Fri. Sept. 21st

Luke gets to eat more today. In fact he should be at a full feed by tomorrow. He is doing really well eating. He's passing is food well now and he is really content finally having food in his tummy. He's also doing well with less oxygen flow.
Luke and I met with an Occupational Therapist (basically a physical therapist) to asses his movements. Since he normally would be in the fetal position in my womb his muscle tone is a little different being outside the womb. The therapist checked out all his major muscle groups. Overall he did okay, but he does need some work getting better tummy muscles and neck muscles. There are some simple movements we can do when we change his diaper and when we hold him that he doesn't even know we are doing that will help him. He'll have his muscles checked once or twice a week and we'll follow-up a few months down the road to see how he's doing.
Luke still is retaining some fluid, so he had blood taken today to check a few things out to see what could be causing the excessive fluid. Turns out nothing is wrong, it's just extra fluid he needs to pass and he will pass it when he is on full feeds for a bit.
Also, the best part about today's visit was Luke responding to my voice. He turned his head a bit when I was talking to him and when I put him back in his bed after holding him, he opened his eyes and studied my face. Both Jeremy and I can see him bonding more and more with us each day. It is very nice for the two of us.
We are looking forward to taking Bryan up for a visit on Sunday.
One more piece of good news is Luke passed the 5lb barrier. He is 5lbs 1oz today, some is still a bit of fluid, but it is still great to hear!
Melinda