Owen is doing well today. He gained 10 more grams. His white blood count is back to normal and he's generating his own blood at a good rate. He's still at 25 on the ventilator, but hopefully his gas levels will be good in the early morning, and then they'll start the steroid course of treatment soon. After three days of the steroid, they'll see how he does off the ventilator. We've been able to do kangaroo care three days in a row now; that's a first. They did his eye test today. It is a little worse than the one on Monday, but not bad enough at this point that they're referring him to the other Dr at Kosair. They will continue to look at it every seven days, if it continues to progress, then they will take him to kosair to be assessed for needs with surgery.

Owen is doing well. He's down to 25 on the ventilator. If his gas levels are good, they'll move it down to 20 in the morning. When he's back down to 20 and maintaining good levels, they'll start the steroids for a three day course, monitor his progress, and then take him off the ventilator if all is well. We've been having daily kangaroo care the last few days. He desats a lot less often and he recovers quickly when he does. It makes for a much more relaxed kangaroo care experience. Last night he didn't desat at all through the night. He weighs 3 lbs and 3 oz!! His next eye test should be tomorrow or Friday.

Owen had his eye test yesterday. Last night we got the news that he has ROP (retinopathy of prematurity). They let us know that this is a common condition in preemies, but they don't usually see it in the first eye test that they routinely do at ~6 wks. They're concerned about the condition and are going to monitor it closely. A different doctor is going to do another test on thursday or friday. If the condition has worsened, then he will most likely be transferred to kosair children's to see the "world recognized" eye doctor for preemies. This doctor will then assess the condition and determine the possible need for him to have eye surgery. They explained that on one extreme things could stay where they are and not lead to any problems, but at the other end, the current state could lead to blindness. Of course, in between those extremes, he could lose peripheral vision among various other possibilities. On a much better note, he is doing well with his breathing. He hasn't pulled his tube out today. They put it in a little farther, which appears to bother him some, but works well as a detterent for him extubating himself. The tube is also a little smaller to cause less irritation to his trachea. He seems to be working a little harder to breath, but he is successful with decreased desats. They're going to keep moving the ventilator down and testing his gases. If he keeps doing well, they're going to give him the steroid course and then they will take the ventilator out. He looks well and is resting well. They share that the blood transfusion was successful. He now weighs just over three pounds!!! Please keep him in your prayers!!

Our little Owen pulled his tube out yesterday and today. Yesterday before he pulled it out, he was all the way down to 15 on the ventilator. The doctors thought he would do well without, but he's still not there yet. They're saying its likely that his lungs have developed enough, but that he has swelling in his airways and that is keeping him from breathing well. Now he's back at 40 on the ventilator. He needs some time to re-stabilize. Then, they're going to give him steroids to get him ready for the next try. That'll probably happen in a week or so. He's gained weight the last two days despite the stress. He's at 1359 grams. Moving closer and closer to 3 lbs! His white blood cells are up. But they think that's due to the stress and not an early sign of infection. His hemoglobin levels are down. He now has an IV. They're giving him some blood.

Owen now weighs 1333 grams. That's a little more than 2 lbs and 15 oz. He's been growing so well that they're increasing his feeding to 22ml every 3 hrs. He's also doing very well with breathing more on his own. They lowered his ventilator twice in one day. He's down to 15 now which is a very low setting. If he continues to do well today and tonight, then they're going to see how he does without it tomorrow. Please keep him in yours prayers. I can't add pictures on the iPad for some reason...I'll add several when we get the computer up and going.

Owen weighs 1313 grams today. That's 2lbs and 14.5 oz. He's doing a good job gaining weight. We're almost to the big three pounds! He's still at 20 on the ventilator and doing well with his gas levels. He's looking really good. Resting really well. Not a lot of changes to share, but that's a good thing. He's doing a good job maintaining steady progress. We're currently in the process of moving. There's not a lot of time to get everything accomplished, but we'll be doing our best to keep the updates coming this weekend.

Owen continues to do well. He is up to 1274 grams. His ventilator is turned down to 20 which is the rate they originally said would lead to him being taken off. After the other night however, the plan is to move more slowly in hopes of better success; unless of course he pulls it out again. Hopefully that's not the case.