Days 36 and 37

Tucker is doing so well:) On Friday, the doctor switched him to the traditional vent, and they have been weaning him ever since. Switching to the regular vent is great, but we were worried about how he would take it. He started at a rate of 40 (which is how often the machine pumps breath into his lungs), and Friday night they moved him down to 30. This morning (Sat), they moved him down to 25. The really good news is that he is breathing about 60 times a minute or more, which means that he is doing most of the breathing on his own-he must like those steroids. He also picked up two ounces-he's at 2 pounds, 10 ounces, and the doctor moved his food intake up to 7.5 ml an hour.The best part is that he is not shaking anymore. For those of you who have already met Tucker, you know what I mean. His chest always vibrated b/c of the strength of the oscillator. We touched him mainly on his feet and head b/c the middle of his body vibrated too strongly-if you left your hand on his middle, it would actually put your hand to sleep.So now, he just breathes normally. Chris and I didn't realize that it would make such a difference, but it does. We each rested our hands on his back (he was on his tummy), and we felt his steady, normal breathing. It was wonderful-it might sound strange, but he feels much more like a baby now. The oscillator made so much noise, and we didn't feel as comfortable touching him. We stayed for a long time and just looked at him. I guess it was kind of like the first time parents get to hold their baby-that's how we felt. I'm sure holding him will be even better, though. Then when we left, we were sad b/c he did not come home:( But we were also very happy b/c he was doing so well-we have a lot of mixed feelings. Once we can hold him and feed him, the nurses will have to kick us out to get us to go home. Today, Tucker had many visitors-Mom, Dad, Nana, Nanny, Lauren, Dylan, Gina, Aunt Kim and Uncle David. Morgan wanted to go in, but she's only 6, so no such luck. She told Aunt Kim, "can't you tell them I'm 14?" Not quite. I'm sure the kids really want to meet him. Brycen named her baby doll Tucker, and she said Tucker's coming home when he gets big like her. She hasn't agreed to share her toys with him, but I think he'll have enough of his own. Please keep praying for Tucker. I'm sure he is anxious to meet everyone:)