9-19-10

Oliver is 1 month old today and we got the best birthday present... We're going home on Tuesday!!!!! He's doing so well eating and growing. His measurements now 1 month after birth are 6lbs 1.5oz, 19 and 3/4 inches long and a head circumference of 33.5cm. Today Oliver's morphine whet to every 24 hours and so far at 3:30 in the afternoon no withdrawal symptoms. He's also off the oxygen. That is right, I can finally see my baby's face and kiss his little cheeks. They will continue to monitor him off the oxygen until we leave to see if it ever drops but so far with being off of it for 6 hours now the lowest I have seen it was 91%, which is great.

Shawn and his parents now left for the weekend but Shawn is coming back tomorrow to stay the night so we can take him home Tuesday morning. I do have a favor to ask of everyone. I know you'll all be excited to see us at home but I ask that you give us at least a day and let us settle in at home before visiting or calling. We have to learn to be his primary caregivers 24 hours a day now for the rest of his life (well maybe that is an exageration - maybe for the rest of his childhood.) Tonight will be my last night in the camper and let me say I am very greatful that my in-laws loaned it to me for a month and I appreciate it deeply but I do not ever want to go camping whether in a camper or tent for a very, very, very, long time.

I'm so proud of all the progress and fighting my little man has made over the last month. It's hard to believe what he's accomplished so far so early in his life. Tomorrow a few more things to do such as the circumcision and his car seat exam. For the car seat exam they put him in his car seat and monitor him for the length of time it would take us to get home to make sure he can tolerate sitting in a car seat. So he just has to hang out in his car seat for around 2 hours tomorrow instead of a crib. Shawn learned infant CPR last night and they even sent us home with a mini baby practice doll to keep so that others can learn CPR too and know how to do compressions and give breaths watching the chest rise. He passed his hearing test yesterday.

Here are some 1 month old pictures of Oliver with nothing on his face! I just caught him waking up after his nap. Thea - I'm no professional so we'll have you do the official pictures.