NICU Rollercoaster....

We are on the NICU rollercoaster of ups and downs and are hanging on for dear life!! Grant had a bad day today, he had alot of apnea episodes today (apnea is when he stops breathing) and they had to put him back on the SiPap Machine to assist him in breathing. It gives him a rate of 15 breaths a minute and he seems to be doing better. They are checking for infections and doing a complete work up on him to make sure something serious isnt causing the apnea. Now the issue we had with his weight seems to be doing alot better. He now weighs 3lbs 8oz!! Holy cow!! Mike also got to hold him for the first time this morning before he started having issues and loved it... Its weird to think that Grant was more than 3 weeks old before he got to hold him... We just have to get used to the idea that we may not get to hold him every day and he may not be home as soon as we would like...but we rather him get all the help he needs and be watched 24/7!! We are keeping our heads up and know that tomorrow will be a better day!! Cant express enough for the thanks we feel for those who have prayed for him. We know Grant needs them and apreciates them. Keep em coming!!!!!

.update.

Quick update on Grant.... He is still doing fairly good... The main concern right now is that he is having trouble gaining weight. When you have a preemie they go off of your gestational growth chart to see where they're at. When Grant was born he was 90% for his height and 90% tile for his weight... he was BIG for his age at 27 weeks and 5 days! (and he was only 2 15!!) Well now he is 90% tile for his height..who woulda thought! :) and only in the 50% tile for his weight! They did some tests and discovered that his sodium content was really low... and this may be why he isnt gaining like he should...so they put him on sodium yesterday morning and when they weighed him at night he gained 40 grams!! (a little over an oz!) Thats HUGE compared to the 10 grams he was gaining or losing every day!! So I think we fixed the problem and he should start fattening up! He weighs 3lbs 3 oz and is 3 weeks old today and gestation age is 30 and 5... they tell us to expect him home anywhere between 35-38 weeks gestation!! It has been so hard not having him home but we know he is where he needs to be... we cant wait to be together as a family again and we are so thankful that despite the weight issue he is doing so well.. he is such a miricle!

.New Pics of Grant.

Grant folding his hands together!! So precious!


I love it when he opens his eyes....


Seeing my hand next to him really shows how small he is...
my thumb is bigger than his upper arm...


Perfect...Just Perfect!

14 days in the NICU down...keep it up bud

We are so proud of Grant! Not only did he break the 3 pound mark today he is breathing on his own again!! We went down at his 2 o' clock feeding today and he was doing so well that I got to hold him for the 4th time... We will go back tomorrow and it will be Mikes first time holding him..he has been so patient and great about wanting me to bond and be the one to hold him first...I love him so much! Oh and he just turned 24 on the 20th of May..Happy B day hun!!!

Rough day....

Well our little Grant is such a fighter! He had a really rough day in the NICU yesterday. He was having trouble breathing all day and had two really bad episodes where they had to intervine and help him get going again. They now have him on a machine that helps him breath...its kinda in between a ventalator and a cpap machine..it breathes 10 times a minute for him and he does the rest! We love him so much and know that he will win this fight! He still isnt back up to birth weight but we hope he will get there soon! They have been telling us that it will be 2 steps forward and 1 back for a while!! We know it will be a long road but we are doing our best to be patient and enjoy the ride...love to all!!! Thanks for all the prayers!

My Knights in Shining Armor

Being the only Princess isn't too bad! I'm such a lucky damsel in distress!!

Grant oh Grant!!!

We got Grant's brain ultrasound results today and we got fairly good news. Grant's Doc told us that Grant has 2 stage one bi-lateral brain bleeds today. He said that even though we didnt expect him to have any because he was doing so well, we should be thankful that its only stage one.. if they are stage 3 or 4 its more of a concern. He says its much like his heart murmur, and they should go away on their own. I think the words scare me more than the actual problem. I was at the hospital alone when he told me the news and it was almost like my mind went blank. I couldn't think of anything to say or any questions to ask. I called Mike, he was at home with the 2 boys, and I told him he had to call the doc cause I was to scared to ask what it meant for our little man. Mike called him right away and the doc said we should be relieved thats its not worse and he should be just fine! They will check his brain again right before he comes home to make sure that they are gone. We are so happy that Grant is doing so well and know that hes a fighter and anything that comes his way he will fight it and be okay!

Taking Care of Mommy...

I have the best boys in the whole world.. I know we have been a bit consumed the last couple weeks with my pregnancy and now Grant being here and everything that he is going through... but I wanted to do a little post about the 2 amazing older brothers that he has!




Last night I was a little emotional and Kingston walked into our bedroom and saw me crying. He walked over to me and said.. whats wrong mom? I told him that I miss Grant and he simply says its okay mom you get to see him tomorrow, be happy I love you mom. It made me smile! He is so cute and so compasionate, I feel like he has taken care of me more in the last couple weeks than I have taken care of him. He loves to help me clean and get things for Jimmy and it helps so much! Im so proud to be his mommy.





Taking care of Jimmy has been a bit challenging! I still cant really pick him up because of my incision. He usualy isn't a cuddley baby, he is Mr. Independent! However, since ive been home he just crawls over to the couch and lays his head next to mine and starts loving on me. He is such a sweetheart!!

I of course cant do a post without giving a little update on Grant. He gained 2 ounces last night!!! He now weighs 2 11 and they will keep increasing his feeds as long as he keeps tolerating them. We are so happy he is doing so well! He is such a fighter and we love him so much! Here is a pic of Grant in my belly... I didnt have a chance to put one up before he was born.

Sweet Little Blessings...

We got great news today! Grants echo came back and his heart is looking better than ever! The meds that they put him on completley closed the heart murmur! He had a problem digesting my milk today so they had to do an x ray of his little belly to make sure he didnt have a blockage...and again the test came back great! He is such a little miricle, it seems like everytime he has a test or something seems to be wrong, the results always come back looking good and better than they expect. I am so thankful for all the nurses who are taking care of him... I got discharged today and it was the hardest thing leaving him behind, I broke down and just started sobbing, I love him so much and just feel hopeless at times, but I know he is exactly where he needs to be and is being taken care of. I saw Mike break down for the first time today, he has been so strong for me through out this whole experience and I think he just needed to let it out. He is such a great daddy and husband. I love him so much and couldn't imagine doing any thing with out him. Love you honey!



Here is a pic of Grant from today... you cant see his cute little face with his cpap mask and his goggles on but i thought it was cute anyways and it was the only one i got today!

Good so far...

Grant is doing very good... the heart murmur was larger than they thought so they put him on meds right away, he has already had his 3 doses and they will be doing another echo on tuesday to see how it is coming along. His weight is down to 2 9, he is so little!! They havent been able to increase his feeds yet due to the meds he was on for his heart. Hopefully we will get good news about his heart tomorrow and they will be able to start giving him more breast milk. Friday is a big day for us... he gets a scan of his brain to make sure there is no more fluid or bleeding in the brain. We feel good about it and as long as that looks good our only goal is to get him nice and fat and off of oxygen!! We should be able to take him home in about 6-8 weeks as long as the brain and heart look good!! We love him so much and cant wait till we can hold him again. Weve only been able to hold him that one time and its killing me! Thank you for all the prayers! Keep em coming!!

Grant Sterling McCabe

Yesterday was a good day! I finally got to hold Grant last night at around 8 pm. Its a really good sign that we were able to hold him so soon. We will be doing Kangaroo Care every night at around 8. Kangaroo Care is when we are skin to skin... it has proven to be so helpful with premature babies development and makes them stronger... he did very well and was so calm laying on me, it made me very emotional and happy to feel our bond as mother and son. He is so perfect in everyway and we are so blessed that nothing major has gone wrong. We were told this morning that he has a heart murmer and they will be doing an echo test to check on it. Hopefully his body will be able to correct it on its own, and if not they will do some meds to help him out..If the meds dont work they will have to do a small surgury to fix it but this is common in premature babies so we dont feel to worried about it. He now weighs 2 11 so hes lost a little weight, they will keep a close eye on it and make sure he doesnt lose to much more. He got put on cafene yesterday to help his breathing and it is working great!

Kingston was able to see him for the first time yesterday. He is so sweet and you can tell he was a little worried when he saw him.. he kept saying hi grant, my kingston! haha it was adorable.

Perfect little boy!

Just a short post... we had our precious little boy this afternoon. I suddenly started to bleed and started to hemorage. I lost a lot of blood in a short amount of time and for my safety we had to do a c section right away. Our little man weighed in at a mean 2lbs 15oz and 16 in long, which is small but a great size for his gestational age. We had him 3 months premature and he is surprizing everyone with how well he is doing. They told us that he would most likely have to go on a ventalator right away, however he is doing just fine without it...he just has to have oxygen. We get to start a feeding tube tomorrow with some breast milk and we hope it goes well.

As for me...Im doing okay, and I love my baby so much. It was so scary to get my c section because they had to put me completley under so when I woke up I had already had him, it was so hard not being able to hold or see him right away. We had him at 3 41 pm and I was finally able to see him around 10pm. It will be a while before we get to hold him and I cant wait! We have yet to pick a name for him and are open to sugestions! Thats all for now!

Update!!!

Wow!! I havent been on my blog in so long!! Just wanted to update everyone on whats been happening in our lives! If you havent heard I am pregnant with baby boy number three!! We got pregnant when Jimmy was only 2 and a half months old...it was a surprize but we feel so blessed to have kids!! My pregnancy has been a little rough. When I was 20 weeks along I started to bleed really bad in the middle of the night, we of course hurried to the hospital and were praying that everything was going to be okay. I got diagnosed with placenta previa, its a fairly common condition where the placenta is over the cervix and it causes mild to heavy bleeding, I was in the hospital for 6 days and was able to go home on bed rest...however 4 weeks later I started to bleed again and had to rush to the hospital, my bleeding wasnt as bad and we did a sonogram and discovered it was due to my placenta moving back where is should be which was great news!!! I was able to go home again on bedrest, and let me tell ya it sounds simple to just lie there all day, but its the hardest thing ive ever had to do! My 2 little ones just dont understand why I cant hold them or run around and play. I feel like a horrible mom but know that it is whats best for the little guy in my belly! We are now in the hospital again cause I started to dialate and go into preterm labor which is so scary! I am in my hospital bed as we speak! I am meds to stop the contractions and have been here for 5 days and things seem to be slowing down and Im doing alot better. I may be here for a long time! I am now 27 weeks and 4 days along, every day we can keep the baby in is a milestone and a blessing.

On to other news!! Mike is almost done with another semester of school and is getting closer and closer to getting his degree! I am so proud of him! He works and goes to school full time and on top of that, he has had to be a "single" dad with all of my problems im not able to help much! I got blessed with a wonderful man and I am so thankful for him!

Kingston is getting so old! We were able to get him potty trained about 2 months ago and he is doing such a great job! He has only had a couple accidents and has yet to pee the bed!! Knock on wood! He is very into horses, basketball, and SWORDS!! His favorite movie right now is Sleeping Beauty...he watches the scene with Prince Philip on his horse fighting the dragon over and over and over!! Hes such a great little boy!

Jimmy is now 9 months old and doing great! He is HUGE!!! He is seriously the size that Kingston was when he was 18mo old! He is crawling and is already able to walk along furniture! He has the best smile, he has 3 teeth so far and they are so cute!! He can say mama, dada and he has been spending alot of time with my dad in Heber while Im here in the hospital and can now say papa.. he whispers it and its super cute!!

Thats all for now!! I will post pics soon! Im so happy to be back on our blog!! My father in law was able to get me a loner laptop while im here in the hospital! Its a lifesaver!!

Grandma DeWitts Funeral

Our Grandma DeWitt passed away on January 17th this year. I have such great memories of my grandma, when she would come to my sporting events in high school she would always yell YIPEE YIPEE YIPEE! My friends always got a kick out of her. Another famous saying or line of grandmas was WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME! She would say this anytime she had a visitor...she was a hoot!! We will miss her greatly and know that she is in a better place! We made the best of it and were able to take some pics at her funeral! Good job Kami!!


Kami, me, Bailee, Daniel, Chelsi and Capri
I LOVE MY cousins, I have alot of memories hanging
out at grandma and grandpas cabin in heber! Good times!


Hilary, Holly, Me, Hunter, Jessica, Heather and Heidi
My family is the best!

Pics from funeral

Mallory and Kingston are the best of friends!
We always call them a little old couple, they
are so cute and attatched at the hip!



Mommy and Jimmy!! He is so little here, he has
gotten so big ( I will post pics soon )


Old Married Couple!!


Hunter and my other niece Destiny


My sis Hilary and niece Nevaeh and of course my
amazing daddy!


Grandma Burnham, DaD and my beautiful Mommy