First time out of the house!

 After almost 4 weeks, we left the house for the first time! We went off to the beach for a lovely afternoon. Being May 28th, there was no one else there and we had the beach to ourselves. Mattias and I enjoyed spending the day under the umbrella, watching the other kiddos play and swim. It was really nice to get out and enjoy some fresh air. I can't even believe this little man is 6 weeks old. Where does the time go? He is almost 7 pounds!! Chubby cheeks!!!
He is alert so much more of the time now, and the other night he looked into my eyes and you could tell he was actually focusing on me, that is the first time he has done that. Jason noticed that he will track with his eyes and follow things for a short time! Big boy!!!

random photos

 Some random photos from the last week. Meeting Gramma, lots of snuggles!

                                                                    First real outfit

                                                favorite sleeping position during the day

                                                         Who can resist those eyes??

                                                               Checking out Navae

                                                                Random cuteness...

Yesterday I was marveling at the fact that our baby is a normal newborn weight now, 6 pounds 8 oz, and he looks like a newborn, with chubby cheeks and all! Praise God for that!!!!

4 weeks old

 Seriously, where does the time go??? These were taken when Mattias was 4 weeks old, over a week ago now. At 4 weeks old, Mattias weighed 6 pounds 3.5 oz. He has a totally alert time every morning for about an hour or an hour and a half. Big changes this week: head control... Mattias is gaining head control and can lift up off my chest and turn it to face the other way. This week Gramma D came for a visit, which was lovely. Mattias is still nursing excellent and getting the hang of sleeping at night :)
I'm still in awe every time I look at him, that he is a miracle! Frozen for 3 years... and here he is!!!! We are so blessed!

Questions

I thought I would answer some frequently asked questions here. 

1: what exactly is embryo adoption?

Sometimes families who go through IVF treatments have embryos left once their families are complete. They have 3 options for these embryos: destroy them, donate them for medical research, or donate them for embryo adoption to be transferred into the adoptive mother's uterus to grow into a beautiful baby. Thankfully, Our son is here today because of option number 3!!!!! Soooo very thankful.

2: Why did you do embryo adoption?

We personally believe that life begins at conception, meaning that embryos are babies... alive... 

We have 4 Ethiopian children and see embryo adoption as no different than any other adoption. We desired to have another baby in our family and to us it didn't matter if our child had our genetics. Embryo adoption seemed like a great fit! What a blessing to be able to experience pregnancy again and bond with our child as he grew! 

3: what clinic did you use?

Pacific Northwest fertility in Seattle. Can't say enough good about them! Amazing group of people there! Highly recommend them!

4: Isn't embryo adoption "playing God"?

After 2 transfers and 10 sweet snowflakes, I have never been more in awe or more sure that God is sovereign over all, including embryo adoption. Embryos are placed in the uterus with skill, that is true, but once there, no matter what grade the embryo is, no matter how long the embryo was previously frozen, or what the success rate the clinic has, only God decides whether that embryo continues to develop and implant. He decides if that baby's heart starts beating and when that baby is born. Only God decides. No one else. God is in control as he knits that baby together in the womb. 

Happy to answer any other questions you may have! 

6 pounds!!!!

36 weeks

      From this, a 5 day old embryo... to this... a gorgeous baby boy gestationally 36 weeks old! Over the past months it has become even more clear to me that life begins at conception. As soon as the cells begin to divide after egg and sperm have met, there is everything needed to become a sweet baby boy or girl. Having the opportunity to see our baby at just 5 days old gestationally, was amazing. Every baby is clearly a miracle!! I am so thankful that the family who chose to donate their embryos instead of destroying them... one of those embryos is my son. He is dearly loved and cherished!!

                                                            36 weeks, 5 pound 14 oz

                                                So alert every morning for about 30 mins!

                                      He still loves to sleep in the kangaroo care position :)

Been working on this post for days, so although i have much more to type I'm just going to post this for now!

HOME!

 We arrived home late evening, and we super surprised to find our fridge full of fresh groceries, and a home cooked meal waiting for us to simply heat up, our freezer full of homemade muffins and buns, and our whole house had been cleaned and laundry was done! Even the bedding was clean! To top it off, all the baby clothes that I had planned to wash and sort (you know, in May), had been washed and sorted into baskets labeled by size!!! What a blessing our sweet friend Jocelyn must have spent a LOT of time here! We are so thankful for all the work she did, it was such a blessing and made our transition so much smoother!

It is so awesome to be home and to just be a family! The big kids are content to find bugs, plant seeds, jump on the trampoline and read stories with Mattias and I on the couch. Time to just be. Just enjoy each other and reflect on the way God has been at work over the past month. Time to be joyful, and thank Him for the ways He has blessed us. So many people have been praying for Mattias, and we are humbled and thankful. So many people helped us out with childcare, making it possible for us to be at the hospital as much as possible. We are thankful for those in our church family who provided meals for us this week as we transition to being home, being a family of 9 and having Jason go back to work. Its gone remarkably smoothly! Praise God for that!

Little man is doing awesome! As of last night he weighed 2620 grams (5 pounds 14 oz)! He is starting to have some more awake time and the kids love interacting with him. Its awesome to see the sibling love and excitement! Mattias is doing awesome with breastfeeding. He is acting more and more like a term baby in terms of cuing, rooting, and fist sucking. Its interesting after being in the nicu the things we get excited about, and the things we realized we previously have taken for granted. I would say its really weird going from the environment where every single ml taken in with feeds, every gram gained or lost is measured daily, all vital signs are monitored constantly, and your baby is assessed with every feed, to all of a sudden you go home... and you don't know if he is gaining weight, if the weird sound he's making is normal and ok and WHERE IS THE HAND SANITIZER????? (I really do miss the hand sanitizer).... its a strange transition! Thankfully, I was lent a baby scale, so every 2 days we have been weighing little man, without having to go out into the germ infested world ;) We were told at discharge, although they were sending us home, they wanted us to keep in mind that Mattias is still fragile and still early. They advised not going out in public and not having any sick visitors. You don't have to tell me twice. So, if you don't see us for a while, thats why... and please don't be offended if I ask you if you are sick if you are dropping by. Honestly, I haven't set foot outside my door in 8 days...and it feels awesome!

                                                  I couldn't choose the best picture :)

Day 1 out of the NICU!!!

 We stayed in the city for an extra day to pack up and get ourselves organized. Mr man loves sleeping in our arms, and who can complain about snuggling with this cutie?! Not me!!

Discharge Day!

 We didn't tell the other kids that we were bringing Mattias from the hospital, so you can imagine the surprise when we walked in with him. Everyone was super thrilled to meet their baby brother and hold him for the first time! Sooooo glad to be together as a family!! This is one loved and prayed for baby!

                                                           Malakai had the first turn

                                                              Oldest and youngest

                     Navae wasn't so sure, but after some coaxing, she enjoyed holding her baby brother

           Cousins, due 10 weeks apart, born 17 days apart! so excited for them to grow up together!

So much more to write, but trying to blog with one hand while the other is happily holding my sweet sleepy baby boy! Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!!