I would love to share more of my AMAZING Friday and how we got there. This is the second part of our journey. I would love to show you pictures of the people who helped to get us there, but I have not asked permission to show their photos online so I will just tell you about them as we go. This post has a few pictures in it. One from each month of our stay in the NICU. Hope you're ready, here we go.
Once I had been wheeled into the OR my Doctor was calming and confident. Trust me, going into an emergency c-section where you KNOW the chances your little boy could very well NOT make it, well let's just say its a tad frightening and to have a Doctor giving you positive affirmations as another sticks a huge needle in your back is nice. The procedure was over before I knew it. I heard them say "cutting" and a few other words but that's about it. I remember seeing my TINY little man being lifted over my body and handed to over to the
NICU team. I didn't recognize the nurse but once that Doctor poked her head around the curtain with my son in her arms, a calm came over me like I had never felt before. I KNEW we were in the right place with the right staff and things were going to be OK. Now don't get me wrong I knew they were going to be difficult, but it was going to be OK.
William Michael was brought into this world at 5:56 pm on October 24th 2007. He weighed in at a whopping 2 pounds 2 ounces (960 grams) and 12 inches long. Dr. Hassell and nurse Sarah were the first people to touch my son. I wish I knew who the respiratory therapist was that day, but i just don't remember!!
Now if you remember, at this time my husband was in Iraq. He knew I was going to have a renal ultrasound to check on my kidney function and he would call later that night to check on me. Well, after the surgery I was taken back to my room to recover. Sister 1 stayed with me that night. Mike called and got the news of his life. Congratulations, you're a daddy....again! He talked to his command and things were moved as quickly as possible to get him home. He was in Tennessee less than 24 hours after William was born. Here is one of the first pictures of Mike with Will. That is Mike's wedding band on Will's arm. Mike got to stay a full 10 days with us. I needed him in more ways than I could have ever guessed.
Moving on to November. Our little man was growing for sure!! He was beating the odds so far. There wasn't too much to report this month. We were doing the whole NIU roller coaster thing and I hated every second of the ride. I has recovering from high blood pressure, an emergency c-section, getting used to my husband being home and having to let him go all over again. I was also learning how to explain to both Morgan and Mike what exactly was happening to and with Will. I was SO exhausted!! I would cry for no reason at all. I remember waking up and taking Morgan to school, going directly to the hospital and sitting there staring at Will until it was time to go get Morgan from school. I barely made it through homework and bath time before it was time to go back to the hospital. I couldn't stand to be away from him. I would stay until 10pm or later, go home, sleep and do it all again the next day. I will forever be grateful to my mother for the selfless way she filled in all of my gaps. She would take Morgan to school, pick her up, put her in bed, go be with Will...ANYTHING I needed/wanted her to do. She was my saving grace for sure. That Thanksgiving we really had something to be thankful for. Our little man was doing well. Not healed but not as bad as it could have been...not at all!! Mike had to go back to Iraq and all I wanted to do was hold him forever! The below picture of Will was at the beginning of November when he was showing how strong he truly was. Two pounds and breathing on his own. Before he got lazy. 
Unfortunately for me, there was a new Doctor in the unit that night. I will NEVER forget meeting Dr. Hamdon. I don't think he will forget me for a while either. I was at Wills bedside and he asked me to step out so they could get some blood or something of that nature. I had to inform him that I had NEVER left the room unless they were putting him on a vent and I was not about to step out now for blood. Will was already on a vent and I didn't think it could get much worse. That is until they mentioned the word "oscillator." Now for a lot of people that doesn't mean much, but for me, it meant the beginning of the end. I was scared I was about to lose my little man.
I knew that one of his lungs was partially collapsed but I didn't know exactly how bad. I'm glad I didn't know. However, I knew that oscillators were not good, at least for me they weren't. I asked Dr. H if he could give me a time that I could see improvements. He couldn't. I asked how bad it was. He didn't know. I asked if I needed to call my husband back from Iraq to say good bye to his son. he couldn't give me an answer. I was freaking out!! At that moment, Dr. H said one of the best things I think I have heard a Doctor say, "Give me an hour." I gave him that hour. He asked me to give him until midnight. I did. Will was improving. SLOWLY, but it was progress. I eventually went home that night. I did call his nurse every hour at a minimum. Eventually, she told me NOT to call back until after shift change or she would tell everybody to ignore my calls. I loved that nurse. She knew what I needed to hear and how to approach me. This all happened on my 27th birthday...Happy freaking Birthday, right??
The rest of December went rather well. It took a few steroid threats from Dr. K and eventual action on those threats to get Will OFF of the ventilator. When he decided he had enough of that tube down his throat he took off...for a while. In December Will grew and grew. He learned how to take a bottle (thanks Michele) and he learned how to MOVE (thanks Tasha). Santa even came to see Will in the NICU! Nana made him is amazing stocking that got HIGH marks from the NICU staff. She does this for every child and grand child. Mike is the first son-in-law to ever have one, that's a BIG step y'all, mainly because they are a TON of work!!! Here is a picture of Will and his stocking. At this time he was still in preemie clothing and was as long as his stocking.
January was a big month for mister man. He was well ALL month!! He was so well in fact that he learned he LOVED to swing! And he LOVED his rain forrest bouncer seat. However, he was NOT well enough to stay on the nasal cannula. We had a CPAP battle ALL month long!! Here is where the lazy comes in. We knew he COULD do it he just didn't seem like he WANTED to do it. We had a billion breathing treatments, more OT and Speech. We learned that Will really enjoyed his bath and being held. What baby doesn't right? Finally, we were just playing the waiting game. Waiting on Will to be ready to breath on his own. Little did we know it would take him another 2 and a half months to do this!! Here is Will with one of his 5 BILLION pacifiers.
Mike got to come home again around the first part of Feb. Will had changed SO much since he had seen his daddy. We had even moved into the Step Down unit. Let me say that the move from High Side to Step Down normally thrills parents to death. I on the other hand BEGGED to stay on High Side. I was so scared that Will would get over there and get sick and have to come back and I just did not want that heart break. I was terrified!! I am so glad that Dr. I was the one to move us. he gave me LITTLE warning and just said it was going to happen...BAM it happened before I even had much time to argue about it. Thank you Dr. I. Once Will figured out that if he was on the nasal cannula he could come home, he started trying to prove himself. He did very well. He was eating like a champ. So much so that Dr. P decided Will could set his own schedule. As long as he didn't go over his daily limit, we were good. Will Thrived on this. He started sleeping the majority of the night and being very active in the day time. OT took off this month and Will was a champ!! Will had his first (of way too many) ear infections this month, it was easily taken care of with Amoxicillan.Will was doing SO good that since Daddy was home for a visit, we got to have a sleepover in the hospital. Mike and I got to spend tons of time with our little man. Both of my sisters, nieces, Morgan and my parents came. We had Pizza and cake and a wonderful time. Mike and I got to be parents to our little man for a night...neither one of us slept too much. But it was so fun and so worth it! Not long after this sleep over, Mike had to leave, yet again. We kept telling ourselves this was "the easy good bye" but it never is. here is our first picture as a COMPLETE family.
March was grand for us. March is my Mom's birthday month. We went to the Nashville Lawn & Garden show had some lunch and hung out with Will. He was such a big boy. He enjoyed just being with people. He would watch you walk by. He loved to swing and sit in the bouncer. He had become a VERY active 5 month old. He wanted attention ALL the time!!! Do you blame him?? We were told early in March that Will would be going home soon and asked if I had his room put together and his car seat. All of that "fun" mommy stuff. My answer was no. They were shocked. I just could not bring myself to buy ANYTHING until it was time to walk out the door. Thankfully Mike knew this and convinced me to buy the stroller and car seat before he left. I had decided to take a trip south to Mississippi to see some family before Will came home. I'm so glad I did. I needed the rest, relaxation and SHOPPING that came with it. Thanks Gina for letting us stay at your house and just go with the flow. While we were there we went shopping. I found the most precious outfit to bring Will home in, a teal and brown crochet overall set. It even had a white giraffe on it. I collect giraffes so I just knew it was for him. Once I was back from my weekend away, things moved SUPER fast!!! We had car seat tests and hearing tests and a rooming in and it seemed like we were gone!! Here is a picture of Will a few days before we headed home.
I know it sounds like our NICU journey was a breeze and compared to SO many, it was. We don't have any eye problems. We don't have any hearing problems. We never had any hernias. We have never had any big digestive problems. We were blessed. We did have some lung issues but we can work with those. I learned along this journey to take everything with a grain of salt. I learned never to ask when Will was coming home, but to trust that he would. The majority of the time, that was MUCH easier said than done. I learned to trust that the nurses, Doctors and staff were doing the BEST that they could for our son. I made some AMAZING friends through the NICU. We keep in touch with several of them. In fact, Will's girlfriend and her family are coming to visit us soon. Another of our friends is having a birthday very soon that his parents were told would possibly NEVER happen!! DO NOT under estimate these kids!! They are tiny and they have A LOT to over come but don't count them out. They will shock the heck out of you every time!!
This concludes the second part of our journey. I cannot wait to share with you the next part. It will mainly be in pictures. I think that's easier on both of us!! Till next Friday y'all.
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