One Month Milestones

Landon had a fabulous week this week reaching many milestones and celebrating his one month birthday!  I couldn't help myself by bringing in our blocks to stage a few sleepy pictures with him so I wouldn't miss his first month picture, despite him being in the hospital.

Landon began experimenting with "po feeding" (a NICU term for 'by mouth' - I believe the po origin is Latin).  He really impressed all of us as he was a champ with his bottle feeds.  The first one he only finished about half of his feed (17 out of 34 mls) and since then he's been finishing the full bottles which are now 38 mls.  He is using the bottle about 4 feeds per day as he still requires the feeding tube so he doesn't exert too much energy so that he will continue to gain weight.  Lance and I are still getting the hang of feeding Landon the bottles and burping him afterwards.  In handling a preemie with feeds it can be pretty stressful as he is still hooked up to all of the monitors and he is still working on his coordination of sucking, swallowing, breathing all together.  As if feeding your baby for the first time isn't stressful enough, earlier this week Landon would continue to brady and desat while I was breast and bottle feeding him.  So I've quickly learned to ignore the monitors (to some extent) and purely watch his signals.  This has been a great technique because I am learning his triggers such as the colorization of his skin and his movement during when he begins to stop breathing or just needs a break to catch up a bit. 

In my last post I mentioned a few tests that he would have this week as well.  He did great during all of them and we are so proud of the progress he has made.  The eye exam came back as expected for his gestational age - his eyes are still immature, but there are no signs within the blood vessels and retina that he will have any issues.  He will have continued eye exams every two weeks until he reaches full-term.  Additionally, the brain ultrasound came back very positive... no brain bleeding and all of the structures and formation look strong as well.  He also had a hemoglobin test this week to determine if he has the appropriate amount of reticulocyte in his blood - this test can only be done after 30 days of age as it takes some time for it to show up in the bloodstream.   The reticulocyte is the content that enables him to produce the necessary blood counts on his own and the lack of it is what had caused him to be anemic.  His numbers looked great and in turn we have seen a drastic difference with his anemia this week.  His skin is pinker and he gets feistier when he doesn't like something (like getting his temperature taken, wiping his hiney, or a poopy diaper).  They say he will eventually grow out of the anemia, but due to him having great numbers of the reticulocyte there is no need for a blood transfusion! 

Landon is continuing to pack on the pounds too!  He is now 4 pounds 6 ounces, such a big boy now!  You can really see the difference as he is filling out.  He now has the cutest double chin and has already outgrown most of his preemie clothes!  He wore newborn size clothes last night... he is swimming in it, but nonetheless it is still such a great milestone!  They say that now with his chubby cheeks that he is beginning to look like me... what is that supposed to mean!?!  Just kidding, I think he is actually starting to look more like me too!

 

Landon's primary goals are to feed and grow at this point which is great progress from just a week ago.  Lance and I are starting to discuss the possibility of transferring him back to Phoenixville Hospital again so that he can be closer to home.  This will help significantly to allow more time for us to be there, especially for Lance and especially for me to be there more frequently throughout his feeding times throughout the day.  We are torn with this decision though as we have grown so comfortable with the nursing teams and all of the support and resources that we have at Pennsylvania Hospital.  It will also be bittersweet to leave his primary nurse, Leah.  She has been so amazing and I remember just weeks ago crying to her on the phone checking on his status in the middle of the night and just last night we were chatting about what to do when Landon comes home.  She is so positive and genuinely cares about Landon and even our well-being too! 

Speaking of transferring and possibly being one step closer to discharge... Lance and I went to dinner Thursday night to PF Changs.  It was a nice change from the hospital cafeteria and trying to scrounge up any sort of left overs in the fridge for dinner.  At the end of our meal we opened up the fortune cookies and this is a picture of the one I got.  I am just so hopeful that this is referring to when Landon comes home!

Fingers Crossed!!!

4 weeks old already, how did that happen?!?

What a big difference one week can make! This weekend was night and day compared to last weekend.  We are happy to see more progress again!  We can hardly believe it, but Landon is now 4 weeks old (34th gestational week) and will be celebrating his 1 month birthday on Wednesday!

Landon seems to be controlling his brady's much better now than last week.  Over the past 72 hours he has only been having about 3-4 brady's per day and for the most part he can recover from them on his own.  His brady's seem to be occurring most either during or slightly after his feeds, which the nurses believe they are related mostly to reflux.  Overtime this is something he should be able to outgrow as he continues to develop the coordination with breathing and eating at the same time.

With the patterns of his brady's at feeding times, the nurses seem to be less alarmed about the brady's being a result of his anemia.  The doctors are still monitoring his anemia, but most likely the blood transfusion won't need to take place.  If any brady's occur that aren't related to feeds and require strenuous stimulation then the possibility of needing it will come back onto the table.  Although the blood transfusion sounds like such a negative procedure, there are a lot of benefits of it for preemies - I just wanted to mention this because I think it sounds a lot worse than what it actually is.

It also seems like Landon has officially graduated from the isolette as he has been able to maintain his own body temp on his own since Thursday night.  He also has been slowly gaining more weight and he is now 4 pounds 2 ounces!

We also enjoyed some time with some visitors over the weekend.  Different than last weekend, we spaced everyone out on different days as Landon seems to react to a lot of activity, so Popi and Mimi visited on Friday, Gigi and Dziadz on Saturday and Mom-mom and Aunt Heather on Sunday.  It worked out really well and it was nice having some special one on one time with everyone.

Coming up this week is a big week for Landon as he is going to have a couple tests take place.  He will be having an eye exam to check for his retinal development and overall vision.  We are hopeful that the eye exam will go well as whenever his eyes are open he seems to do a good job at focusing and he also reacts to light as well.  Landon will also be having another ultrasound of his brain to check for any continued brain bleeding and overall brain development.  He scored really well on this the first two times so we are hopeful the results will come back positively again as well.  Also a big week for us too as we have classes at the hospital for ourselves, including Infant CPR and Baby Care Basics.  Although we are getting comfortable with diaper changes and the occasional bath, there is still so much more for us to learn and we will take all of the practice we can get before he is all ours at home for good!

Our wide-eyed little monkey!

Looking good in daddy's arms!

Still loving kangaroo time!

Rollercoaster of emotions

It is so hard to think that a little over a week ago I was writing about the remarkable progress our little guy was making... after some great strides earlier last week, we thought that he would be on the up and up from there!  During the very short-lived high, we were able to see him outside of his isolette in a crib and not needing his oxygen cannula - we even started discussing the possibility of transporting him back to Phoenixville too!  Landon started to act out with an increase in brady events (heart rate drops) and desating very frequently (poor oxygenation), so the oxygen cannula and isolette quickly returned.  It took the nurses a few days to balance his oxygen in order to stabilize his breathing and we are still trying to minimize his bradys.  In trying to remain positive, I like to think this was Landon's way of being the boss the nurses say all NICU babies are by letting them know that he wasn't ready for all of that just yet.

As parents watching his events and experiencing the few steps backward really plays with your emotions.  We also began realizing that a couple of the nurses caring for Landon didn't fully support the quick decisions to get him off the oxygen and caffeine immediately and at the same time as one another at that.  Noticing that the nurses were not on the same page has been very frustrating for us.  It is a tough position to be in because clearly Lance and I are not the medical experts; however based on the quick changes and Landon's response to those changes it seemed like common sense to us that it was too much too soon for him rather than just making gradual changes... however there is very minimal input we can provide as these decisions are being made during the doctors rounds.

So as of this morning, Landon is still experiencing significant brady events that require some sort of stimulation to get his heart rate and breathing back to the normal ranges again.  It makes your heart sink when you witness these events as his face will turn a blueish color, the monitors begin alarming at a much louder and faster rhythm than the normal sounds of the machines we have gotten used to, and several nurses rush over to help despite who is actually assigned his care that day.  During Landon's first two weeks, he would only experience about 2 bradys in a day, none of which required the extra stimulation.  Now he is up to about 10 with a few that require stimulation, so we are trying to figure out why he seems to be regressing.

After not making any significant changes to medical plans over the past few days and not seeing much progress on his own, the nurses are discussing the possibility of Landon needing to be back on the caffeine as well as planning to solve for his anemia.  To solve for the anemia, he may need a blood transfusion in order to increase his blood count so then he will not have to work as hard to produce it on his own so then he can focus on stabilizing first as his most immediate goal.  We have also been told that the bradys may be a result of the anemia so in turn the transfusion may help solve for the brady events as well.  As hard as it is to know our little guy may need a blood transfusion, we are hopeful that this may help him become more stable again.

Lance and I are just wishing and waiting for the day that his only NICU goal will be to feed, grow and go home.  The past few days with the ups and downs have been very difficult and we want nothing more than for Landon to be stabilized.  We hate to feel like we are trying to rush his progress though as we know everything takes time, especially considering that he should still be in utero for another 6.5 weeks.  Patience is something that we are learning is one of the most important qualities to have as a NICU parent... and let's just say we are working on that!

On another note, I've been meaning to share this story... I was talking with my sister, Liz, earlier in the week just chit-chatting about the weekend, her birthday plans, etc. and for some reason we started talking about church.  She attends The Rock Church in San Diego - she has grown really fond of this church as the services are always inspiring, dynamic and interactive.  On Sunday she was part of a group that volunteered during mass to share their recent experiences in which they needed to ask God "what do you want me to do", which was the message of the service that day.  She shared with the group some of her personal situations, including Landon's early arrival, that had her reaching our to God more frequently.  Liz mentioned to me how at first she was wary about volunteering to step up in front of the entire church, but how glad she was that she did based on what happened at the end of mass.  The pastor always ends service with a community prayer, but this time he added a special prayer specifically to those who volunteered.  During the closing prayer, he made a strong emphasis on our little Landon praying for his continued development and long-term health.  Liz was amazed to hear her nephew, Landon, being mentioned for everyone to pray for and how much joy it brought her.  To think think that prayers for Landon are coming all the way from San Diego from people with little to no connection to our lives is absolutely astonishing and brings tears to my eyes at every thought of it!  As Lance mentioned in his last post, we are incredibly thankful for all of the continued thoughts and prayers, words of encouragement, helping hands, etc that are supporting us so greatly.  We could not do this without you all and everything means more to us than you know!

Landon is praying, too!

The Up's and Down's of the NICU and Fatherhood!

I know LeighAnn has been writing the last few posts so it's my time to give this blog thing a whirl again.  First off I would like to wish every dad out there a Happy Father's Day!  It was a beautiful day out there, and I hope everyone took advantage of it.  I know this can sound cliche but I want to say thanks to my dad who has made me who I am today.  There is no way I would be in the position where I am today in life without his help.  Every challenge that has ever faced my life, he is always right there and I know I can always count on him.  I hope I can help out Landon as much as my dad has helped me throughout my entire life.

There are a lot of things I have learned throughout the years from my dad such as dedication, hard work, and the value of family, but the one that sticks out the most is his unselfishness.  Whenever you have a conversation with him, he quickly turns the conversation to see how you are doing and you come out of that conversation feeling good about yourself no matter what situation you may be in.  That unselfishness is something I try to continue to remind myself to give to others on a daily basis.  If you sit and think about the family members and friends that mean the most to you, I bet the ones that mean the most to you are the ones that are willing to listen to you first rather than boast about their personal life.  So as I sit back here on my first father's day, I promised myself that I would always be there for Landon no matter what and continue to try to be the best father for him.  So again, Happy father's day to everyone!!

As LeighAnn had mentioned in her previous post, we had an amazing baby shower last weekend!  It's amazing all of the family and friend support we received last weekend, and we cannot say thank you enough for everyone that attended and those who could not and sent us something special for Landon.  At least from my point of view, showers don't always seem to be the most exciting things in the world, but in our case it meant the world to us.  I know LeighAnn will be writing a personalized thank you note, but to everyone who attended, thank you for helping make the day something special for LeighAnn and Landon. 

Ok, I guess it is that time to get to Landon and how he has been doing.  Last time LeighAnn wrote in the blog, he had just gotten off his CPAP machine, still in the incubator, and was on his small oxygen cannulas 2% pressure to help out his breathing.  He was also at 3lbs 2oz earlier in the week and his bradycardia "brady" events were very low or minimal.  Everything was progressing perfect at that point and we were feeling absolutely great!

Once Thursday came, the doctors decided to try remove his oxygen cannulas altogether and try to do some breathing on his own!  We were warned that there would be a good chance he would have to come back on the oxygen.  He was doing well on his own on Thursday with some "bradys" but nothing to be too concerned about.  LeighAnn and I were quite excited to see him breathing on his own at 32.5 gestational weeks at this point.  The good news just kept coming to us on very early Saturday morning when they let us know they moved him out of the incubator into a crib.  So LeighAnn and I headed down there once we woke up to see our little guy's progress.  It felt so great that he was just like a normal little boy in his crib with no oxygen.  Also, they had removed his caffeine intake (the caffeine triggers endorphins that remind the brain to continue to breathe) which was more good news.  We also started thinking about getting him transferred closer to home since it seemed more practical in getting him to learn how to feed.   It was quite amazing at this point, we were riding a high as parents and felt like Landon could do anything at this point!  

Reality began to set in on Saturday afternoon,  Landon was beginning to struggle breathing after a few days being off the oxygen and his bradycardia events began popping back up more frequently than his usual self.  Our short lived bliss had ended, he had to get back on the oxygen cannulas to 2% pressure and back into the incubator.  It's hard to explain what exactly you feel as parents, but you feel a bit defeated.  As I described to my dad its like being up 3-0 in a baseball game in the 9th, then the closer comes in to blow the save and ties the game at 3-3.  I am not going to lie, it was hard to see him that Saturday evening again even knowing that the doctors and nurses told us that he would be back on the oxygen again at some point.  You see so much progress for weeks in a row, and then a bump in the road can hit you hard as parents.  

I was a bit tentative on what to expect this morning for Father's Day, but we did have a good father's day this afternoon together.  I was able to hold him for over an hour and he absolutely loved it and so did I.  In my heart, he is a fighter and you can only sit and imagine what it will be like when he is home.  Some more good news is that he has been handling feeds very well, and is 3lbs 10oz!  Today I noticing that his cheeks are getting a little chubby, and we are hoping for the 4lb award later on this week!  Also, there is a good chance he will be coming out of the incubator and back into a crib again this week and hopefully for good this time.  

I am hoping I got everyone caught up and now its time to get some sleep so I can wake up early to try to be at work at 6am so I can continue to see Landon every day (have not missed a day yet).  I go down around lunchtime at work so I can try to miss the rush hour traffic.  Over the past few weeks I think I have mastered every back road around the Schuylkill Expressway too.  I just want to send a big thanks to everyone for their support and I think we have reached over 4000 hits on the blog.  We are hoping our story can help inspire others going through a similar experience.  I read today 1 in 10 babies are born premature which seemed unbelievable.

Everyone have a great night and here's to a great week ahead for Landon!   

Our Little Fighter - 16 days and counting

We have been so very blessed over the past several days with Landon's continued progress in the most positive direction.  After what seemed to be my worst night (outside of my re-admittance to the hospital) emotionally this past Friday, we had the most beautiful day on Saturday filled with so much love at our shower followed by the most exciting visit with Landon later that night.

I am still soaking everything in from our shower and will dedicate another post specifically to that at a later date.  In its simplest forms, it was amazing and the team behind me (my mom and sisters, Lauren and Liz) are rock stars!  I cannot even begin to articulate my emotions and gratitude to them, along with everyone else, for making Landon's celebration of life so incredibly special to us.  So... more to come as I continue to savor those moments!

As the fun-filled afternoon of the celebration winded down, Lance and I were so eager to begin our trek down to Penn to see our little boy.  Little did we know that while I was opening up all of the generous presents for our little guy, Landon was getting feisty and continued to pull out his CPAP (respiratory tube). Perhaps it may have been at the exact moment I broke down in tears after seeing the beautiful gift of the Willow Tree "New Life" Statue... hmm, one will only know, but wouldn't that be something! Due to his determination to begin to breathe normally, the nurses decided to transition him to a regular oxygen tube around 4pm on Saturday.  When we arrived, we were so shocked to see his handsome little face - exactly what we needed after a long week!  He is still getting some oxygen support, but each day they continue to monitor it and reduce the level of pressure that is needed (over the weekend he was at 5% and today he was brought down to 2%).

We also had a few more exciting surprises on Saturday night, which included his first bath time from mommy, mommy's first time getting peed on, his first time wearing a little t-shirt and a night full of his beautiful wide-opened eyes!  Daddy got some extra cuddle time, too!

Proud Papa Moment! Melts my heart! :)

No this is not a ginormous, over-sized binky, just a teeny-tiny baby!

The white t-shirt and blue jean look is going to be so cute on him one day, but for now he will be swimming in the preemie-sized clothes. C'mon weight gain!

In addition to our recent joyful visits, I have also found great support at Penn through the nurses, Donna the Lactation Consultant, and other NICU mommies.  There is the sweetest girl I met yesterday who just began her journey 3 days ago when she delivered her twins at 24 weeks.  Her little boy did not survive, but her little girl is fighting on weighing just over 1 pound and getting all the rest she can to continue to grow.  I cannot even fathom what she is going through having just lost a child, but she has been so inspiring with how positive and joyful her outlook is on life - such a strong, beautiful woman.  I am enjoying getting to know her and laughing over the memories of my first several pathetic pumping sessions as she is going through that now. 

A few of the babies closest to Landon in his nursery have been discharged or are on their way home shortly.  The two that were recently discharged were in the NICU for 12 and 30 days, both of which were technically born at "full-term" at about 37-39 weeks.  The little girl next to us is on her way home this week and we cannot be happier for her family as she has had a long stay thus far - she had lost her twin sibling as well.  She is the cutest thing and has such a loving family.  Despite the discharges, the nursery is still filling up as 3 more were admitted into our nursery in the past week.  Penn's NICU can hold up to 45 babies and they have been hoovering around the 35-40 mark since we have been there.  Although each of our individual situations are different, it is crazy how none of us had ever pictured that this is what the end of our pregnancy and the beginning of our parenthood would be like.

With my time at the hospital, I have been doing a lot of research on premature babies and reading various articles, blogs, etc.  I found that these two sources have a vast amount of informative articles as well as the emotional healing type stories as well.  The writing is superb as it truly captures the experiences in the NICU without me having to put it down into words.

http://www.preemiebabies101.com/
http://www.peekabooicu.net/

Also on my "downtime", I have been trying to figure out how we can celebrate Lance's first Father's Day too!  I am excited with what I have come up with at this point, considering that I thought I was going to be in the clear until next year!  Landon just knew that he has the greatest daddy in the world, so great that he couldn't wait to meet him!  And so I will leave you with this...

Like Father, Like Son...

"hey there, ladies!"

Packin' on the Pounds!

We've enjoyed the last few days with Landon's steady progress.  He definitely has some spunk as he is very active - he often tries to pull out the feeding tube and the respiratory tube.  He kicks and throws his arms around and his cry resembles the sheep in our backyard when they 'baa'.

Over the last few days Landon has made great progress with his oxygen as they have been reducing the amount of pressure he needs through the respiratory tube.  We are hoping he will be strong enough to come off of the tube over the next week or two.   His feedings are continuing to improve as well as his sugar levels are more steady on his own; therefore he does not need to system monitoring to control how long his feedings last.  A huge milestone that just took place today is Landon's weight - he is slowing packin' on the pounds!  He now weighs 3 pounds, which is above his original birth weight!  His daily goals at the hospital have been to continue to grow and to stay off of the jaundice lights (which he has been able to achieve over the last two days, too).  He is making remarkable progress and is making us proud every day!

With the progress continuing throughout the week, it has allowed me to slowly build excitement for the baby shower taking place tomorrow.  My mom and sister, Lauren, arrived last night and my sister, Liz, flew in from Cali this morning.  It is nice to have them visiting us for the preparation of the party and of course their company too!  My mom and I started with some cleaning last night and today they have been busy with prepping the decorations, outdoor tent/tables/chairs, and getting the food set up.  They have been doing a fabulous job and everything is looking great!

I've never been to a baby shower when the mom wasn't pregnant anymore, but I guess we will march to the beat of our own drums.  It will be exciting regardless because now we can show him off with the pictures that we have of him already and to celebrate his early arrival!

Landon had another new visitor today as he met his Aunt Liz for the first time!  She was able to sit beside me during our kangaroo time.  And towards the end of our visit Landon was so curious and was peeking at everything - its always so exciting to see him with his eyes open.  His eyes were open the widest we have seen them so far and he kept them open for a long time as well.  It was so hard to leave his side with him being as alert as he was!

Welp, better get back to some house work for the party tomorrow... I am looking forward to seeing everyone and having a beautiful day!

Our handsome little guy checking us out today!  We think his eyes resemble mine, but are still not certain what color they are - green or blue for sure!

The sign says it all! :)

Squiggly Worm!

Today was my first day driving to the hospital by myself as Lance has returned back to work.  It was nice to be driving again after being chauffeured around for the last week.  Due to some traffic on 76, I decided to take the more scenic route along Kelly Drive - I couldn't help but think how I can't wait until we are the ones on the trails with the stroller in tow.  Our day will come though!

The past three days we have had the most spectacular nurse caring for Landon.  Her name is Lyn and she makes us feel right at home.  She has the sweetest way of handling Landon and she baby-talks to him with every touch.  She put a sign up on his incubator with his goals for the day, which is typically to tolerate his feeds and to grow.  She also refers to him as "the boss" and has even noted "master Landon" on his incubator sign - I hope this doesn't go to his head by the time he is discharged though!

Lyn has been very hands-on with us as well during our visits.  She has allowed us to be more involved during Landon's "cluster-care" times, which take place around his feeds (every 3 hours).  During this time all of his vitals are checked, we change his diaper, spend special bonding time with kangaroo care and change his bedding.  Lyn has also been very informative to us as well.  Despite how many times we ask for updates or how many questions pop up during our visits, she is always so kind in her delivery and makes sure that we understand.  She is also very fun and sweet just to chat with as well.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that she will end up being a primary nurse for Landon during his stay at Penn.  (The other nurses have been great as well, but Lyn is just extra special to us at this point.)

Most of my visit today was spent with Landon during kangaroo time for about 2 hours during his feed.  His feeds are now controlled by a monitor system in order to extend the length of time to balance his glucose levels throughout the day.  His feeds previously only took about 15 minutes, but they noticed his sugars would bounce throughout the day, so they adjusted him to this routine.  It seems to work best and we think that this is also why he is succeeding well and tolerating his feeds.  He is now up to about 24ml each feed (when he arrived last Sunday he started with 3ml).  The PICC line was removed last night, which was an excellent milestone due to the progress of his feeds.  The PICC line is basically an IV of additional nutrition (lipids, sugar, etc) in order to keep him growing.  They will now add additional calories to my breastmilk in order to keep him growing at the appropriate rate.  I found it interesting to learn that a baby his size only needs about 100-200 calories a day.

Kangaroo time is always the highlight of my visits with our little guy.  Today he was quite active - he kept peeking at the world and staring at his mommy and daddy.  When open, his eyes are so big but it still hard to tell what color his eyes are.  They look green to me, which makes sense because that is the color of mine and Lance's eyes too.  Landon was also a squiggly worm today too.  It amazes me how strong he is already at 1 week (31 weeks).  He constantly moves his arms and legs - he was even lifting his head up and leaning it back.  He is always able to settle down calmly during our kangaroo care though as it is most comforting to him.  As soon as our time was up he began to cry as he was heading back into the incubator - he really feels most comfortable resting on my chest.  I love feeling his legs move around and the taps of his fingers during this time too - I guess they are right when they say there is just as much benefit for mom as for baby during kangaroo care as it always seems to melt my heart!

We are finding that the more time we are spending with him the more we miss him at home too.  It is an odd feeling to be at home knowing you have a baby, but the baby not being in your care.  We are counting the days until we can bring him home!  Hunter is even getting excited too!  Lyn made us a special care package to take home tonight for Hunter - it was two blankets that Landon slept in all day (he even peed on one).  When I came home today I let Hunter sniff the blankets - he was so excited and curious, but I could tell that he knows that its his baby brother's scent just by the way he was acting.  Hunter had this gentle way about him even as excited as he was - I can't wait to see him and Landon together.

I am looking forward to another day tomorrow with my baby boy, but first let me take a selfie! :)

One Week Today!

We want to wish Landon a Happy One Week Birthday today and it ended up being a great one week visit today!  Mom and Landon are now stable and doing well together which is quite a relief.  As a husband and dad, it was quite difficult to see your family in two hospitals and then being able to juggle between them.  Also, they both needed rest without many visitors in order for them to get better as well and I know that can be difficult for family and friends.  I want to send thanks and appreciation to our family and friends for those that helped during this hectic week.  

It has only been one week but it feels like he is growing up so quickly now.  We have been able to hit a few milestones last week and many more to come this week and next.  We have been able to hold him almost everyday now starting around Wednesday.  We are allowed to hold him usually 1-2 hours a day (Kangaroo Time) and during that time he absolutely loves it.  You can instantly tell he relaxes, gets comfortable, and then falls asleep.  Today, he was quite calm but he constantly wanted to look around and see everyone around him.  A couple days ago I was fortunate to catch him to take a peek at me, and today he couldn't stop looking at his mom today.  We also began changing his diapers as well starting today!  I believe it was the first time LeighAnn and I ever changed a baby's diaper so it was exciting for the first time.  I am sure the novelty will wear off soon enough.  

Some other good things including Landon being at full feeds now.  The doctors initially start off the baby with milk as low as 3ml and then work there way up gradually over the week to 20ml in our case.  He is now on the full 20ml feed and for the most part keeping it down.  If he continues to keep the milk down then he will be able to get his PICC line out (used to supplement nutrition with the milk).  Once he gets his PICC line out, we are allowed to put clothes on the little guy.  I know LeighAnn is quite excited about this and already looking at Carter's preemie clothes to buy for him already.  

Also, his oxygen levels have been great as well and have been on the lowest levels they allow for the past couple days.  If he continues to keep those levels during the week there is a good chance he will have the oxygen mask off by next weekend.  If you have seen some pictures you can tell it covers his face a quite bit so once this comes off he'll look more like your average baby just a bit smaller.  So we are sending prayers and keeping hopeful by this time next week he will have his PICC line out, maybe his oxygen mask, wearing some clothes, and continuing to gain weight!

We want to say from the bottom of our heart we are extremely grateful for the gifts, meals, flowers, and fruit we have received already from friends and family!  LeighAnn and I are amazed by everyone's support, kindness, and love they have given us during this time.  I know a few were asking about the baby registries and have lost the information.  Links below (Please absolutely no obligation here, just for reference):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/baby/2DGQIVTM589ID/ref=cm_wl_search_1
http://www.toysrus.com/registry/index.jsp?ab=BRU_Header:Utility3:find:Home-Page

Now here are what most people have been waiting for....time for some pictures!!