With full hearts and abounding joy, we are excited to finally share some details!
It is so nice to finally be home! After spending three months in the hospital (5 weeks with Kacee on bedrest in Antepartum; two months with Landry in the NICU) it's easy to recognize and appreciate the simple pleasures associated with being home. We have been home now nearly two weeks and it has been so many things... amazing, overwhelming, hilarious, enriching, busy, humbling, fulfilling...and so much more. More than anything, we feel content and grateful to have made it this far, this soon. Landry is precious and is so patient with us as we try to figure out our new routine. As we move her around the house, from one room to the next, while trying to avoid getting tangled up in all the chords, she just looks up at us with her big blue eyes and conveys a feeling of contentment...we can't help but laugh at her disposition during our comedy of errors.
Our living room has turned into our own version of an at-home NICU. Many of you know that Landry came home with a few machines. Four to be exact. At all times, she is connected to an oxygen machine that provides a 1/2 liter flow thru a nasal cannula. About half the day, she is connected to a "pulse/ox" machine that monitors her heart rate and oxygen saturation. Each time we feed her, we load her milk into a bag that hangs from a mobile pole and is delivered to her at a designated feeding rate, by a machine, thru her G-tube. Lastly, twice a day we give Landry respiratory therapy treatments, lasting 10-15 minutes each time. Altogether, it looks and sounds overwhelming, but we are very familiar with how they all work, and all the noises, beeps, alarms, etc. Before we left the NICU, our nurses taught us well, and now we feel like we're getting the hang of it!
It's amazing how God meets us just where we are, and gives us ALL we need to get us through the days. We've had a few overwhelming moments, but just when we need it most, we will read the perfect devotional...as if it were written specifically for us. Or Landry will give us a big smile and melt our hearts, reminding us how great our life is. We are embracing each day with joyful hearts and trying to not take for granted the fact that our family is finally under one roof. We are happy to hold her, console her, or give her a feeding when we're tired and it's 2:00am. We praise the Lord (and Landry) each time she fills a diaper, assuring us that everything is working just right. And just like all new parents, we are trying to find balance in our new roles.Thank you for all the encouraging texts, emails and phone calls. We wish we could take Landry everywhere we go so she can meet all her friends and family (all of YOU), but the reality is that we need to be extrememely careful for the next few weeks and months to keep her strong and healthy. Especially now that kids are back to school, we must steer clear of RSV and flu season. The absolute last thing we want to happen is for our June Bug to end up back in the hospital because she is sick. As for now, she has officially met aunts and uncles (except for Aunt Krista and Uncle Jody, that will hopefully be before too long). We have limited her vistiors to only immediate family. We will continue to post pictures and keep you up to date on how she is doing.
I know we have said it so many times, but THANK YOU for walking this journey with us. It means so much! Please join us in praying that she will thrive here at home, that we are able to meet her needs as parents, that she will continue to tolerate faster feeding rates, that she will progress with her speech-pathology treatments, and that we can soon begin to wean her off of oxygen.
We love her more than ever and can't wait for you all to personally know sweet Landry. She is such a sweet gift from God!
Love you all!
Kacee & Kyle
