William at 10 weeks old/38 weeks adjusted age

No nasal cannula for real this time!

Filling out the newborn clothes

Look at me smile!

What a difference one week makes! William must have been reading his own blog last week because he decided to man up this week and act his age. He just wanted to show his mommy who really is the boss.

So the biggest news first.....William's nasal cannula was removed on Thursday!!! He no longer requires supplemental oxygen (unless he has a little reflux episode which has only happened three times so far). He is breathing like a big boy now. A few weeks ago when William was having all of the A's and B's (apnea and bradycardia), Rob and I never thought we'd see this day.

Not only is William doing a great job breathing, but he is starting to take more and more of his feeds by mouth. In fact he has taken his entire feed by mouth three times now (twice at 63 milliliters and once at his new weight adjusted feed of 70 milliliters)!! Little boy is hungry! The plan is to continue to try to feed him by mouth every 3 hours if he is willing through his cues, and whatever he doesn't take by mouth will be finished in his feeding tube. Maybe in the next week or so we could be discussing the removal of the feeding tube - dare I be so optimistic?

And get this - William is now 7 pounds, 1 ounce! He has outgrown his newborn diapers and is rapidly outgrowing his newborn clothes. He still is catching up length wise at 18.6 inches.

Rob and I are almost afraid to be optimistic about William's progress and possible discharge in the near future. We do not want to get our hopes up only to have them shattered by a setback. We know that William will come home when it is God's will that he does so - we just hope that William's time is sooner rather than later....then EEK! we definitely need to start getting our house and William's nursery in order. William would think mommy and daddy live in a constant state of chaos if he saw our house in its current state. Perhaps William will be able to help pick up things when he comes home.....:-)

-Lori