Sam

Tuesday was another big day around here. Of course, it was uncle Bruce's birthday, which Emma was very excited about and got to tell him so all morning. At the hospital, Tara was getting the all too familiar symptoms that indicate she will be sick for the balance of the day(a condition that she has had to cope with since I have known her). In addition to mom, Dad had managed to give himself a bit of food poisoning, which didn't help matters. Despite the obvious weakness of his parents Sam continues to march forward in his quest to leave the hospital. I came to the hospital late morning for a feeding. I held him while the increased portion of breast milk was slowly dripped into his stomach. Tara had managed to sleep in a little, so she arrived in time to choose his blanket for his move to his first real bed. This is the last progression in the NICU. At this point he is all about sleeping and weight gain. He is still on the IV. The nurses are very eager to phase this out. One reason is that he has had positive weight gain for at least 24 hrs which is a very positive step. The other reason is that he has not been bathed since birth. The nurses today, Sandy and Debra have been with us from Jack forward. Debra had been with us when Jack passed away and of course Sandi showed up shortly after both offering/looking for comfort and support. They, along with Karen, Pat, Debbie, Jennifer, Cheryl even Michelle have looked out for us from the beginning and are a comforting sign(in their own way) for us when we see their faces. We chose a blanket and an outfit, all items that had been donated to/from the hospital, and for the first time he was swaddled and happily slept in a real bed. For the next few feedings he woke and took some milk from mom, smiled and relaxed. How does it get better than that?