HOME!!!! part two

So yes, somehow i've taken over the role as head blogger of the family, something i would have never guessed i'd be involved with months ago, but here I am, and its actually been quite helpful as we've gone on this journey. So anyway, yesterday was quite a ride for us hearing the news that we could actually take our G-man home!! This was a complete surprise to us, we were preparing for a tuesday surgery, pysching ourselves up to deal with the Dr telling us "Yes, his ventricles have increased, and yes, he will need the shunt surgery tuesday" But, "No" instead he said there was no change, and that he'll be checked in a week. We were somewhat torn. Was this just delaying the inevitable or was this an answer to our prayers the previous night? We've learned to hang on to even the slighest bit of hope these past months and this is no different. Remember the previous post when i said i was fed up with the hospital and had to get out!!! Well guess what, next day and we're outta there! And yes, i know the statistics and yes he probably will need a shunt, but for this week we've got our little guy where we want him, at home!!!

So when the doctor finally gave him the official OK to leave it was beyond surreal. After saying goodbye to our two favorite nurses we had to ask a few times "so we can just leave?" "Do we have to scan him or something?" But no, he was ours and off we went. Walking out of the hospital we just really didn't think it was real, he was gonna come home. After pulling the car up front we securely fastened him in, I tugged on that latch plenty of times and made sure he wasn't going anywhere. And so he was in and we were off to make the 10 minute journey home. Leigh sat in the back as to "protect" him from anything the car seat couldn't. I'm wondering how long she'll sit in the back there with him. hahaha. It was like i was back taking my drivers ed test, hands at 10 and 2, yielding, cautiously proceeding at intersections. I was beyond cautious. This i'm sure is the mindset of every mother or father driving there child home for the first time ever. :)

So we made it home and after a tour of his new digs Leigh and I had a moment of "Ok, now what?" "I dont know, we could put him in his pj's?" "Ok, sure lets do that"
So we bundled him up and I did the only thing I thought was right at the time. I placed him on his side on the floor and put my face 1 inch from his and just looked at him. His little hands would occasional touch my face...my heart melted even more. :)

The first night went well I think, It's not like i have anything to compare it too, but he got up at 1 and 5 AM and Leigh and I tag teamed, changed, fed, cleaned, rocked, and back to bed. His noise machine is amazing, its like a babbling brook is running right through our bedroom. hahaha. So today has been pretty chill, adjust to life with our new little roommate. Trying to figure out what we needs, when he needs it and how much he needs. So we continue to pray for the health of this little guy and pray that he will continue to bless our family as he already has so much.

Love,

the Gibbs'

HOME!!!

Andy is typically the blogger of the family, but I just couldn't wait to share this news!! Our G man is finally coming home! I just talked with his neurosurgeon and he has escaped a shunt for this week! Most likely he will still need one at some point, but not tomorrow! We will continue to have weekly head ultrasounds to check him out. I'm sure that andy will post a much more entertaing post soon, I just wanted to share our great news!

Love to all
Leigh Grey and Andy

One things for sure...

the little man's hair appears to have a reddish hue to it. And if anyone has seen my "beard" before you'll know he gets it from his old man. So we'll see if this auburn shade sticks with him and if so we'll stock up the SPF 100 for our fair-skinned little dude. Anyway, this Sunday was a fairly busy day with visitors and such. It appears his loyal fan base is local and he has several guests everyday to admire him. Today, however was the first day where I felt really "trapped" in our space on the third floor. All 8 of Greyson's roomates parents were in to visit and it just made things cramped and gave me an uneasy feeling. Leigh and I are both so ready to leave and make Grey comfortable in his own room. But we learn patience, and know when we finally get to take him home it'll be even more meaningful.

It seems like Grey's been making some friends here among the nurses as well, we've just heard that three nurses have requested to care for him on monday and tuesday. Either they really love this little guy or they are just interested in an easy work day because he's the easiest to care for in the room. Either way, he's pretty popular. :)

So tomorrow he'll have his tests and we'll know for sure about the shunt surgery. It seems likely he will indeed have it. Man, it'll be hard to see him go thru another surgery. But we are pretty confident this little one has the right attitude going in, he'll be cool, calm and relaxed. That's just how he rolls!

love to all,

Leigh, Andy, Greyson

The Weekend at the NICU

So Leigh and I have determined that the hospital is getting a little old, Sure we know exactly where to park, what hours the cafeteria are open, and how to get up to the third floor the quickest. But we are ready to take greyson home!!! But we go one day at a time and enjoy ever second we get to hang with our little buddy! And lately things have been pretty exciting!!! Yesterday marked the first day that Greyson didn't have to be on his belly! And basically they Ok'd him to be in any position he's comfortable with. WE still are leaning on the side of precaution and not setting him on his back for too long, it's just a little scary. But the Docs say he's fine and his attitude wouldn't prove anything different. He's very content. So now that he's up off his belly he we can hold him!!! Yes an amazing feeling that we've been not so patiently waiting for, for over a week! Yesterday afternoon Leigh was able to hold Grey for the first time like a little baby should be held. Obviously the love for our little guy was overwhelming as she held him. I'm pretty sure she didnt let go or share him with anyone else for 4-5 hours. I don't blame her! After some convincing I was able to peal greyson away from Leigh so that i could hold my buddy. Wow, finally. It was incredible!

This morning as we walked in, Greyson had what looked like earmuffs on, but earmuffs that were from Star wars or something. Turns out he was having his hearing screening done...and he passed. So that cools, the little guy can hear. IT must be from when i set my ipod next to his head those first couple days. Gotta get him started early on learning what good music is all about! :)

Today has been great, We've held him, washed him, squeezed him, and pretty much gaze at him and are perfectly happy. I loose track of time because im so focused on him. So he hope to just enjoy the rest of the weekend hangin with our new best friend. We know what Monday/Tuesday will hold and dont want to get caught up on that. Monday he'll have another head ultrasound and his shunt surgery is in the books tentatively for tuesday. So all please continue to pray for Greyson has he's gonna have to put his game face on again and get tough for another surgery. We pray that the Surgeon will perform his finest surgery and that all will go smoothly. WE love this little guy soooo much and its clear he's loved by so many others just from those following his journey on our blog. Thank you all, it touches us deeply that people that have never met us or greyson can be so connected in the effort to love and bring this boy home as soon as possible.

love to all of you out there,

Leigh,Andy,Grey


enjoy the pics...i've got hundreds more :) hehehe

Not this weekend :(

Well, it looks like the little one will be hanging out at the NICU this weekend. We had just a slight bit of hope when a doctor said we might be able to take him home this weekend, but they will keep him over the weekend because it looks like he'll have his shunt surgery on Monday or Tuesday. Probably more like Tuesday. It was tough for Leigh and I just because earlier this morning Leigh was surprised by the fact that a doctor said he might come home Friday, it would almost be better if they didn't say that unless they were for certain, ya know?

Anyway, Greyson's doing well and he'll be able to get up off his belly tomorrow. Finally a change of scenery for the little man. Gotta be kinda sick of lounging on his belly for a week. Although I think I'd be content with eating, sleeping and lounging on my belly all week. Tomorrow also marks the day that We can hold him! I'm not sure if it will be full-on "hold a little baby" holding, but nevertheless we can hold Greyson without having him lying flat on a pillow.

Today also marked the day Leigh nursed Grey for the first time. An interesting predicament when he has to remain feet higher than his head and belly-down. But the incredible nurses here got creative and it worked out better than expected!

So we prepare for another surgery...wait didn't we already do this? Yeah it'll be tough, maybe even tougher than his first becasue we've gotten to know our sweet baby and love him more than we thought we ever could. We hate that he will have to go through this once again, but know that it is what is best for him. As always, we put him in God's hands and know that He is in complete control. Please say a prayer for our little guy and for us, as we know that it will be a difficult few days but hopefully our family will be home within the week!

love to you all,
Leigh, Andy, and baby Grey

One Week Ago...

Leigh had little greyson!!! Say what!!! its already been a week. It's hard to believe that he's been part of the family for a week, but he sure seems to fit in pretty well :)
Today was the first day i had to go back to work. That was a little tough to get back in the swing-of-things and re-focus on something other than my little guy. And yes, one of the first things i did was set my background image to a great shot of greyson!!!

I was able to jet out for lunch and see him and when i got there I was surprised to hear that Leigh spoke with the doctors and they said it was likely he would be released this weekend!!! This is pretty exciting! I asked "even with his head ultrasound set for monday, and a possible shunt surgery tuesday, we can still bring him home?" They said Yes, if the Neurosurgeon and Plastic Surgeon OK him to come home then, Yes he's ready. So that news helped out today. And life for us remains to be lived Day-to-Day!

So Greyson will be my favorite photo subject until he says, "Geez Dad, another picture, thats so lame." but until then, I will continue to snap shots. Heres a few more. Hope you enjoy!

love the Gibbs crew.

Scrub-A-Dub-Dub

So today Greyson finally got all that lingering "gunk" out of his hair. Yup Leigh got to play hair stylist and do-up his hair. I kept pushing for the rat tail look, but Leigh was against it. For those of you that have seen him in person you know he's working on a pretty sweet baby mullet, that if twisted up correctly would make for a great 80's rat tail. hehe Anyway, his "bath" went well and he seemed to be even more kissable than before. Greyson also got to put on his first real oufit, I was asked my opinion but it really didn't matter, Leigh had it planned well in advance im sure.

Greyson did have his head ultra this morning and although the measurement around his head stayed the same, it appears that his ventricles are larger than normal. (we knew this while he was in utero) The DR said this could be his heads ventricle size, but was honest and said he thought he would need a shunt. They will do an ultrasound again next Monday and based on that we could have his surgery next tuesday. So as much as we were preparing for this it was still hard to swallow. Especially after loving on him so much today, and seeing how peaceful and content he is right now. Another surgery and not even 2 weeks old. I've been around almost 28 years and have had 2 surgeries total. One of which was for warts on my feet (yes I had surgery for warts on my feet, no need to laugh) Anyway, for what this little guy has had to endure already, he is far tougher than I'll ever be. So the tough part is just the idea of having to go through another surgery. Shunts are pretty common, in people of all ages, but with any surgery theres risks and we just don't like the idea risks being associate with our precious, perfect baby. So for all of you following and praying say a prayer for all 3 of us as he gear up for some more combat.

With love,

Andy, Leigh, and Grey