6 Weeks and Good News!

Today Blake reached the 6 week milestone! We were greeted with amazing news today as well. I'm not going to say the pneumonia is 100% gone until I talk to Blake's doctor but the nurse DID say that the doctor's think the pneumonia is pretty much all cleared up!! Very exciting news for us. She told us that his chest xrays looked great and showed very little traces of the pneumonia if any at all. We were at a stand still last week so his improvement this week definitely feels like a huge blessing.

Other good news is that Blake should be off the ventilator tomorrow. He was doing really well with his oxygen today. When I walked in he was at 50% and by the time we left he had weaned all the way down to 35% and was very stable at that percentage. With the pneumonia cleared from his lungs, Blake is able to oxygenate a lot better which shows in the numbers on the ventilator. He's still on the High Frequency Jet Ventilator but he should be weaned off tomorrow. He will be on something called a vaportherm. It is just a nasal cannula that is heated and humidified which helps him tolerate higher flows without the complications that a regular nasal cannula can have. I am very excited that he will be off the jet ventilator because it means I can finally start holding him a on a regular basis!

More good news, Blake will be on full feeds of breast milk tomorrow as well! He has been getting continuous feeds for the last week or so and they have been increasing it daily. Tomorrow he reaches his max hourly intake of 7cc. The nutrition IV that gives him the TPN Lipids will no longer be needed. The nurses will be putting a few more calories in my milk to help him gain more weight.

Speaking of weight, Mr. Blake weighed 2 pounds 12 ounces last night! That is an unfair number though since he had a blood transfusion yesterday and probably gained a few ounces from the blood he received. However, before the transfusion he weighed 2 pounds 8 ounces which means he has at least gained a pound since birth!

He was so alert today! I loved it. You can definitely tell that he has more energy now that he's feeling better. His little eyes were wide and looking around, he was sucking on his pacifier and wiggling around in his bed during his Cares. Seeing him so aware and awake made my day! You can see his progress just from his behavior which is fantastic and definitely puts a smile on my face. And his little cheeks!! Oh how adorable they are. I think it is so cute that his little tiny body has such healthy looking cheeks! I just love them!

I can't even put into words how ecstatic I am about today's progress. I was smiling from ear to ear today after receiving all the wonderful news. He really is a little miracle and we are extremely blessed to have him be doing so well. He has been given quite a few hurdles to jump over but he just keeps on keeping on!

Winking at us

Wiggling that arm!

Posing with mama and daddy

Love his chunky cheeks!