February 4: It's a belly button!

We had another good day today with quite a few victories...big and little. The first: Ethan got the IV taken out of his arm. They had only stopped feeding him through the IV yesterday, so I was surprised when they made the decision to take it out completely. I'm just hoping they are able to keep it out! It is such a relief to know there are no more needles poking into him. They also started fortifying his milk today to boost his calories and tomorrow they are upping his intake from 15ml to 17ml. Another progression I wasn't expecting as they had explained to me that 15ml was a 'full feed' for his weight. He did gain 10 grams since yesterday, but I didn't think that would be enough as he has been at heavier weights. Who would have thought that 10 grams would be significant, but if you only weigh 800 grams total, I guess this is big news!

In other big news, the scab on his belly button finally fell off and it looks so cute (the belly button, not the scab). He has a little outie. :) I was relieved to see it fall off...it was pretty disgusting to look at. I can now admit that I had this horrifying vision throughout my pregnancy that Ty (my cat) would stalk our son until it fell off and he then would run off with it. I have had this thought for years actually...ever since the 'Sex and the City' episode where Miranda's cat ate Brady's belly button scab...you know the one I'm talking about? ack. I guess if I can find a positive in our situation it is that Ty had no chance of this scenario ever playing out.

Ethan also graduated up a diaper size. Not because of his huge 10gram growth spurt, but because he is soaking through all of the smaller diapers and this way, he makes less of a mess for the nurses :). His new diapers come up past his belly button and up to shoulder blade on his back and are quite ridiculous looking (see above picture). They make him look even more like a little old man than before...now he is a (cute) little old man that has pulled his pants up too high. Even with old man syndrome, he is getting more adorable day by day. He was more alert than ever toay and spent the majority of our visit with his eyes open and following my voice. It was awesome.

And last, but the best, news of all...I got to kangaroo with him today. Unfortunately, Jon has come down with an ugly cold and will have to miss a few visits. So, it was just Ethan and Mom's day of bonding today. When getting us all set up, the nurse forgot to put a little cap on him, which is usually a must to keep him warm. I probably should have reminded them, but without his cap, I was able to smell and kiss his little head. His hair is so soft and he smells so good, I couldn't even hardly stand it. To make up for lack of hat, I made sure to keep his head cradled in my hand to keep him warm. It was pure bliss. I also was able to feed him while he was lying on me, although still through a tube. The hope is that he will start to associate mealtime with my smell and the sound of my heartbeat. He was totally snuggled in and we had an hour and 20 minutes together before he had to go back to his isolette. I have to say, it is getting harder and harder to give him up at the end of each day.

In other news: the bacteria in his urine has turned out to be a non-issue, but now they say that they are seeing high glucose (sugar) levels. This could be mean anything from that fact that he had a stressful day and because of this, his body didn't absorb the glucose or it could be b/c his kidneys are not yet fully developed and they will need to keep an eye on it. They will be running yet another test on Monday before making any definitive decisions on how to handle. Also, we got his brain ultra sound back. This was a huge one as most babies born at Ethan's age have some level of bleeding. We were hoping for minimal of course, so were thrilled to find out that there was no bleeding...none what so ever! Another indication that he is just a little miracle.

Please continue to keep Ethan in your prayers! Obviously they are working so far!