Hello Big Brother!

Jason and I took Jamison to the NICU with us this afternoon.  It was the first time we took him back into Cayden's area (as opposed to him just hanging out in the waiting room with one of us while the other was back with Cayden) since a day or two after he was born.  (Jamison has had a cold since then, and they don't want anyone who's sick, especially a child, back where the babies are.)

Jason took Jamison out of his stroller and brought him over to the isolette.  We told him to say hi to his little brother and he put his little hand on the top of the isolette, looked in at Cayden then looked back at us as if to say, "Well get him out of there - I want to play!"  It was heartwarming and felt so good to finally have all four of us in the same room.

Of course a 14-month-old can't be expected to sit quietly in a dimly-lit hospital area with all kinds of tempting cords, buttons, and plugs just begging to be explored, so Jason took Jami for a stroll while I did kangaroo care with Cayden.  For the first ten or fifteen minutes, he was wide-eyed and awake, looking up at me and blinking with his little hand on my heart.  It was the best kangaroo care moment yet.  He eventually closed his eyes and napped for the last fifteen minutes I held him.  I don't know why, but I wasn't as nervous this time - it just felt like things were o.k. and I wasn't worried how he would do.  I think my being more relaxed help him do well in return.

They started doing physical/developmental therapy with him this afternoon.  I wasn't there when they did it, but I hope to be there one day next week to watch, learn, and eventually do the exercises with him myself.

He's had a great 24 hours with no brady episodes and they're upping his feeds by one milliliter every 12 hours. As of last night, his weight is 2 pounds 6 ounces, which is up six ounces from birth.  Hopefully he'll continue to stay healthy, tolerate his feedings, and keep putting on that weight!