One month old! Home from the NICU! All limbs still in tact! Not surviving– Thriving!

Yesterday, Truitt turned one month old. Tomorrow, he would have been 37 weeks gestation, and considered safe to deliver as a full term baby. On top of the difficulties of being premature, 60-90% of the babies born with the non-immune hydrops condition that he had do not survive. His hands and feet were so swollen and black and purple at birth, that the doctors had warned David that his hands or feet or even limbs may have to be amputated if gangrene set in. The day he was born, the initial goal was to keep him alive until Leisel saw him. Truitt’s life is truly a miracle!

We all sang happy-one-month-birthday to him yesterday, and ate some brownie cupcakes in his honor. 🙂 He seems to like being at home, and does not seem to be bothered by all the excess love and noise. He is a night owl, and therefore a true Prentice! He is happy at night, just awake, and wants to be held. After all of the nights that we couldn’t hold him, we totally don’t mind! We are just getting well accustomed to sleeping in the recliner. He is eating well with his bottle, and the quantity of diapers he is going through shows he is getting plenty and digesting it well! (He went through the entire package and a half that the hospital sent home with him in less than 24 hours!)

Truitt is seeing a pediatric occupational therapist who is giving him (and teaching Leisel) lymphatic massage to help move the fluid out of his hands and feet. He sees our PCP tomorrow for the first time, and his official over-seeing care will be transferred from the hospital to her. He sees the pediatric orthopedic specialists on Tuesday to see what they recommend for his hands and feet. He has a tongue tie that makes it somewhat difficult for him to nurse well, so he is scheduled to have that fixed in a couple of weeks.

Praises:

• Truitt is home and thriving
• He came home on no medications
• He is eating and growing well

Prayer Requests:

• That his hands and feet would continue to heal
• For wisdom for his new doctor and the orthopedic specialists
• That he would transition from the bottle to nursing well
• For rest for our family as we care for him at home