The highs and lows

We have been very lucky so far. On most fronts, Miles is doing great - he is breathing on his own, eating 100% through his tube (no IV!), learning to maintain his body temperature and having very few and far between apneas. We have gotten used to the good news so when Miles had a second ultrasound to measure the blood on his brain - a week ago, we learned he had a common preemie issue called an Intraventricular Hemorrhage (IVH) - we naturally assumed, it would have begun resolving itself.. The doctor had told us this was common and would most likely not have long term effects. Follow up reading confirmed this so I didn't really worry that much.

So, when the doctor told us that there was still the same amount of blood, I kinda lost it. The prognosis is still the same - this shouldn't be a big issue - but I worry all the more. We hear that it might affect motor skills but they really can't be sure. When pushed, we learn that it might just be that he will learn something later, rather than not be able to do something at all. So he might be delayed in throwing a ball or crawling or saying a few words. I can live with that. But there are no promises.

I guess that is the lesson of parenting. No promises. Even if your child is born full-term with an easy labor. So we focus on all of the great things and commit to being there for our little boy where it might be a bit harder. For all of the stress and worry, we had a great day with him. I held him twice, and when we returned in the evening, let Dave have a turn. And as always, Miles likes to look around and check us out before falling asleep. Pretty damn cute if I say so myself.