4

Went and saw little man today and he is doing fantastic.

The countdown continues!

Resume countdown

7.............................

Shuttle please fire your engines and buckle your safety harness.......we are hoping for a smooth ride this time, but better safe than sorry.

A quick update

Little man is doing pretty solid. He is still having trouble with his feeding in that he is not taking all his food that the doctors want him to. This is a little hurdle that will need to be overcome before we can get back into launch state to go home.

Since he seems to have some minor trouble while he is feeding with his energy level, they have decided to try putting him on low oxygen while he is feeding. I will keep you all posted on how that works.

Other than that, not a whole lot to say. Things are keeping on keeping on.

Thanks for the patience and we will be updating more very soon!

PT

Today was another very interesting day. I have found a good portion of this situation very interesting and almost astonishing.

While the level of stress this has created is unbelievable, some very cool stuff has come from it. We have met some wonderful people who give and give and give from their hearts. We have met other parents of NICU children who are so willing to support and give freely of their time and emotions. We have been able to see marvels of modern medicine in action. We have seen the hand of the Lord at almost every turn.

We have talked about how different it is to actually see the last 3 months of a child's development that should be happening in the womb. It is amazing to see how a created being is supposed to develop. It is almost as if there is a window into the womb and we have a front row seat for the show.

While we would both rather have had a "normal" experience, there are some things that we feel blessed to have experienced.

With that, we had our first physical therapy appointment today. This was an appointment where the physical therapist came in and ran him through a series of tests to check muscle development, reflexes, and overall development of his body.

He did great.........his head is a tad misshapen from laying on one side for so long, but other than that, his legs pretty much checked out, his neck muscles checked out, his upper body and arms were all good, and his hands and fingers were fantastic.

In all, it was a good appointment.

Then he decided to "crap out" again and so we once again hit the "reset" button on the going home process.

I feel like I am playing Madden 96 on PS2 and threw a pick the first play of the game and figured that the reset button was a better idea than playing the game out.

So there it is...........the day was good and semi-good all in the same 2 hour span.

Julie and I then went home and we painted a dresser for the little man. We sure had a blast together and hope the little man likes the colors.

We hope all is well with all of your families and we can't wait till he gets home and we can start building this family. Julie is most looking forward to waking up in the middle of the night to feed or cuddle him..........though she knows she will grow out of that QUICKLY.

I am most looking forward to his first Masters title and getting to see a green jacket up close.

A Dad can dream, right?

T-minus.......................

Slight delay in the countdown.

Remember a short while back when he decided to practically die in my arms? ( I say that because that is the term the nurses use when a baby's heart rate falls below a certain rate and his bloods oxygenation falls below a certain percentage) Well it happened again.

We were just chillin he and I when he took a big gasp of air and proceeded to stop breathing. This time I knew exactly what to do and so it was not as scary as the previous episode, but it was still a bit perplexing. I held him afterward and he fed afterward and so things are alright, but this sets us back a touch.

We all know what it takes to go home, but in terms of the breathing stuff, he has to have no single episodes for a period of 5 days. To this point, the longest he has gone is a couple days so we will see how this plays out for him.

I can report some wonderful news and a real answer to prayer, though!

His latest cranial ultrasound brought back "resolved" results. This means that both sides of his brain have stopped bleeding completely!

Great news!

So, while the launch is delayed, there are some good things happening.

We want to leave you with a few photos to close this post out. Hope all is well with everyone and we will talk to you soon!

Home for the last 2+ months.

I love the photos where he has his hand around his face as if he is just saying "Uggghhh. Can we stop this whole photo thing yet?"

T-minus

10..........................

New photos

Some exciting new happenings in the little man's life. Things are going well and we have photos to prove it;

Lets see if anybody can see the difference in this photo versus other previous photos. Leave your guesses in the comment section.

For those that know the area we live in, there are train tracks that run very closely to our house. They were once used for logging and some mining but they are pretty much a tourist stop now. Every now and then a life size "Thomas" comes through but they now have old cars staged there for display.

"What is the significance" you might ask?

Well, it turns out that some tracks are now running through the NICU and they have put a special stop right at the little man's house. While this train's final destination might be the North Pole, we are hopeful that he can get a ticket and a one way ride up near us here some day soon!

If you haven't guessed the difference in the first photo yet, here is a hint;

So, this is obviously a photo of me feeding our boy. This is the first time I have fed him and it was a chore, let me tell you. It was one of the coolest things I have ever done, but he didn't seem too interested in taking his bottle with me. Only a matter of time............I might not smell like his Mom or be as beautiful, but he will soon learn that I can provide food as well......even if I cant produce it ha ha.

"I have nipples Greg can you milk me?"

Anyway, hope you figured out the difference in the photo and enjoyed some new photos. God bless us all and thank you all for the prayers and continued support.

Peace, we out!