CHASE IS HOME!!!!

After only 2 weeks in the NICU, Chase is HOME!! We can't believe how fast this all happened, but are grateful he is healthy enough to be home. He is still a little peanut, weighing 4 lbs 3oz, but since he had no complications and was eating well, they decided he could come home - and we are loving it! Granted, I'm running on 4 hours of sleep, but it is SO nice to not have to go to the hospital - I think Amelia is happier with that than me - she can only handle so much of no momma.

We feel so blessed for the wonderful friends, doctors, nurses, and family who have helped us so much through this crazy time. I don't know what we would have done without the great care and support from everyone. THANK YOU!

Pictures from "coming home day," Sunday, Sept 28th:

Happy to see her brother. The first thing she said was "hey, bub."

Mommy and Chase

First family photo - Amelia was SO done being at the hospital.

Teeny Chase in big car seat

All cozy and ready to come home

Later that night:

He slept for 4 hours when he got home - keep it up!

Ready for bed in his bassinet

The next morning:

Amelia isn't so sure about "baby Chase"

But she still gave him a kiss

And a high-5

Pictures from the NICU:

I made Chase a blanket and name tag to make his hospital bed more home-y.

Grandma Bond and Chase

Go Redskins! Matt was happy to have Chase use the Redskins blanket Aunt Ashlee made.

Amelia had fun with Grandma:

Watching the sheep with Grandma

And feeding the ducks

Amelia got a big dog for her room to help her transition to her new bedroom since she had been sleeping in Chase's room - with "Big Dog" the transition was nice and easy.

Welcome Chase Matthew Bond!

Well, the Bonds have done it again. We've had another scary experience resulting in the early arrival of our baby boy, Chase Matthew Bond. October 3rd was his expected delivery date, but in the wee hours of the morning on Saturday, September 13th, at 33 weeks gestation, I went into labor. I was in denial from 1am to 4am thinking "there is no way I'm going into labor, but these contractions really hurt." They kept getting worse and worse so I realized it was time to wake up Matt and call the doctor. I went to the hospital and sure enough, I was in labor. They tried to stop the contractions with medication, but it was too late. Around noon, a nurse panicked because she couldn't hear the baby's heart beat. Doctors were in the room within seconds and saw by ultrasound that the baby's heart was beating much too slowly. They rushed me to the OR for an emergency c-section. Matt and I were crying and scared, but the doctors helped calm us by reassuring us that we would be OK but the baby needed to come out NOW. Luckily once they got me to the OR, the baby's heart-rate had gone up so instead of knocking me out and taking the baby quickly, they were able to do the surgery in a more controlled fashion. Within 1O minutes, my doctor arrived, Matt got his scrubs on, I got my spinal and baby Chase was born. He came out screaming, which was music to my ears, and weighed in at 3 lbs, 9 oz.

our precious Chase
3 lbs 9 oz, 163/4 in

Chase is completely healthy and is having no complications. He doesn't need supplemental oxygen, he is feeding well from a bottle, and is doing everything a baby should do. We just need for him to grow so he can come home to us. This is a much more calm experience than Amelia's. It's amazing what a few weeks can do.

Chase has more of my features than Matt's. He has my ears, feet, and nose.

Proud Papa

Kisses

wide awakeChillin' under the bili lights

Amelia wasn't sure what to think of her "baby bruva"

she had fun playing with the controls on my bed - notice the sign - that's my Amelia

It was SO hard not to hold Amelia! I missed her while I was in the hospital, but thank heavens for my WONDERFUL friends out here who so graciously took care of her during this crazy week.
The hospital gave Amelia a Dora Fairy doll to congratulate her on being a big sister. She loved the wand which she calls "blonde"

Having a sip of mommy's water
trying on mommy's beautiful dress

blowing mommy kisses. it was so hard to say bye to Matt and Amelia at night.

It's not easy to wake a sleeping baby...

I had to wake Amelia up from her nap a bit early to make it to a doctors appointment and it was so hard to do since she looked so comfy. She cried for a moment, but all I had to say was that we were going to go pick up Daddy at work to go see the baby and she was immediately happy.

And by the way, Amelia LOVES her stuffed animals. Her favorite is "morning doggy." He got his name from me one morning saying "morning Amelia, morning doggy" and later that day she was looking for him and asked where "morning doggy" was. I had to laugh. But the name stuck.

Amelia with morning doggy. This outfit she is wearing is one that has been in the closet for 2 years! It is a 3-6 month-size tank and skirt Robyn Miller gave her and it finally fit during the right season. Thanks Robyn!

Reminiscing Again...

Amelia has been putting her fingers in her mouth when I take pictures of her - kind of acting shy. I realized when I saw this picture that she did the same thing the moment she was born. So here's a comparison of Amelia today and Amelia only a minute old.

Animal Lover

Since Amelia was old enough to notice animals, she has been in love with them. And with her ever-improving memory, she now talks about animals she saw weeks ago. Last week when we went to the farm to get her milk, the sheep dog - who is the best dog I've ever met - was as excited as always to see Amelia. He let her hug him and kiss him and scratch his tummy. He even held his paw up to give her a "high 5" - she was laughing really hard and constantly talks about the dog giving her a "high 5."


Then we go see the chickens, the goats and the cows. The goats give her kisses and let her pet them through the gate. And for the first time we got to see the farmhand milk the cows and she was fascinated by it. She keeps talking about the "cow utters...wash soap and water...cow milk out" which was the exact process she saw. Every night before bed she wants me to recount the story of her visit to the farm over and over. Just knowing how much she loves our weekly farm visit makes it worth the nearly 3 hour excursion.