Ridiculous

It's all becoming routine now. As Clark Otis continues his rise to power, it's pretty much just sleep, wake, eat. Sleep, wake, eat. With the occasional desat here, a poor excuse for a brady there. There's really been nothing too exciting to report. Both Christy and I have been busy this past week, forcing us to drive separately to visit the boy. We'd meet sometime in the afternoon, 'changing shifts', then reunite back at home in the evening. Just sitting by Clark's crib, f'in off on Facebook, checkin' e-mails, waiting to change his diaper, holding him until we can no longer hold our pee. Routine.

My new favorite routine is when we find Clark awake and alert. After a long snooze on either Daddy or Mommy's chest, his eyes are wide and he takes in his surroundings with fierce interest. His little hands will reach out and grab great big scoops of air. He'll grab in front of him, above him, clawing at whatever he can grasp. Usually this is the tube in his nose. Or his little hat. Or if I'm lucky, my pinky, to which he clamps on, fingertips white from his grip, and with all his strength pull me towards him! I call this our little tug of war, cuz I'll pull back, feigning astonishment at his strength and pretend to cry out in pain from his brute force! All the while, he continues to hang on; and I think, mocking me!

Thursday during his first PO (a hospital term for…Per Oral, or bottle feeding, or breast feeding in this case it was the bottle), he was a little tired, but managed 4cc's, while figuring out how to accept the feed, swallow it, and breathe all in nature's designed sequence. Today, he sucked down 16cc's of Momma's milk...

(SORRY, this just in…JUST NOW, as I sit here typing this, a charge nurse came by and announced that Clark is moving to bay 6!!! That's HUGE! Bay Six is the final frontier! The next step on his way to complete graduation! Yayyyy! Okay…derailed again…)

Aaaand we're back…so, yes, 16cc's, and with severe determination, showed off how well he figured out how to suck in the milk, swallow it down, and take a breath. Another event, so amazing to witness. So beautiful. I watched, fixated, filled with pride, love, and admiration. We predict next time he meets that bottle, he'll take that whole sucker down. Next stop…boobage!


At this stage in our adventure, in screenwriting terms, all loose-ends are being tied up and our hero, Clark, is coming into his own, ready to ride off into the sunset. There are still challenges along the way though, fighting off that pesky reflux for one, learning to eat on his own, figuring out the combination of suck, swallow, breathe. These can be daunting tasks for a hero who is only testing the limits of his power for the first time.

Lookin' at her boy from all angles! Because babies really focus on black and white, the staff, at this stage, will often put a picture of some B&W shapes for the preemies to look at. We decided to do the same thing. Except these 'shapes' are our faces!

Oh yeah…why 'ridiculous'? Well, that's what one of the doctors here called Clark. Yup. Sure did. Just yesterday, right to our faces. No, not the traditional intended definition of ridiculous. This particular inflection indicated pure respect and astonishment! Kinda like callin' someone phat, instead of fat! Or stoopid, instead of stupid! This doctor, who was present during Clark's inaugural entrance into our world, came by to visit and confided in us that Clark's rapid improvement was the talk of the NICU. A true 'miracle baby'. Looking at us with intent, making sure we understood, he leaned in, regarded Clark and said, "He...is ridiculous!"
Tears came to my eyes.

That was probably one of the best compliments…ever!

(This post was written last night, but not edited or uploaded til today. The latest news is, Clark, expertly accepted 29cc's via PO, er, bottle with nary an episode! And almost overnight, he looks significantly chunkier! We are currently in Bay 6, which is awesome! Very quiet, only four babies in here and we still managed to keep our preferred 'window seat'. Christy's holding him right now. Both, enjoying the peace! More to come!)