Christmas Morning in Pictures

Admiring the Tree

Opening Presents

Fletcher's Present to Mom

(on his face and my shoulder)

Which is Apparently Hilarious

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

One Year Ago

Right Now

My mom makes Christmas Eve pjs for all her grandkids. Last year she made Fletcher's blanket out of some of the fabric. The days leading up to Christmas last year were some of Fletcher's worst. His lungs had begun to scar from the pressure of the vent and were taking on fluid. He got bad pretty quickly and they put him on some pretty heavy antibiotics for fear of infection (you can see the IVs going into his arms and he has scars to this day on each forearm from that or one of his other numerous lines). His vent settings were high and he was getting fairly regular doses of morphine because he would get so agitated and fight the vent. I don't like to think about it, but there were times that I wondered if my mom would ever get to make pjs for him.

Today, I am happy to report, is a completely different story. While every part of Fletcher's life is, and will continue to be, affected by his extreme prematurity in ways I have yet to discuss on this blog, right now he is just your average baby resting comfortably upstairs all safe and sound. And yes, he is in our bed, but we are hoping it is just a phase while he is a little stuffed up with a head cold. And even if it is more than a phase... just look at that first picture above and tell me that you wouldn't want him close to you after all of that.

Happy First Birthday Fletcher!

In honor of Fletcher's first birthday, I put together a little video to commemorate his first year. I borrowed the song and some of the text from videos produced by some fellow micropreemie mom bloggers, so it may seem a little familiar, and have emailed this out to nearly everyone I know. But, if you haven't had a chance to take a look, get some tissues and enjoy!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com