3 weeks old today :)

It's crazy, but Gabe has already been in the hospital for 3 weeks!  I went back to work two weeks ago to finish up my rotation while he was still in the hospital, and thankfully time has been passing pretty fast.  I go every day at lunch, after work, then Michael and I go after dinner every day to visit the cutie pie.  He is doing great so far!  He has been off the oxygen since a couple days after birth, and he got off his IV at the 1 week mark.  We have also moved from the isolette bed to a regular crib!  He was under the UV light for a little while, but has gotten off of that too, so he is technically just a "feeder/grower" now!  At the last weigh-in we were there for, Gabe weighed 4 lbs 7 oz, but he has probably gained more since then.  We have also been taking bottles for the past 4 days, and they are increasing those as well.  Hopefully he will come home not too long after the new year so 2012 can start off great :) I am so ready to have him home!

We appreciate all the prayers so so much.  Please continue to pray for Gabriel's continued progress with eating and his time in NICU without any setbacks.  Much love.

How cute are those cheeks?

Daddy loves holding Gabe :)

he is perfect.

All the attempts to stop early labor were unsuccessful, and Gabriel David Hochstetler was born on December 2, 2011 at 8:16 pm.  He was a small 3 lb 13 oz, but so amazingly perfect.  Because he was born at only 30 weeks and 1 day, he will require several weeks in the NICU.  I could have never imagined how difficult having a baby in the NICU could be, and I am having trouble holding it together.  It is unreal how helpless you feel knowing you can really do nothing.  Michael is truly the most amazing person in the whole world, and I don't know what I would do without him.  He has been such a great husband to me throughout the pregnancy, but seeing him now after the labor/delivery process and in this role as a dad is just incredible; I don't know what I did to deserve him. 

Everyone please pray for Gabe's time in the NICU and his return home in the upcoming weeks, as well as for mine and Michael's strength throughout this process.

My precious boys.

Gabe may have some strawberry blonde hair...uh oh

My angel holding daddy's finger

slight changes in plans...

Well, I guess Gabriel really is my baby. He pretty much is thinking he is going to do whatever he wants (in this case, try to come way too early). Starting this weekend, I was pretty uncomfortable, but just dealt with it as being 30 weeks pregnant. I thought I'd be fine until I only slept for a total of 10 mins on Sunday night and hurt until Monday - so I decided a call to the doctor would be in our best interest. They got me in early, told me I was having some contractions but not dilating. I was prescribed a muscle relaxer to try to stop them and sent home instructed to call should I need anything. Monday night was still uncomfortable, but I managed to sleep about 2 and a half hours. I went to my rotation on Tuesday and began to hurt again pretty badly. As soon as I got home, I took some of the medicine my doctor gave me and tried to sleep. After what felt like an eternity, I looked at the clock and realized it wasn't even midnight yet. I woke poor Michael up and said we should probably go to the ER.

They immediately transferred me to labor and delivery (common practice for 30 weeks pregnant) and hooked me up to 24 hour monitoring. That morning, my doctor came back to check me again (this is only a day and a half since I'd last seen her), and I quickly asked if I could be back to my rotation by Friday to finish these last 2 and a half weeks of my second long term. Little did I know, that would be the least of my worries at this point. I had already dilated a cm and they were going to start steriod injections to speed up lung development should Gabe be delievered any time soon. I then had it in my mind I would just be committed to 48 hours then I'd be on my way to finish this dang rotation.

Well, after another very painful night (contractions every 5-7 mins for the 5th day in a row), I was checked again to only be told I was now dilated to 2 cm even after all the drugs I've been given to stop the contractions, and my water had already broken. This news comes with more bad news - I will be in the hospital until we have a baby (anywhere from 1 day to 4 weeks). Here's to hoping for more time! We signed TONS of paperwork, talked to SEVERAL specialists, and have been preparing for what life with a preemie is like (my school knowledge really works against me here, and I have been crying/worrying nonstop).

One major highlight came last night when the NICU doctor came to speak to me (per orders from my clinical instructors over at WK South haha) to ease my mind with great statistics for 30 week babies - especially those with steriod shots given before birth! We are just praying for the best and hoping to be in the hospital (as AWFUL/PAINFUL/BORING/UNCOMFORTABLE as it is for me) for as much more time as we can get for Gabe to grow.

We very much appreciate all possible prayers as I go through these next few weeks (and months in the NICU once Gabe comes). Our friends will still get to meet him once he's out of NI (around the same time he was due to come anyway), but Michael and I are planning on meeting a bouncing baby boy before Christmas...