Turkey Time

Tucker is at a rate of 28, and an oxygen percetage of 28% this morning. He weighs 11 pounds, 6 ounces, but he looks thinner b/c he grew an inch this week! We are excited that he's getting taller-we want him to take after daddy, not his 5 foot tall mommy. So much has been going on. Chris and I have changed the trach together TWICE! With no outside help! Of course, the nurse and RT were right there, but we didn't need them. Also, our moms came in to see the trach change so that in a few weeks they can start changing them. Chris and I have to be supergreat at it first, though, then we'll hand him over. My sister went to Louisville, KY to visit our cousins, and they went to a MOD auction. She said that there were toddlers modeling-one little girl had a trach, and there were boards or something telling their stories, along with little plastic babies of the size that they were born at. She was so excited, b/c she saw the other babies like Tucker who are now growing up. It let her see the light at the end of the tunnel, I guess, and those kids looked so happy. Tucker is still on antibiotics for his trach infection-it pretty much went away, but he has to finish his meds. They'll finish in about a week, and then he is getting transferred to the home vent! That's good, but he is in LOVE with his nice vent-it has the waves that show his breathing patterns, and he stares at it all day-when you turn him around, he cries until he can see it again!! So I think he'll have an attachment disorder when they move in the home vent-it has no lights at all He better get over that, and use that attachment for his parents! So, once he's on the home vent, maybe he'll actually come home!! Not before Christmas-we already have our plans for Christmas day. We reserved the hospital TV, and we're going to bring "A Christmas Story" movie to watch it with him. We might buy him one gift, but everyone else is going to buy him so much stuff, so what's the point? He won't have a clue anyways. Sunday at church, the priest was talking about Advent, and how it is very important to have a waiting and preparation season before Christmas. He said waiting helps us to appreciate things when they finally arrive, and we wouldn't appreciate them as much if we just got them easily. My mom and I looked at eachother and laughed. We think we appreciate Tucker A LOT, so we are sick of waiting. Maybe we need to prepare some more for him, but he better start making his way home. We celebrated Thanksgiving last night (the men leave to hunt for Thanksgiving), and we had to say what we were thankful for. I said I was thankful for Tucker-and that maybe he'll be there next year making a mess of his mashed potatoes! Except it will be the winter, so maybe he'll be on lock down in his room at home. I love him SO MUCH! He's such a sweetheart.