Puff Baby!

Gus received his second round of immunizations today - he seemed to be doing pretty well. He enjoyed his time out of the isolette - a little skin-to-skin with me before wanting to be swaddled. His puffy hat is especially fun - sort of like a retro beret that only cool people can pull off wearing...

His afternoon went better than his morning with Gus only having one heart rate drop that required major intervention. While I was holding him he had two "events" - one because he was in deep sleep and another due to a little gag he had from his feed. After talking to the doctors tonight it looks like they are going to monitor his caffeine level more closely to keep it high. Caffeine stimulates the part of the brain that says "breathe" - something that isn't supposed to be happening for another six weeks or so.

Here is Gus during his feed - sucking on his pacifier to make sure he associates filling his tummy with sucking. No gravity feed or indication when he will move to the bottle yet but we expect both to happen within the next week. Gus is such a fighter and filled with the strength and courage that comes from the prayers and concerns of so many people. We are so thankful!

We went to dinner tonight with Frank and Kris Kill - parents of Kenyon. They are really great people and Kenyon is quite a trooper. Although each baby is unique, it seems that Kenyon's experience has been a lot like Gus'. He has gone on and off the ventilator a few times along with changes in his ventilator type. He lost some weight, but has gained most of it back. Please keep the Kill family in your prayers and remember all the babies in the NICU - they are truly God's special agents - reminding us that life is precious and tender.

Keepin' it real (true that),
Gregg, Jill and Gus