10:45am: [Kristen's entry] Reid had a quiet day yesterday. I arrived around 2:00 pm and he was sound asleep. The nurse told me that he had been sleeping since noon and he proceeded to sleep until 4:00! After he woke up we played for a bit and then he fell asleep again in Chad's arms and had a great 45 min-1 hr nap. At one point while he was awake Dr. Hamrick stopped by to chat with us and Reid would not take his eyes off of her. It's like he knew exactly who she was and that we were all talking about him :) So, the plan is to power wean. Dr. H feels like we are at a point now that we need to see what Reid can handle and while she doesn't want to give him less oxygen or pressure than he needs, she does want to push him a bit. Today or tomorrow Reid will likely be weaned to 3 liters and if he tolerates that well and does not have an increased work of breathing then he will go to 2 liters sometime this week. Everyone involved in Reid's care agrees that it's time to get him home. Should he not handle the weaning then the trache option will be talked about again but I don't even want to think about that. I think he will do just fine on the cannulas and Dr. H and the nurses agree.

Chad and I bathed Reid last night (this is our 3rd night in a row of doing this!) and he did so well. It's definitely a two person job since one person is the bather and the other is the entertainer :) Reid has a new rattle from the physical therapist and he loves it. He can't hold it on his own yet and when he does try he immediately hits himself in the face with it (poor baby!), but he LOVES to watch us shake it in front of his face. During the entire bath + g tube care I just shook that rattle and Reid was mesmerized. I even got a few smiles from him.

After bath time Reid was ready for bed and the night nurse said that Chad and I hadn't even left the NICU before Reid was already sound asleep. I guess he had a rough 30 minute period a couple of hours after we left but both the nurse and the respiratory therapist were able to console him w/o having to give him chloral hydrate (yay!!!!). He slept through the whole night and did not have to have his O2 adjusted at all. He held his sat's steady the whole time he was asleep. This is awesome!

Chad surprised me with dinner reservations at one of our new favorite restaurants so we enjoyed our alone time together last night. Our 9:30 reservations may seem a bit late but it worked perfectly with our schedule. We were able to spend the whole day with Reid, bathe him and put him to bed and then go out and relax. Today is our day of errands and playing catch up--our refrigerator is empty except for some milk and condiments so the grocery store is definitely in our near future. Thank heavens our friend Alison will be cooking us dinner tonight!!

Chad and I will be checking out a possible pediatrician this week whose office is about 3 miles away from where we live. She comes highly recommended from another NICU family we have met and who live in our area. We will also take CPR classes this week. Fun times.

And finally an update on baby Joseph: He is doing great! I saw him yesterday chillin in his baby swing and he looked so content. I know his parents have greatly appreciated all of your thoughts and prayers. Thank you!