I’m writing this update from my own couch. After 45 days in the hospital I am finally home!
Sam had a huge day today too! This morning they took him off the ventilator and promoted him to the next stage of breathing assistance. He’s now on something called a bubble cpap. He isn’t intubated with the cpap so he can make sounds and swallow now. He had a tiny taste of breast milk today orally, and we heard him make some little squeaks today for the first time. He looks so much more comfortable with the cpap.
Of course adjusting to new equipment is hard work, and we will not be discouraged if he takes a step back and goes back on the ventilator for a bit. With very premature infants, sometimes their brain forgets to tell them to breathe, and that happened to Sam a few times today. He is being given caffeine in order to help, and he’s still hanging in there right now. We are hoping he can stay stable on the cpap because that means we may get to start kangaroo care soon!
His lumbar puncture came back negative for infection. Since he only tested positive for an infection on the very first day, doctors believe he will be off antibiotics after one week.
He’s also doing well with eating. The breast milk that is put into his feeding tube is being digested well. We are watching his digestion carefully because of some blue coloration on his stomach. Preemies are high risk for something called necrotizing enterocolitis, is where a potion of the intestine dies. It can be fatal, or it could require surgery. Repeats X-rays have show Sam has no problems, and we can minimize future risks by making sure he gets breast milk and monitoring his eating, urine and bowel movements carefully. Right now he only gets tiny tastes of breast milk by mouth (drops on a q-tip) for his oral health. 
They weren’t able to try inserting the picc line today but it’s on the to-do list still. He will also have another echocardiogram on Monday to keep a close eye on his heart as he grows. He’s still on the bili lights for jaundice. Because premature infants don’t eat or poop as much as full term babies, it can take longer for their jaundice to go away. Most of the time he’s got his tiny sunglasses on to protect him from the light, but his nurse turned off the lights for a few pictures today.
We are just amazed by our miracle every day. Since big brother Wes loves super heroes so much, we asked which super hero he thought Sam should be, and he said Superman. So, now we have our own little Super Sam, and we are so, so proud of him.
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