Sunday, April 12, 2009

Home Sweet Home

Ben came home about two weeks ago after five long weeks in the NICU. We finally have our sweet little baby home and we couldn't be more happy! He came home on Friday, March 27 and we have been enjoying every moment with him. It was a very emotional time for us, having him in the hospital, to say the least. We could not have made it without all of the love and support of all of our family and friends. Thank you all so much! We are so blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives. We are especially grateful for my parents who took care of Logan almost every day so that I could be with Ben. Logan had so much fun spending time with his grandparents. Logan loved playing "Batman" with Grandpa. I wish I could have seen both of them running around the house in their capes made out of aprons, sounds like they had a blast.

Ben is doing great since he's been home. When he came home from the hospital he weighed 6lbs. 10 oz. We were a little worried that he wasn't eating as much as he should because they said to encourage at least 50 ml every 3 hours and at some feedings he wasn't eating that much. We woke him up every 3 hours day and night feeding him and kept a log of when he ate and how much. When he went to the pediatrician on the following Monday he was up to 6lbs. 15 oz! They want him to gain at least an ounce a day, so we were very excited that he was gaining the weight that he needs to. The doctor had us follow up with him in one week and Ben is up to 7 lbs 7oz. He gained a half a pound in one week! Since he is doing so well the doctor said we can let him sleep longer at night (5 hours at a time) so we can get a little more sleep too.Logan is having to adjust to being more quiet around the house. I never noticed how loud Logan is all of the time until we brought Ben home. Logan is so much fun. He gets so excited about things and is just so full of energy that he can't contain it, so we're working on his "inside" voice.

Life is good at the Kelley house again. We are thrilled to have our little family together. We hope everyone has a Happy Easter!

Going HomeGrandparents GrollBig brother LoganGreat-Nana

Be sure to look at the Pixie Pixels blog in the "My Blog List" in the right hand column for more pictures of Ben that Ashley took.

4 comments:

Gwendolyn said...

Aw, I'm so happy he's home too! However, Zachary is still praying for baby Ben to feel better and be able to come home. :)
I'm glad I finally got to meet him after all this time. He's such a sweet baby. I love the "angry" picture Ashley took- that kid is going to have tons of character.
And I would have loved to see Logan and Kim running around as Batmans too. That's awesome!

Deb said...

Congrats! I am so happy for you guys. He is so cute and looks so much like Logan! I am glad he is ganing weight, he'll be chubby in no time. Five hours between feedings?!!! I wish June went five hours! Im lucky if I get 2 hours...maybe I'm doing something wrong...or I just got a little piggy on my hands. Cant wait to meet him!

Ash said...

I'm so happy he's home too! That was a crazy month. And I tried so hard not to bug but every day I wanted to know if he was coming home. I love how cuddely he is. I need to come see him again so I can get some snuggle time now that Fred is a honker and wants to play not cuddle. He's an adorable boy!

Mellie said...

That's cute, Gwen. Logan prayed for Ben to get feeling better and come home for like 3 days after he was home.
I don't think you're doing anything wrong, Deb. Ben just sleeps all the time, he has just started staying awake longer these last couple days. When he first got home we had to wake him up for every feeding, now he's starting to want to eat on his own every 2 1/2 to 3 hours. He has one stretch at night that is five hours which is really nice! But he's turning into a little piggy too which is so awesome to see compared to how he was in the hospital.
And you didn't bug me, Ash, it was nice of you to keep everyone updated for me. :)
I would love for you guys to come visit since I'm stuck in the house for a couple more months until Ben can be around more people. His doctor did give the OK for us to go on walks, so I'm hoping it warms up soon!