The First Week

Christi and I have been trying to get used to our new schedules. Christi came home on Monday, the 18th, and has been scrambling to find rides to and from the hospital in the mornings (she can't drive while she's on vicodin). I get home from work, get a few things done around the house, and we're off to the hospital. It's a tough schedule, but we're starting to get used to it.

So far, his progress has been phenomenal. His weight did drop 5oz the first night, but has since stabilized. This morning he was back to his original weight, and he looks great. He was off the ventilator within the first hour of his life and spent his first week using a CPAP machine. The CPAP gives him bursts of air that remind him to breathe. At first, he was on 50% oxygen (room air is 21% oxygen), and has since reduced to between room air and 25%. Yesterday, the CPAP was removed and we got to see his beautiful face for the first time. He's done well without the CPAP, and we're hoping he won't ever have to go back on it.

He is taking feedings through a tube, and has been handling steady increases in the amount of food he gets. Just as an idea of how small he is, he started out getting 1 cc (cubic centimeter/mililiter) every 6 hours...then every 3, every 1, and now he gets an increase of 0.3 cc/hr every morning. If there are any signs he is not tolerating the amount of food, it will be backed off for a couple of days before increasing again. So far, so good! He'll need that energy to start gaining some weight!



He was jaundiced and spent the first week under bili lights. He was off the lights on Thursday, but had to go back on one last day on Friday. The last 2 days he's been bili light free with no sign of jaundice.

We ran into our first hurdle on Wednesday. The ophthalmologist discovered that Joel has fairly bad cataracts in both eyes, and a condition in which his lenses are fused to his corneas. The scary part about this is we have a short window to fix the problem with his eyes. If his eyes aren't corrected within approximately 2 months, his brain will never be able to learn how to use them. This will require surgery, and we're in the process of getting second and third opinions before we act. We'll definitely keep you posted.

All in all, everything is going well. We'll hopefully keep you posted with the day to day stuff, but in the meanwhile here are a bunch of pictures and videos for your pleasure: