Dylan's 10 Week Update

March 2nd to March 16th

Dylan turned 10 weeks old last Friday- the day after Andrew's 2nd birthday. Too bad Andrew hasn't had a chance to meet his little brother yet (kids can't come into the ICN during the cold & flu season).

Dylan has made so much progress since we last updated the blog. He has gained over a pound and is now 4 pounds 13 ounces! He doesn't seem like a premie any more - at least not to mom and dad. He has been off all oxygen for almost two weeks and in a crib (no more isolette to keep him warm) for a week. And he is doing great! He has started to take small amounts of milk from a bottle, but hasn't mastered the complicated task of breathing while doing it, so he still has a feeding tube in his nose. He also still gets his daily caffeine fix to help him remember to breathe.

Mom is loving being able to spend hours every day holding and feeding her precious baby and dad is too every chance he gets. We feel so lucky to have grandparents and Cheri (our nanny) to help us out every day for the past 10 weeks.

While Dylan is still doing great and making progress daily, mom and dad are getting anxious to bring him home. We don't know when little Dylan will be ready, but we are guessing close to his due date (April 18th).

Dylan 7 Week Update

February 24th to March 1st

Dylan is 3 pounds 11 ounces as of today! He is gaining about an ounce a day and having fewer and fewer issues related to a premature baby. Hopefully, we will continue to have uneventful days like the ones we have had in the past few weeks. We don't know when he will be coming home, but our guess is at least 4 more weeks (which would put him at 37 weeks gestation). I can't believe it has already been 7 weeks since he was born.

In order for us to bring him home he has to hit a few milestones (weight is not one of them, but they expect he will be between 4 and 5 pounds). He will have to bottle or breast feed exclusively (no more tube feedings). He also has to be able to regulate his body temperature (no more warm isolette) and he has to have at least a week free of irregular heart beats and high oxygen levels in his blood.

Now that he has more than doubled his weight from his low, he looks so healthy and big to us. He still has a lot of growing and developing to do, but we are getting excited about the idea of being able to bring him home soon!