Naked no more

Hurray! Wearing clothes is actually a sign of progress, and Xavi has been making all kinds of small strides in the past week or so: 

• He is becoming overall more stable, so that the main things going on are eating, breathing, and growing without other major interventions or crises anticipated.
• He is gaining weight--some days 1 oz per day--and is up to 3 lb. 6 oz.
• He is more able to maintain his body temperature. They removed the probe which constantly monitored his temperature (the isolette then regulated its temperature moment to moment based on whether he needed to be warmer or cooler), and now he is just in the heated isolette. They are weaning the temperature inside the box, preparing him for the eventual launch to an open crib. He now needs those clothes to help him stay nice and warm.
• His head ultrasounds have shown stable ventricles for the last several weeks. Since there has been no sign of his hemorrhage worsening up until this point, there is a good chance that it won't get any worse.

(Those bright blue spots are part of the CPAP mask, not his eyes :) Not a great picture, but had to show the clothes.

Sweet face

Last week Xavi had a trial on a new kind of CPAP connection. Called the Ram Cannula, it has the smaller facial attachment, but still gives the same CPAP pressure to help keep his lungs open and give oxygen flow. We liked the idea of this new attachment because it was smaller and more comfortable, and also because we could see more of his sweet baby face. However after a couple of days, Xavi needed to go back to the regular CPAP mask because he wasn't getting enough breathing support from the cannula. Disappointing that it didn't last, but still a hopeful sign of things to come.

The small comforts

This fleece-covered bean bag hand is one of Xavi's favorite things about the NICU. The nurses use this and other kinds of bean bags to give him a sense of comfortable containment.

A Watery Interlude

The girls recently began swimming lessons. They were nervous at first (the teachers assured us that screaming for the first few classes was normal), but now they look forward to them. Here are some gems from the first day. 

Xavi in motion

This is how Xavi usually is after we hold him: alert and peacefully awake.

Greetings, Earthlings

I remember this phase of preemie-look with Eva. They are SO cute, but pictures just can't do them justice. The pictures end up having an extra-terrestrial flair about them.

Healing well

Xavi's incision is healing well--the doctors and nurses actually call it gorgeous--and is amazingly small. He's got a few steri-strips hanging on, but otherwise it's a neat and clean healing. Overall, the doctor said yesterday that she is really pleased with his recovery this week. Way to go, Xavi!