His Eyes!

Declan's daily report from the doctor's came back with more good news of stability! Tammy held him for quite a while this morning and I enjoyed a cuddle with him as well. Every day he seems to look better and better. His poor swollen face has improved dramatically. His jaundice is running slightly high but no need to put him under the lights at this point. Overall the doctors have been well pleased - all things considered.  Oxygen saturation is running a bit high, but his blood gas and lactate levels have been holding steady; so they haven't' had to make any adjustments. Tammy and I were talking about how much our love for him has grown. We've been amazed (like all parents) how much and how quickly we have grown to love him. If nothing else, our experience to this point have taught us to cherish every moment with him. It's affected us at home with the girls as well - really trying to live in the moment and appreciate everything we do with them - slower to anger and quicker to love.

This afternoon in the NNICU (I always thought it was one "N") was an eventful one. Declan was subjected to every manner of poking, prodding, and probing conceivable. He was poked by various doctors; he was given an ultrasound to check his head, organs, and another heart check, and nurses attempted blood samples. The upside to the various disturbances - a wide awake Declan. We loved it - we hadn't ever seen his eyes open much before.

The downside of the afternoon's excitement was that it wore him out. He began the process very alert, but by the time of the last ultrasound, he had fallen asleep while being checked. He was so exhausted. Of course the nurses attempt at taking blood woke us both up. Poor Declan cried as the nurses unsuccessfully attempted to draw blood from his heals and veins in his hands. The process not only caused heartache to watch, but brought me back to the reality of the situation. His circulation is not strong enough to get enough blood to his extremities. I often look at him and think we could just unhook him and take him home, but this was a good reminder of why he's here and what modern medicine can correct.