almost there...

This baby is doing great! He's up to 5-14, and they were hoping to take his PIC-line out today, which is the last thing he's hooked up to. The dreaded lumbar puncture came back clear, so he's been off antibiotics for a few days. He's taking his feeds great, and although they won't say when he can come home, I really feel like we're almost there. Not for Easter like I had hoped, but maybe the first of next week. My sweet friend April came to the hospital today and it was so fun to get to share him with someone who loves him and has been praying for him. And it was nice to have someone to talk to...thank you, April! Jennie and the kids are coming tomorrow, so I'm hoping Jennie will get to see him maybe tomorrow night!

I do have two other handsome little men who haven't gotten much blog time, so I thought I'd share some pictures of them. These guys have kept me going through all of this...they are the sweetest, funniest, most precious boys around! We've been outside every chance we can get, meeting friends at the park or playing around the neighborhood.

Ford has been having nightmares for the past week and has ended up in bed with us a time or two...which is a time or two more than ever before! God just knows I need a cuddle bug to snuggle with. I'm hoping once life gets back to normal (whatever that will look like) he'll settle down.

This monkey is obsessed with sunglasses and much prefers mine over the ones we got for him at Target. He likes to sport the upside-down look and is as cute as they come!

And keeping it real, this is Ford pouting when we were leaving the park the other day. He wanted to throw rocks in the creek before we left, but Luke always ends up IN the creek, and I just didn't have the energy to deal with it. He's perfected that look, hasn't he?

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter! I can't believe God gave his son for me...that's all I can think of when I'm holding Duncan...the ultimate sacrifice. I was very sweetly told by my husband that we would be attending church on Sunday {even though I have nothing to wear} because God has blessed us beyond belief...so I'll suck up my vanity {and my stomach} and be there with bells on! Happy Easter! He has risen!

the latest

Today has been a bit of an emotional roller coaster...we were told this morning that Duncan was being moved to an open-air crib sometime today, which is fantastic news. This is the last step before he gets to come home, so we were thrilled to hear this. We went up there this afternoon feeling encouraged, and then were told that they were going to have to do a lumbar puncture to check for infection due to his labs from this morning. The thought of them having to stick a needle in my tiny baby's spine just about pushed me over the edge. The nurse wasn't the friendliest person in the world, and it would be an understatement to say that I didn't exactly handle it well;) Luckily, one of my sister's best friends is a NICU nurse in Birmingham, so Shealy immediately got on the phone with Stacy and she explained the procedure much better and calmed me down!

I did get to give him a bottle today for the first time and he finished it in about 30 seconds and wanted more! I'm hoping they'll increase the amount he's getting tomorrow so we can get some weight back on him. They should have the results from the lumbar puncture in 3 days, but he's been on antibiotics since birth so I'm not sure what would change if they came back showing infection.

It's been a long weekend...I think I finally hit a wall and the tears have been falling pretty freely. It's tough when you can count how much you've held your baby in minutes. And then I look around the NICU and see babies that are so much sicker than Duncan and know that this will pass. Joseph and I say all the time how thankful we are God chose for this to happen with our 3rd baby; we know the drill after going through this with Luke and we have two hysterical boys to come home to who constantly make us laugh and keep us so busy there's not much time to feel sorry for ourselves! I can't wait to have all 3 of them together!

great report

duncan had a great day! he's breathing all on his own, they turned off the jaundice lights, and he was able to start feedings!!!!!! we are praying now for digestion and continued progress...i would love to have him home for Easter! thanks, friends!

New Pics and an Update

I went to see this precious boy this morning and he's doing really well. He's off the cpap and on the nasal cannula with room air! This is HUGE! He's up to 5-11, but he's pretty puffy and I know most of the weight gain is due to the iv fluids. His x-ray this morning showed some concerns with his digestive system - a big word that I don't remember meaning something is swollen and his belly still needs to rest. So no feedings today, but hopefully another x-ray tomorrow will show some improvement and they can try again. He is completely off the sedation and was resting very comfortably while I was there. I'm sure his jaundice levels are high just by looking at his 'suntan', but they'll put him under the lights soon and once he can start eating that will take care of itself. Joseph is going back tonight after work so hopefully he'll get another good report! We're trying not to both be away from the big boys too much to keep their routine as normal as possible...whatever normal is! Here are some more pictures of one of the 3 cutest things I've ever seen;)

He looks so big compared to most of the babies up there...makes me count my blessings for sure!

He's got chicken legs and monkey toes!

Dark hair like Daddy...his head wasn't nearly as "coney" as the other boys, maybe because he was in the birth canal for 0.3 seconds!

The Latest

We just got back from seeing the little guy and he's doing really well! They took him off the ventilator early this afternoon and he's on a cpap, which are the tubes going into his nostrils. He seems so much happier without a huge tube going down his throat! His carbon dioxide levels were off so they started him on something to balance them out. He still has a lot of mucus in his stomach, so they're holding off on any more feedings until they get an x-ray in the morning. He's only lost 2 ounces, which is a huge relief! I know the iv fluids account for some of the weight, but it's still nice to see. And best of all, we got to hold him, which was totally unexpected! We didn't even have the camera with us. He is so precious and such a gift. His nurses have all been amazing, just the kindest people who obviously love what they do. It makes it a lot easier leaving him there knowing he's in such good hands.

Ford has asked a million questions about why Baby Duncan isn't here and why we can't go see him in the hospital...slightly heartbreaking! I can't wait until I have all of my boys together...then the real craziness begins! Thanks again for all the prayers and offers to help! We're just taking it day by day right now. Joseph is going back to work tomorrow to save his days for when we bring Duncan home, so he'll mainly be going to visit Duncan at night. Please pray for safe travels, Duncan's digestive system and continued lung improvement, and the doctors and nurses taking care of him. We appreciate it more than words can express!

Duncan Update

Sarah wanted me (Shealy) to update everyone on a few things. Prayers are needed over sweet little Duncan and Sarah and Joseph. Throughout the day today, they had to increase Duncan's oxygen a few times because he was having some trouble breathing. Well, this afternoon the doctors decided that intubating him would help him not have to struggle so much. The best place for Duncan to be right now with this going on is in Montgomery, so they made the decision to intubate him and transport him tonight. Sarah and Joseph were up at the hospital when they were getting him ready and Sarah said that when they intubated him, that he immediately stopped struggling to breathe and actually started to look like a normal baby. She said that he looked so much more comfortable and that she knew that this was definitely the right thing for them to do and has a peace about it. We will keep everyone updated on his progress... Please pray for him to gain strength and that his breathing will continue to get easier. Please also pray for Sarah and Joseph to be able to get some rest. And for Sarah - I can only imagine the emotions she is feeling right now...

A praise is that Luke is feeling better and Sarah and Joseph will be able to see him and Ford tomorrow (Sunday).
Thank you all so much for your prayers and comments. I know Sarah and Joseph appreciate it so much.

Our Introduction to Life with 3

Thank you so much for all your prayers! This is certainly not the way we hoped little Duncan's birth would be, but I have such an amazing peace about everything that it can only come from above! Duncan is under the oxygen hood and probably will be for another day or 2, but his breathing sounds so much better than it did even this morning. His x-rays showed improvement and we know he's getting the best care possible. It's been really funny to see the same sweet nurses that we got to know so well when we did this with Luke a short 20 months ago!!! My uneducated guess would be Duncan will be here for 10 days to 2 weeks, but he may surprise us! Not that this could ever be easy, but I am certainly less emotional this time around - I couldn't even look at Luke the day after he was born without weeping uncontrollably, and now I just see that sweet baby boy and know it won't be too long that this will all be a blur!

To add to the craziness, my mom took Luke to the doctor yesterday and he has the swine flu! Hilarious, right? I'm assuming Ford had it last week when he ran a fever for 5 days and passed it on to Lukester. The big boys are quarantined at my parents' house, and no one that has been around them can come up here. I think my mom's heart is slightly broken, but she knows she's where she's needed the most and the boys are having a blast with Granny and Crawdaddy. Joseph and I were laughing that this is the most time we've had together without kids in a while! We have 3 babies and right now we're not really responsible for any of them...the calm before the storm!

I'll keep you posted on Duncan's progress. I got to hold him right after he was born and my arms are aching to do it again. Thanks for all the emails, calls and texts!

William Duncan Martin

Sweet Duncan blessed us with his presence today! He was born at 6:37 p.m. and weighed 5 lb 10 oz and is 19 in long. Sarah is doing great and so is Duncan. He is in the special nursery since he was so early, but he is only under the oxygen hood and he is breathing on his own. Here are a few pictures...

We think he has Ford's mouth and Luke's nose. He is absolutely adorable and perfect! Welcome to the world baby Duncan!

Kate is ONE!!!

This little angel had a birthday last week and we got to celebrate yesterday! The boys were so excited and Ford talked constantly about helping her blow out her candle, but when the time came, he got a little shy. Kate is such a sweetheart and it's nice a have a little girl around the corner to spoil with this house full of boys!

My sister did a great job with the party planning - the giant cupcake she made looked like it came straight from a bakery, and although Kate wasn't thrilled about it, everyone else enjoyed it!

Ford spent the majority of the afternoon playing with Kate's new bubble puppy. He LOVED it!

I sure feel blessed to live in the same town as my sister and get to raise our kids together. The boys love their Aunt Bug and Uncle Clayton {Ford especially after Clayton giving him a dart gun yesterday} and I love Kate like she's my own! Happy Birthday, little girl!

The first of many...

I figure in a household of 3 boys, this is just the tip of the iceberg!

Ready for Spring

Soak it up, little man!

We are READY for the sunshine! I am so thankful this baby has stayed put through these cold, dreary days...being cooped up inside does not make for happy boys or a happy mama. Baby Duncan will be here soon and we are excited to meet him! My last shot is Wednesday and my doctor said he'd induce me a week early if I made it that far, so no more than 4 weeks left! Luke was already here at this point, so I feel like every extra day is just icing on the cake.

Here are a few pics of what we've been up to lately!

Bundling up and going on walks around the neighborhood, stuffing our pockets full of rocks to throw in puddles...

Creating masterpieces for daddy in the driveway most afternoons...

Fishing with sweet friends...(Ford was the only one that didn't catch a fish, and to add insult to injury, the other kids were GIRLS - he woke up at 3 a.m. that night and we heard on the monitor, "Don't worry, we'll catch one next time!")...

Cursing winter germs and sleeping off a fever virus while Diego played over and over and over...

And getting to see Mae Mae and Josh (Joseph's mom and little {BIG} brother) for a quick stop on their way to the beach for Spring Break! Josh is about to graduate from high school in May and has been accepted to Auburn, so he may be here in the fall! We told him how easy it would be to pick up girls with two little cuties in tow - don't all college guys love to babysit?

Buddies

Two of my most favorite people and their precious boys came to visit earlier this week and we had a blast! Five boys 3 and under made for a loud, messy, super-fun house and we loved every minute of it. Ford and Sawyer hit it off right away and it was really sweet to see them play together and listen to their little conversations. College roomies in 2024, right? Ash and Al, thanks for making the trip...please, please, please do it again soon!