5 months of miracles

Kyren turned 5 months yesterday. it seems like so long ago now that we were waking up to the news that our little miracle had lived through the night. . . and was stable. today he is smiling (though he doesn't find our efforts to make him smile all that amusing), focusing, and right on track for his due date. He is sleeping 6 hrs and then 4 hrs just about every night, and nursing full time. . . very efficiently. He only needs a bottle once in a while when he gets his 'hunger bursts' in the early evening. His only high maintenance tendency is that he wants to be walked and bounced almost all of the time that he is awake. That can be a little tiring-- but is obviously a welcome reminder that we could be dealing with a lot worse! Sometimes i have to stop and force myself to remember all that we've been spared from. It's so easy to drift toward a sense of entitlement to normalcy. But we have been shown great mercy, for which we want to remain grateful... not taking for granted the fact that we don't have a heart monitor to watch, an oxygen tank to carry around, or feeding tube to change. the fact that all we have to change is a diaper every few hours is a miracle for which we want to thank God on a regular basis.

Our story could have been so different. 5 months ago I shuddered when people would try to encourage us by telling a story of a friend or family member, born prematurely, who turned out perfectly normal. I just couldn't imagine that such a story could be ours. I only had faith for that day. And I only knew that God would give us faith for each day as it came. I had no idea He would blow our faith out of the water in the weeks to come!

Right now, our little miracle is screaming his head off in his bassinet, demanding my attention. Lord, help me to be thankful for such a strong cry!