Homeward Bound ???

The doctors and nurses are giving us the indication that Gus will be going home soon. We were called in for training today on home oxygen use during his feeds and the home heart and respiration monitor. It was a bit of a surprise to us but we are very pleased. We took Gus' car seat in for his sit testing tonight and we received his prescriptions for Diurel and Caffeine that he will continue to get even after he is home. At this point it looks like Monday or Tuesday will be his official release. He is waiting on some blood work and circumcision... Yeah, we would really prefer that they monitor him for at least 24 hours after the "procedure" to make sure everything is OK.

We decided this picture looks like Gus is having a conversation with us. Cydney (below) thought this was Gus' "I want a dill pickle" expression. Other than while feeding Gus is without supplemental oxygen. When we returned from our training today Respiratory Nurse Rachel was holding Gus on her lap. He has been a little fussy when we went away so she totally unplugged him and was just comforting him at her station. He is so loved and cared for at the NICU. I told all the nurses that because they have spoiled him I want their home and cell numbers so I can call them to come hold Gus when he is fussy. Seems only fair...

Here is good friend Cydney Shepard holding Gus today. Cydney has taken care of our other kids the past two summers and may help out with Gus a bit this year. She was just thrilled to see and hold Gus.

Gus gained some weight recently - up to 5 lb 6 oz. So far so good with the increased feeds. He took 67 ml for me tonight which is a big increase from 60 ml. He had some good burps and started back up again. He has really improved on his suck-swallow-breathe reflex, no more having to catch up by stopping eating to take a breath. Jill has enjoyed breast feeding with Gus too - he doesn't get the instant gratification he gets from the bottle but it seems as though he is willing to work at it. Obviously that unique time with Mom is very special to him.

Packing our bags,
Gregg, Jill and Gus