Boring Baby Boy

Not much to say about Douglas lately really... he's doing alot of sleeping and eating (up to 200 cc's a day now) and wiggling around whenever he can, free of all IV's, with just the little red light on his foot still, which lights up the whole thing. His little head and face look alot more comfortable without the mask squeezing down over the bridge of his nose or the tight strap holding the nasal mask in place, and his ears seem to be forming cartilage now, free from wearing that snug cap all the time. (you can still flop them over and they'll stay in place, like a puppy's ears, but not for long... we'll miss that in a way).

He still has the c-pap keeping some extra pressure in his lungs (just regular room air) so he doesn't have to work so hard... we want all his calories to go to putting on weight, which is the very best thing he can do right now. This new cpap has resulted in FAR fewer apnea episodes, and he seems more comfortable than we've seen him. He's up to 2lbs 10 oz now and growing every day.

He'll turn 1 month old tomorrow (or negative 2 months, depending on how you look at it), and will get his 30 day checkup, including an MRI and an eye exam soon. Both important milestones for the little man that we look forward to getting behind us.

After that, it's a couple more weeks probably til he's off the breathing assistance and moved to the quieter, developmental bay hopefully, where we can hold him more often since he's not connected to all the monitors and c-pap.

My amazing wife is holding up beautifully (quite literally), religiously pumping milk for her little miracle boy and we're still heading to the hospital every day at the same time to deliver the fresh milk, have a visit, pump some more fresh milk, hold him during 'kangaroo care' time, and then rush home to pump again. We are so very lucky to both be able to keep visiting him daily... it's apparent that this is a luxury most of the NICU parents do not have... most have 'real jobs' or kids too young to leave at home and so have to visit less often. We can't imagine how hard that must be. We also still have delicious homecooked food being delivered to us every weekday, thanks to our incredible friends here in Austin, and the Millers (the most incredible of all) for organizing the care calendar. They also have Halen out at the ranch with them for Spring Break this week, which has been a huge help and a great treat for her... she loves her some Millers and some Circle Dug Ranch time.

Good news about my brother Clint as well! He's doing much much better, fully off all breathing assistance, and I'd guess getting ready to go home. His MRI showed a "normal" (for a Wilson) brain and his sense of humor seems to be toying with those around him and enjoying the whole thing more than anything else. He recently demanded his son's sunglasses and wore them in the hospital bed all afternoon, and explained to my mother that he'd caught a 14lb bass in his fishing trip the night before. Ah, ICU dreams.

OK... ending this marathon post now so we can head in. Here's a pic of them measuring his little head the other day, and another video of Halen's tape recording, because it's just about the sweetest thing I've ever heard in my life.

Thanks for reading,

Paw