Prematurity Awareness Day and Grandpa's Birthday

It's amazing how one day you can be pretty much oblivious to something and the next day you have never been more aware of anything in your entire life.  Prematurity is one of those things.  We do have friends that had a preemie years ago (before I ever knew them), but today that preemie is a healthy 7 year old (I hope I have her age right!).  I have only ever known her as that healthy little girl.  So, in all honesty, I had never given much thought to what it meant to have a preemie...until October 14th.  When the swab turned blue and the nurse looked at me and said "your water broke", we became instantly aware of prematurity.  At the time we thought we were going to have a 29w1d preemie and I had never been so scared in my life.  Obviously, that didn't happen.  But, everyday I was in the hospital I would read about horror and success stories involving 29 week preemies, then 30 week preemies, then 31 week preemies, then 32 week preemies and finally 33 week preemies.  I tried not to get too ahead of myself and I would only read stories of preemies who were around the same gestational age Dominic was at the time.  I learned a lot about the struggles preemies and their families face.  I learned a lot about the wonders of the NICU and the advances that continue to be made.  I love D more than I could have ever imagined loving anything, but I wouldn't wish this experience on anyone.  So, I hope the March of Dimes continues to fight for preemies and their families.  I hope all of you will take a few minutes to check out their website (http://www.marchofdimes.com/) and learn about what they do and what prematurity really means.

And speaking of preemies, let's talk about my preemie.  Dominic gained another 52 grams today!  So, he is up to 4lbs 4.1oz.  I guess those extra 4 calories he gets at each feeding are really kicking in.  He has finally been able to keep his temperature up, so he moved to a big boy bed today (it's the typical nursery bed that all babies are in after they are born).  It was wonderful to see the giant isolet rolled out of here.  We tried a bottle today but he was just so sleepy so he really didn't do much with it.  However, he nursed like a rock star at his 9pm feeding.  Grandpa Ray's birthday is today so he dropped by for a visit.  Nick and I had decided that once he was out of his isolet we would let family hold him.  It must have been Grandpa Ray's lucky day, because the day he had planned to visit was the day D got out of the isolet, so he got to hold D for his 6pm feeding.

I am sitting here in Dominic's room typing this and I feel calm.  We had a good day he is sleeping contently and I know when I walk out of here I am just going down the hall.  Happy day!

Grandpa Ray enjoying his birthday present...and then he was lucky enough to take Nick and I out for dinner :)