His Mercies Are New Every Morning

Today has been a WONDERFUL day filled with many improvements for our Little Pumpkin.  When we arrived at the hospital, he was wide awake, moving around, and ready to eat.  The nurse told us that he was not satisfied with his feeding tube during the night, so they started feeding him a bottle.  Since the bottle went so well, the doctor agreed this morning that he was ready to nurse.  So, at his 11:30 feeding, I was able to nurse him (and supplement with a little formula until my milk supply comes in).  What a joy it was to be able to have that moment with my son!  He knew just what to do and was very eager to drink mommy's milk.  He has been nursing at every feeding today and we've gradually decreased the amount of formula we supplement with as my milk supply has begun to increase. 

Loving his daddy

Our "wireless" baby boy

He also was able to have the oxygen tube removed, so he is now breathing completely on his own.  It sounds like his lungs were just a little immature and the medicine they gave him yesterday was just what he needed to get his lungs working right.  They've also pretty much ruled out an infection, so he was able to have the IV in his belly button removed since he no longer needs antibiotics.  Then, he was able to move from the isolet bed to a crib...and we were able to bring him into a family room so we could spend time with him outside of the hospital room.  Right now, he is sleeping peacefully in his daddy's arms after getting a full belly of mommy's milk.  The doctor told us earlier that once his lungs were working well, the only thing keeping us from going home would be how well he could eat on his own too.  He is doing SO much better with nursing that his big sister did at first, so we are hoping and praying we can go home really soon.  Thank you so much for ALL your prayers and encouragement...we are so thankful to serve such a mighty God.  He is so faithful and has blessed us so much with our precious son - we look forward to introducing him to many of you who have been praying for him...and to going home as a family of four. 

Thank you, Melissa, for taking care of our Sweet Pea all weekend!  What a blessing it was to know she was in such good hands!

Almanzo's sweet nurse, Tracy, who cared for him like he was her own son.  She truly understood what we were going through too, as two of her sons are NICU graduates as well.