For Judah's Fan Club

Judah is doing so well! The last 2 reports we've gotten from the neonatologist have pretty much been "not too much to report"...music to my ears! I never thought I'd be so happy to see one of my kiddos "behind bars", but the crib he got moved to on the 18th was a beautiful thing to behold! He no longer has his catheter in - that's some of the best news! He had another VCUG, which showed that the vessels they thought were causing an obstruction, are maybe not an issue after all. He was emptying his bladder completely during the test, so they decided to leave him be and monitor his kidney/bladder function. I gotta say, I love changing that little diaper and holding my boy sans the stupid catheter!! He's getting his meds orally, no more lines:) It's just his feeding tube and resp./heart monitor lines. And he looks too adorable for words! All the puffiness from all of the extra fluids is gone...which means he's also much lighter than he was, too. He's down to 6lb. 4 oz. Such a little peanut. We got to give him his first tub bath on the 20th. I considered it such a gift to be able to be there and do that for him. He loves sleeping on his tummy...just like Eli (who is extremely proud of that fact). He's up to 55cc of milk and is no longer getting any other nutrition - it's all Mommy! He's been spitting up more than usual, though, so they put him on "reflux watch". They raised the head of his bed and started holding him upright for feeds or laying him on his tummy. That helped somewhat with the spitting, but today they started him on Prevasid for reflux to help reduce the acid level in his stomach. He's started showing signs of being interested in breastfeeding. Last night and this morning I tried nursing him a little bit. Last night he tried to latch on and suck, but because of his palate, and because he didn't open quite wide enough for me to get him on all the way, we weren't too successful. The good news, though, is that his interest is there and he tried. It was another gift for me in this whole process to see his little mouth and tongue going. That's a big step in the right direction. This morning he had lab work done (blood drawn) before I could try again, so by the time I got him he was really too tired to suck...even though he was hungry. Poor baby; because of how sick he was, and everything he's gone through, eating is quite an ordeal for him and he just doesn't have the energy yet. My prayer for him lately has been that the Lord would get us over this hurdle successfully - feeding him by breastfeeding and a special bottle - and soon, so that he can come home. And then, after he's home, we can work on exclusively nursing, Lord willing. Other than that, he's doing awesome - praise the Lord!!