Hungry and Cranky Dude

Little dude is getting bigger. He weighed in at 6lbs 9oz this morning and he was also weighed at his doctor appt. and he measured the same. It's very likely that the hospital scale was off. It's tough to say if his birth weight was accurate, but the good news is he is steadily gaining weight now. He now eats less often because now he gulps down over 2 oz. He's up over 120 cal/kg/day now and we hope to keep him there and more. He does aspirate and cough about everyfeeding, but he seems to be dealing with it at the moment.

The downside to eating more of the fortified milk, is that his stools are now runny. He usually dirties about 3 diapers in 30 min or less about once a day. This keeps us busy and is hard on his bottom. He also gets very cranky before hand and has his fare share of gas as well. We will try some medicine to slow the stools down and help him keep some of the fluids.

James' crying is now hoarse and sometimes silent. It's another reminder of the internal trauma. Tony's vocal chords showed scarring on his scope.

His blisters are a bit worse the last two days. We aren't exactly sure why, but he is a bit more active and now that he's taking more fluid that may cause them to spread faster. It's frustrating to see this at this point as we really want to turn the corner. It's getting hard to stay energetic and creative in trying to find better ways to protect his skin.

We've had some great help this week with watching Abby and house chores. It's allowed Dad to go to work and James to have 1 on 1 attention. Abby seems to be adapting and a regular schedule will help that.

It's nice when picking Abby up because she's eager to see us and wants to be in our arms. That's a great feeling especially right now. We can't help but think that God feels the same way when we call him Daddy and rest in his arms and rely on his strenth.

Please continue to pray that we would get the needed rest and the wisdom to prevent and care for his woulds. That James would have comfort from pain, that his wounds would heal, that he would continue to gain weight and eat well and that his stools would firm up.

Adjusting to our new everyday life,

Stu, Tashia, Abby and James