Thanksgiving W/Gma and Gpa Figgs!

Moving Into Fall...

Baker is doing good.

I just had a flash back to when he was in the hospital, and that was how Baker's primary doctor would start the update. But overall he is doing great actually. He is back in physical therapy which was a little disheartening at first, but really is just another thing he's going to do. He's behind a little physically for his adjusted age, I just think he's going to pick his time to do what he wants to do.

His latest pictures can be seen here...

One crazy year - Happy Birthday Baker!

So here we are, 364 days since our life changed. On this day twelve months ago, I woke up in the morning knowing something was wrong with Teresa. We were up all night with what were described as “contractions that were figments of Teresa’s imagination”. One of the doctor’s from the group came in like they did every day prior to this doing the perfunctory high risk pregnancy checkup – making another $100 hello call. He gave us the reassurances of the day, everything is fine – the contractions aren’t contractions and stop worrying about it. We are almost there just a few days from what they considered “viability” for the baby 24 weeks… Heartbeat is strong, momma doing ok? Oh you had pains all night in a regular pattern? Those weren’t contractions but we’ll check in on you later this afternoon to see what’s going on….

It seems like a century ago, the trauma the pain the beeps of the monitor’s the uncertainty, the specialists with conflicting but never positive opinions on the final outcome for Baker… It all seem so far away – lost in this hazy memory of bad news on top of bad news with a little dash of hope here in there. We went through a crash course in neonatology and statistics, always weighing conflicting decisions to try to improve the probability; bump up the percentages a few points for the positive, always knowing that the experts had no idea what they were talking about…. And finally leaving most of the outcome in God’s hands….
And here we are a year later and our boy is absolutely perfect. We never expected an outcome like this, never thought it was possible. He continues to amaze us every day. He’s catching up to babies his age. He’s on a growth chart finally. He talks on and on and on (well in his own language but still.) He’s crawling and trying to walk. He is happy all the time. We have lost all the specialists but one, and I’m sure after the next visit the ophthalmologist will not have to see us again for a long while his vision is perfect.

We had a little birthday party for Baker you can get all the pictures here. This past year has been a trial, and we want to thank all of you for the support, inspiration and love sent our way. We are not just celebrating our miracle boy's birthday, but celebrating every one of you who contributed to our familie's well being during this past year. Thank you all for making Baker's first birthday... the greatest birthday we've ever celebrated...

Baker's First Theme Park

Baker had fun looking at all the cool stuff!!! To see all the pictures click here.

The March

March for Babies

Baker, Teresa and I are walking on Saturday for other Baker's out there... It's been a very hectic year for our family and it's good to finally be able to give back a little. We are so grateful for what we have and for all of the support we received from all of you.

Baker now weighs 19 lbs 11 ounces and is the funniest little man you’ve ever met. He likes to yell a lot and talk to his animals. He likes to laugh at everything, and he also loves anything electronic (phones, blackberries, computer keyboards, remote control, etc.) .

To see more about the walk click here http://www.marchforbabies.org/teresafiggs29.

April, Spring and Baker is Amazing

O.k. I have not updated the blog in awhile – and my excuse is that I've been incredibly busy. The bottom line is that Baker is fantastic. He is now 10 months old… This makes me take a step back and pause… 10 months old!!!! He is almost 1 full year old! One full year since we lived in the hospital, one full year since we sat daily in the NICU, stopped by the Chapel daily, and ate hospital food more times then not. It all seems like 10 years ago, the alarms, the oxygen, tube feeding, the worry... Wow, I think I say this at least once every day... just wow....

I do have a post that I'm putting together about our experience (or lack of actually) with early intervention. In theory and true practice I think early intervention is neccessary for kids that are born with disadvantages (like being born early, needing breathing or eating assistance, or at risk for further problems in child hood). The studies show that if you work with the babies, that overall outcomes are better... Well in our case we didn't see the early interventionist until Baker was 9 months old...

O.k. enough of the teaser, I will finsih that one up tonight...

You can see all of his pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/BakeFigg and you can see April's pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/BakeFigg/April ...

Thank you for stopping by…