One Year Ago Today....

One year ago today, we got news that Landon was going to have a heart defect.  A major defect that would likely entail three surgeries.  Suffice to say, it was the hardest day of our lives.  All the worry and anxiety and and the feeling of complete helplessness.  We knew we would have to wrestle God with this for 20 weeks before he was even born.  Seems like a blessing to know beforehand, but having to agonize over it for months before he was born was daunting.

Landon has spent approximately 39 days in the hospital.  Been to numerous other doctors appointments.  Had two surgeries and a catheterization.  Consumed bottles of medicine.  Fought acid reflux when he was trying to recover.  Had RSV.  He has dealt with a couple of other colds along the way.  Was on oxygen for three months at home, which brought many other challenges along with it. 

But you wouldn't know that he has been through any of this if you met him for the first time today. 

The other day he was playing in his exer-saucer and we realized some obvious cognitive development.  There is a little toy on there that makes different sounds when you push it.  If you push the same button four times in a row it begins to play music.  Landon likes the music so much that he will push the button as fast as possible to get to the music.  When he gets there he stops and listens to the music.  I love that he takes time to stop and listen to the music.   

Seems like a small thing, but to us it is awesome because this quells one of our biggest fears.  That he won't cognitively develop normally.  Little things like this make a huge difference.

I am so grateful for everyone who have been in his life these past 7 1/2 months.  He wouldn't be doing so well without all of the love and affection poured on him.  He laughs so much.  He laughs more in one day than I do in a year. 

Landon sleeps through the night now.  No coincidence that this started briefly after removing the oxygen at night.  The cord is quite annoying to have shoved up your nose.  He is also starting to make consonant sounds.  Every day is different, but better than the previous. 

Praise God for the miraculous start to his life.  

Gary

P.S. The bolded sentences are on purpose.  Go back and read them one more time to realize how amazing this journey has been for us.

Holding Steady

Landon has continued to do well the last few days and we haven't had any more surprises (yay!). He's been sleeping really well although sometimes it takes him a while to calm down from some of the not fun parts- diaper changes, administering meds, x rays, changing the dress on his central line, etc. There are lots of things to hate, so I don't blame him! He's just so cute when he's peaceful that you can't help but hate it for him when he's upset- I guess that probably goes with any kid/parent.

Yesterday was Gary's birthday and it was pretty low key- we didn't do much yesterday but Saturday some of our friends from Co Springs came up to surprise him and we went out to dinner. Since things got so hectic while we were in the hospital in Co Springs and then we came up here, we haven't seen most of our friends in a few weeks. It was great to spend a few hours away from the hospital and enjoy hanging out with them. It makes me excited to get back home to our community and bring our boy with us!

I may have already mentioned this, but once Landon starts eating again, how he does with that will basically be his ticket out of here as long as everything else stays the same. If he picks up where he left off as far as eating goes, then he should have no trouble going right back to it and getting out of here soon, which means we could be going home by the end of the week. We're hopeful, but we know how quickly things can change! Right now we are just so grateful that God has sustained him and helped him heal so quickly! I'm in awe that he had open heart surgery just a week ago and the only pain killer he's on right now is Tylenol! Landon continues to be a trooper and God continues to be good!