More William

Here is William at six weeks old.  He is now 4 lbs. 7 oz.--a little more than a pound heavier than his birthweight, and two pounds heavier than his lowest weight while in the NICU.  He is still pretty tiny, but grows so much every day.

 This was his first real bath.  Yes, I'm scrubbing his head with a toothbrush.

 That's one good looking kid!

William at One Month

William will be one month old on Wednesday the 11th!  It's crazy to think I could still be sitting in a hospital bed right now waiting for him to be born.  He is doing so well. He's now 3 ounces away from weighing 4 pounds, and growing tons each day.  He's off the CPAP for good now, and is dressed and kept at room temperature.  This is his tiny hand next to Sara's hand.  She is totally in love with her little brother.

 My handsome, hairy little man.

Emily Turns Two

Emily had her second birthday just after Christmas. She is our little handful, but she's awfully cute!  Here she is with her new Little People farm and a new doggy.

She also got some chocolate.

She might have stolen a chocolate chip off of her Turtle pie before we cut into it. Happy Birthday, Em!

William's Day Off CPAP

Last Wednesday William was off the CPAP for a full 24 hours before the doctors decided he still needed it on to help with weight gain. Since they put him back on, he has been gaining beautifully.  He's finally back above his birth weight.  This is me giving him a bath.

Then my favorite part was choosing a new hat for him to wear!  They have so many cute ones.  This one fit him just right.  Hopefully it will still fit by the time they take the CPAP off for good! 

Adding William's stocking to the group was a lot of fun this year.  Below are some photos of our children on Christmas day (we can't use the term "the girls" anymore).

Ashley at 13 years old!

Melissa at 10 years old.

Rachel at 8 years old.

Sara at 5 years old.

Emily at (almost) 2 years old

Baby William on Christmas day at his weigh-in.  He's still not at birth weight, but at least seems to be moving forward.  I'm sure he feels great to be off his CPAP even if its for just a couple of short minutes.  We didn't take the picture, so I apologize if this or the next one is a little blurry.  It is very nice to see his face.

Bath time on Christmas day.  He was looking all over and once again enjoying a short break from the CPAP.  We hope for some big advances this week.  He is now 31 weeks by his corrected gestational age.  Goals include removing the CPAP permanently, dressing/bundling, and weight gain.  We anticipate he will be in the NICU for approximately 4 more weeks.

William Oneal at 3 days old

William in his "cool shades" under the photo-therapy lights due to elevated bilirubin that is now improved.

This was Heidi's second opportunity to hold William.  They cuddled for more than an hour.  William really enjoys time with mom.  He was very calm and peaceful for all but 20 seconds (see video below)

William's sad, pathetic cry.  Didn't last very long.  I was lucky to capture it on film.

William is now 3 days old and continues to do very well.  He was placed on a ventilator for just a few hours and then transitioned to CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure).  At the very worst, he suffers from only mild hypoplasia of the lungs.  He will begin weaning from CPAP starting tomorrow morning.  Feeds were started very slowly at 1 ml every 4 hours on day 1 and increased to 5 ml every 3 hours as of this morning.  His breathing is now much slower and less labored.  Infection work-up to date is negative.  Our four older daughters have all been to visit him in the NICU.