3 Days Old!

Blake and Bennett are 3 days old today and going strong!

Blake @ 3 days old.  He got to put on real clothes today!

Bennett @ 3 days old.  He's working on his tan!

Bennett still has a long road ahead of him but has made huge strides forward in the past few days.  As of today they have taken out his chest tube and his lung is staying inflated.  He is still on the high frequency ventilator and nitric oxide.  His oxygen is at 33% (they had to turn it up a bit because they lowered the pressure settings on the vent) and his nitric oxide is at 2.  The doctor today said they may try to take him off the nitric oxide in the next few days, but his nurse today said he did not tolerate it well when they turned it off for a bit today.  They did a sonogram of his heart today to check for a "hole in his heart", but we won't know the results of that until tomorrow.  They had to put him under the bili lights last night, but that's pretty standard in the NICU.  His nurse today said he was able to straighten out his right arm a little bit more today which is great news.  He is starting to get a little bit of dependent edema (swelling) in his neck today, but they said not to worry about it.  He is currently sedated on morphine and versed, but he still will move a little when we touch and talk to him.  I am so proud of him for how far he has come in the past few days, but I expect his progress to slow down a little now.  The doctor today said that it's still too early to tell, but he expects Bennett to come home sometime in June.  I just can't wait for the day that I can see him awake and I can pick him up and hold him!  It's really hard to see one baby doing so well and one that has such a hard road ahead of him, but if anyone can make it Bennett can.  I think the power of prayer has gotten him this far and I know we all will continue to pray until he is out of the NICU and home with us!

Bennett at 2 days old.  We got to "hold" him in his isolette.  It's not much but it meant the world to us!

Bennett at 1 day old

Bennett at 2 days old.  We can't get enough of this little guy!

Blake has utterly AMAZED us today.  We found out that he took 2 bottles last night and only had 1cc of residual.  They increased his feeds from 10cc-15cc at 11am and from 15cc-20cc at 4pm.  We went to the NICU to feed him this morning and we got to try breast feeding.  I didn't really expect him to do much, but was excited for the opportunity to bond with him.  After about 5 minutes of trying to get him latched on the nurse had us try using a shield and he caught on right away.  He did so well and fed for about 15 minutes.  We went back at 4:30 and to our surprise they were moving him to the feeder/grower room.  The only place left for him to go is HOME!  The doctor told us that he thought it would be another 3 weeks before he was home, but at this rate he may go home before me!  He continues to shock and amaze us and we are so grateful for the progress he has made.  He will be our little overachiever!

Blake in his new room!

Blake at 2 days...WIDE AWAKE!