Getting stronger....

Matthew was doing really well again today. They increased his feeds to 24 ml's every 3 hours (which is considered to be his full feeds) so they have disconnected all the nutrition they were giving him intraveneously. They did start giving him the calcium and phosphorous supplement in my breastmilk that they feed him. A lot of babies usually don't do well with the added supplement mixed in, but he seems to be tolerating it so far. He is still pooping today!! Yeah! The lab results for the bloody stool are still pending. He is weighing in at 2 lbs 9 oz. He lost about an ounce from all the pooping.

He is still on the ventilator but they did say that if he extubates himself then they are going to put him on CPAP. He is getting so much stronger that he is starting to lift his head from lying on the side to almost being straight in the middle with his nose down. (I hope that makes sense) If he keeps doing that, he may actually pull his own breathing tube out.

I got to do the Kangaroo care again today! Yesterday I held him for almost 45 minutes, but today I got to hold him for an hour. I only wish Jason was here to see this and experience it too. The nurses said that several times he would open his eyes and look up at me, but it was hard for me to see him. (That would have been a Kodak moment) Again, he tolerated being held extremely well and actually he did a bit better than yesterday, except near the end of the session. His body temperature got so hot (100.4) from me holding him that his heart rate shot up into the 200's. After we put him back in the isolette, his heart rate started to go back down along with his temperature.

Please continue to pray that the abnormality in the brain goes away and never comes back. Pray that he tolerates the feedings especially now that it has the added supplements. Continue to pray that he never gets the NEC infection. Pray that he continues to gain weight and grow stronger and that his organs start to work properly and mature, especially the liver. Pray that his lungs will continue to get stronger so when they put him on CPAP this week he can tolerate it.