Oooops Again. And a baby's coming home?!

A correction for Carrie's first "Oops" post.  No, Will has not gained 2 pounds in a day.  He is definitely big compared to the others, but he's not packing it on quite that fast.  (I suppose it's possible he's sneaking off in the middle of the night to get a 32 oz steak at Texas Roadhouse, but unlikely.)  Early morning postings tend to lead to exaggerations (or maybe we should just call it a typo).  Will is 6 lb, 10 oz.

Today's big news is that David is on schedule to come home on Saturday!  He has to go 5 days straight without having any "sleep alarms."  That means he has to breathe on his own without any drops in heart rate that set of the monitor alarm for five days in a row.  Friday will mark the fifth day, so we'd bring him home on Saturday.  If he has a sleep alarm, then the clock resets, but he is on track for that now.  He's taking all of his feedings from a bottle and doing great.

Life is about to REALLY change for us!  Up until now, we really haven't felt like a family of 8.  We aren't in constant care of six kids, but just one.  I may offend someone or sound crass by saying this, but I have felt since they were born that going to the NICU is kind of like going to a petting zoo.  The babies are really cute.  We looked at them from the other side of the glass.  Later, we got to hold them and "pet" them and feed them.  We have had to use hand sanitizer all the time.  The "keepers" (nurses) show us how to feed them and hold them and take care of them while we're there.  At the end of the day, though, we say goodbye and head back to our "real" lives, not having any direct physical responsibility for caring for them aside for when we are there.

Well, the petting zoo is heading our way!  We are thankful that they are not all coming home in one swell foop.  Inching our way from one baby to five in a gradual manner will have its own challenges, but I think will be more helpful to our sanity than going from none to five all at once.

We are just so grateful that there are so many people on board to help us out in so many ways!  Bless you all!

Seth is holding his own.  He's about the same as before.  Comfortable and happy and healthy looking, but needing significant pressure to keep the lungs inflated.  They are continuing to wean the nitric and hope to have a good idea of whether the hypertension has been addressed fully in a few days.  He's still a very sick boy and needs serious and intense care and prayer.

Marcie had her first feed from a bottle today and took to it quicker than either David or Will.  She actually finished the whole feed from the bottle, which neither boy did.  Grace is pretty close to starting a bottle, but has a few levels to go down on her oxygen support and air flow from the vapotherm machine.

Will is doing great, but still not caught up to David as far as his bottle feedings.  He won't be much longer in the NICU, though.

Love to all,

Gavin