devin's first big boy pajama experience

devin wore his first 2 piece pajama set from gramma the other night and looked really cute. there is a reason onesies exist... because 2 peice outfits on a 2 month old ride up constantly and are super annoying!!!! but it was still cute.

and here are a couple more cute smiley pics. with daddy:

christmas decorating

we got a christmas tree today! it was actually something we could do with devin in semi-public. since the place is outside (obviously) we brought him withus to pick out the tree. i carried him in the baby ktan and it was really enjoyable until we realized what the place was charging for regular old medium sized christmas trees... $75-$90!!!!!!! we ended up going to the not so festive grocery store and getting one for $32 instead. we did get a really bright not so good picture of devin's first christmas tree hunt (from the first place).

we ended up decorating a bunch inside and we finished most of the tree tonight. devin really like the lights. its fun to have a kid and feel like its actually necessary to decorate for christmas. we usually go up to new york for a couple weeks during christmas so we're never even here to enjoy anything we would have done in the past so we never had a tree or anything. so thats pretty cool.

good morning smiles :)

for the last couple days devin has been smiling much more. its so cool that hes a happy baby ! its really hard watching your baby exist before hes supposed to. while he was in the nicu i felt so horribly guilty because he was obviously uncomfortable no matter what we did for him. he was still supposed to be in my belly. i just wanted some reassurance that he was (at least) some day going to be happy. preemies are very twitchy because their nervous systems are very immature and it really freaked me out. he used to sometimes look like he was smiling but it was actually him twitching and it was really depressing for me. my mom or the nurses would say "oh look hes smiling!" and i was never able to squeeze any real happiness out of that. it was cute to catch him doing it in a picture but it was hard for me at the same time.

i think i finally sighed a huge sigh of relief the day we saw him smile for real! it was like this whole ridiculously scary situation had finally come to an end and i couldnt have been more happy! his smiles started out slow, maybe 1 or 2 a day for a week or so. but now hes smiling so much! when i go to pick him up in the morning he smiles this huge goofy, gummy grin and its too funny! hes also started smiling while hes eating. he'll be drinking from the bottle and i look down and hes just smiling away (even though he should be eating!) he giggles and smiles like crazy when he gets bored of his milk. its so cute.

he has also statred laughing and giggling a little and that is just so funny! of course fabian got him to laugh for the first time. i was jealous but it was so funny. he was giving him a diaper change and making that fart noise on his belly and devin just bursted out laughing! it sounds so goofy. i hope he keeps the same laugh forever because its going to be awsome to make fun of him about it for years to come!

happy thanksgiving!

today is our first thanksgiving as a family of three and it has been a good one! since my mom and brother in law are sick we spent it at home by ourselves. we were planning on going over their house (yes they live together, i know its weird but it saves them alot of money!) but instead of spending it with them we each cooked half the meal and traded off food. it worked out well. i made salmon for myself since i dont eat meat (i do eat fish), green bean casserole, mashed potatos, corn and butter pecan cupcakes with real whipped cream pumpkin frosting. my mom made the turkey, stuffing and glazed carrots. it was all delicious.

we took alot of pictures of devin weraing his "my first thanksgiving" onesie and his ridiculous turkey headband! it kept falling over his eyes which made for a very unhappy baby. we figured out that if one of us sat behind the sheet we were using as a backdrop and held him we got much better pictures even if there are obvious boobs behind it!

im so thankful for devin being here with us. i love him so much and cant imagine my life without him. i dont think ive ever really thought about what i can "give thanks" for on any of my previous thanksgivings but i have so much to be thankful for today.

first entry!

ill give a brief history for readers who dont know us. my name is gretchen and im married to mny husband of almost a year (nov.28th) fabian. we have been together for 6 years and have a beautiful son named devin luke.

devin was born on june 23rd 2009, but wasnt expected until september 24th 2009! he came 3 months early and had a pretty rough start in life. this blog is basically for friends and family who dont get to see devin much because he needs to stay inside away from most people until the spring when flu/rsv season is over. because he was born so early he is unfortunatley at high risk for catching harmful viruses like rsv (i'll explain this more in future posts) that could basically land him back in the hospital.



while i was pregnant i had alot of complications (mailnly random bleeding for no apparant reason). when i was only 22 weeks pregnant i was admitted to the hospital because my water had broken and was told i would lose my son because i would most likely deliver within 48 hours. the drs. asked fabian and i to make a "desicion" about whether or not we would want our baby to be ressusitated or would we want to just "let him go". well we refused to make that decision and 5 weeks later i was still pregnant.

that 5 weeks gave devin his chance at life, and hes here and healthy today. he was born weighing only 2 lbs. 6oz and 13.5" long. he spent 11 weeks and 1 day in the nicu at northside hospital in atlanta. and came home 2 weeks before his due date. he has been home with us since 9/9/09 and we couldnt be happier!

devin is actually 21 weeks old today or 5 months on the 23rd! i cant believe hes been here that long! his adjusted age is almost 2 months. that means it will be 2 months from his due date on the 24th of november. so hes just like a 2 month old right now, not like a 5 month old. sometimes that concept is confusing for people but thats just the way it is. his pediatritian says hes developmentally more like a 3 month old and his size is more alng that line also so thats a VERY GOOD THING!
right now devin smiles socially only a couple times a day which is the cutest thing ever, and hes getting really good at holding his own head up. we recently got him a bumbo seat and he sits in it so well!

ill put soome pis up of his first couple weeks along with more recent ones to compare how far this little boy has come. its amazing! as of today he weighs 12lbs. 8 oz and is 23 inches long!