She Said "48 Hours"

Mommy and I just got back from a trip to visit our little Hunter. I was especially anxious for this trip. Earlier in the day we had visited and received the regular updates, but we were also told that he was going to get his first vision test today.

During his vision test they were going to check for something called Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP). The eye is one of the last things to mature in a full term baby. ROP can lead to poor vision, blindness, crossed eyes, or a lazy eye. It sounds quite scary so I was very eager to hear the results from Nurse. Before everybody starts panicking - he's okay. They found no signs of ROP, but he has to have another test in a week as it can develop at any time within the first few months.

The scary news it out of the way now. Time for some good news. Hunter is eating more again, he's up to 20 ml. Doctor said that his TPN is at minimal settings and that nearly all of his nutrition is coming from the milk. This means that he is using his intestines, and he is pooping all on his own!

They've also turned his breath rate down further on his ventilator. He's now at 30 breaths per minute; the whole time we were visiting with him he was doing over 30 so he's doing a lot of breathing on his own.

This morning Doctor started him on caffeine to give his lungs some extra exercise, and we heard through the grapevine that she may try to remove him from the vent in 48 hours. Now that's some real good news. The 48 hours started this morning so if everything goes well he may be in for a big change this Saturday morning.

There's so much to write about today, but I don't want to take up much more space so here's a quick rundown of whats left:

We saw them change his mask today and got to see the bottom half of his face for the first time. Hunter has chubby chipmunk cheeks.

Since he is doing so well we may be able to put him in clothes soon.

Hunter keeps trying to chew on his fingers.