May 2, 2009

Today was yet another great day for Benjamin. He is still doing wonderful on CPAP and was down to 22% oxygen for most of the day (21% is room air). His ostomy has not prolapsed again yet, which surprised the surgeon who put it back in. We are praying that it will stay in. One of the only concerns they are looking at now is that he is not growing at the rate they would like to see. He is ranked at about 8-10 % for his weight and length for his gestational age. They are increasing the calories in his milk to see if it helps. They believe this is largely connected to the ostomy, since he cannot absorb all the nutrients since the food does not pass all of the way through his system. We keep telling Benjamin that he needs to catch up with his good buddy Aiden who was born in November and is pushing the 100% ranking for height and weight. Maybe Aiden can share some of his secrets to successful growth & weight gain.

Today I got to give Benjamin another bath. He loved it. We took his CPAP off and he did great, just needing to get an oxygen mask a couple times (which is really good considering he was on a ventilator less than a week ago!) He is really starting to show more facial expressions and looking closer to a full term baby, just small. He likes his pacifier and his thumb (when he can find it). We feel so incredibly blessed by the progress Benjamin has made this week...off the ventilator, over 3 lbs, maintaining his body temperature...thank you Jesus! And thank you all for your prayers!!!

One more thing to rejoice about...Benjamin's cousin Katie, whom I have written about before that was born 5 weeks early, got to go home today and is doing well! She is a beautiful little girl.

Attached are a few pictures:
1) Aiden...Benjamin's personal trainer, inspriation, and future partner in crime. This is fully how we expect Benjamin to look in 3 months (or, maybe 3 years)
2) Katie...Benajmin's second cousin and also a member of the elite preemie club
3) One of my favorite pictures of Benjamin yet! Fresh after his bath today and sporting his new cow/farm shirt. It makes me just want to pick him up and hug him!