BIG steps for a little boy!

Ahhh...where do I begin. Well, yesterday we found out that Jonathan's ventilator had been removed and that he transitioned beautifully from it and was ready to start nipple feeding. We changed our plans to get to Fargo earlier. It was the longest trip to Fargo I ever had! I was so excited to see his eyes open, get to hold him, smell him and feed him!
When we got here they told us he was going to stay on the nasal cannula for a little while just so that it wouldn't shock his system. They are slowly weaning him from everything. It's neat to see more and more cords removed from him. As I mentioned they also said he was ready to start nipple feeding. I assumed this meant breast or bottle feeding. But I found out when I got here that wasn't what they meant. They meant bottle. The main concern was the tubes that are going into his belly button are very crucial. If they accidentally come out there's a lot of bleeding etc. So, they were willing to let me try to nurse him but we had to be so cautious with all the junk attached to him. It was very challenging to say the least. The nasal cannula kept falling out and all he really wanted to do was sleep. Any newborn wants to sleep usually instead of eat but they said he's extra tuckered out from just being sick.

We also got to see him open his eyes briefly which was fun as well as cry for the first time since he was born. It was heavenly! I tried nursing again this morning and still didn't have much luck. He'd latch on and then want to sleep. If he was at home I'd use my tricks to get him awake but I'm not able to do that here because of all the cords etc. The main thing though is that he's eating from a nipple. At this time he's getting it from the bottle mainly. But that's ok with me. As long as he's doing it then it's one more step to going home. We can and will continue to work at nursing. I personally am not one of those moms who just LOVES to nurse their children. I personally don't like it very much and the main reason I do it is because I know it is so good for them. It sounds like I'm going to have quite the road ahead of me for the next few weeks until he gets bigger with this feeding stuff. Nursing, then giving him a bottle to make sure he got enough, then pumping. Uggg. Definitely not looking forward to that. On top of it, setting an alarm in the middle of the night to make sure he gets his feeding. Seriously?? I've never done that with any of my kids but they explained to me that he doesn't have a substance that most newborns have (sorry, can't remember the medical term) and he is depleted from it and so that's why I have to do that. (I should have probably re-learned that before I blogged about it eh). But on the bright side at least he'll be HOME! There are parents that I've talked to who have to stay so so so much longer. One mom told me the other day it was her 86th day here. I can't imagine. I have so much to be thankful for. Hearing them refer to my baby as a big baby just cracks me up too. To me he's so little. My littlest one yet. But to them he's like huge compared to all the preemies here.

First time I got to see the back of his head was today! Loved that he had HAIR!

To me Jonathan is completely fine. Everything they are telling me is saying he's fine. But I can't just sneak him out of here. He has to slowly be weaned from everything he was on. Also, they just want to monitor him for a little bit to make sure that he is doing fine on his own.

Here is my first attempt at a video on my blog. Hopefully it works. It's a video of Jonathan's first hiccups...outside the womb that is!! :-)

Today is also a very exciting day because he is getting the lines out of his tummy removed and transferred to a crib! He will get to wear clothes and everything! Sounds so funny to be excited about something so menial but to us it's just exciting to see each little step to being NORMAL! PLUS, this will make nursing easier with less cords to worry about. Also today, Isaac, Grace and Grandma Karan are coming up to see him. I'm looking forward to seeing their faces when they get to touch him for the first time. I'll definitely be posting pictures of that. Chris will be heading back to Fergus with them and will be home for good. I will be here now until Sunday when he gets discharged. I'm really hoping it can be Sunday morning and not Sunday evening when we get to go home. Just knowing that in a few nights everything will be almost normal again is a very relieving thought. I was telling a friend that I feel like I'm in a little bubble right now. I have no idea what's happening in the real world and this has become normal now. Well, we gotta run get lunch before Jonathan's next feeding. Hopefully I can post more pictures tonight.