One month old!

Christmas in the NICU. Not what we had planned. We tossed around the idea of a long weekend in Seattle visiting friends. Good thing we didnt do that - we'd be trudging around in a foot of snow. Alas, I (Dave is off limits to the NICU, thanks to his cold) spent several hours with Miles on his first Christmas with wonderful nurses who were pulled away from their families. Thanks to the current low number of babies, it felt like just a slow day at the office.

Today was also Miles one month birthday and 34 weeks gestationally. That means, he is finally around the age where he is able to suck, swallow and breathe all at the same time. In other words, drink from a bottle. All that practicing, we have been doing should start to pay off if not now, in the next week or so. Unfortunately for us, white males are usually the slowest to mature in this area so he might just take his sweet little time.

And with home in sight, this is where I begin to get frustrated with his progress. It is only natural. One day, he drinks a whole bottle, the next, he get through 5 mls and desats ten times, sending my heart rate through the roof. I am patient. He will do this in his own time. It is so much work for our little guy. You can see it in his face as he concentrates on the bottle, his brow furrowed as he sucks on the bottle, breathes and gulps, trying to remember each step. Then after 15-20 minutes, his eyes close, he takes the bottle lazily but can't remember to breathe when he gulps. That is the signal, he has had too much and the remaining milk is fed to him through a tube. And each time, I am reassured that one day, he will just pull it all together without a problem.

I remind myself that we have been very, very lucky. Miles is progressing beautifully with no major issues. For a baby of his age, it could have been very different. So he may take a bit longer to learn to eat but he will get there and will be home before we know it. And in the meantime, will get bigger and stronger every day - he is now up to a solid 4 pounds, 7 ounces!