Reid had a cranky night last night, so when we went in today, it was nice to have a calm, sleepy boy. His oxygen requirements and his CO2 levels have bounced all over the place butthe doctor told us today that he isn't too concerned. With Reid's scarring on his lungs from the bacterial infection, this is now his norm and will be so until he is able to start growing new lung tissue. Don't think that Kristen and I are going to get too comfortable with the roller coaster ride of emotions we have had over the past week and a half, but we are somehow dealing with it. We get excited with good news and trying to roll with the punches along the way...

So, you ask... what is new in Reid's life? Let me see if I can do a little highlighting:

- His weight was back up to 2 lb 15 oz as of last night.

- He had his first preemie routine eye exam that they usually do around a month after birth. This eye exam is specifically to test for ROP (Retinopathy of Prematurity which occurs in premature babies when abnormal blood vessels and scar tissue grow over the retina. The retina is the light detecting layer of cells at the back of the eye that allows us to see. Abnormal blood vessels and scar tissue can grow over the retina in premature babies with ROP. Reid's blood vessels were still too small, so he will probably have a subsequent test in the following weeks. Nothing to be alarmed about --- just a routine test that they do.

- His feedings are continuing to increase; 18cc tonight and a new maximum of 22cc which will be reached sometime tomorrow. He seems to tollerate the feedings well, and the doctor isn't going put him on the continuous feeds that he was on prior to his PDA medicine. He feels like Reid appreciates having a full belly (as most of us do) and there is no reason right now to prevent him from having these normal feedings. Reflux doesn't seem to be an issue at this point.

- He is going to get a set of "primary care" nurses. The doctors have realized that they need to maintain the same staff for Reid so that everyone is comfortable with knowing what Reid likes or dislikes, what is the "norm", and what to expect. Going forward, he is going to have a small number of nurses that are going to care for him on a daily basis. With each nurse only working 3 days a week (12 hour shifts), I would expect him to have a rotation of 3 nurses during the day shift for the week, and a rotation of 3 for the night shift. With probably 30-40 nurses in the NICU rotation, some days we would get nurses that had not treated him before and were struggling to know what was best for him. Knowing Reid's behaviors, how he likes to be positioned in his isolette, how much light he likes to have, etc. should go a long way. Hopefully a little more normalcy in his routine will help him out.

- Reid is also going to get a new roommate tomorrow. His current roommate is a 26-weeker that came in earlier this week and has his own set of issues. Having two babies with a slew of time-consuming needs in the same room does not fair too well for one nurse. They are going to bring in another baby that is more stable and demands less of the nurses time. This will allow Reid to have more attention.

- Reid tollerated our touching today. Yesterday, he didnt want anything to do with us. Kristen placed her hand on the back of his head (craddling it) and he just laid there content as could be and just starred at us. Kristen likes to think that he was smiling at her, but I seem to think that he was probably just sucking on the tube that is down his mouth. But I can pretend to believe that he was smiling at her for Kristen's sake. :)

No new pictures today. They have turned off most of the lights in his room and with the rainy weather back in town, there isn't much light coming through the windows --- this doesn't do well for picture taking. Hopefully I can snag a few tomorrow???