A day of Firsts

So if yesterday was a bad day, today was amazing!  Josh had a good night, spending lots of time laying on his tummy and breathing well.  When we arrived this morning he was not requiring any oxygen and was moving around more than yesterday.  He is still having a few episodes of apnea during the day, but he is able to correct these himself most of the time.  Josh's labs came back and his bilirubin is down some, which means his jaundice is a bit better.  He was scheduled for an ultrasound of his head this morning and we were told that could happen anytime during the day. Ten minutes later here came the ultrasound tech.  His ultrasound was negative, no evidence of any bleeding in his head!!  This ultrasound will be repeated at 6 weeks of age to make sure he is still doing well.  Josh is also tolerating his feeding well, so they have been increased to every 4 hours to see if he will continue to do well.  The doctors continued to be amazed at how well Josh is doing at just 5 days old.

So all of this was very encouraging news, especially after the rough day we had yesterday.  And then, our day went from good to stupendous!!  The nurse was letting us change Josh's diaper and he was very active, so she thought it would be a good time for us to hold him.  We were very shocked that we would be allowed to hold him so soon - we had been told it would be weeks before he would tolerate that.  Needless to say, we were very excited and nervous to hold our son for the first time.  Both Mom and Dad had an opportunity to hold and cuddle Josh for awhile today.  I don't think there is a better feeling on earth than holding your child for the first time.  Not only did we get to hold Josh, but he seemed to respond well - his heart rate decreased and his breathing was better - he was one happy boy!  We eventually had to put him back to bed because his temperature started to decrease some.  Once back in bed, Josh continued to be very relaxed and the nurse told us that based on his vitals he was in a deep sleep.

This journey through our time in the NICU is teaching us many things about life.  We are learning that even though the bad days can seem really bad, they make the good days that much better.  We hope you enjoy the videos below and will continue to join us in prayer for our little man and his speedy recovery.

Prayer Request

• Josh would continue to do well with his breathing and be able to decrease the settings on his CPAP.
• Josh would tolerate the increased feeding well and not develop any infections in his bowels.
• Josh's bilirubin levels would continue to decrease.
• Josh would continued to not show signs of the lung disease they found on xray and his lungs would continue to mature.
• Mom's milk would continue to increase so that it will be sufficient for Josh once he is a bit bigger
  

Praises:

• Mom and Dad got to hold Josh for the first time and everyone enjoyed themselves!!!!!
• Josh's breathing did well overnight with only a few apneic episodes.
• Josh's ultrasound of his brain showed no signs of bleeding! (our doctors told us this was his first milestone to overcome)
• Josh continues to digest all of his food and is going to be feed more often.
• Again, Mom and Dad got to hold Josh!!!

(Josh getting his head ultrasound)

(A very happy mommy and daddy holding their son)

(Look at the proud daddy!)

(Josh was a little fussy after initially being taken out of the incubator)

(Josh was much more happy after settling down)