60

...days that is.

Yesterday was Drew's two month birthday. Today he is sixty days old, which means day sixty in the NICU. So much has happened since day one but I am loathe to attempt a summary because the thought seems exhausting. The light at the end of the tunnel that is our discharge date is in sight (I think). Maybe next week? Don't hold me to it but please pray for the possibility.

We've gone from this:

Day 1

To this:

2 Months (somewhat blurry because he loves to squirm)

Drew is growing and improving by the day. Yesterday I performed my first trach tube change. It went smooth-as-butter and now I'm officially qualified to do all of Drew's trach care. Karla is the one we call Dr. (just a Ph.d so that doesn't really count right?) but now you can call me nurse. Actually, most of the nurses in the NICU have never performed a trach tube change so maybe you should call me an RT (respiratory therapist). Maybe I'll just stick to Daddy.

Karla is breastfeeding Drew which is awesome. This has resulted in a stream of onlookers as no one has seen a ventilated baby breastfeed before. I think Drew is smart like his Mommy. With the two of them working together who knows what other amazing feats we'll see. He still needs his official feeding study to make sure he isn't aspirating any of his milk but we're confident that he'll pass the test.

Drew is also very social and loves to interact. He fixates on faces. You get the impression that he is processing a very thorough opinion when he is looking at you. I think the jury is still out on Daddy. Grandma and Grandpa V. visited over the weekend which was a big thrill for Drew. The more cuddles he gets the better.

This week is another busy one. Karla will do a trach change, Drew gets his vaccinations, we'll get him a rigged-out stroller and he'll have a feeding study. Hopefully we'll get to do our care-by-parent weekend at the end of the week (a dress rehearsal for going home done in a deep dark corner of the hospital). It also appears that Drew is going through a growth spurt because he can't get enough of the good stuff. When we do occasionally feed him with a bottle, giving him what would be a calculated suitable amount (things are closely measured in the NICU), he finishes in minutes and looks for more. They don't have flow meters for breasts but I think he is getting substantially more than the calculated amount.

Thanks for praying for us. While things are mostly great this is still very hard. Drew still has "unusual" breath holding spells although we are able to manage them (we think...so far so good). The uncertainty of the cause of Drew's breathing difficulty coupled with the uncertainty of his future prognosis is always on our minds. For the most part it doesn't affect our daily functioning as we trust in God's provision to see us through this, but it is still present. Pray that we don't worry in the uncertainty.

Two month family portrait

Happy breathing!

db