Five weeks 3 days old

Evan had a big day today! He came out to play twice!!!

Evan and I had a nice long snuggle this morning. It was only interrupted because I had to leave to go to an appointment. He did desat a little but the nurses think he may have reflux. (Desat means his oxygenation levels drop. This is usually how Evan shows that he's uncomfortable or angry. Evan tends to desat a lot when he's on his back. It's his way of making sure he gets put back on his tummy.) Reflux is not a huge problem for preemies as it is quite common - in fact, full term babies are susceptible to reflux as well.

Busted for pulling my tube out. Rats.

Evan did misbehave a little this morning. While on his tummy, he kept messing with the tube in his nose. Every so often he'd pull it out. If I didn't catch him in the act, he would desat (because he didn't have the O2 support). The nurse ended up putting him in time out on his back. He was not a happy camper. Once he realized his shenanigans of desating to get flipped back on his tummy weren't going to work, he settled in and was okay.

This evening, Evan had his first snuggle with his Daddy. My heart melted to see them together. Evan looks so much littler in his dad's arms. I love snuggling Evan, but it was nice to see him in the act. He did such a great job. The two boys hung out for a while.

He's out!

Not much is planned for Evan day-to-day anymore. During rounds today Andrew said the doctor was making long term goals for Evan. It's great he's doing so well right now. My daily notes are confined to one page. Evan's feeds were increased to 23 mL during the day and then bumped to 24 mL this evening. They also weaned the ventilator throughout the day. A tentative goal would be to move him back to the high flow cannula by this weekend. I'm just happy he's not on the oscillator or jet anymore. When we arrived at the hospital tonight, he was going to town on his pacifier. He was really sucking away and holding on. He is a genius. :) (For some reason it appears only I can see the video, so here's a link just in case: http://vimeo.com/76577087).

It was a great day for the Burke family. I'm so proud of Evan for his strength. He's such a little fighter.

Proud Daddy snuggling with his son.