Due Date

We've hit it - Alexander's due date. I think it would have been much harder if Alexander wasn't doing so well. 

He wasn't making much progress last week but he wasn't doing bad either. Even so he needed a blood transfusion and the doctor decided to do a course of steroids over the weekend. This allowed him to go down on his ventilator settings to an 11. It also brought his oxygen needs down to 35%, his floor, or the lowest the doctors want his oxygen levels to be. 

By Sunday he was a new man! It was great fun being with him for a few hours. I was able to give him a real bath in a baby tub and he loved it. He was wide awake the entire time. After cleaning him up, we were able to cuddle for a couple hours. He loved sucking on his pacifier, so I hope that's a good sign when it comes to nursing. He was very active - staring and me and his Dada and brother Andrew when we Facetimed with them. He is starting to understand he has a voice and is using it from time to time. I still think he's a pretty calm baby but he's learning how to get our attention. 

Also this weekend we traveled to the Chicago burbs to see the college crew and all the babies (Thanks Susie and Joe for hosting!!). There were 6 children there and Andrew was the oldest. You would have thought it would have been crazy but I thought it was pretty controlled. It was a blast to catch up with everyone. 

This is the best one I had of all six of them - 5 boys and one girl, until this summer when they are joined by another girl (can't wait Lauren)!!

We left a little late and about half way home were caught in some wicked blowing snow. We decided it wasn't worth the risk and had our first family stay in a hotel. Andrew loved it - he was running and skipping around the hotel room. At least we had the pack 'n' play, bear and blanket. We didn't sleep half bad actually. Quite the adventure!