Exhibation

This week Chance is doing rather well... last night they exhibated him in hopes to stimulate him to breath a little more on his own. The breathing line that was in his mouth was removed and replaced with a type of nasal tube instead. We were finally able to see his upper lip for the first time since he was born! So far it looks as though he has his Dad's mouth, ears, and feet and his mom's nose, hands, and chin. Dr. Myer also came and examined him the other day and was at first thinking that she would go in and do another surgery on him the week of Thanksgiving, however after seeing how well he was progressing and how good his stomach looks she has decided to give him one more week in hopes to go in and remove the cyst and re-attach his bowels and close his belly!!! Everyone at the hospital has been so impressed with how much his stomach has healed and reduced in size! Also they started him on fat free breast milk this week and is doing well with it! and he also took his first pacifier today! Each day Chance becomes more and more alert and likes to look around at things in his isolet. He responds to the sound of Mom and Dad's voices and loves to hold hands! We were also able to hear his first cry the other day! In some ways it's exciting to hear your baby cry for the first time but under the circumstances it breaks your heart... you are unable to hold and comfort your child, a simple hand on his tiny little head never seems to be enough.

two months old!!!

Chance is now two months old!!! despite all the obsticals he has stayed strong! We are happy to say that he is doing well. He has had a couple of really good weeks so far this month and we continue to see him improve each day. This week Dr. Myer stopped by to see him and said that she would like to try some new feedings. They decided to start him on a formula called preframil, it contains very little to no fat so that his little belly will hopefully be able to tolerate it better, if it works they will start him on spun breast milk (breast milk that has been spun to separate out the fat). However as far as the swelling goes, Dr. Myer informed us that she won't do any further surgeries on him until he is no longer producing liquid from his chest tubes. So far they were able to get rid of the chest tube on his right side, now we are just waiting on the left one. Also they are doing weekly eye exams, and watching them closely to be sure that the vessels in his eyes continue to develop normally. They are also going to start weening him off his morphine! their hope is to get him completely off by his next surgery. We continue to pray for these good weeks... It is definitely a miracle to see him grow and develop and change each week, and we are so very blessed to have him a part of our lives.