Progress

First off, let me apologize for the dearth of posts as of late.  I finally had to return to 'real work' this past week and have been slightly busier than hoped.  Regardless, Edward continues to make tremendous progress and we are so proud of him.

He is now over three pounds!  Yesterday evening, he weighed in at 1430 grams or 3 lbs 2 ounces.  His lowest weight after birth was 680 grams, so he is now literally twice as big as he was just 6 weeks ago.  Edward is also trying nasal cannula 24 hours a day, which means he no longer needs to wear the CPAP!  Today is his first day trying this and it is likely that he will need a few hours of CPAP every now and then to take the burden off his lungs.  But still, this is a great step forward.

And most importantly, Edward is now out of the actual intensive care unit section of the NICU and has made the jump to the 'step down' unit.  He will still have the same excellent doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses and respiratory therapists, but it is a huge step in the right direction.  The step down unit is just a stone's throw from the higher acuity unit where we started, but Edward has made light-years of progress to make it this far.  All of sudden, bringing him home seems very tangible and concrete to Katie and me - an intimidating, yet wonderful thought!

Here is an updated video.  It includes a few clips from his first few days to show how far he has come.  Enjoy!