Saturday, April 18, 2009

6 months

Hard to believe: Loki is six months old today. Of course developmentally he is not even close to being six months, but he was born exactly six months ago today at Alta Bates Hospital. Reason to celebrate we think. Loki did this with a wonderful night of breastfeeding and sleeping in while his mom is pumping milk. Usually he is awake early in the morning full of smiles. He must be exhausted from sucking all night long. We will celebrate with a walk around the neighborhood and prepping his birth announcement for ship off. Over the upcoming weeks you may expect, finally, the announcement of Loki's birth. As if you didn't know he was born yet. Anyhow, with the rate we move these days it may take a while before all 180 are send off, so please be patient (just a little longer). The announcement was designed by our wonderful friends Richard and Maaike, and we are very excited to share it with you. Finally, we will celebrate by putting up the video of Loki smiling. It seems we need birthdays in order to get things done here. Maybe we should go back to the week birthday as well so we actually accomplish something.

I remember so well the days that nurse Janet told us "just wait, before you know it you will be home with him and this time at the NICU is like a distant memory." Maybe not her exact words, but something like it. The NICU experience seemed to last forever when we were there. Janet was right though, now we are home and it is indeed a memory. A mixed bag of memories I should say. Mostly wonderful memories filled with gratitude for the amazing care and support received, and some pretty difficult ones filled with fear, anger and disappointment.

Our lives have been touched and changed by our wonderful baby in ways we could have never imagined. He is such a delightful child, with his observant and pensive character, full of smiles and cuddles. We found new friendships where we never thought we would find them, and we have gotten to know family members in ways we did not know them yet. We realize our support network extends far beyond the people we know. Who would have thought that having our baby so very early would enrich our lives so profoundly?

Despite the traumatic beginning of Loki's life and our lives as parents, I believe we have been extremely blessed.

I will go celebrate now by joining my men in dreamland until Loki needs more food.

5 comments:

marieke said...

Happy 6 months birthday little loki-doki!! Can't wait untill the video shows up......
Big hug for mom, dad and a special one for you. XXX tante Marieke

Richard en Maaike said...

Dear mom and dad and Loki,
Wow, 6 months, time flies. Congratulations to all of you. Congrats to Loki for doing a wonderful job growing and developing. Congrats to mom and dad for coping the first rough half year. Life can be very hard with a preemie like Loki, but life is also most wonderful with a baby, especially with one like Loki, because things could have been so different. But let's not think about that and celebrate Loki's life!! Every day my curiosity grows, how does he look and feel in real life, instead of the pictures that I can see. And I also want to give you a very big and long hug!! It will take a while, so I will hold the three of you in my thoughts.
Dikke kus, Maaike
P.S. All the credits for the announcement are for Richard (my help was very limited).

Unknown said...

Happy 6 months birthday, Loki, and congratulations to mom and dad. What have you endured already. But seeing the videos is so very encouraging. Loki looks great and happy.
Yes, you have been extremely blessed with this wonderful little boy.

Big hugs.

Mascha said...

Sorry, Matt's blog came from Mascha.

circe said...

Een heel fijne dag gewenst! En op een voorspoedig komend halfjaar.
Circe, Richard, Sosse, Meike en Jermo

About Loki Sky

Loki Sky is a special little man. He was a very early micropreemie, weighing only 610 grams (1 lb, 5 oz) after 24 weeks, 3 days gestation, born to an American Father and a Dutch Mother in Berkeley, California on October 18, 2008.

On January 11, 2009, while still in the hospital NICU, his one kidney stopped working. It was repaired after three surgeries. After spending time in three hospitals in three cities, Loki came home on February 17. He struggled with eating, and then stopped in July, leading to 8 days in the hospital, a failure-to-thrive diagnosis, and a NG feeding tube. On October 10, a minor surgery installed a G feeding tube. Another procedure replaced it with a new one, and then again with a Mic-Key button in Jan. 2010.

In August 2010, he and his parents moved to the Netherlands.

Read about his first name.
Read & hear about his middle name.
See photos.
See videos.

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