Levi is One Month Old!

Levi is now one month old! He turned four weeks old this past Tuesday, November 27th. The Lord is so good! We are truly humbled by this entire experience. Tonight was very special for me. He fixed his beautiful little eyes on his Mamma as I got to hold his hand and cup my hand around his perfect little head for a long time. He must have really enjoyed it because he did not desat any for me while I was touching him. He is very quick to let you know if he does not enjoy something by dropping his sats (saturation of oxygen in the blood). He now weighs a whole 2 pounds and 8 ounces. Today we were very excited to find out that they took away his IV fluids and he is receiving "full feeds" = 6.5cc/hour. For every 25cc of breastmilk, they recently began adding a pack of breastmilk fortifier. This gives him 2 additional calories (24/25 cc) to help him turn into a little butterball =] The only medication that he is currently on is caffeine which helps with his blood oxygen saturation & heart rate. After 10 days of being only on vapotherm (a little bit of oxygen to the nose), he decided he needed a break and was ready for the ventilator again. He remains on a very low setting on the ventilator and breathes quite a few breaths independently over the b/min that he receives from it. Levi was able to get down to a setting of 10 on the ventilator so they attempted to put him on C-PAP (continuous positive airway pressure): Air is delivered to a baby's lungs through small tubes in the baby's nose. The tubes are attached to a ventilator (respirator), which helps the baby breathe, but does not breathe for him). He did not care for it too much so they tried something called a Nasal IMV (Nasal Intermittent Positive Pressure Ventilation). He really did not like that. So they let him have his way and put him back on the ventilator. Two nights ago, Levi extubated (took it out) by himself so, again, they attempted to try him on C-PAP. Every time that he does this, they want to try C-PAP to get him weaned off of the ventilator. They are discussing using Lasix which is a diuretic to get any fluids off of his lungs to facilitate breathing. Each day he produces more tissues in his lungs that make him stronger. We are certain that God has our son in the best of hands at Richland's NICU. God has granted these amazing individuals with divine wisdom and understanding. They are all so awesome up there. His oxygen level stays between 25 – 30% for the most part. 21% is the goal and is what the rest of us breathe. He is scheduled for another brain scan on the 4th of December. The first one came back perfect which of course was very encouraging. He is scheduled for his first vision test on the 17th of Dec. He will not receive a hearing test until it is time for him to come home. Levi loves the recording that we made for him. Every night when we visit, we add a recording to it when we read him his Bible story. Bedtime prayers with him are also amazing. He has a picture of Teddy and Naomi that he gets to see all the time. His isolette (bed) is decorated with pictures that they have colored for him as well as a John Deere quilt that I made for him. He knows how much he is loved. We love and appreciate all of you, your prayers, and your support!!! May God Bless each of you in His great abundance and may each of you grow in your faith as a result of our little Miracle child.