Mommy's Home!

Gracie and I are happy to report that Tommi was discharged this afternoon and is now home with us. Things will be slow-going for her for a little while, but she has plenty of time to rest! (Uncle Stevie, Aunt Liz & Tommi's cousin Megan even took Gracie to the zoo this afternoon to have some fun and let mom transition home smoothly.)

Little Noah is doing remarkably well. He's been removed from the tanning lights and has had all his tubes removed aside from his NG (feeding) tube & IV. He's breathing great and thus far is tolerating formula from his NG tube well. Best of all, he can now be swaddled in his blankets and is as happy and relaxed as we've seen him. Tommi got a great picture of him this afternoon before we left the hospital...

Grace has been itching to see her baby brother, & she finally got her chance yesterday, albeit through a NICU window. It was something special to see the look in her eyes as she caught the first glimpse of her sibling. She's going to make such a great big sister.

Finally, I don't think TJ will be too enthused with me posting this picture, but I think it really captures the special bond that exists between moms and their kids. This was taken on Thursday evening, Tommi's first opportunity to hold Noah. After being apart from one another for two days, they were both definitely "at home."

May We Introduce...

After much vacillation on my part, we have finally decided on a name for our newborn son ... Noah Russell Hymas. He's doing fantastic & seems to consistently exceed the doctors' expectations. So although he has a bit of a road ahead of him, we are very happy with how well he has progressed and optimistic about the upcoming days and weeks. Noah was upgraded to the nasal cannula today, so I was able to snap a few photos ...

Week 30 -- A Deal's a Deal

Several weeks back, I came home from work and was greeted by my wife, who was waiting to tell me of an agreement she had reached. You see, at the time Tommi was about 24 weeks along and we were biting our nails hoping he could reach the 28-week point or further. Tommi informed me that during the day, she'd been talking to the boy in her womb, and had made him a deal--"If you can just hang on till 30 weeks, you can do whatever you want to do afterwards."

Well, today marks our 30-week point and our little guy stayed true to his word. But he didn't give us much more. Tommi was admitted to the hospital yesterday evening with what turned out to be HELLP Syndrome (very similar, I understand, to preeclampsia), so our baby boy was delivered via C-Section this morning at 7:00 am. He was 3 lbs., 1 0z., and was 15 1/2 inches long. I am happy to report that Tommi is recovering well after a very difficult evening last night, and was amazing as always. Our new son is in the NICU, but has thus far exceeded the doctor's expectations for him given his gestational age & has been able to breathe without having to be intubated.

We have yet to make a final decision on his name, but will post once we decide. And unfortunately, the CPAP machine helping to give him oxygen makes it difficult to see his face, so I don't have a good picture of his face. But, if he continues through the night to breathe as well as he has been this afternoon and evening, they will take the CPAP off in the morning and give him one of those smaller nasal cannula things. When that happens, I will post some pictures of our little guy's headshot. Till then, here's a picture of him holding onto dad's finger...

Thanks to all for your thoughts and prayers on our behalf. It is impossible to express the gratitude in our hearts for the miracle we've witnessed over the past several weeks.

Week 28: Hump Day

Awhile back, a good friend of mine left on a mission. His mom was a single mother, was very close to her eldest son, and was having a hard time coping with him leaving. So, I thought I'd pay her a visit the day after he left. I still remember going into their house and seeing one of those posters of a temple made up of 730 circles for each day of his mission. There was one lonely sticker on that poster representing the one day of his mission that had been completed. It was one of the most depressing sights I've ever seen.

I have to admit to having a few days where I've felt like I'm looking at a poster with a few lonely stickers on it. Now... if I'm feeling that way, I can't begin to imagine what it must have felt like for my wife as she lays in bed all day looking at the calendar on the wall of our bedroom (kudos to a woman that's survived nearly two months of bedrest with little complaint). But today we have cause for celebration--it's a "hump day" of sorts for us. Today our little guy officially completes 28 weeks! We're not there yet, but his chances of being born healthy just went way up.

I won't even try to explain how grateful we are to have reached this day and how blessed we feel. But I will say, "Ahhhhhhh." That's the sound of a nice, deep breath. Which reminds me... time to brush my teeth.

Till Week 29...

Week 27: The Milestone Nears...

Less than a week till our big milestone! We have been holding our breath to get the the 28-week mark, and so far the little guy has cooperated. If he can hang on just a little longer, his chances of arriving healthy go way up. TJ's still recovering from an extra long doctor visit on Friday (I guess her body doesn't really like being vertical these days), but otherwise we're doing great.

Meanwhile, Ms. Gracie continues her Summer Tour 2009. We've been fortunate to have her with us for the past two weeks, splitting time between her best friend's house and summer school during the day, and at home in the evenings. Grace remains our comic relief--she has a crazy memory (knows Laman, Lemuel, and the Liahona, and can almost recite "Pinkalicious" verbatim), but for some reason her alphabet continues to have two R's ("A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, R, J, K..."). On Sunday, she was coloring pictures during sacrament meeting, and decided that she would give the pictures to God...then asked, "Daddy, does God have a mailbox?" Didn't quite know how to answer that one.

And unfortunately, she has adopted one of her mother's less-than-desirable childhood habits. Apparently when TJ was little, she insisted on having all her puffalumps, etc. in bed with her--she was terrified of having one of them feel left out. Well, Grace has a similar love for her stuffed animals, and has a very spcific location on her bed for each of them. OCD, anyone? It's actually pretty cute until you can't find one of the 2" beanie babies you got at McDonald's 3 months ago.

Till Week 28...