Hello everyone!! I just wanted to give you a heads up that the posts may be kind of spaced apart for a little while. We’ve been able to connect to a public wireless connection from our house but for whatever reason with the change in weather we are not able to connect very well. :) So I’ve been able to get online whenever we have a decent connection or when I take my computer to the hospital.

So our little Austin is doing really really well!! He’s been receiving actual food since Tuesday and has been handling it like a pro! A concern is that his intestines will not be able to process the food and he will begin to have bowel and abdominal troubles that could need surgery. That would mean removing parts of his intestines resulting in him having to wear a bag on his abdomen. But once again God has intervened on Austin’s behalf and is allowing his intestines to function well and process his food correctly. He is doing so well that they have been increasing his food intake each day from every 8 hours on Tuesday, every 6 hours on Thursday, to every 3 hours on Friday! Another change that has happened recently is that they were alternating his breathing aids. His sensitive nose started to bruise from the CPAP tubes so they have introduced something else that will give his nose a break. (Once again…I do not know the name. It is just two small tubes that fit inside his nostrils kind of like oxygen tubes.) They were doing 6 hours on the CPAP and 3 hours on the tubes. On Sunday they stopped alternating between the CPAP and the tubes and if he keeps his breaths per minute up and his oxygen saturation at a good level, he will stay on it. This is a good sign because he is doing a little more on his own and still doing well.

Tuesday was a really good day for me too because while Ryan was at work I stopped in to see Austin and his nurse surprised me by telling me I would be able to hold him! I absolutely love it when Ryan is there so that we can spend time together with him as a family but it was so special to have that time alone with him. He is so fascinating!! Even in his sleep he’s active!! His little legs move and twitch in his sleep and he repositions his arm or hand every once in a while. It’s funny to feel him moving like that on the outside! I also think he is a future snorer. He sleeps with his mouth gaping wide open and for being such a little guy he’s a heavy mouth breather already!! Haha! It was so cute to hear his tiny mouth working. (to put it into perspective, look at the tip of your pinky finger….it is too big to fit in his mouth.) Every so often he would smack his mouth and since his room was so quiet I could hear those small sounds. It was so precious I can’t even describe it!

Austin continued to do well this whole week. Although his breathing rate and heart rate would drop occasionally, he was able to correct it himself and this is all normal for babies as premature as he is. It is encouraging because this does not happen very often and he is able to correct it on his own instead of with help from a nurse. He also has been eating consistently so they have been decreasing his i.v. drip of protein, fat, and calories. Austin has been so stable that Friday afternoon he got his first bath! His nurse said that he seemed to really like it, he didn’t cry at all!

We are still taking each day at a time and trying not to get ahead of ourselves in this situation but it’s so much easier to get through the day when they go as well as they have been going!! Thank you so much for your continued prayers, Austin is an example of God’s grace and power. Ryan and I are so grateful that he is doing as well as he is and are looking forward to the rambunctious, creative child he will grow to be.

Oh! I’ve had some people ask for our address so if you want to email me at fweecha@msn.com I’d be happy to email you back with our address!