Gaining weight!

Joseph continues to do well and his main goal is to gain weight. I sure would like to have that as my goal but weight LOSS should be the goal for me. He is gaining about one ounce per day. He is over 9 pounds now and he is getting very good at eating and sleeping since most of the time he is doing one of the two. I think you can tell from this picture that he is looking a little "rounder."

He is still hunkered down at the house and he cannot have visitors. The pediatrician is worried about him getting the flu or a flu like illness called RSV. This illness has put many healthy kids and infants in the hospital with breathing issues. He will have a vaccine for it but it takes three months to administer the vaccine. So, we are still being very protective of him and that will continue on into the new year. (insert heavy sigh here) His sisters have to take showers before they can hold him when they come home from school and we are buying Purell by the case now.

His next surgery is in about six weeks. The surgery will be to remove the tubes in his nose. He tolerates the tubes very well and does not seem to mind the suctioning that we have to do to keep them clear. All in all he is a pretty good baby at this point.

I finally caught a smile on camera and it is in this video clip:

That is Megan holding him. Joseph's sisters still complain they do not get enough time with him but that is because there are four of them and only one of him. Patience is a virtue!

This blog has been a great tool to get the word out on Joseph. We will keep it going until after his next surgery, but it will only be updated once a week since there is not as much going on. We will update the blog on the weekends (which probably means late Sunday night) so you can check it on Mondays.

It is still amazing how many people have read this blog. We get notes and emails from people who we had no idea were reading this. It continues to be very uplifting and we are able to feel connected to this community pulling for Joseph. We offer prayers of thanks everyday for all of you and for the health of Joseph. Please continue to keep the babies in the NICU and CT-ICU in your prayers.

Thank you and God bless,

Kenny and Mary