One Week

Today has been a big day for Ethan! He decided that he didn't need to be on the nasal cannula today, so he pulled it out. When the nurses last night and this morning put it back in, we're told that he took it back out and vocally expressed his desire that it remain out. Since his oxygen levels were doing well, the nurses left it out until Dr. Alexander came around. Not only did he agree with Ethan on the nasal cannula, but he said that Ethan's ready to come off of his IV as well! Katie and I are SOOooo happy to have Ethan hooked up to a few less cords. They're going to leave the IV in for a day, in case they need it soon, but he's not getting any fluids through it.

Now, other than the monitors, the only cord connected to Ethan is his feeding tube. You may notice in his pictures that his feeding tube is now going through his nose instead of his mouth. In the last 24 hours, Ethan has pulled out his feeding tube at least 5 times that I know of. Dr. Alexander says that they will try to start him bottle feeding at 32 weeks (gestational age), which will be this Wednesday! I'm looking forward to that, I'll make sure to ask the nurse if she'll do it at a time when I'm around with a camera!

A couple days ago, one of Ethan's nurses noticed a little bit of drainage from one eye. She took a culture of it and sent it off. Dr Alexander talked with us today regarding that, it showed an infection in Ethan's eye. He didn't seem very concerned with it, as Ethan's been on antibiotic eye-drops for a couple days now. (they started him on that when they sent the cultures off)

Over the next 3 weeks, Ethan will be tested on his hearing, and sight. He had an ultrasound today to check his brain for any signs of hemorrhage. We'll hear about the results of that tomorrow. There isn't any reason to be concerned, these tests are just routine, to make sure that there were no complications with his birth. Of course, we'd love your continued prayers that our son keeps getting stronger, and is fully healthy!