Two Weeks In!

 I wanted to review the last two weeks, because things have been changing so quickly! Timothy grows at such an astounding rate, but he is healing even faster! I don't want to forget all that we have been through.  This is Timothy's repaired back. He had a 6 cm opening in his spine, and the cyst was the size of his head. It looks so amazing, and the doctors are thrilled with how it is healing. We cannot put any pressure on his lower back at all: so he has to lie on his sides or stomach for 6 weeks. Even changing his diaper, we have to get very creative because he can't be on his back even for that long. The permanent marker on his shoulder blades were places they were planning on slicing to be able to stretch the skin and muscle to cover the opening, and then leaving to heal on their own: it would have made his hospital stay much longer, but due to all the prayers and faith of our loved ones, they didn't have to do that! We decided it would be easiest to support him if we carried him on a pillow. So he gets royal treatment all the time. Every day at the hospital they would take another tube out, and he would get easier to hold.

 Timothy looks so much like my newborn pictures, its amazing! This shot of him is almost identical to an old Polaroid photograph of me.

 In the ultrasounds, Timothy was frequently caught sucking on his toes. I wasn't quite sure how he accomplished that, until I saw it it real life! He loves being folded in half like this. Its actually a bit of an ordeal to get him to straighten out. His hip sockets aren't fully developed, but that is something they will be able to correct fairly easily in a few months.

Evelyn was finally able  to meet her little brother on Monday the 11th. We brought her up to Primary Children's and ended up spending hours with him: none of us could bear to leave him. Evelyn gazed at him and too a million pictures. She colored a snuggle cloth for him, and sang to him "Puff the Magic Dragon." She loves finally having her baby brother here!

 First time holding him! I can't believe how big she looks compared to him! He's going to think he has two mommies!

 Angelo also adores Timothy, though he has tried to flip him off my lap and steal his blankets. He's adjusting rather well, we think.

 We took this picture yesterday because we couldn't believe how much bigger Timothy already looked! It was the day after his due date! He sleeps most of the day and night. I think that not only is he doing some major healing, but he is stretching out so quickly! Its been nice to almost get a normal amount of sleep: interrupted, of course.