Doesn't my baby look distingushed? His dad took this picture while he was sleeping and i thought it was so cute, he looks like he is in an extremely deep thought.

happy baby

So i haven't posted in a while but all has been well. We went to the developmental clinic two weeks ago and all was well except they said that they did not want him standing up yet!! i was surprised that this would be a problem since they said that he was functioning at a 7-8month level don't 7-8 month olds stand and bounce on your lap when u hold them? but what can i say if this was all they found wrong in a child that they did not expect to even survive then i have no problems. Well last month the nutritionist was not that much impressed with his weight gain since he only averaged 3grams a day thru the month when he usually averages 21grams a month so his formula was increased from 24cal to 27cal. But i found out that my boy does not really like the bottle but enjoys being spoon fed and loves water, so i had to device a plan for him to get all his calories and get enough fluids in him at the same time. So heres what i had bee trying and so far its been working cus he has gained 2lbs in the month. I mix two scoops of his formula in what ever food am feeding him by spoon and give him two to three ounces of water each time he eats am able to do this 3 to 4 times a day. Then i try to get him to snack on a bottle or two thru the day and this has been working great. I was first concerned about constipation but we have not had any problems with date he has even been going more like 3-4 times a day so all in all we are doing great!!!!!

Well nothing much to report. we went to the developmental clinic this week and it was good news, they said that he was functioning at a 7-8 month level which is good considering that he is only 5months adjusted. But i was a little confused on one of the things that the doc had said, she said that she was a bit concerned that he is standing on my lap and bouncing up and down, she said that i have to have to try and stop him from doing that. i thought that 7month olds are supposed to be doing this, well i guess they should know what they are doing. But all in all Michael is doing great, they increased in calorie intake to 27calories to see if he would out on more wieght he gained less than 1/2 apound during last month so they are trying to see if he would put on more weight so well have to see about that next month. here are some pics of my "big boy"

Best birthday present

I've been thinking alot lately, about how lucky I've been. i have been truly blessed. there are still days that i look at my son and its hard to believe that he's really mine. for you to really understand you have to know how far i've come. i have been pregnant four times and i only have one child. my first pregnancy ended after i was kicked in the stomach at work(i worked at a mental health facility). A year later i was pregnant again i was elated, but that pregnancy was not to be, that pregnancy ended at 20weeks and five days with my water being broken and was in labor for 73hours, i held my little girl in my arms she was so pretty. i was pregnant again a year later and we all knew this pregnancy had to be different but that one was not to be my third pregnancy ended at 25weeks, i could not bring myself to hold my son, but my mother and my husband did, he was a fighter but the hospital i had him at was not equipped to take care of such a little person. Took me almost two more years to get pregnant again, by this time i had already given up. i hated going through all that pain and having nothing to show for it. and no doctor i had been too could tell me that this was the problem. they all kept saying there was nothing physically and anatomically wrong with therefore there was no solution to my problems, according to them. So i took my case to the only doctor i knew could heal me i took my case to God. But what i've now learned is that when asking God for something, be as specific as possible, here is why, When i found out i was pregnant i started praying to God for a child that will glorified God's name. If i had known that God was planning on giving me a preemie that will defiy all odds (not that am complaining) i would have been more specific on my prayers. I sometimes don't realize how truly "fortunate" i am until i look back at the experiences i've had in the past year. Being a nurse i know the odds of a 24weeker surviving and better yet one that survived with no problems at all. we had our first emergency room visit on my birthday feb21. i was terrified cus my baby cried no screamed all night friday night with nothing visibly wrong with him, this was not typical of my son, this is a boy that wakes up after 8-11 hours of sleep smiling each morning, so him screaming tells me that there is something terribly wrong with my son. so off we went to the er. and wouldn't you know it michael started smiling as soon as we entered the er. but i still had to find out what was going on. because of his history the docs ordered so many tests, they also wanted to find out what was going on. but after an 8hour stint in the hospital we were discharged with a diagnoses of fussiness!!! but all in all i am thankful. but what the doctors told me is what got me so thankful. one of them came up after all the blood tests and said that my son was the healthiest 24weeker that he has ever seen. the next doc that came in said that she just wanted to see the 24weeker they were talking about, after a brief exam she looked at me smiling and shaking her head, she said do you realize how fortunate u are? all i could do was look up at her smiling. after i got home exausted as i was i hugged my son and thanked him for such a great birthday present, the doctors words was my son's present to me. i have a child, i have a child that is glorifying God's name by existing, i have a son the wakes up each morning with a smile on his face. thinking back to all i've been through with my husband, his many infidelities, the child he had with another woman while we were married, the older woman that confronted me about sleeping with my husband, my three miscarriages, my month in the hospital upside down, the five months my son was in the hospital thinking back on all of this i know that my ordeals were worth it. When i wake up each morning and see that famous smile on my son's face i know all i've been through had been worth it. my son makes it all worth a while and if i had it all to do again i would do it all that same exact way. inspite of what my husband had done without him my son would not have been possible. Big Mic thank you so much for the best birthday present ever!!!

Nothing much to report. Michael is such a happy baby. i finally gave in an started putting him to sleep in his crib and he sleeps thru the night all by himself. he sleeps between 8-11 hours per night, varies depending on how much he had to eat before going to bed. He still will not take more than 3ozs by bottle at a time but am not worried since hes not on solids and hes doing great on it. I think he prefers the solids because he does not have to work as hard when eating. He is still gaining about a pound a month so his doctors are not too worried. The early start came by and discharged us from the program, the nurse said he was exceling in all his developmental milestones so there was no need for any special programs. They said his motor skills are that of a six month old, and considering that he was only three months(adjusted) at the time that was a okay by me. My big boy now weighs 14lbs, and believe me that is a big difference from his tiny 1lb2ozs. My son has defied all odds.
happy boy

big boy holding his bottle

bath time

peek a boo

laughing

This is Timi 10days old!

In my preemie outfit

Bright eyed boy, growing slowly but surely!!!

I fit in the palms of my daddy's hands at two months old!!!

Breathing all by myself

Extubated with a little help from me, i pulled out my breathing tube guess i told them am all ready to do it by myself

This is Timi 10days old!