Amazed

Today, my baby (my second baby) is ONE MONTH OLD!  Somehow, as slow as the days seem to go by, especially the hard days, it still seems like this month has flown.  Much of it, a complete blur.  I cannot even believe he has already been in the hospital for a month.  I am still in total awe of the amazing work that God has done and continues to do in his tiny little body.  Typically, a baby's lungs are not fully developed until 34-35 weeks gestation, and sometimes even later for little boys.  So the lungs of a little boy born at only 28 weeks gestation are a far cry from being mature and ready to breathe.  And yet, somehow, my little boy came out breathing on his own.  No, his lungs were not as developed or strong as a full term baby, but he is getting there, and doing unbelievably well.  The only support he has had was a CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) that provided oxygen (sometimes extra, if he needed it) and pressure to help keep his lungs from collapsing in between breaths.

The doctors told us that he would more than likely need to be 34 weeks before they tried to take it off and let him breathe without it, but this week, they have started weaning him off.  It has been a long week, and pretty slow going, as we didn't want to overwhelm him, or move faster than he was ready.  But today, he is completely off the CPAP.   He has been off and breathing totally on his own since 11 o'clock this morning, and is doing fantastic.  There is still the possibility that he may need some help again later, but for now, he's not needing any.  He is only 32 weeks.

All I can do tonight is sing praise to the awesome and mighty God that I serve, and for the true miracle that is my son.  My son.  My one month old son in the NICU.  This is a place that I never pictured or expected myself to be.  We weren't planning on getting pregnant yet, but we did.  We weren't planning on preterm labor, but it happened.  We weren't planning on another Christmas in the hospital, but that's where we'll be.  This was certainly not our plan, but I know that through all this, God is and will be glorified.  So I will continue to praise Him, and trust in His plan, and not my own.