Gotcher’s Niteroi Blog » 2010» December

Christmas Card

Posted December 24th, 2010 by Carrie

Click on this link for our Christmas Card:

christmas-card-20101

Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas is coming, our boys are getting…

Posted December 17th, 2010 by Carrie

Well, not quite fat but definitely more chunky! We have had a great past couple days with our G men. They are really filling out and gaining personality. We are praising God for the strides of the past couple weeks. Today we moved to the front room - The front room has a window to the waiting area and is typically where the babies are that are getting ready to head home. I remember right after the boys were born thinking how much I longed to be in this room to be able to hold the boys, feed them and really feel like their Mom. We were moved there yesterday and it has been a great blessing. It is much calmer and quieter. It appears very possible that our Graham man will head home to us this week! AHH! I am so excited but also have such mixed feelings - I don’t want to separate Graham and Gibson and just the thought of it brings tears to my eyes. And, I do feel somewhat overwhelmed about leaving the security of the place I have wanted for so long to leave. Several dear friends warned me of this feeling and they were right! Please pray for us to feel confident in knowing that God has perfect timing in all of this and will protect us all. Gibbers is not too far away from being out the door either. He got moved to the little mini-crib a few days ago! So, both boys are now wearing clothes, which is precious. Gibson has just a small tube still providing a small amount of oxygen for him - we are praying for him to be able to get fully off the oxygen next week! Please pray with us for that. After that he will need to start taking a bottle/breast feeding well to be able to head home. Graham has been working hard on his bottle and breast feeding the past couple weeks and has been doing well with both the past several days. He makes all kinds of little growls and grunting noises while he’s eating and we love it. Gibson has been making lots of sweet little cooing noises and has been taking a pacifier lots. We love watching him take a paci and keep telling him to work on his sucking so we can get home soon :). Three days ago Wes had his first diaper changing experience EVER. I was holding Gibson and Wes decided it was time try his hand at the art of diaper changing. He opened Graham’s diaper just in type for poop to come pouring out. He was christened. Today he changed Gibson’s diaper for the first time. He opened his diaper, which was already dirty and began cleaning just as more came flying out - he actually jumped and sort of yelled “uhhh”! All of the nurses were cracking up while Wes literally gagged. He went to grab another diaper and Gibson decided he wasn’t quite finished. The nurses told him to go ahead and close it and let Gibson finish his business in peace. The best part was how peaceful and content Gibson looked afterward - Wes not so much. He said he will try again amanhã.

Wes and I have talked a lot about how blessed we feel to have so many people praying for our boys. I wish I had the words to adequately say thank you. I have told the boys how so many people are praying for them. I love getting emails and notes from so many friends and even from people that we don’t know. We love hearing from other people who have passed through the NICU experience. We have gotten so many cards and emails and while we haven’t gotten to respond to many of them, they all have blessed and encouraged us so much. Today we got a package in the mail from a ministry in Texas that makes clothes especially for tiny new preemies. I cried looking at these tiny little clothes and thinking about what an incredible ministry it is. Praise God, the boys are too big for these clothes now, but the love and care put into them touches our hearts and inspires us to think of things we can do to encourage other preemie parents. I would love to list all the things that people have done to make us feel loved and special, but just know that we do feel loved and the prayers and encouragement we have received has helped us through some of the darker hours and are still helping sustain us now. Please keep praying for us. Getting closer to bringing the boys home begins a new journey for us and we pray for God’s presence, peace and His healing. I want to ask for some specific prayers:

Please pray for both boys to be strong and healthy to come home soon.

Please pray for strength, confidence and energy for us as we will most likely have Graham here with us and Gibson still in the NICU for a time.

Please pray for Gibson to get off his oxygen and for healing on both boys’ lungs to be strong breathers!

Pray for us to have wisdom in making the transition from hospital to home. I think I could completely go crazy over-thinking everything so pray that I can find the balance of care and concern with letting certain things go.

Here are a few pictures from the past couple days of our handsome men

the Grahamburger - this was 2 days ago and he actually doesn’t have his white mustache anymore!

Gibbers in clothes!! This onesie has robots on it…love it!

And another family pic! It is such a blessing to think of how far we have come since the last one. Praise God for being with us always.

Happy Holidays!!!

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Cor. 4:18

Filed under:Uncategorized

Lots of updates, lots of praises!

Posted December 6th, 2010 by Carrie

Since my last post both little men have had some great gains! We are praising God for blessing and strengthening Gibson and Graham. Since last Friday, Gibson has been on the “hood”!! This has been so wonderful and he seems to be doing great. Being on the “hood” makes it so much easier for us to hold him and Wes and I have enjoyed it so much. We have done lots of kangaroo times with him and love getting to snuggle him close. He weighs now 1830 grams which is 4 lbs!! Thank you Lord! We’re getting to hear him make more little noises and it is so sweet. Grahamster is back in his little crib (right beside Gibson) and wearing his tiny clothes, many of which are almost too small for him already! It is so fun for him to be in the crib because we can hold him whenever we want. We both just kiss his little head constantly. I realized that I need to stop wearing lipstick into the NICU because Graham mans has a little shimmer on his head :). Graham has started working on sucking, both breast feeding and taking a bottle. This should mean we are in the home stretch. Sucking for preemies, however, can be quite the challenge. Both Graham and Gibson have been sucking on anything they can find for the past several weeks - their fingers, gloves, our fingers, chests, and I have even caught them both sucking on the side of the hood. But, combining sucking, swallowing and breathing is a lot for our little men. Please pray for Graham to master this soon and, for Gibson to get there quickly as well!

It is incredible in this process how each new phase we are in brings new challenges and new concerns for Wes and me. It is easy for me to feel overwhelmed. I am trying to remind myself constantly of how far God has brought us and how He is already there and ready to meet our needs as they arise. I loaded all of our pictures since the boys have been born on Snapfish this week. It is incredible to look back at the pictures of Graham and Gibson the day they were born and then look at them now. I can’t put into words my thankfulness for God’s hand over us.

I would love to post all of my pictures of the cutest boys in Niteroi, but here are a few of my favorites from the past couple days:

Gibbers breathing almost on his own!!!