Hilton 1-7 months

Better late than never.  Life is a little busier with two kids :)

1 month - 8.13 lb

Diapers and clothes: newborn

Loves: sleeping all day and staying up all night, looking at SK and peeing on us when we change your diaper :)

Dislikes: the swing and having both arms swaddled

*First Easter

2 months - 10.8 lbs, 22 3/4"

Diapers: size 1

Clothes: 0-3 months

Likes: smiling, taking baths and your paci

Dislikes: formula, when your paci falls out and when your not being held

*First trip to the zoo!

3 months - 11 lbs, 23"

Diapers: size 2

Clothes: 0-3 months

Likes: rolling over, sleeping in the swing and formula/bottles now

Dislikes: Being sick, breathing treatments and taking antibiotics (first ear infection and RSV)

*First flight, shower, boat ride and swim this month

4 months - 13 lb, 25"

Diapers: size 3

Clothes: 3-6 months

Likes: drooling, playing with mommy's hair and using your hands to grab toys and your feet

Dislikes: being rocked (would rather be bounced), cereal and falling asleep by yourself

*First time to eat

5 months - 14.2 lbs, 26"

Diapers: size 3

Clothes: 3-6 months, 9 month pjs because you are so long!

Likes: putting everything in your mouth, eating food and laying your arm over your eyes when sleepy

Dislikes: homemade baby food (prefer the prepackaged kind) and sleeping in your own bed

*Found out this month that you will soon be a big brother, big surprise!

6 months - 14 lb 13.5oz (10th percentile), 26" (45th percentile)

Diapers: size 3

Clothes: 6 months

Likes: reading books, trying to sit up and going to bed no later than 8:00

Dislikes: having to cry it out for a few nights, but sleeping in your own bed now!

*First time to eat cheerios and can pick them up by yourself

7 months

Diapers: size 3

Clothes: 6 months

Likes: playing with toys, sitting up by yourself and when SK gets in your bed with you to play

Dislikes: green vegetables, having your face wiped off after eating and getting lotion put on after bath

*Moved to Rogers, AR this month (which is why I didn't get your weight and height)

You are such a happy baby and we are blessed daily with your presence in our family.  You always make us smile and we love to see how much you and your sister love each other :)

Miracle baby #3!

A lot of happened since I updated last.  Hilton is now 7 months old, Savannah Kate is 4 years old, we moved to Rogers, AR and we recently found out that we are expecting another miracle baby!  We have been busy, which hasn't left me any extra time for much of anything :)

In case you don't know our story, you can read here about the loss of our two babies August and April.  We went through a really hard time between January 2012 through mid 2013 with losing two babies and a year of infertility in between.  During this time, I found out about an infertility group that a girl from our church was starting for a summer bible study in 2012.  I joined one month after my second miscarriage.  There were several girls in the group all with very different stories.  I was the only one with secondary infertility because I had already had one successful pregnancy.  An amazing transformation took place in me during that study and I realized that I not only had to trust in The Lord, but more importantly I had to BELIEVE in His promises.  I knew He could give me a baby, but I didn’t BELIEVE He was really going to.  Atleast not without lots of fertility drugs and doctors.  I often felt like Peter trying to walk on the water.  I was stepping out, believing that I could do this, only to look down and be instantly filled with fear and sink.  Fear, such as the fear of having another miscarriage or maybe I’ll never have another child.  I learned to confess out loud what His promises for me were and I learned how to use the power of the Holy Spirit to release the fear I had inside.  When the fear would creep back in, I would read scriptures like 2nd Timothy 1:7 “For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self control”  and others that I had saved in my notes on my phone.  And you know what?  The Holy Spirit showed up every time, He never failed and always took away that fear and anxiety.  Another one that I would read daily was James 1:5-7, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without fault. and it will be given to you.  But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.” WOW!  That was tough for me to read.  I didn’t want that kind of faith.  Isaiah 53:5 tells us that “By his wounds we are healed”.  I also learned to pray bold prayers.  And not to be afraid to ask for what seems impossible to us.  

After some time, I was ready to believe and I was ready to walk all the way across the lake this time.  I believed that He had healed me and that I would not seek any further fertility treatments.  I quickly learned not to be surprised when miracles happen after you choose to believe in His power.  I found out that I was pregnant naturally less than a month later and Hilton was born on March 18th of this year.  Each day of that pregnancy was filled with daily surrender to The Lord, up until the moment he was born.  Something I had never done before and I felt that I finally understood what it meant to be desperately dependent on the Lord.

Ephesians 3:20 says “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us”.  Like I said before, don’t be surprised when impossible things happen when you chose to believe….  because miracle (and very big surprise!) baby #3 is on the way!  These miracle babies will be only 13 months apart!  The best part is that I found out that I was pregnant in August and this baby will be born in April.  August and April are the two names we gave our babies that we lost.  

Please don’t ever think that God doesn’t care about the details, because he does!  He knows what is important to us.

No, this third baby wasn't a part of my plan.  We were beyond thrilled just to have had Hilton join us and I wouldn't have even thought of another baby right now.  But that's what makes this story show the glory of God.  I believe that He wanted me to have another pregnancy that I could truly enjoy.  I've chosen not to take the daily blood thinner shots this time and to completely put my trust in the Lord.  I only go to the doctor every 4 weeks, just like a normal pregnancy, like it was with Savannah Kate.  I never thought I would be able to have a normal pregnancy again, and only God could have made that happen.  

I've also chosen not find out the sex of the baby this time.  This will be very challenging for me, but I want to FULLY trust the Lord with this baby for every detail.  Can't wait for the surprise!

Thanks for your prayers for our family.  We are getting settled in our new house and looking forward to meeting our new miracle baby!

Adding a new little pumpkin to our patch!

Newborn Photos

Love Hilton's newborn photos taken by Amanda Kate Photography.  Hilton was 3 weeks new!

Hilton is Home!

After 6 days in the hospital, we were excited to be packing to go home.  I was very happy to have him home, but a little nervous too because all this time Hilton had been hooked up to monitors and had constant supervision.  Now it was just us watching over him, so that was a little scary.  Thankfully, we had done this before, otherwise I would have been extremely nervous!

Finally, they meet!

SK made Hilton a sign and brought him toys

SK still had a fever, so we wouldn't let her touch him much.  She couldn't take her eyes off of him.

 Same size as his lovey :)

 Hilton didn't care much for his first bath at home, but SK sure loved helping!

Our first family of four photo taken on our 7th wedding anniversary, March 31st

To God be the glory for this sweet miracle baby boy that we can now hold in our arms!

Special Care Nursery

After spending the night on a cot in the NICU, I was excited when Hunter came in early Friday morning, March 21st, with some hot tea for me (my favorite!).  Then my day got even better when we found out that Hilton's bilirubin levels had decreased enough to come off the lights.  Look at this sweet picture. You could instantly see how much more comfortable he was getting to open his eyes and look outside.

Then we got very exciting news that Dr. Randal was releasing Hilton to the Special Care Nursery!  This meant that Hilton would have his own room where we could stay with him.  Here's a picture of Hilton on our way to our new room.  I know we were very blessed to have only stayed a few days, but it felt like Christmas morning when we got to leave the NICU.  Special Care nursery was a step down from the NICU and one step closer to getting home!

New room!

Keeping Hilton warm to help regulate his body temperature

The picture above shows how we slept at night.  Hunter (who didn't know I took this picture during an early am feeding) slept on the couch and I slept on a twin size air mattress.  It was just so nice to be able to stay in the same room with Hilton, especially since I was still doing the crazy feeding/pumping schedule.  I was really impressed with how nice the accommodations were in Special Care.  There was a kitchen and a play area for kids down the hall that I was excited to show to SK.  She still wasn't allowed to come to his room, but at least this was a more fun waiting room.  Unfortunately, we never got the chance to show it to Savannah Kate because she came down with a fever and we couldn't risk her getting us sick and passing anything on to Hilton. 

Sadly, Hilton had to go back under the lights on Saturday for the entire day and night.  It was a long, rough night for him.  Oh, and he was circumcised today too, probably didn't help.  He had so much trouble getting comfortable and finally slept best on his belly.  He was only allowed to sleep like this because he was hooked up to monitors.  I just love his little feet!

That night, they talked about possibly bringing in a second light to put under him if his levels got any higher, but thankfully they didn't.  By Sunday morning, his levels had remained the same, but he was allowed to come off the lights.  I just knew this meant we would be here at least another day.  Dr. Randal came by and said that he wanted Hilton to stay until they could check his bilirubin levels again that afternoon and then he would make a decision.  He wanted to see if the levels would jump back up without the help of the phototherapy that day.

Sunday was the first time I could put Hilton in clothes.  He slept most of the day after his rough night.

Sunday afternoon, they did another blood test to check his bilirubin again.  All of the pricks had been in Hilton's heels, so his poor heels were bruised and he did not like getting these tests.  An hour or so later we found out that his level was still the same.  Not the decrease we had hoped for, but at least it wasn't rising.  We were shocked when Dr. Randal said he was going to let us take Hilton home that night!  He was pleased that his levels had not jumped back up and Hilton was now feeding like a champ.  YAY!  We were so excited to finally get to take him home and Savannah Kate could finally meet her new brother!

We look a little tired, but so happy to be leaving the hospital!