My Future's So Bright...

...I Gotta Wear Shades!!

Some recent pictures of Rocco. He's "glowing" blue because he's under some lights for jaundice. Premature babies are prone to jaundice because their liver doesn't work as well as it should because it's immature. They usually need to be under the bright lights for a couple days. Rocco is wearing "sunglasses" to protect his eyes from the light.



Also, you now can see his breathing tube is GONE! He's off the ventilator since Friday, and the tubing on his face is called Nasal CPAP. It blows some air into his lungs to keep them from collapsing. I talked with Steven this morning, and he actually came off the CPAP this morning and is now just on a little bit of oxygen in his nose through smaller, softer tubing.



He is also getting a blood transfusion today. This is not uncommon with very small babies because they are having a lot of labwork done, and can't make new blood cells as fast as the doctors need to take blood for labs.

I'll take the T-bone, medium rare, and...

(Yes, Auntie Jennifer is having a lot of fun with Photoshop, thankyouverymuch!)

The big news today is he is going to start getting milk in his tummy. Just a teeny-tiny bit- 0.5ml. As a reference, a teaspoon has 5ml. So he's getting 1/10th of a teaspoon. This is great news though, because it will get his tummy ready for bigger amounts. He won't be able to nurse or try bottles yet (that's probably about 4 weeks away) but they will feed him through a tube from his mouth or nose into his stomach.

Kiki is continuing to recover and is feeling better. She will be at the hospital through the weekend. She needs to drink some sugary juice, eat some fiber, and take her Ducolax- if you catch my drift. If you ever want to hear one her "most embarassing moments" stories, ask about the adventures with the bedside commode during her hospital stay. I will spare you the details, but we can all PRAISE THE LORD that she's allowed up to the bathroom now!!

That's about it for now. The good prayers and thoughts are working for Rocco and Co. Thanks to everyone who is following his progress! Keep visiting!