The First Year

It's hard to believe that almost a year has passed since we met Eli. In fact on Monday we will celebrate his one year birthday. In that time so much has happened. We have tried to keep up on this blog, and it does contain part of the story. Much more is shared on our Facebook pages, and on my instagram and flickr feed. Meagan joked that I probably had a few thousand photos of Eli already. I haven't counted them but it would not surprise me.

It has been a journey. As I think back to when we first got word that he had been born, and they asked us if we would be willing to adopt such a small, small child. He was born so early, and there were no guarantees as to health issues or anything really. I remember one long drive to Oklahoma City, walking in to the NICU for the first time and seeing this tiny little baby, covered in hair, with no fingernails. I looked over at Meagan and she was already crying. We spent as much time as we could just sitting and looking at him. And then we got the chance to hold him. The nurse picked him up and set him on my chest. I could barely feel him, or see him amidst all the blankets and covers they put around him.

From that point forward our weekends were crazy. We would leave after Meagan got off of school, drive 6 hours up, stay with him as long as we could, then get back in the car and driving home so I could lead worship and be at church.

While he was in the NICU he was getting stronger and growing bigger. There were many milestones he had to reach before he could come home. It seemed like that day would never come. But at last, on Mother's Day weekend, and close to my birthday, he finally got to come home.

It was nice to be home, with him finally, but the work had only just begun. He needed to be fed every 3 hours. So Meagan and I took turns waking up, changing him, feeding him and then laying back down for a few hours rest before the next alarm clock went off. Along with this he required oxygen when he was feeding and traveling. I will say it was a whole lot to contend with as first time parents. Looking at it then I was sure we would never get through it, looking back on it now it doesn't seem quite as bad as I thought.

I don't remember when, but at some point we were able to stop using the oxygen and we were wireless!!! This meant we could move him around more, go on more trips and get him out and about into the world. He had so many people who he hadn't met yet.

Yet, that too only seems like the beginning, our journey was still just barely starting. Over the next few months he continued to grow stronger, and get bigger. His red hair and mischievous smile captured hearts wherever he went. 

Over the winter we had our first real childhood illness. RSV hit and the poor baby was coughing and wheezing. Fortunately we caught it pretty early, and we were able to avoid a stay in the hospital. It did mean that we were introduced to the nebulizer and breathing treatments. I can tell you this was not his favorite thing in the world to do.

Not too long ago we finally were able to finish those and we are finally back to not being dependent on a machine or anything else to help him breathe.

The joy has been watching him discover new things, and discover he can do new things. He is now eating baby food, picking up small crackers and putting them in his mouth, and even crawling... well kind of crawling.. well check it out...

We will try to make sure and keep you updated on what's happening, on a weekly basis. I have a feeling there will be a lot more to share in the coming months as he begins to crawl, walk, talk more etc...

For now it's time to finish up plans for his Birthday Party!!!