Skip to main content

My heart is full

As I sit here holding my breath as I wait and see if we're going to get lucky and get both boys to fall asleep my heart is full. It's crazy how quickly this has become our new normal and I love it. With Kaleb being a preemie we are basically home bound other than getting out for his doctor's appointments, but I don't mind. After three months of being an hour away from him I'll take all the time I can get.  I do find myself smiling as we travel with Kaleb to appointments. I think back to when I was a new mom traveling with Kaden and I thought it was hard, how much stuff there seemed to be to bring and remember. Now with Kaleb, thanks to TJ, we have a method that we both agree isn't as bad as we feared as we travel with all Kaleb's extra accessories.

Kaleb has forced us to slow down and spend more time at home instead of always on the run. You could say we are hibernating for the winter. This has allowed us the time to learn how to be a family of four. I may not be making gourmet meals but I am enjoying trying to make a few more meals again and getting to eat together again as a family. I am loving how my husband continues to amaze me as I watch him with both of our boys as we work together as equal partners to care for our boys and the house. I'm loving bath time when I hear Kaden playing with his toys in the bath while I bathe Kaleb. I love watching Kaden love on Kaleb. He thinks he has to help put him to bed at night and help get him up in the morning. My heart is full. 

Today we had one of Kaleb's appointments. While at his appointment we learned Kaleb is now 9lb 2oz. He has officially gained seven pounds since birth. After his appointment we went back to visit some of our extended family, our NICU family. While we are so unbelievably happy to be home it was great to see our NICU family again. I can't begin to explain the impact that this special group of people have had on our hearts. While Kaleb may never remember these superheroes that cared for him during his first three months, when they were the ones better equipped to care for him than we were, we will remember and be forever grateful for them. It is no exaggeration to call them family. When your child is in their care, when you know it is their hands caring for and loving him when you cannot, they become family. Thank you to all who helped care for our Kaleb. The saying it takes a village definitely holds true for Kaleb. I am so excited to hang his NICU family print displaying all of the signatures in his room to be a visual reminder of his first home and special members of our family. As I said my heart is full. 




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

My letter to Alex Gordon

Alex, I wanted to share a few pictures with you that show why I'm writing to thank you. You see my three year old, Kaden, knows more about baseball and the Royals than many adults I know. He loves as he would put it "all of the Royals" but without a doubt, without any hesitation when asked who is his favorite player is his answer is always one player; you.  I'm not kidding when I say Gordo was one of his first words. In fact anything baseball for the longest time was called Gordo. I'm not exactly sure why he took such a liking to you. I joke it's because his first ever game at the K and you hit a grand slam when he was not even a year old. For what ever reason he adores you. He even has a little Gordo plush doll that he likes to take everywhere.  This past year has been the toughest year for our family. Our second son, Kaleb, was born 12 weeks early at 2lb 2oz. We also learned of his diagnosis of Down syndrome two days after his birth. He spent...

Home

Sitting here in Kaleb's nursery rocking him I look around his room and think about how many people have contributed to his room. How incredibly loved he is. I look at the decals I searched for and then put up with the help of his daddy. The chair I am sitting in given to us by Heather who sometime soon I will trust to oversee his care during the day. The little bear on the nightstand that Haley helped me pick out for him before we left the NICU. On the bookshelf sits the Curious George from Nana. I also see the Panda bear from Rance, Jessica, and Heath.  Baskets purchased while shopping with Courtney. Even the cart that his Grammy and Gramps found so that we could put all of his medical equipment on so that we could wheel it around the house. Everything in his room all the way down to the baseboards and doors finished by Daddy and Dalton were a work of love as we prepared the room for our little K2. The NICU family print that will soon be on the wall above his dresser, signed by th...

Extra Chromosome and All

When I began my blog I admitted that while people were often commenting on my positive outlook I am not always sailing through on a cloud of positivity. I struggle, I have days where the reality of the past five months sets in or the uncertainty of the future can seem daunting. I told myself that if I were going to write about our journey that I would be open and honest, and that includes the hard moments. The moments, days, or weeks when the emotions hit. Some might wonder why I would write and share those moments with people. Why I would open myself up to that level of vulnerability, especially when those who know me know how I value my independence and strength. In those first few days after Kaleb was born and we had received the diagnosis of Down syndrome I had many emotions that I was ashamed of feeling. “What loving person would ever have these feelings?” would often go through my head and result in me feeling even worse. They were feelings that I could not even bring myself t...