He is at 6 lb 6 oz today!
Eating: They advanced him to three bottles a day (even though he isn't really taking two full bottles yet). Hopefully more practice time will help him get the hang of it. Matt and I are allowed to start trying to feed him as well. It's all dependent on when he happens to be awake at meal time, so sometimes we get a chance, and sometimes we don't.
Breathing: They have weaned him down to 20 cc of oxygen. This is great news. They tried to take him off completely, but he isn't quite ready for it. Hopefully with a little more time, his lungs will be strong enough and we will try again. They are also going to discontinue his caffeine dosage. Hopefully he is mature enough to evenly breathing without it. As the caffeine gets out of his system in the next few days, we will be able to tell by the number of alarms he has. If he doesn't do well, they may re-start his dosage.
Other developments: Spencer started physical therapy this week! At this point, it is preventative in nature. He favors turning his head one direction, so we are doing some exercises to stretch his neck the other direction. He also gets some leg exercises to help with range of motion. The hope is that by catching and correcting some of these habits early, we can ward off problems they might cause down the road.
Spencer still gets a bath every three days and plenty of cuddle time with mom and dad. Carter likes to pat his head and tickle his tummy as well.
It's hard to say how much longer Spencer will spend in the NICU but best guess would be 3-4 more weeks. This basically puts him right around his original due date in September. We can't wait to have him home!
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