he would be able to go home the next morning! I stayed the night at the hospital and roomed in with him and for the first time he had no cords or monitors. I was a little nervous at first, but soon jumped into my mommy mode and things were great. It was such a wonderful night bonding with him with no interruptions. The next morning, Jason and Paige came to the hospital to pick us up (we hadn't told Paige yet). She didn't fully understand he was coming home with us that day until we were walking to the car and she saw him in his car seat! She was SO excited! It was such a relief as we left the hospital parking lot...a chapter closing. Tucker is now 6 weeks old and has been home for 2 full days and is doing wonderfully. We are still adjusting to having him home, but we are all managing well. Jason goes back to work this week and we can finally begin to get back into some sort of routine again! We are still awaiting orders and where we will be going. We are praising God for his provisions for our family and giving us the strength to make it through this experience. He has given us this little miracle and we are so blessed. Again, we thank everyone for the continued prayers. We are so amazed and God's work!

1 month update

Well, right now we are awaiting what was supposed to be a "super" typhoon, but has now been downgraded to a category 2 (90-100 mph winds). We were strongly encouraged not to stay at the hospital with Tucker since they would be double staffed and they also have alot of pregnant women that have to go in during the storm in case of labor. It was very hard to leave him and know we wouldn't see him for a couple days at the most. This story just keeps getting better :).

Tucker is now a month old and weighs in at a whopping 3 lbs. 11 oz and 16 1/2 inches long! He has had some ups and downs and the most recent is he had gotten off his oxygen, but after about 3 days had some big drops in his heart rate and breathing and they had to put it back on. The doctor thought he might have some sort of infection going on since their body can't run a fever yet, they heart rate drops. They did several blood tests, a spinal tap and a catheter and ruled out an infection and are thinking it is just immaturity still. It was emotional for his mother ;). On a better note, he is now taking all of his feeds (8) by mouth. Some days are a little harder on him than others and he is just to tired to eat so they have had to use the feeding tube. When he can go at least a 24 -48 hours without having to use the tube it will come out! Another big prayer answered is he had his eye test this week and so far everything looks good for his gestational age and they are progressing well. He will have another test August 16 (please pray). He also had another ultrasound to make sure there is no fluid on his brain and that came back all clear. He has had, I think 4 other checks and this was just routine again. Another good thing is he is now wearing clothes! I know this isn't a huge shock, but it means he is beginning to regulate his temperature. He is still in an isolet, but he is almost ready to have the top opened to make sure he can regulate his temp well then he will get to be in an open crib! I know this all sounds like a foreign language, but it's good news! haha He has changed alot in this month and is starting to look more like a newborn and less like a preemie (if that makes sense). We think he has a little red hair as well so look out! :)

Another big milestone we had this week...Paige turned 4!! We cannot believe how fast the time has gone! Since all of this with Tucker has been going on, she has had to deal with hospital living during the day, but for her birthday, Jason took her bowling and got her ice cream! She had so much fun! This weekend we are having a little Strawberry Shortcake party for her with a few of her friends. We are working it in between Tucker's feeds! Such a crazy life right now!

We have been so blessed with so many kind words and prayers from so many people. We have such an amazing support and prayer system and we thank you all so very much and I know our families thank you as well! We look forward to the next stage of this season of life and bringing Tucker home to join our family. What a day that will be!! We are also looking forward to see where God will be taking our family. We are awaiting orders to be reassigned back to the states where Tucker can recieve the medical care that he will need! There are no pediatric specialists here, so the doctors are sending us back! We are very thankful for the time that we go to have in Japan, but look forward to being closer to family and friends :). Thank you all again for all of your continued prayers! We love you all!!