Eye opening day :)

So, Kale had a milestone today! We just called for our nightly update and the nurse said he opened his right eye!! That's right, just the one for now, but we are so excited, we can't wait to see him!!! We'll definitely get some pictures up of him tomorrow...who knows, maybe by tomorrow he'll have both opened :)

Otherwise, he has had a pretty stable day. The Drs. feel that he is at 'full feeds' now, so instead of increasing his intake volume, they will fortify his milk with formula to increase the caloric intake. Breast milk has 20 calories, and they fortify it so it is 24 calories per feeding. This will hopefully allow him to begin safely and steadily gaining weight.

His blood gases were pretty good throughout the day, so we're happy with this. However, the Dr. said that his lung x-rays are still pretty hazy, so it doesn't appear that the drugs they gave him to loosen up his lungs are working quite like they would like. They are keeping him pretty 'dry' with his fluids in attempts to dry out any fluid in his lungs.

Tonight he was measured and he's still at 13 in. and head circumference increased from 21 cm to 22.5 cm. You don't want to see large jumps in his head circumference as that can indicate brain bleed or swelling, but the nurse said she wasn't concerned with his jump, she didn't feel it was abnormal to see in a week. We also noticed throughout the week that his head is forming a little more, the significant ridge that was in the center of his skull has evened out quite a bit so that means his plates are moving in place. He gained 10 grams today, which is about average, so he is still at 1 lb. 12 oz.

I got to 'hold' Kale again today for about 20 seconds while the nurse switched out his bedding (he pooped on it :) ). It was pretty cool because he was having trouble with his SPO2 levels (the 80-90 number), he was down in the 50's which is very low. When I picked him up and held him he increased up to 80s! It's probably because the vent tube shifted in his throat, but I like to think it's because I have magical powers :) The nurse said that he can definitely tell when Derc and I are around from the way he reacts, she said even though he can't see us, he senses us by smell, our voices and our touch (she said particularly with touch with me since he can feel my heartbeat in my hand and it's familiar to him). We can only hope and assume that as soon as we can do kangaroo care he will respond well since these senses will be so strong!

Derc and I also realized that we are 'those' parents this mornings. I called for our morning update and talked with Karla, who is a nurse Kale hasn't had before. So I introduced myself as Kale's mom and she said, "Hi, well let me get my chart because I've heard you guys always want to know about the lung x-rays". You think that's a clue?! Haha, I hung up and said, Derc I think we call too much, woops! Oh well, that must be a preview to how we'll be as parents. Derc makes fun of me because whenever we talk about things Kale will do when he grows up he always makes me out to be the crazy overprotective parent (which I can only assume is 100% accurate).

Derc and I had a chance to hang out with some good friends, Emily and Jeff and Derc's brother Cory and his fiance Laura tonight. We had a good time grilling out, playing yard games (Our dog Mack tried to play washers by picking them up and running around every time they hit the ground) and some card games (which turned into a completely overly competitive event I must add). We are lucky to have great friends and family to offer support and help keep some normalcy in our lives.

Well, hopefully we'll get some good pictures for you tomorrow! Everyone have a safe holiday tomorrow, thanks for keeping Kale in your thoughts and prayers!