Christmas Block Party

In case I haven't mentioned it yet, we moved onto a street with really great neighbors.  Their kindness to us since Shannon was born as been touching, and at times, even overwhelming.  We've received babysitting offers, meals, baby clothes, and restaurant gift cards. 

One of the things I like the best about our street is how social everyone is.  They like to be around each other and have a party for almost every holiday.  Christmas is no exception.

Last Wednesday, we had our Christmas Block party.  One of the neighbors sells giant lights that are bright enough to light up the entire street, so even though the party was after dark, there was plenty of light to see. 

 Believe it or not, a professional Santa lives down the street.  He agreed to make an appearance and hand out presents  to all of the kids.  He looks pretty authentic, doesn't he?

Here's Landry visiting Santa and receiving his present.

Here's Landry taking his turn at the pinata....a first for him. 

But, all this boy really needs for an evening's entertainment is a cookie, his bear, his pacifier hanging from his shirt, and some Christmas lights.  Now, that's Landry's kind of party!!

2.5 Week Update

At almost three weeks old, Shannon has made great progress in the past couple of weeks.  He's off the respirator, and they've removed both of his chest tubes.  He's gaining weight nicely (closing in on 5 lbs.), and starting to successfully take bottles.   Before he can come home, though, he needs to be able to maintain his body temperature in an open crib and take all 8 daily feedings from a bottle.  Also, over the past few days, he's had several apnea episodes.  At this point, the doctor attributes this to some lingering fluid in his lungs, which is treatable with an antibiotic.  However, he must go a week without an apnea episode before he will be discharged.  So, at this point, we know he'll be in the hospital through Christmas, but we're hoping he'll be coming home sometime the following week. 

We're proud of the progress that he's made so far and thankful for all the many ways God continues to show His faithfulness to Shannon and our family during this experience.

Countdown to Christmas

In the midst of all the trips to the hospital, we've been attempting to make sure that Landry doesn't miss out on any Christmas experiences.  Since this is the first year that he's aware enough to soak in the sights and the sounds, it's been fun to start some new traditions with him.   Every night before bed, we've been doing the Advent calendar with him.  Because he doesn't understand the concept of dates, we hide a toy behind a random door.  It's pretty funny to watch him open the door and say "no" when the box is empty.

 But, don't just take my word on it, here's a  video as proof...

This past weekend, armed with Smash Burger, we took a drive out to the Gullo house in Magnolia to tour the lights.  This was a first for all three of us. It was a hike out to the house, but the lights did not disappoint.  We couldn't get over the size of the crowd - easily hundreds of people wandering around the family's property.  In addition to the lights, there was a choir singing carols, a group handing out hot chocolate, and a Santa Claus with a very long line!

Brian and Landry at the house...Yes, he's about to burst into tears!

Here I am with Landry....(Yes, he's missing a sock on a cold December night.  Please don't judge!)

And, last but not least, here's a picture of Landry and me that we took at church last Sunday in front of the tree in the lobby.  Based on the volumes of other people who pose in front of the tree, it just seemed like the thing to do!





Shannon's Visit with Santa

Last week, Santa visited the NICU at Shannon's hospital.  The hospital was careful to make sure that Santa wore gloves and washed his hands between every baby - not exactly your typical Santa at the shopping mall!  We were allowed to leave a special Christmas outfit for Shannon to wear for his photo op.  True to form, my Mom made it her mission to brave the Christmas crowds to find a preemie Christmas outfit for Shannon to wear, and she came through nicely with a green-striped sleep n' play for him. 

I can only imagine what an ordeal it was for the nurses to get every baby ready with all the tubes and monitors to deal with, but I'm thankful for the end result!

Here's Shannon with Santa...

One Week Photo

To document Landry's first year, I took a photo each week and labeled them with a sign.  It was amazing to see how little he changed week by week, but how drastic the change was over the course of a year! 

Here is Landry at one week:

And, here is Landry at 51 weeks in one of my all-time favorite shots on Easter Sunday 2011....

It dawned on me today, that, if I was going to document Shannon's first year in the same fashion, I needed to take a picture of him in the NICU tonight. 

So, here is Shannon's one-week picture!  This is also a significant day to memorialize because it is the first day without his chest tubes and the first day that the hospital attempted to feed him milk through a tube.  He ate 15 ml over a 30-minute span and handled it really well.



Obviously, at 4 lbs, there's not anything about him that's big, but this picture does a great job of capturing the size of his hands relative to the rest of him.  It really does seem like his hands fully extended are as big as his face!  So far, that's the only part of him that I can claim he inherited from me!  The rest of him is all-Brian.....seemingly even more so than Landry who most people consider to be......all-Brian!!

Shannon's Birth Story

Alternate Title: Why Dental Check-ups are good!

For those of you who remember Landry's birth story (going into labor in the middle of the sermon at Houston's First Baptist Church), you'll find it amusing that Shannon did not want to be upstaged by his big brother's entrance and came with a dramatic entrance of his own!

For approximately the past month, I had been experiencing swelling in my ankles and feet, but my doctor wasn't concerned about it because my blood pressure results consistently came back as normal.  This held true even through my most recent appointment the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  Over the weekend, my swelling continued to increase and I started having a puffy face (Think: Will Smith in Hitch after his allergic reaction to shellfish.)  But, I kept on reassuring myself that the doctor had just seen me a couple of days ago, and everything was fine.

On Tuesday, I had a scheduled dentist appointment so that I could get it out of the way before Shannon arrived. (As a side note, I also had big plans to take my first stab at potty-training Landry this next week too.  Ha!)  The dentist hygienist took my blood pressure before my cleaning, and it had jumped by 50 over the week.  I still didn't realize the significance of this jump until my Mom, with her nursing background, indicated that I needed to call the doctor that same day.

When I called the doctor, he wanted to see me Wednesday morning, so Landry, my Mom and I headed to my appointment in the med center.  Based on my lab results and blood pressure levels, I had developed pre-eclampsia, which put me at risk for a stroke, seizures, and/or liver problems, so they admitted me to the hospital right away.  (I had no bags, no camera, no baby book, no clothes on me. We still have a half-way ready nursery, an unassembled double stroller, a bassinet still in a moving box, and an infant car seat in the attic. But I experienced firsthand yesterday that those things really don't matter and certainly don't slow down a baby's arrival!)

I delivered Shannon via c-section at 4:35 Wednesday afternoon - all 74 ounces of him!  I've held him for a couple of minutes on the operating table but have yet to see his fingers, toes, or even his hair because he was so tightly swaddled!

We were told in advance that we should expect Shannon to have some issues because of his prematurity.  So far, he seems to be doing well.  He's on oxygen, and he'll be in the NICU for several weeks, but he hasn't needed a ventilator yet.  The pediatrician indicated that there will be ups and downs for him along the way these next few days, but we have no reason to think that there will be any long-term effects.

So, this morning, we're thanking God for all the ways that we've seen His providence these past few days - down to the fact that a routine dentist appointment tipped us off that something was wrong well before I otherwise would have known!

Will you join us in thanking God for the gift of Shannon and continue to pray for him to grow and thrive?  Before we can take him home, he needs to 1)be able to eat on his own and 2) be able to keep himself warm in a crib.

For now, I'll leave you with a picture of the little guy.  We're smitten and think you'll be too!

Welcome Shannon Lawrence Dupre!

Born November 30, 2011 at 4:35pm.  4 1bs. 10 oz, 16 inches long.

We're meeting you face-to-face a few weeks earlier than we would choose to, but we know that God loves you even more than we do and trust His always-perfect timing!!