*there's a baby

3 lbs, 9 oz!

Will had a photo shoot yesterday. His nurse realized he was getting a good case of cradle cap and took off the cpap head gear. He was so happy without having air forced into his nose. We got several really good pictures! Surrounding his bed and laughing about how cute he is was much different than the usual - quietly staring at him while he sleeps. Something he very much needs to do. But this was much more fun.

Getting his hair combed.

Then the cpap came off completely.
He opened his eyes.
And sneezed!
Then he stuck out his tongue
and showed off his freshly combed hair.
He finally looks like a baby!

The 2 reasons he seems more like a baby to us now are 1)his eyes were open and 2) we can hear him cry! We think he avoided opening his eyes with the cpap because the air would come out the sides of the mask, go around his nose and blow straight in them. It was probably loud also so I doubt he could hear much. As for crying, with the ventilator his cries wouldn't make a noise because of the tube in this throat. There will be many times we will wish we could turn the crying off but right now it is a welcomed sound.

Today they decided that he was struggling with the cpap so much (meaning taking the mask off or the prongs out of his nose when no one was looking) that he could step down to the nasal cannula again. Since his nose was sore the trade off of him being comfortable was worth the decrease in breathing support. This picture is from my lunch break. By the time I came back after work he had worked the little piece of tape on his nose to a spot underneath his right eye.

The other event from yesterday was the holiday party at the hospital. There is an organization for families of children with CHD that meets monthly there. They are currently without a name but clearly aren't new to this. When we walked in the room I was stunned to see so many children. I don't know what I expected...I guess I assumed that every other family is just like us with a NICU baby that hasn't had surgery yet.

I saw someone I know from college who has a son with CHD and at age 3 he has survived 3 open heart surgeries already. There was 20-30 children in the room of all ages and only about 3 of them actually looked like they had a health problem of any kind. Several others were small for their ages, but since we didn't know their ages they looked healthy to us. There was food, a craft for the kids, a clown, and pictures with Santa. It was very nice and as far as the kids knew it was just a fun party. The parents were so knowledgeable and spoke highly of the cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons. One day that might be us and Will might be one of the kids jumping into a pile of bean bags. :)

The featured pic of the day:
rosary beads brought by Will's Nana on stuffed Katie.