Daddy Love

On Sunday, I decided to let Greg hold Gabe. We easily forget how "light" our 1 lb children are until we hold them. And to be honest, Gabe is a "fatty" compared to Jacob. You are always scared when holding these mini babies. You have to deal with all types of tubes. And you have to deal with alarms that go off, sometimes for no reason and other times because their heart rate OR oxygen level has dropped. And you always worry if you are disconnecting something.
Gabe is still on the nasal cannula (which still surprises us & I am knocking on wood right now). He is on little to no oxygen. We did have to stop feeding him for awhile. He decided on Sunday to have green stuff in his belly. They did a xray and said his belly looked normal. But they stopped his feeding. Jacob had SEVERE reflux. I hope Gabe does not have reflux. If you have ever had a child with it, you can still smell it YEARS later. The memory of the smell NEVER leaves you!!! Then on Tuesday, he was given blood. He is back on milk today- 2cc's every 3 hours. He is still hanging out at 1 lb 11 oz. He did make it up to 1 lb 13oz, but the green stuff happened. And I still HATE pumping.

I can already see that Gabe has a personality. If he doesn't like something, he lets you know by dropping his heart rate. He opens his eyes looks around and decides IF he wants to stay awake or not. The bed he is in reminds me of a fish tank. I sometimes peck on the outside of it. Then I think of the little girl in the dentist office on Finding Nemo. Instead of saying Fishy wake up, I say wake up Gabe. He probably wishes he had a sign that says, "Do Not Tap on My Home".
I am hoping that Gabe is 2 lbs by his 1 month b'day. It took Jacob 7 weeks to make it to 2 lbs, and I don't think I have to patience for that again. Normally, preemies come home around their due date (Gabe's was 5/17). Jacob shot that theory out of the water. He loved the NICU so much, he decided to stay for 7 months. I will be honest, if this adventures last well into the summer, you might find me in a home for Crazy Mommas.
Please remember all of us in your prayers. Greg's job will be ending soon, please pray that there is a job out there for him and that we find it SOON! Please pray that Jacob can learn to handle that I am not at school with him. And please remember me--I need to keep my strength and my sanity during all of this. And please pray that Gabe grows stronger (and bigger) everyday.