Walker Colt Pruett: 17 Weeks Old

Walker has had a great and eventful week since last Friday! The doctor released us to finally be able to go out and do more and we were very ready for this opportunity! Saturday we were able to go up to Smith Mountain Lake with little Walker, his very first trip to the lake! Our friends Ramie and Joy invited us up for a little get together and Walker really enjoyed himself. He got lots of love from everyone, who was so excited to see how well the little guy was doing. We got Walker an infant life jacket and we let him get in the lake for a couple of minutes, which he really seemed to like. We were so excited for him to be able to get into water, besides the bathtub, for the first time and we are thinking he is going to be a water baby! Walker also got to go on a boat ride, his buddy Josh made sure so take it really slow with the little man on board. Overall it was a great day with lots of love from everyone!

Sunday was another wonderful day, Walker got to have another amazing first, the first time at church. We were so excited after 16 weeks to finally be able to take our little guy with us, and return to our church. Everyone was so excited to see Walker, they have been praying for him and doing so much for us, and we were so proud to finally be able to show him off to everyone in our wonderful church family! After church we got to go to Mamaw and Papaw's house for a delicious home cooked dinner, another thing we have been missing for the last 4 months. It is so wonderful to finally be able to get back to our lives with our little guy who makes everything so much better! Sunday afternoon we were able to go watch Uncle David's last soccer game, we are really going to miss him when he heads back to school in a few days! This was an all around great weekend for Walker and for us, we are truly so blessed to be this little guy's parents!

Monday was a rainy day, and Walker got to rest up from his busy weekend. He hung around the house and had fun napping, hanging in his swing, and getting lots of tummy time! Monday night Walker's friend Lori, Uncle David, Granny and Papa all came over for supper and played some Rook. Walker took everything in, and can't wait until he is big enough to join in the games with everyone!

Tuesday, Walker headed back into town with Mommy and Granny because Mommy had a couple of doctors appointments. He was on his best behavior hanging with Granny in the car until Mommy was done, and he even got to meet Daddy for lunch afterwards. We ran into Mommy and Daddy's friends Alicia and Jonathan, it is so great to be back home and able to see people we know! Walker had a restful afternoon and was eating good and continuing to grow!

Wednesday Walker had an appointment in Baptist for his eyes, and he got a very good report. The doctor said his eyes are really progressing well, and it won't be long until we don't have to see him anymore! This is great news for us and for Walker, because these eye exams aren't any fun for him. This is another answered prayer for us, and we are trusting that his eyes will continue to heal completely normal. After the doctor's appointment, Granny and Uncle David and Mommy all took Walker to lunch to celebrate and then headed home! We are so proud of Walker and the hurdles he continues to overcome on a daily basis, he is one tough little guy!

Thursday Walker had an appointment with his pediatrician for another weight check he was up to 6lbs. 11oz but he was very congested. The pediatrician was concerned about his congestion and breathing, and she was also worried that he might have RSV so she sent us to the hospital. They did a test for RSV and a chest xray to check the little guy out. The RSV test came back negative, and the chest x-ray looked clear. They put him on oxygen to help with his breathing because he is so congested. They are also sucking him out regularly to try to keep his congestion at bay, which seems to help him and he is doing better with his eating. They are going to continue monitoring him and see how he does before deciding when to send us home.

This morning Daddy had to head back to work, so Mommy stayed with Walker all day. Granny, Papa, and Uncle David stopped in to see Walker on their way to JMU to drop Uncle David off for school. Walker is really going to miss his Uncle David, but he will be finishing up his senior year at JMU. Walker did well today, they still had him on the oxygen but only on 100 just to give him a little help with his breathing. He was doing really well with his eating, and back up to his full feeds of a little over 2ozs. They were still sucking him out pretty regularly to try to keep his congestion at bay. The doctors said they will turn his oxygen off either during the night or first thing in the morning. Once they take his oxygen we will stay for 8hrs to make sure he is going to maintain his breathing before they send us home. We are hoping to go home tomorrow early afternoon, as long as Walker can do well and maintain his breathing and eating.

Please continue to pray that we are able to take Walker home, and he is able to fight this bronchiolitis and continue to get better.