Just a Dude with Tubes

Mommy wanted to see what her baby looked like without his accessories (he was cuter than I imagined :)

High Five!

Little Lion Man

Loves his Granna

Daddy as Gumby for Halloween

First Pumpkin (Squirrels ate it, but daddy went to the store and made a new one)

Final hospital bill...we have a million dollar baby!

In his Sunday best

Seeing Granna Janet for the first time

It has been awhile since I lasted posted, our lives have definitely become more action packed! Little man continues to grow and learn at a fabulous rate.  If you were amazed by him by his feats in the NICU, you would be blown away by everything he has accomplished since coming home. We had a very busy end of October. Landon experienced his first Halloween (as a little lion of course), had a visit from Ryan's mom Granna Janet, learned to roll over, gained a pound (we are now 11 lbs), turned 7 months old and began taking whole bottles more often.  So many accomplishments for our little dude with tubes. I have a feeling we won't be having those tubes for too much longer if Landon continues to blaze his way into being a big boy.

Landon also started physical therapy to make sure that he can catch up to his real age. Right now he is hanging out closer to his adjusted age of 4 months when it comes to motor skills. This is totally expected given how early he was and most babies catch up by age 2. Studies have shown that early intervention services like physical therapy can aid babies in catching up. This is especially important for Landon because he was so early and experienced bleeding in his brain along with a serious illness early in life. These are all high risk factors for complications such as developmental disabilities and cerebral palsy later in life. Although Landon is coming along wonderfully and showing no signs of serious affects from his early birth and arduous journey, he is still is at risk until about age 2. This is scary and makes us anxious, but like everything else we must offer it up to God's hands and pray our little guy continues to defy the odds. 

Landon turned 7 months last week, it is so hard to believe how far we have come. Last year at this time I found out I was pregnant with him. I was excited and nervous and puking at every McDonalds McRib commercial. From the beginning of my pregnancy, I knew something was not quite right. I knew I wasn't going to have a normal journey, though I could never predict the crazy journey we actually had! It was a mother's intuition and that same intuition tells me that we will be ok. This is still very hard taking care of such a special and high maintenance little boy, but I have a good feeling that it will get easier and easier as Landon continues to grow and improve. It doesn't hurt that we have such an amazing support system and all of you praying for us!

Speaking of support systems, we were lucky to have Granna Janet with us for the last few weeks. Landon was happy to finally see his Granna while he was not on a vent and I know she was happy to see the real Lando! It was so nice to have someone helping us with cooking, cleaning, and taking care of Landon. It was definitely hard to see her leave. She was able to see Landon's first halloween where he managed to keep his costume on for a total of 10 minutes (long enough to visit the our next door neighbor's house) before having a total meltdown. I am hoping for a better time next year, though Ryan in the form of Gumby had a wonderful time handing out candy. None of the kids knew who he was, but the parents got a kick out of him!

Ryan and I wanted to note that November is Prematurity Awareness Month. It is important for people to understand the risk factors of prematurity and the devastation (and joy) they can cause. There are many wonderful organizations such as the March of Dimes that work to prevent premature births that we want to make sure are on people's radar. The research done by this organization could make it possible for Ryan and I to experience a normal, term pregnancy one day (once we get over the post traumatic stress of Landon's pregnancy). Many of our preemie mom friends have told me interesting preemie facts in honor of prematurity awareness month such as the fact that Stevie Wonder was not born blind but rather premature and experienced ROP (the same disease Landon had). Thankfully research gave Landon a different outcome, though we wouldn't mind Stevie's musical ability!

Next week we have a big week for Landon. He is going to the eye doctor to check his vision and more importantly to the cardiologist to determine if his pulmonary hypertension and the resulting early heart failure is resolving. Our hope is that his heart looks better so we can start working on getting Landon off oxygen. In the meantime, we continue to work with him to hit his milestones and be the superstar he always is!