It Ain't Easy Being Green!

This weekend has been the best couple of days we've had since the boys were born. A lot of very positive things have happened in the past 48 hours. They've moved Ethan out of his isolated room and put him right across from Kevin in the same "pod". This is truly awesome because now we can be with both boys at the same time. Ethan is also now allowed to wear premie clothes. It's a bit of a challenge to get him dressed with all of his cords and tubes, but if you dress him in blue his complexion looks a lot better! He's now in an incubator like his brother Kevin, and seems to be much happier there. His vitals have become significantly more stable, and he's decreased the number of alarms he sets off in a day. (This helps mom and dad sleep a bit better at night). The most exciting part though is that I got to hold my little boy for the first time today. It was completely unexpected, and long overdue. It's so hard to watch him when he's upset and not be allowed to pick him up and hold him. He slept peacefully in my arms for over an hour and a half. Tina snuck Kevin over, and we were able to get our first family photo! It was the first time the boys were side by side since before they were born.

The nurses are talking about moving Kevin out of the incubator and into a regular crib sometime this week. He's now just about 4 lbs. and is starting to nurse. Ethan's is 3 lb. 9.5 oz. and slowly growing. He's only been getting milk for the past couple of days. The nurses tell us this will help him get his pink color back. Right now the poor kid is a little greenish, because his liver isn't fully functioning yet. (The perils of being born a couple of months early I guess).

We had many more visitors this weekend, so the boys have been able to meet a lot of their family already. It's still going to be a few weeks before Ethan is big enough for his esophageal surgery. They want him to get up to 2 kg.

Tomorrow they are going to try to take Ethan off of the ventilator again. Hopefully this time he will be able to stay on CPAP until he's ready for room air. We try to stay realistic about the chances, but I must admit I'm much more optimistic now after him having a couple of really good days. Please pray for them both, it's been working.

Love to all,

Ryan, Tina, Ethan, and Kevin