A month later…

“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” ~ Leo Tolstoy

Yesterday Chance turned one month old. One month. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long since he was born. It does seem like just yesterday, yet at the same time the last month has seemed to last an eternity at times. We’ve amazingly made it about a week and a half without being in the hospital and have gradually begun to resume our lives at home adjusting to all the changes having a new baby at home. Of course I’ve spent a little time each day making sure I tried to capture moments with our little man before he grows too fast. Though I’ve feared he’d grow too fast, thankfully he’s still rather tiny. He’s not quite as curly but he is still a sleepy little guy who has cooperated long enough every day we’ve been home to take some memorable photos with him. I thought I’d take a moment to share a few more of my favorite photos from the last few days.

Here’s Chance when he was 26 days old. Yes, he’s a smiley little guy.

Here he is at 27 days old. We tried to get him as curly as he’d get. He loves and prefers to sleep on his belly still.

Yesterday Chance turned one month old and we decided to celebrate by taking Chance and the kids out to the park for photos. I’ve attempted to convince parents of newborns how awesome newborn photos could be outdoors but of the 70+ babies most preferred indoor photos. I don’t blame them when going outdoors adds the stress of worrying about weather, bugs, and outside onlookers. I knew I’d definitely take some newborn photos outdoors of Chance but I have to admit I dealt with the same worries beforehand. Thankfully I had Jason and the kids with to lend a helping hand. Newborn photography can really be unpredictable when you don’t really know what type of mood the baby will be in and I have to admit that Chance has definitely had his moments where somedays he’s been super cooperative and I’d get to take some of the most dreamy shots in a matter of minutes and other days I’ve had to fight and work with him for so much longer just to get a few shots. So going out I wasn’t sure how much I was going to have to work with him or just what I’d be able to pull off but it so worth taking the trip out. We went to Dickson Azalea park near downtown. The park is fairly secluded but is known to have people walking or running through the trails a couple of which got to see us working with Chance for his newborn photos. It was definitely a memorable experience because as soon as we got set up and I posed Chance things just all fell right into place. Jason managed to snap a quick shot of me in the moment or two I spent getting Chance comfy in this bowl.

Yes, these one month photos of Chance are among the many photos I’ve been conspiring to take for a long time now and it’s sort of need how sometimes the best things in life sort of fall together as they’re meant to be. I have to admit I hunted for a bowl similar to this since nearly as long as I’ve been doing newborn photography and I didn’t find it until about 2 weeks before Chance was born. And really, it was pure luck that I bumped into it. Finding this bowl was like that sign that I was meant to find that bowl just for Chance’s photos. Yes, it’s kind of amazing how sometimes things just “happen” when you least expect them to. It’s a bowl so special that I only plan to use it for Chance and you’ll likely see him photographed in it again as he grows. I had a “nest” like material custom made by an etsy user just for this photo a week or two before Chance was born. So though I had hoped to take photos of him in this bowl when he was much younger, it all sort of fell into place to take some perfect photos of my little man.

Yes, Chance seems to be like virtually every other newborn I’ve photographed…he loves to have his picture taken in a bowl. He loved it so much he smiled numerous times through this series of photos. I wish I could tell you all the trick, really he’s just a smiley little guy. Sometimes just talking to him provokes a smile. Other times, like in this shot, Jason stroked the side of his cheek with his finger and every time he did he smiled. But really, we catch him smiling often so I have to say that it’s a sign that he’s one happy little soul.

I’ve been waiting for people to scold me for not taking photos of all the kids together. It’s been really tough. I’m lucky if I get time to take pictures with just one or two of the kids together, but all three seems to be nearly impossible. One of the three seems to just not be interested and I just haven’t had the energy to really plan to take the really awesome photos I wanted. But knowing we were going out to the park I hoped to take at least one of all the kids together. We had to deal with a bit of whining and we only managed to get them to sit together by bribing them that they could play at the park afterwards. It was literally a moment or two of photos to get this one memorable shot of the three of them.

As the kids played at the park Hope stopped to take a quick photo of Chance & I. I’ve definitely been hiding from my nikon since I’ve gotten out of the hospital and know many of you have been wondering about how I’ve been doing. It’s been an incredibly tough month physically & emotionally and showing my face has been the furthest thing from my mind. It’s been tough for me dealing more challenges than I had hoped to encounter this past month but things are gradually getting easier now that we’ve been home for over a week. Over the last week I’ve definitely grown a lot more clingy with our little man.

Today I photographed Chance at 29 days old. It’s the first time since we’ve been home that he’s truly had his eyes open when I’ve tried to do his newborn photos. He was a little fiesty this evening but we still managed to capture more memorable photos worth sharing.

Now as you all have seen his photos I’ve been sharing and you continue to say “awe—-”…let me introduce you to the real Chance. Okay, he doesn’t cry constantly but for half the photos I take he is fiesty like this. He’s a really great baby but if he’s hungry he is just as fiesty as this too.

I imagine it’s only a matter of time before we get to see more of his personality. Here he is looking uber cute for a brief moment during photos today. As much as I love sleepy babies, I adore that he was willing to show off his adorable eyes with you all today….something tells me you all have been eager to see him awake for a change. He still sleeps most of the day so we only get to see his alert side for maybe an hour or two a day right now.

A FEW MORE UPDATES
I had quite a few of you contacting me for more updates and asking how Chance has been doing. It’s been tough to contact you all individually so here I am again sharing the updates on my blog in hopes it helps you all feel better informed.

• Chance’s back continues to heal. We went to his neurosurgeon today for a follow up appointment and his wounds from his back closure surgery and shunt all appear to be healing well. I have to say his back still looks icky but in comparison to last week it has improved considerably. We’re hoping in the next week or two that his stitches will be removed from his back once his back has healed a bit more. Until then we’ll continue his antibiotics for a bit longer and continue to clean and bandage his back twice a day.
• Yesterday we brought Chance in for a Renal ultrasound. Tomorrow we will meet with the doctor that will help us assess Chance’s urological & renal health. In the NICU the tests left doctors with the suspicion that he might have a neurogenic bladder. I’m not well versed in all the terminology but they suspect that though Chance is peeing and pooping on his own well he may not be completely relieving himself because with each ultrasound he has had a full bladder. A big concern with spina bifida patients is that the inability to completely relieve themselves can lead to bladder & kidney infections. Bladder and bowel problems are very common with spina bifida and we really don’t quite know how Chance might be challenged, if at all, but we’ll meet with the doctor tomorrow and I’m sure we’ll continue to monitor his health in this area.
• Chance and I have duked it out a few nights at home and I’m quite thrilled to claim a victory with breastfeeding. With Chance being in the NICU for nearly three weeks on feedings tubes and bottles majority of the time it did make the experience very challenging once we arrived home. At the NICU I only got about 4 or 5 opportunities to nurse him, all of which he did fine with in the NICU, but once we arrived home the first several days and nights were absolute torture for us both. I was torn between trying to nurse him myself and/or keeping up with a pumping routine where I’m easily producing more that twice as much as he typically eats during the day. He’s a fiesty little guy who definitely seemed to have taken to the lazy habits of being able to bottle feed so easily. He’s never had a problem latching at all he just would scream on and on like someone was hurting him. After a couple nights of working with him through lots of fussing he finally seems to have taken to nursing well. I’d hate to jinx myself but the last few nights have went very smoothly so my fingers are crossed that he continues to do well because we definitely know it’s what is best for him and as easy as bottles and pumping can be I think we all realize it just isn’t the same as me being able to feed my little one myself.
• We all know Chance is a strong little guy. He’s proven it with as much as he’s gone through. If he wasn’t strong enough he’s doing amazing at lifting his head for his age and in the last few days he’s decided to begin rolling over from his belly to his back. He began a few days ago and I thought at first that perhaps it was just a fluke but in the last few days he’s continued to do so a couple times each day. He usually does it when he’s fussing. The other kids didn’t rollover until they were about four months old so to see this little guy doing it at 3 1/2 weeks old is pretty amazing.
• Chance continues to move his legs and feet. The doctors are very impressed with his movement. It’s still too early to determine how much spina bifida has affected his mobility but the fact that he moves his legs and feet on his own is a great sign.

MANY THANKS…
It’s been more than a month now and I can’t help but pause to thank you all for your support since Chance was born. It’s definitely not been an easy month but so many of you have offered support, reassurance, and so much more to help our family. Some of you brought us meals. Others brought gifts. Some of you have helped us with the kids. Others are holding fundraisers. And so many of you are out there praying for our family. Thank you seems so small in comparison to how much so many of you have done for our family. You all have been amazing and our family certainly appreciates all the support and prayers that have been sent our way.