Hello to everyone.

Xavier took another step closer to coming home today. He has been doing very well with his isolet bed switched to manual and letting him regulate his body temperature. He has been keeping himself at about 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 F). Today, Carrie, his day nurse, left the pod dome up after his 2:00 cares, to test him in an open crib environment.

After his 5 o'clock cares and bottle feeding by Dad, he was returned to his isolet. The environment of the pod was not kept as has been in the past (by turning on radiant heat, closing the pod, keeping up the humidity, etc). When Xavier had his temperature monitor plugged back in, he was three tenths of a degree warmer than when he came out (probably because sleeping on Dad warmed him).

Nevertheless, he maintained his temperature without assistance! Thank you, Jesus! He may need to wear his hat more often with the pod dome raised, but still he is closer to meeting his temperature self-regulation goal. The plan was to watch him through the rest of the shift (ending between 7:00 and 7:30 PM) and see how he fared. Also, keep an eye on his weight to see if he is expending too many calories keeping warm rather than growing. Our little boy is growing up so fast!

Speaking of weight and growing, Xavier dropped 15 grams since yesterday, putting him back to 1250 grams (2 lb, 12.2 oz). We are still in sight of three pounds! His daily weight fluctuations are expected and OK so long as his weekly average trends upward, which it is. His chart shows a nice curve of growth not too dissimilar from the norms, only his has smaller numbers.

It being Monday, and me being there at the right time (purely coincidental), I got to assist in measuring his length. This is done once a week, on the calendar day of his birth (Monday). This is an involved procedure.

I thought they would just lay him out and use a paper tape to measure him like they do to measure his belly girth. Nope. They have a little graduated plexiglass board. Xavier was placed on the board and the top of his head held firmly to the headboard. He did not like this and began squirming, making it difficult to get his leg straight. Once his leg was "wrestled" under control (he is getting stronger--we work up a good sweat taking his temperature at care intervals!), a slider was moved to the sole of his foot and his length read from the scale to the side of the slider. For those old enough to remember, the device looked very much like the old foot-sizing devices used in shoe stores.

He is 37 cm (14.57 in) long as of today. That's an increase of 4.5 cm (1.77 in) in six weeks.

Always, we thank you for your prayers and support.

Hello to everyone.

We got a bill from the hospital yesterday. It broke down the billing for the week starting May 10th and ending May 17th. This was the week Rebecca was checked into the hospital the last time. This seven days covers the time when Xavier was delivered. I thought it would be interesting show some of the costs. These numbers are only for Rebecca; none for Xavier.

1. The room Rebecca stayed in: $14,000.00
2. ICU Charges: $25,000.00
3. Labs: $4,000.00
4. Operating Room: $8,000.00
5. Anesthesia: $4,000.00
6. Imaging: $1,200.00

I've left off some items, but the total for this week was very near $59,200.00.

The only reason we got this bill was because we have a deductible for medications and we owe about a hundred dollars. We have not seen the bills for Xavier or any bill for Rebecca's first stay in the hospital. All we can say, and we say it with a sincere heart, is "Thank You, Jesus, for taking care of us!"

When Rebecca and I sign off by thanking you all for your prayers, here is a simple example of why we mean it from our hearts. And Xavier is much more precious and of much more value than the numbers listed above. God has done and continues to do great things in our lives. Great and mighty is our God!

Hello to everyone.

Today was an exciting day for Xavier.

First, he got a visit from his Aunt Rochelle. She brought him some little clothes and took a bunch of pictures. She even got to hold him for a few minutes while Rebecca prepared to breast feed him.

Second, after we changed him, took his temperature and wiped him down, the nurse had us remove his little preemie sleeper (it was practice for when we get him home and have to deal with the oxygen tubes). After that, the nurse removed all his wires, then prepared his pod with a little tub of body-temperature water. Rebecca then set Xavier into his first immersion bath!

He didn't know quite what to make of the experience. His senses were swamped and he began having retractions and hiccups, both signs of stress. After a few minutes, though he began to settle down and just wonder what was happening.

He even got his hair washed. When it dried, it curled upward, like a little chia pet. It looks like he inherited his father's natural curl.

Xavier put on another 15 grams and is up to 2 lb, 12.8 oz (1270 grams). His legs have finally gotten big enough that he can wear his security anklet. The anklet is required for babies over 1000 grams by the NICU Regulatory Agency, and is to be worn at all times while in the NICU. Until this week, Xavier has been too small for it.

Always, we thank you for your prayers.

I don't know what's going on. As Rebecca set him into the water, I told him he should remember this, as it's only been six weeks since he knew a world immersed in water. This is the first time since his birth we have seen him without monitors and wires attached to him. What a treat that was.	Maybe I do like this after all. This is near the end of his bath, and he settled down quite a bit after getting used to the water.