FINALLY FIVE POUNDS!

Yep, Max has finally reached the whopping 5 pound marker...we are thrilled! He is on a VERY high calorie diet (which sometimes gives him stinky gas!) and his medical team is working very hard to get him bigger and stronger. While I am excited about the 5 pound marker, his docs and nurses say he really should have gained more than that by now. According to some various tests, he is not digesting his food too well...and of course he is burning a lot of calories with his labored breathing.

Regarding his heart, the doctors increased his meds again today. However, if this does not work, they are talking about moving up the heart surgery. That would be a temporary fix until they perform the complete open heart surgery.

On another issue (and to end this update on a positive note), oral aversion is very common among children with prolonged stays in the hospital. Feeding tubes, intubation, etc. often cause babies to not want items near their mouth. I have been working nearly daily with an occupational therapist to prevent this problem. And finally today, he took the binky...and sucked away and away! He has taken it before but only for short periods of time. Today he sucked on the binky for over 15 minutes! I was overjoyed and very teary! Very exciting little milestone for us! Little Max is growing up!!!!

Here in the photo, his cuddly friends are congratulating Max for reaching 5 pounds AND for his successful binky sucking! Way to go Max! (The mask in front of him is how he gets his oxygen.)