The End is Near

I went to see Leo at the NICU around lunch time today while Karol was sleeping. His regular nurse said to me right away "The end is near". It didn't quite register at first what she was saying, however, I soon realized that Leo is getting closer to going home. He gained two ounces yesterday, and now weighs 4lb 4oz! The nurse told me that he hasn't had any bad spells and is tolerating the room air very well. Leo seems to be much better at bottle feeding than Drake, which is a good thing. While Leo is making great progress toward going home, I noticed today that he is still very delicate and is very easily stressed. At one point he was sleeping soundly when the baby next door to him started screaming bloody murder. Leo became restless and his heart rate and oxygen levels were moving around all over the place. While this seems like a bad thing, his nurse assured me that this is normal for a preemie and is a good sign that Leo can hear well and is aware of his surroundings.

Drake is getting along well at home. He seems to be going through a growth spurt because he is waking up every two hours to eat. We have been trying all of the various swings and toys that are supposed to help calm crying babies. Some work and some don't. Most of the chairs are still a little too big for him so we have to surround him with blankets to support his head .

As the year comes to an end and Leo gets closer to coming home Karol and I would like to give thanks to everyone that has been so supportive and interested in our lives the last 2 months or so. The outpouring of kind words and/or gifts coming our way has been truly overwhelming. We can only hope that sometime in the near future when things calm down that we will have the time to personally thank everyone. Until then the best way to keep up with Drake and Leo is this website. We will continue to update this blog with Drake and Leo's progress, including some VIDEOS once I figure out how to work the video camera and upload the files to the blog.