Slobbers

Here is a look of my sweet little man when I first saw him today:)  Notice anything different?

Take a closer look... 

Still nothing...ok ok I will tell you:)  He was EXTUBATED today!  Which means he is no longer on the vent!    And you can also hear him grunt, cry, etc...he's horse sounding because he's had a tube down his throat for the past 3 weeks.  He has graduated to the CPAP.  Which is the nasal mask he has on in the pictures above.  CPAP stands for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure.  Here is a picture of his newest toy, it is the smallest of his toys but it is the loudest!

The doctors asked me if Ben was excited about Hudson being on CPAP now, I laughed and said well he's still in class so I've not had a chance to communicate with him yet.  And then I was talking with Hudson's nurse and she said if you want, the doctors could call Ben.  We both looked at each other and smiled.  I said actually, that'd be great because I know he's going to have a lot of questions that I don't have answers to.  So she went and talked to the doctors to arrange for one of them to call Ben.  Dr. K (a different one that I usually talk about), she said I hear you want me to call Dad.  I told her I'd be happy to, but I knew she could answer his questions better than I could.  She laughed and said, oh yes, I remember Dad:)  Then later in the day the other Dr. K (resident) and I were talking about Hudson and he said I bet Dad is excited.  Then we got to talking about all the insightful questions Ben asks, he said in his short NICU residency he's had no parent like Ben...he went on to say that Ben's knowledge of the vents, their settings, etc are far better than his were when he graduated medical school.  Dr. K went on to tell me his residency service, or whatever it is called, would be ending next Wednesday.  :(  He is going to make a great neonatologist some day!  He said he'd still be in the the hospital and would come in to check on Hudson from time to time because his first day on the job was Hudson's arrival to the NICU so he wants to see his progress.   

I absolutely loved his nurse today!  Hudson has had her before, but she let me be as hands on as I wanted and even showed me how remove the contents of his bag.  To some it may be gross, but to me it is one more way I can bond with him...

His doctors increased his food to 5 ml per hour today.  He had gained another 2 grams today:)  Little by little we are inching our way to another pound!

He did get to do Kangaroo Care today:)  However, he didn't tolerate it real well.  He's had a big week with lots of changes so after 40 minutes his nurse and I decided we'd just put him back so he could rest and not get himself too worked up.  He was requiring almost 60% oxygen, whereas the 30% he'd been requiring the rest of the day.  But that was the best 40 minutes of my day!  He had the slobbers today...and he shared them with me!  One of the highlights of my day!

"FEED ME!!!  I'm tempted to nibble on my fingers..." - Hudson

Hudson gets a dose of caffeine every day now to stimulate him so he remembers to breathe...or something like that. (( Kim Note:  So, medically speaking, I need a pepsi every day to remember to breathe!)) 

He is still opening his eyes wider than ever, he's found a new love for the pacifier, he cried when I changed his diaper today and I cried too!  However, mine was a happy cry because I finally got to hear him cry!  And then I was laughing because I was crying...all the while praying he didn't pee on me because his bed top was up.

"I'm shaking my fist at you!" - Hudson

"There's the door!" - Hudson