The Max Update

(aka THREE LBS. FIVE OZ.!)

Yes, you read that right! Our little man is up an entire pound from his birth weight! So if you're interested in getting an idea of what it's like to hold him, grab a half-gallon milk container and voila! He doesn't have the pointy corners of a milk carton, and he doesn't refresh with brownies quite like a glass of milk, but if you use your imagination, you'll get it! 🙂

We actually realized the correlation last night, as Katie held Max for the very first time! It's almost as cool for me seeing her with him as it is to actually hold him. I remember how I felt the first time I held Faith, and now I've been able to give Katie that same feeling… there are certainly worse things in life! I'm really looking forward to getting to play “Pass the Baby” a little more now, as he gets older and more stable, we'll be able to share the joy that is Max cuddles.

As far as Max, he's really doing good. They had to stop feedings for a couple of days, but they're back on schedule. His brain scans are still clear, and his breathing is still great. We're all still stumped by his belly though… poor baby had a barium enema and an upper GI study last week, in search of a cause, but everything looks normal, from his colon on up, we there's still some head-scratching on the part of the medical team, and we just want him to get better so he can keep putting on weight and come home to us!

I can't believe he's a month old already! I remember early on, in the first week or so, reminding myself that the time in the NICU would fly by, that really 2 or 3 months in the scheme of a lifetime is no time at all… and now it's been almost 5 weeks! We have our Infant CPR class this week, and when we scheduled it, the nurse said “We like to do this class closer to the baby's discharge, so it'll be fresh in your mind” and now it's here!

I can hardly believe it! I feel like mommyhood has been taunting me from behind a literal wall of plastic… I can see it, I get little sample tastes of it, but I haven't fully been able to experience it, and that day is coming closer and closer, and I can barely contain myself! Jamie and I have spent some time talking about the cool parts of Max being so premature… while I'm sad I didn't get my last trimester, my last time where he was all mine, I've gotten to see Jamie and his son together that much sooner. We've gotten to watch so many amazing developments…like ears! Cartiledge doesn't develop until week 32 or later, so when he was born, his ears were literally flaps of skin that could be folded up… now you can them starting to stick off his head a little, and they take shape more every day. He's growing baby fat! I swear, overnight, he grew into an almost chubbo! You'll see in this week's photos, or I might try to take some tonight. I'm seriously in awe of the changes we're seeing on a day to day basis.

Sorry… I didn't mean to wax sentimental quite so much… *sigh* Damn these hormones!

Keep reading for more update and last week's Thursday photo! 🙂