Graduation day tomorrow

We never thought this day would come... it's time to say goodbye to this bedspace in the NICU

That's right- our little boy is moving out of the NICU and into the step-down nursery tomorrow!! And even though it is scary to change our routine (and leave our wonderful nurses behind), we are SO thrilled that he's that much closer to going home. There are still a lot of things that P needs to accomplish before he can come home to us, but going to NPCN is a BIG step in the right direction.

Here's where we are at tonight:
P is 65 days old. He weighs 3 lbs 7 oz and is around 15 inches long (that was his length on last Sunday's length check). P is still on the nasal cannula at 21% o2 and 2 liters. There are talks of moving him to 1 liter in a day or so. He has been IV free for almost 3 weeks now. And his hemoglobin is trending upwards (answer to prayers from last night!), so it's looking like lil' man won't need a transfusion!

God has been SO good to us along the way. Today I found myself reflecting on the many times God has intervened and performed miracles to save Pierce's life. Medically speaking, our son should not be here. I don't ever want to take for granted God's grace and every night I pray over Pierce that he would never know a day apart from Christ. I get so excited when I think about reading him stories from the Bible about how God saved those He loved. And then what really excites me, is how I will be able to close the Bible and tell my sweet son the story of how God saved him.I want to thank each of you for your continued prayers. God has heard them and He is the one who has brought us to this point. Please continue to pray for us as Pierce makes his big move tomorrow.

Here's how you can pray:
Pray for our move tomorrow. That God would place equally wonderful nurses and doctors in our lives to care for our little guy. Pray that his ROP would stabilize and begin to reverse itself and that no laser surgery would be required. Pray that his brain bleed would cause no swelling of the ventricles and that the brain scan on Monday would confirm that Pierce does not need a permanent shunt. And pray that Pierce would be DONE with surgeries and the NICU for good. I know that these micropreemies like to throw you curve balls, but tonight I am asking God to grant Pierce an easier course than expected.

Here are some pics we shot today:

We've been spending lots of time snuggling our little guy. He's much easier to hold these days. Sometimes I wonder if we'll ever put him down once he comes home?!

P loved taking a bubble bath tonight. I'm not sure why this picture makes him look bald, there must've been a glare

P was passed out after bathtime tonight! I couldn't resist squeezing those cheeks!

If all goes well, Pierce could be coming home in 5-7 weeks! His due date was August 4th, and the drs. are hoping he will be able to come home around that time. I know it still seems like a while and we still have some hurdles to clear, but I have SO much to do to get our house ready for P. The nursery isn't even cleared out. Looks like we better get to work on that because Pierce is moving faster than anyone ever expected.

Going to bed tonight with a grateful heart.

Love,
Lindsay