On April 11, 2011 at 4:06 am we welcomed Levi Joseph into this world at 32wks, 6 days. He weighed in at 4lbs, 50z, and was 17.7 inches long. His poor head was extremely cone shaped, his face was bruised and his foot crooked from how he was stuck inside of me. In the end it was probably good that he came when he did. During this pregnancy I was on the P17 shots, watched closely and had extra ultrasounds, but it was still never determined why I go early. My water breaks and within hours my children are born with no warning. Somedays I feel guilt for what they went through and what they still struggle with due to their premature births such as sensory issues, tone issues, etc, but thankfully now the struggles are small. In the end though they are both gifts from God and true miracles.
He thankfully had a pretty easy NICU stay and was in for only 22 days. He had to be resuscitated and was on CPAP for a few hours and then room air. He had a few desats, but no brachycardia's. He just needed to feed and grow. When he was released he went at 5lbs, 2oz on 05/02/11.
Hailey is an amazing big sister and you can tell by the way he smiles and "chats" with her that he loves her just as much as she loves him. This pregnancy was not planned due to worry about having another preemie, and though my fears were founded we are so happy it happened and that we are now a family of 4! Levi is such a wonderful, laid back and happy baby and we are so blessed. I look at my family every day and thank God for them all.
Due to Levi's prematurity early intervention is following up with him. He is right on track for his adjusted age of 12 weeks, but 33% behind for his actual age of 19 weeks. This is expected, but due to this he does qualify for services. The service he will receive is PT for tone issues and motor skills. One thing they will work on is his foot. Hailey also received PT when she was younger and made great strides so we are grateful for this service.
At his 4 month check up the pediatrician was very happy with his progress and he weighed in at a big 13lb, 30z and 23 inches. He LOVES to eat and I am grateful to be able to breastfeed.
In other news my "big" girl turned 6 in July. She finished kindergarten in the midst of the choas of her brother's birth and is learning to read. She is followed at school, but is doing well. She starts 1st grade August 31st!
We are enjoying our children to the fullest and I hope to better at updating this blog in the future as I am sure I will have loads to share as we grow as a family of 4.
