Holy Thursday, April 5

Update: We visited Baby Collin for a little bit in the evening. Mom and Dad left to get a special surprise (we'll have pictures later today!) and it was time for the nurse to change some tubing on Collin's broviac catheter. We held his hand as she worked, it didn't hurt him to have the tubing changed because the pieces she moved were away from his skin, but he does NOT like to have his gown opened! lol Collin is very definitely a "warm, snuggly" baby and we are relieved to note, he will most likely NOT grow up to be a nudist. We noticed a small blister on his right chest, under the tape that holds his broviac catheter. We mentioned it to the nurse who had seen it earlier in the day before it was clearly a "blister". The NICU nurse practioner (who is practically a doctor) and the NICU physician both looked at it and decided that they'll watch it to see if it gets bigger. If it does, they will pop it and culture the puss inside to see if there is a bacterial infection. They actually circled it with a pen which I thought was pretty clever although "low tech". Grandpa N suggested they draw another circle on the other side of his chest and create a smiley face. He also laughed at me because I "scan" Baby Collin every time we come to visit...I open his gown and check him out from bottom to top which is how I noticed the blister. Call me obsessed, but I just ADORE this little grandson of ours!

Day three of no feeds...Collin's temperament is good, we even coaxed some smiles out of him this afternoon! Joanna, a friend of Collin's grandparents and a nursing student, even captured a beautiful, crooked smile on camera for us.

Having him on the tpn only is probably harder on his family members than it is on Collin, he is still getting all of his nutritional needs met. We, on the other hand, feel as though we are in a race against time and we are losing. Sometimes feelings of desperation and despair overcome us and it's times like those when we need to reach out to one another and to God.

Collin's Mom, ever the trooper, continues to pump breast milk and freeze it. Baby Collin has accumulated quite a food store, which we wish he was able to enjoy! We are so proud of her, many women who have full term healthy babies don't choose to nurse even though it is the absolute best thing for their child. While Collin's Mom isn't able to nurse her precious son, she spends an hour or more every day providing Collin with the magic elixir that can sustain his life. It's probably difficult to remain dedicated to pumping when he is unable to use it right now, but she remains steadfast and faithful to her mission.

Baby Collin will be four weeks old tomorrow! We took the obligatory picture of him with his special prayer teddy bear...compare it to pictures of him taken a few weeks ago and you can really see how he has grown. In answer to a question sent to us by email, yes, Collin is now wearing clothes. It's hard to see in the photos because he is usually swaddled well; in today's pictures his gown is almost the same color as the blanket he is wrapped in. Enjoy!