12/26 - Our first day together as a family

Thank you to everyone who helped give us a wonderful Christmas. It took a lot of people doing many different things for us but we are so appreciative of everything. It means the world to Kate and I that we were able to spend Christmas eve and day with both of our children and give them the best Christmas that we could.

Our best present was being together as a family for the first time on Christmas day. We were a little worried about how Sammie would be in the NICU but she did awesome. She was so excited to meet her little brother. She would pat his head and try to hold his hand while saying "gentle". Every a nurse would come in Sammie would point at Leo and say "cute". She tries to say Leo but it sounds more like "weo".  I thought she would only last minutes with the mask on but we were able to spend two hours together! Below is our first picture as a family.

Leo continues to make progress. He continues to breath well and his chest tube output continues to decrease. He had about 18ml on Christmas Day, last night he only had 10, and today he only had 2ml. He has not had anything stronger than Tylenol for pain relief. His G-tube site also continues to heal and has stopped leaking. Since progress is being made, the game plan is to continue to watch and see what happens. On Monday we will decide if the current approach is working or if a more aggressive approach should be taken.

Parents and anyone listed as a care partner receive a badge that is used enter the NICU. The badges expire every two weeks and mine expired today. I really hope it is the last time that I have to renew it.