February 27: Gaining Ground

Ethan is on the mend. He has looked really good the last couple of days and has been very active; yesterday especially. We kangoroo'd for 3 hours and after he was wide awake; looking around a lot and following my voice and footsteps with his eyes. It was particularly hard to leave him because of this. I was talking to his nurse about it this morning and she said that he is definitely getting to a point that he needs more attention when he's awake. He's aware of people around him and is more content if he knows someone is nearby. If THAT doesn't make me feel guilty for not being able to spend more time with him, I'm not sure what can. All I can do is keep in mind that 'this to shall pass' and soon he'll be home and we'll get to spend all the time we want together. We can all put these days behind us.

He also has gained some poundage. He's up to 1230 grams or 2oz 11 1/2 oz :) He had his biggest gain to date last night... 60 grams! We'll be seeing 3lbs before you know it!!

We are on day 5 of his 10 day antibiotics and restriction of feedings. He's doing great and there is little to no bile coming out of his little tummy anymore. They had him back down to the regular air flow today at a level 2 setting. At his worst, he was put back on high flow at level 4, so we're heading back in the right direction. He also had no drops today! Well, 2 to be honest, but they were so small and quick, we're not counting them. His head was positioned weird on one and on both he brought himself out quickly and the alarms turned themselves off before we could even react. Good day, considering his condition. His xrays of his bowels are showing a small improvement. We'll take it :)

And my last Ethan update: holding him has taken on more meaning. I think it is because he is bigger, I can feel him more. Instead of just this little lump, I can feel his legs and arms moving against me. Part of it could be that I'm more comfortable handling him and not scared that I am going to break him. I can hold him by his head and butt now with his face looking up, so we can look at each other. It's so great to be able to stare at his little face the whole time, instead of just being able to sneak kisses on the top of his head once in a while. Don't get me wrong, that was great, but this next step is awesome. I'm sure it will only keep getting better and better as he grows.