Hello Little Brother

Yesterday we decided it would be a good day to take the kids up to see Aaron. Joseph has been begging us to go so we up we went. On the way there Ben looked at the window at a point on the 215 where you can see all of Salt Lake Valley and said, "Dad, I think I see the whole world from here." Some days I think the same thing. Taking all 4 kiddos in at the same time was not an option, there just isn't enough room for all of us so we decided to tag team the kids.
I took Joseph and Sam in first. As soon as we went in the double doors to Aaron's unit they were silent. I had them say hello and told them they needed to speak up. (I don't know that I have ever told these two boys to speak up!) Aaron woke up and if he could roll over I'm sure he would have. Joseph asked if he could hold him and the nurse told him he could once he gets bigger. I've seen a few kids across the hall holding their siblings. The boys had lots of questions about the different machines and Sam tried out the rocking chair. While we were in there Aaron's new neonatologist came in to talk and give me the latest updates. I'll get to that in a minute.
Ronny then took in Charley and Ben. Ben has been telling us how excited he is to finally be a big brother and how he is going to teach Aaron his letters, colors, numbers, and how to read. I have no doubt that will happen. Ben is committed to the cause! When they came out they showed off their prizes they received at the front desk. Of course Joseph and Sam had to have one too so back they went. It was a really sweet trip for our family and I'm glad the big kids finally got to see their brother.

The big news of the day.....Aaron is finally over 500 grams!!!! It took 4 weeks but he did it! He seems to be getting bigger faster now. He was also measured and came in at 27 centimeters, so for this week he grew 1 1/2 cms. His doctor said today was a big day for him. It surly was! He is back on just his high flow machine and only at 1 1/2 liters. When he gets weaned down to 1 liter he will be moved to the "low flow" or oxygen from the wall and the machine will go away. They are trying something different with his feedings as they move him back to the full 8 mls. One day they will increase the amount of fluid and the next day they will increase the fortification of calories to the milk to see if that will help his system with the gas. By Friday he should be back to full feedings and full calories and hopefully off all his IV's. On Friday they will also start him on a new medication that should help his bones create more red blood cells so that he won't need transfusions when they run tests anymore. Today his bed will be changed out for a new one. Hopefully his humidity will be able to be stopped soon as well. He is also taking his pacifier much better, especially when they put the sugar water on it! Keep growing little one, you have a lot to catch up on!