Good day

The boys continue to pretty much behave themselves.  They have developed their own personalities for such little guys...all of the good traits from their father of course, and maybe some of their mother's quirky tendencies.  Wes insists on having his hands above his head (or, as I call it, playing "so big" by himself)...which is exactly where his CPAP apparatus is, so naturally he latches on to that and tends to cause a ruckus for the nurses.  His oxygen needs are still in the 40% range, but he climbs into the 50s when he gets agitated or is very awake.  One of us (usually Kate) has been able to hold him every day because he continues to be quite stable and doing well on the CPAP.  That is so awesome.  Every time we do get to hold him though, we are reminded that we cannot hold his brother Maximus.  Max is still at 38 on the jet vent and in the 50-60 range on his oxygen.  He has started to get pretty puffy again after a few days of improvement.  We are not sure  exactly sure why, and it doesn't seem that the doctors really know either.  We will continue to patiently wait and lean on God, trusting that He holds Max in His hands.

Tomorrow is kind of a big day.  The boys are going to have their eyes examined and we will have somewhat of an idea how they are developing.  Eye disease is very common amongst micro-preemies, it is called Retinopathy of Prematurity or ROP.  There are 5 stages of ROP 1 being the best, 5 being the worst.   Stage 5 is a full detachment of the retina (I think).  From what we have been told, stage 4 and 5 have very poor outlooks (blindness in some cases), stage 3 can be treated with some laser treatments, and stage 1 and 2 usually lead to potentially good vision.  These stages can improve and worsen over time, so we will try not to get do to discouraged if the reports tomorrow are not good..but we would really love a break!!  A good report would really be a plus after two heart surgeries, both boys having chronic lung disease, and Kate's Mom passing away not even two weeks ago.  We know we have so much to be thankful for...the fact that we are parents at all is a miracle from God...but our boys have so many challenges ahead of them, and I do not think that Kate or I have the capacity to handle a bad report.  But that is tomorrow, and God will give us the grace and mercy we need to handle what tomorrow will bring.