Charlie’s Kicking Ass

So Charlie’s been in the NICU over a week now and Charlie has done nothing but get better. Last night we walked in for our 8pm visit and his nurse was wheeling out his photo-therapy lights to place into storage. He’s now completely off the lights and no longer has to wear sunglasses. He has also reached his maximum feeding level which is 36 CC’s of formula every 3 hours. That means he is getting all his nutrients and hydration through his feeding tube so they have been able to remove his additional I.V.’s. His caloric intake is also being increased so he can really start packing on weight now. Charlie has met every benchmark so far, earlier than expected and without hesitation or setbacks. We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves but he may get out earlier than initially expected. But we’ll have to wait and see.

His next goal will be learning to eat/suck and breathe at the same time. Let’s face it, that can be tough. But his temperature regulation is getting better so pretty soon he may graduate out of his incubator and into an open bassinet. So I think this is officially what they mean by baby steps.



Grandma Patty gets a big yawn out of the little man.


I'm watching you, bucco.


"I wear my sunglasses at night..."


Sarah teaches Charlie about eye contact.


Daddy and Charlie are discussing important things like baseball and meatball subs.


"....And in this corner, weighing in at 4 pounds, 2.3 ounces..."


Charlie gives me this confused look a lot. It either means that I'm not making sense or that he's pooping...or both.


Charlie just found out there's a whole big world outside the NICU...and he's wicked excited.