First Visit

Today was a big day for Matthew and Christopher - their first meeting.  We had talked with Christopher generally about the concept of a brother, and last night we told him we were going to meet his brother.  Well, actually he told us.  We said, "Tomorrow do you know who we are going to see?"  He said, without skipping a beat, "My brother!"  We had never even told him he had a brother!

There was a sibling/family event at the NICU where siblings could build gingerbread houses.  We thought this was a good opportunity to bring Christopher as otherwise he has about a 5 minute attention span/ability to stay fairly quiet in the NICU.  We took him to get a haircut before we went, as his hair was getting a little out of control and we didn't want CPS coming thinking we were neglecting our other child.  Christopher did a great job (other than when we had to wash hands, which he didn't like because the sinks were too big).  He even had picked out a book from the NICU library to read to Matthew, but ended up preferring to have it read to him while next to Matthew (see the last picture).  When asked later what his favorite part of the day was, Christopher said, "When I said words to Matthew, and then he opened his eyes."  I know, you could just melt.   He really did a great job and it was so sweet to see him interact with Matthew.  He asked, "When is he not going to have a boo boo?" so that he can come home.


The Good

Matthew had a blood gas done today, which came back good.  He is still tolerating his feeds well, so hopefully that continues.  He was on 22% oxygen for most of the day and has made it past 24 hours off the vent...


The Bad

Matthew needs to work more now to breathe on his own, and today he looked more tired.  As of tonight his nurse said he doesn't look as comfortable with his breathing.  They are going to try to go up on his NIPV settings to see if that makes him more comfortable.  We are really really hoping he doesn't need to be reintubated.


The Ugly

No Ugly for Matthew today - fingers crossed it stays that way.  The new baby that is in Alexander's spot will have a tough road.  I overheard Dr. Gozzo talking with the family about heart issues and Children's Hospital of Philadephia and Boston (these two places are top top notch in terms of heart surgeries), and then I heard her talking about Trisomy 18.  Prayers for that family and their baby as well.