Thanksgiving Update

Our Thanksgiving will never be the same. We have so much to be thankful for. I purchased a gown for Will to wear for his Thanksgiving photoshoot, but he has an IV in his arm still, so they nurse was unable to pull his arm through so we decided not to use it.

Will received a blood transfusion and seemed to feel much better afterwards. His feedings continue to increase every 12 hours as along as his residual remains low. Last night he was increased to 5 ml's every three hours and hopefuly this morning he is up to 6.

While we were at the hospital last night, our nurse was wiping his mouth and as she did, Will started sucking on the wipe and her finger. She let me place my pinky finger into his mouth to feel his sucking. I was so amazed that at such a premature age that he knows how to suck. Of course, sucking, swallowing and breathing will still need to be learned, but this is great progress. Our nurse also brought in a pacificer for Will to try... and he seemed to really like it (thanks Angela!). Now the pacifier looks huge next to his tiny little face, but he really liked it. Here is a picture.

We also took a video clip of Will sucking on the pacifier using our camera and once we figure out how to post a video clip to blogspot, I will try to post it. All the little things that babies know, simply by instinct, are milestones for our little guy. We are so proud of him and how strong he continues to be... and as Dr. Simko said yesterday... "he is a tough kid."