Rebecca is doing well. She is growing a little more mobile. Still a little sore in the belly, especially if she eats too much (which amounts to not that much at all), or as she stands up.

Xavier is also doing well. His air flow has been reduced from 3 liters/minute to 2 liters/minute in the last two days. Today his photo therapy was discontinued. His skin color is much improved.

Yesterday, Rebecca got to "kangaroo" with Xavier for more than thirty minutes. The skin-to-skin contact is very important for Xavier's development and it helps stimulate milk production in mom. I got to "kangaroo" with Xavier for nearly two hours today. For Xavier, it matters that he has skin-to-skin with either parent.

We learned today that Xavier's sense of smell is his strongest sense at the moment, so it helps him bond with his parents to kangaroo.

The last two days he has been very relaxed, not so fussy when being moved around. He is keeping his food down (he was given a nose tube in place of his mouth tube; this makes it more difficult--but not impossible as he has proved--to pull the tube out) which allows him to keep his food down better. He added 5 grams to his weight since yesterday!

Always, Thank you for your prayers.

Hello to you all.

Rebecca came home from the hospital today. It's great to have her back! Before leaving, we said our goodbyes to the nurses who have been a part of our lives these last few weeks. Many of the nurses asked if they can check on Xavier in the NICU (none of them have seen him yet).

Rebecca and I spent nearly an hour with Xavier this afternoon. He did little but sleep (picture below).

Xavier had two more tubes removed today! His IV is out of his right hand and what we have been calling his "club arm" (the one wrapped with cotton to protect his IV; the first picture below shows his wrapped arm) is now free of encumbrance. His CPAP has been replaced with a slower feed oxygen tube. We can see his face now! Also, because he keeps pulling it out, his stomach tube was threaded through his nose. This should help him keep his food down.

Rebecca was up most of the night, so she spent much of her time in the NICU. She got to hold Xavier again for his :30 skin-to-skin session. Even with a warmed blanket, he still dropped a degree in temperature like he did yesterday. Xavier sleeps with a little towel that the nurses gave Rebecca to keep on her body a couple of days. The towel picks up her scent and Xavier learns mom's scent as he sleeps.

One of the things Rebecca witnessed today was Xavier experience a "Brady", which is when the heart rate drops drops very low very quickly. His skin turns deep purple nearly instantly. When this occurs while in his pod, alarms go off all over the place and nurses appear out of nowhere to check on him. It's usual for this to happen very occasionally for babies Xavier's size and developmental level. If it grows more concerning, the solution is to add a little caffeine to his drip. This helps the brain to create a more stable wiring to regulate his breathing. What is really scary, Rebecca says, is when he had a Brady while laying against her chest!

Xavier freed of his head gear, holds mom's hand

A great scale shot, Rebecca rests her hand on her son's head.

A very focused Rebecca changes Xavier's diaper. The diapers are weighed before they are thrown out. They doctors measure how much fluid goes in and how much comes out. this helps the doctors understand how Xavier is doing with his liquid intake.

Xavier's pod opened up, a rarely seen sight.

Xavier sleeping on his tummy. This, the nurses told us, is his best position for growth and development and metabolizing his meals. The light is keeping him from jaundice and the giant foam sunglasses protect his eyes from too much bright light.

Greetings and hello to everyone.

Good news: Rebecca's lab results are still trending down and nearing normal. She checks out of the hospital tomorrow (Friday afternoon). Xavier is getting a steady supply of ever-larger quantities of mom's breast milk, he just hasn't figured out what to do with it yet.

Today was a special day. At Xavier's final handling interval, the nurse opened his pod and disconnected him from the monitors (though he still had his CPAP in place and his IV drips). For thirty minutes, mom got to hold her son, skin to skin against her chest! How cool is that?! The long-term skin to skin touch is important for the baby's development, plus skin to skin helps keep his body at the right temperature.

He was a little fussy at first, but he eventually relaxed (his heart monitors were still attached so you could watch him drop off to sleep and have the heart monitor data to know he wasn't faking it).

Xavier has two goals written on his new (little) whiteboard:

1. eat his 2 mm of mama's milk at every feeding (and keep it down). The milk is given to him through a drip feed via the tiny tube going to his stomach through his mouth.
2. sleep and grow

We have verbally given him a third one, and that is to keep his feeding/burping tube in place. The little guy is a Houdini at pulling it out. The nurse thinks it is because he has a really sensitive gag reflex, something unusual for a baby at his development stage (he gets this sensitivity, by the way, from his father). Verbal goal three supports written goals 1 and 2.

Xavier also had another minor "surgery" today. OK, not really a surgery, more of a procedure. The line to his umbilical artery was removed. It did not take long at all. That's two tubes removed in two days! His belly button can now take shape (there is not much umbilical left to fall off). It looks like it might be an innie.

The doctors have reduced the pressure on his CPAP machine. There is a little knob with graduated ticks 0 to 10. Xavier was dropped from 5 to 4! This means he is breathing on his own much better.

Xavier (and by extension apparently his parents also) has volunteered in a research project being run by Children's Hospital just across the campus. They are researching why some premie babies develop serious lung disorders while others do not. For this, Xavier has to give up a little blood at 2 7 and 21 days old, the total amount being 3/5 of a teaspoon. His parents have to spit into a cup (for genetic comparison tests), and we get to fill out some surveys. We did draw the line at the final test were they wanted to take a swipe of his lungs. Most of the data the researchers need they will get from many of Xavier's usual tests (we signed his HIPPA release today so the researchers can get the information they need). Already, he's a world-changer!

On a personal note, I, just today, purchased the paint for the nursery; I have been trying to do that since Monday! Finally, I can get on with my life.

Thank you all for your prayers and your support. It has knit around us all a sea of tranquility.

We got to see Xavier for the first time without anything on his head. This is rare at the moment because he needs his little hat to help keep him warm and regulate his temperature and he needs his CPAP a while longer until his body has fully learned to breathe on its own.