I feel like the early birth of Alexander has shown us how blessed we are with an expansive support system and so many, many prayers. We appreciate each and every one more than we can ever express.
Thanksgiving was different this year as we were not able to travel back to Ankeny to spend time with the Eckhardt clan. Thank goodness for technology and FaceTime so we could at least say hi! My recovery is still very slow - much slower than I would like or can stand. A lot of pain, a lot of naps and getting around like an old person still. But my parents were able to come for the weekend to help with Andrew, do some housekeeping and let me get my rest. Again, Mom and Dad, you are the best! We had an AMAZING meal at Pete's parents house and Andrew was able to play with cousin Rachel - those two are going to be trouble someday! And we were able to spend some time with Alexander as well.
He continues to impress his doctors, as they actually used the term "over-achiever" during rounds this weekend! While his oxygen usage is higher than what we would like to see, it's what they expect for a 24-week baby. He's been able to keep it under 50% so we will be very satisfied with that.
They have increased his food again and now he's having 7cc of breast milk every 3 hours - eating like a big boy, as his nurse today said. If he can keep that up and continue with the poopy diapers, they may be able to decrease or even eliminate his additional fluids. Their hope is they can shut those off and remove the line, as that can always be an additional source of infection. We should start seeing him grow more steadily in the next couple weeks too, with this additional food and calories.
The other important thing is just to keep him healthy and infection free, so he doesn't need antibiotics or have any thing impact his growth. This is tough with cold and flu season. Our household has had the flu and whooping cough shots and are doing a lot of hand washing. Andrew unfortunately has a cold right now so Pete wore a mask to see Alexander this weekend - you can never be to cautious!
He had another blood transfusion last night but his numbers looked good today. As I mentioned, we can probably expect a few of these as he loses a lot of blood each time they do any draws for testing.
Alexander continues to be a fiesty one; he continually will kick off his blanket and kicks the plastic wrap over his crib (which helps keep the heat in and the germs out). When I am pumping in his room, I can just see his little feet and hands punch the plastic :) We helped with Alexander's care as well - see the photos below of me putting lotion on him. He would not hold still so I had to hold his hands and feet to lather him up!
His eyes are starting to open so it will be fun to see them over the next week or two as they fully open.
Here are some more photos from our long weekend!
Andrew and cousin Rachel jamming on the piano.
Told you he was fiesty!
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