The BIG Guy!

Gus broke 4 pounds today - 1829 grams which is 4.032 pounds. He kept up with his bottle feeding and will now get the bottle once every eight hour shift until he is strong enough to take it for every feed. Gus' oxygen flow was also reduced to 1.0 liters per minute from 1.5 liter per minute - giving him a chance to show us how much more breathing he can do on his own. We are so happy for these strides forward! His "events" of apnea and heart rate drops have also decreased which is a great step toward coming home within the next month.

Here is Gus being held by Nurse Penny as he is burped after taking in his bottle feed. He really is handling the suck-swallow-breathe thing really well and keeps most of the milk in his mouth.

Gus has now spent nine weeks in the NICU. He has to be at least 4.5 lb before they will send him home in addition to being able to take every feed from the breast or bottle. Some other benchmarks for his release from the hospital will be the decrease or elimination of any apnea events or heart rate drops and weaning him off of any regular medications (diurel and caffeine) as much as possible. Please keep praying for Gus and his NICU pals as they each continue to grow and develop at their own pace.

BIG Things Come in Little Packages,
Gregg, Jill and Gus