DAY FIVE

Today was a good day. When Mom and Dad came to visit me for touch time this evening the top was off my incubator. Mom got to change my diaper, (sort of) but she got nervous with all the wires. Mom and Dad took some really good pictures of me because they had my shades off and they were able to touch me quite a bit, Mom loves my left big toe because it looks like I am giving a "thumbs up" with my foot. Iwas so excited that Mom and Dad were there that I tried really hard to open my eyes, but only got my left one barely open.

DAY FOUR

My dad and I got to bond today! He took my temperature and got to have "touch time" with me. The doctor sat down with mom and dad today in what's called a care conference. They discussed the plan over the coming months and the doctor stressed that we need to take one day at a time.

I have had so many visitors over the previous days! My parents are so lucky to have such wonderful friends and family that stand by them when things get tough. My mom tells everyone right now that all we need is prayer and God will do the rest.

DAY THREE

I've had my ups and my downs, but as my mom says I'm holding my own. Today the doctors told my parents that they wanted to do an EKG of my heart. Because I was born premature, they were concerned about PDA which means that a patent duct remains open and I get both oxygenated blood and de-oxygenated blood running through my body at the same time. (In full term babies this duct is closed) The doctors say that once this duct is close I can start eating. Since my duct was open, the first step in closing this duct is a medicine regiment and if that does not work I may need heart surgery.

DAY TWO

This was the first day that my mom got to see me. She had to stay at the hospital in Irving, but she wanted to be near me so badly that she did what she had to do to be discharged 36 hours after her c-section. My dad had been able to see me since I was moved to the new hospital and would drive back and forth between mom and me to report any news. When visitors would ask my mom how I was doing she would always say "he's holding his own". Since I am a micro-preemie, the doctors had me on a ventilator and would check my vital signs and run all sorts of tests to make sure that what my mom told visitors was right.

DAY ONE

I was born in Irving, Texas on a Friday to parents who had yet to have the nursery ready. To say they were unprepared for my much anticipated arrival is an understatement, but here I am! At birth I weighed 1 pound 8 ounces and I was 12.25 inches in length. The doctors warned my parents of the problems that can occur with a micro-preemie, but they knew I was in God's hands, so at 12:16 am I came into the world via c-section. Despite the dire warnings the doctors report that I had good muscle tone and gave a small cry as I entered the world. My apgar scores at birth were 6 and 8 respectively. Once I was stabilized I was transported to another hospital that has a level 3 NICU.