Connor

Soo...I know you all think that I am totally slacking off and Brian is an amazing blogger now. BUT! In reality, I don't have a camera. Brian took it with him to Portland, so I haven't been able to take any pictures of Connor since the day after he was born. I was holding off on updating because I felt guilty about having a boring post with no pictures, but I've decided to give you the Connor update so you know that we love both babies.

Connor is doing great, but he is premature...so there are a few things he has to learn how to do before he goes home. A lot of people have asked me why he has to stay so long, so here we go...

Reasons Connor is still in the NICU:

--Premature babies can't maintain their own body heat very well. Connor is still living in his isolet (plastic baby cage) in order to keep him warm. To go home Connor has to be able to be in a crib without heat lamps and maintain his own body temperature.

--Premature babies don't eat very well. Connor is veeeery sleepy right now. So sleepy that he has a hard time staying awake to eat long enough to put on weight. He also had a really hard time with the whole suck-swallow-breathe rhythm that full term babies use in order to be able to eat. Connor has done way better the last two days, eating for 15-20 minutes for most feedings, although he still sleeps through a few and that is why he still has a feeding tube. In order to go home he has to take all of his meals by mouth and be eating enough to gain weight.

--Jaundice...blue lights...cool goggles. Enough said.


Hopefully this helps clear up all of the, "he was so big for a twin, why does he have to stay?" questions. I was really annoyed at first because they wouldn't let him go, but as I sit here with him I am totally getting why he can't leave yet. My other kiddos were so much farther along in development by one week that the difference is becoming very obvious.

Good news: Connor is beautiful. Jackson is doing great. I have never been so grateful for such small things like Jackson drinking 5 cc's of formula from a bottle, or Connor having a temperature of 98.3 after three hours in his isolet with the warmer turned down. I have had lots of people telling me that they think I am so strong, and they don't know how I'm getting through this. Well...Brian and I aren't particularly strong. In fact there were several days last week when all I could do was hide in a waiting room bathroom and cry, and I know that it has been very tough on Brian seeing his son so helpless and sick. We have survived because there is nothing else to do...and we are still handling it because this week is waaaay better than last week, and hopefully next week will be better than this week. We're not sure when we'll all be together again, and we are really not sure when we can go home, but for now things are looking good and we are definitely happy about that!