Life Is Good: 3-Months!

Sunday, September 26, 2010

3-Months!

Baby boy you are 3-months-old now! You are a delight to my heart and a joy in my life.

You are now smiling and cooing all the time. You'll talk to almost anyone but you certainly reserve the best smiles and stories for your family. You're a social little guy, and you've started recognizing when you're missing out on all the fun. You complain about being left alone and you complain when things aren't going just right. Your "complaints" are the cutest ever! It's not really a cry but your sounds are of obvious dislike.

You're growing so fast. Just the other day I started pulling out the 0-3 months clothes and bringing in the 3-6 months. You may indeed grow out of your brother's clothes putting you in a size that doesn't match the season. That's one way to get new clothes I suppose! I'm not sure of an exact weight but when I put you on the produce scale today it teetered around 10 pounds.

You love your milk. You love your Mom. You love your worm hanging above the playmat. You love your Dad. You love your fishies (Fisher Price aquarium crib toy). You love your brother. You love attention. You love your family. You love your pacifier (sometimes), but you're starting to love your hands more. You love being held. You love being in the wrap and with the cooler weather coming we'll get to have that more often. You love looking in the mirror.

You don't love gas. Yes...your tummy issues are still our biggest struggles. I'll be glad when they aren't issues anymore. You're taking Gripe Water daily and meds for reflux. Sometimes the only thing that works is laying on your belly across my arm while I walk around the house. You're just so gassy. Sometimes it's funny though. You can toot with the best of them and I know that no one would be believe me if I placed blame on you for some of the loud sounds that you do indeed make. Something has changed in your system. You used to have a little of #2 with each diaper. Now you're saving it all for one big *gift*. And let me tell you!...sometimes it's BIG! Just the other day you had one of those up-the-back, out-the-legs, and everywhere in between jobs. We were in Lowe's and you left the store in nothing more than a diaper but I kept you covered in my jacket. And...yes...one day I know you'll probably hate that I talked about these things, so here's my apology in advance (but I'm not deleting any of it!).

My Little Evan I love you so much. It's such a joy to see you grow and develop. It's delightful to watch the sparkle in your eyes as you talk and smile at your family. It's exciting to see your interest in your brother. He's really the most interesting one around here most of the time. He's also the one to watch out for as you seem to have learned. It's a little funny how you almost cringe when he comes running up. Pay backs! That's all I'll say...pay backs! It's wonderful to snuggle with you on the chair early in the morning. It's great when you give me more than 3 or 4 hours of sleep at a time too (which happens occasionally...but only occasionally). It's fun to take you places. It's so very exciting to think about the moments and days and years to come with you in our family. I love you Evan Alexander Stanfill.

1 comment:

Hilary said...: awe he's such a cutie..makes me want to steal a cuddle too :) Such a blessing!; September 27, 2010 at 8:27 AM

Post a Comment

Brandy Danielle

Brandy is our firstborn, our precious angel baby girl. Her entry into this world wasn't without excitement. At 26 weeks I started preterm labor with contractions 5 minutes apart. With 10 weeks of strict bedrest, most of which were in the hospital, she made it to 36 weeks.
Brandy was diagnosed with "possible/probable" heart defect around 28-30 weeks gestation. After her birth she was whisked away to the NICU for monitoring and after a few days her defect was formally diagnosed and labeled...atrial septal defect and a cleft mitral valve.
Brandy, upon indications of failure to thrive and pulmonary hypertension, underwent her first of 2 open-heart surgeries at 4 months of age. A week after her surgery on the day of her anticipated discharge home Brandy coded for 13 minutes...a stoke.
From that point on Brandy's life was full of doctor's visits, endless crying, pain and suffering. She underwent another heart surgery, fundoplication and g-tube surgery, treatment for infantile spasms, and a mountain of tests and procedures. Her brain damage was extensive.
Upon counseling of our wonderful, most amazing heart surgeon, Dr. Christopher Knott-Craig, and many hours of prayer, we finally called in hospice and called off all of the extensive medical interventions and surgery needs that would prolong her suffering while possibly prolonging her life. Brandy, our precious baby girl...our angel...passed out of our arms and into the arms of her Saviour, Jesus at the tender age of 17 months.

Ryan Andrew

Ryan, our micro-preemie miracle, is a ball of life. After nearly a year of trying to conceive imagine our delight when we finally knew he was on the way. My pregnancy with Ryan was uneventful at first. It seemed perfect and with all of the precautions for preterm labor being taken and monitored we entered this pregnancy with cautious anticipation covered over by a whole love of naive excitement.
At 20 weeks we discovered our "Baby Peanut" was going to be a little boy. We began to make plans and began dreaming about the day we would meet our son.
Almost 2 weeks later everything changed in our lives. It wa a whirlwind of fear and emtions as I began to bleed, was sent for monitoring in L&D and eventually had an appointment with my OB only to find out that it was serious. I had incompetent cervix with hourglassing membranes. The doctor admitted me to the hospital immediately and an emergency cerclage was placed. The statistics were grim, but the hope was to keep our son inside for at least 10 more weeks. We only made it 10 more days.
Early in the evening of February 11, 2007 our son, Ryan, came into this world in emergency fashion at only 23 weeks 5 days gestation. He weighed 1 pound 8 ounces and was 12 ½ inches long. He was so tiny. All I could think of was “oh my goodness is he really that tiny? And is there any way he could actually make it?” I tried to hold on to hope, but in all honesty I had never met anyone with a baby born that early and that small that ever made it.
Ryan did make it! It was a long, hard road, but in the end he spent 90 days in the NICU. He was on a ventilator for 2 months. Finally on one fine glorious day in May we bundled up our 4 pound 4 ounce baby boy and went home...May 11, 2007.
Ryan is now a spunky, lively, strong-willed little boy. His laughter is contagious and his spirit is compelling. He is our miracle. There are no words strong enough to share our delight and joy that God has blessed us with this little boy.

Evan Alexander