Fifth and Two

Babies with wires are hard to hold...
...and tricky to feed.
Doing so good, baby Rud!
Gotta' love the heart-shaped bandages!

It may be Christopher's fifth day in NICU, but it is only day two for his mommy. Becky is painfully sore and deprived of sufficient rest, but her thoughts and concerns are directed towards her newborn son. She looks unbelievably good, despite it all, and exhibits her usual cheery disposition. Christopher is progressing everyday! The nurses have already removed one of his tubes that is no longer necessary. Although he still appears to have quite an array of connectors, most of the wires at this point are standard monitors. One checks his heart rate; one, his body temperature; an IV in his hand provides antibiotics and other necessary fluids; and he even has a little "turkey baster" to keep him nice and plump. (I don't know the technical term, but I liked Becky's name for it.) His bowels are functioning much better and he is having no problems sucking or swallowing--all GOOD SIGNS!!!! He has only lost three ounces, which is phenomenal! (Generally, a healthy newborn loses 5-7% of their birth weight in the first couple of days and over 10% before the doctors have need for concern.) The next big milestone will be complete healing of the surgical wound on his spine. At that point, he can be snuggled in a blanket and removed from under the current heating elements. Tomorrow is Emily's 11th birthday, and she wants nothing more than to spend it with her baby brother in NICU. In fact, her wish is to open at least one present in his company...if the nurses will allow it. It was just about as difficult for her to leave Christopher tonight as it was for her mom, but Emily handled it well...because she's a mature almost-eleven-year-old big sister!