Happy Halloween

Dearest Joshua David~

Happy Halloween little man! Daddy and I brought a bag of candy for the nurses today when we came to see you. It didn't last long! :-) Most of these ladies work 12 hour shifts, so they were appreciative of the extra chocolate.

When we came to see you, you were sleeping away. Your O2 level is still great. Your blood sugar is doing better. You're on a low level of IV fluids to help you regulate more. Right now, you're at a rate of 1.8ml/hr of fluids. They will check you again tonight and if you continue to do well, they will decrease you to 1.5ml/hr. They will continue to check you twice a day. Slowly, they'll try to get you off and see if your body will do well on its own.

You're room is considered level "medium." You'll likely be in here for awhile. The last room you'll be moved into is called "feeders and growers." Once you're there, you're almost home free. :-) I'm glad you're not in the first area any more. This means you're doing better. And, hopefully, you'll continue to do well so we can take you home soon!

You still weigh the same, so you need to bulk up! You're doing better with your feedings. You had 1ml of residual milk in your belly earlier, but since then you've had none. Your feedings are still every 3 hours at 17ml of mommy's milk each time. They positioned your feeding tube through your nose, which is where they like to have them. But, they had to wait until you were off the CPAP and cannula to do that. It looks uncomfortable, but you appear to not mind it. You still sleep calmly with it there. :-)

Daddy and I were there for 3 hours today. Your grandpa Jim and gigi (mommy's parents) were there earlier. While there, daddy and I watched a video about preemies. There are 3 in the set, and we've watched the first 2. The last one has to do with going home, so I'm sure we'll watch that one in December.

Your temperature was checked and diaper changed while we were there. Your temperature was fine, and your diaper was nice and poopy!

I love you so much little Joshua! Be strong for us!

~Mommy