Watching the grass grow

Not much of note this week. The time was devoted to eating and sleeping and growing. Every time I hold him, I am astonished by the heft of him. He may not yet be large as babies go, but the contrast is so marked as to be marvelous. I am glad I have kept a close eye on him or I would be unable to believe that this is the same baby. As it is, it boggles my mind. He does seem to be growing as quickly as the proverbial grass after the rain. And he continues to be a high maintenance baby, eating often and sleeping lightly. Lacking much news, I thought I would share a few pictures from the week.



His sisters have already been including him in their play-


Toby is working towards his first push-ups, but not there yet-

The numbers

1 month at home
4 months old
18 weeks old
43 weeks gestational age
3 weeks adjusted age
19 1/4 inches long
7 pounds 5 ounces
4 times his birth weight
2 eyes developing normally
1 God to whom
All the praise is due

Tobias saw the eye doctor yesterday and the pediatrician today. They were both very encouraging in their assessment of his progress. He is evidently eating well and growing appropriately. It is good to know that his feeding issues are no longer a major concern. He's come a long way from the first milliliter of milk through a tube. He is now on a fairly typical newborn schedule; if he's not asleep, he thinks he should be eating. His eyes have blood vessel development out to the edges with no sign of problematic growth. So when he sees the opthamologist again next month, she says she will be shifting her focus to being sure of proper muscle development.

I met a mother today who has a two year old who was born at almost the same age and weight as Tobias. She told me that he has seizures and problems which will prevent him from ever being independent. It was a sobering reminder of how much mercy and grace God has poured out on us. We are so grateful.

Well, ok. That overnight transition in his ability to feed turned out not to be quite so easy. It has been hard work for Toby to nurse and has required a lot of extra time and attention this past week. He is doing well, though. Yesterday and the last couple nights were back to a schedule more closely aligned with what he was doing before and a welcome relief from the every two hour schedule he had been needing. One remaining concern is if he is getting the caloric intake he needs to grow at a good rate now that his milk can no longer be boosted or measured. When he was weighed on Thursday, his weight was only two ounces more than the previous week. He will be weighed again on Friday and we will be able to tell if he is back on track.

The good news which I have been so long in telling is that his lungs have improved dramatically. The pulmonologist tested him off of the oxygen for 5 or 10 minutes and his saturation level only went down slightly to 92%; it would not have been enough to sound the alarms by the parameters they used in the NICU. She said that enough new lung tissue has grown that he is a different baby than he was a month ago. Sometime in the next month, he will be tested here at home so that the weaning process can begin and Toby can come off the oxygen.

Right now, though, he is screaming his head off.

It has been another good week. Toby seems to be thriving and is having fewer alarms. The big news is that he has made huge strides forward in his ability to feed normally. It was literally an overnight transition; one day he couldn't and the next day he could. This simplifies life enormously and brings much thanksgiving and rejoicing. Tobias has demanded nearly continuous care some days, but only in what is likely tyical newborn behavior.

Tomorrow we are off to Ann Arbor for his first follow-up visit with the pediatric pulmonologist (lung doctor). I am not sure what to expect but understand that this will be the person responsible for decisions regarding Toby's oxygen, monitor, and breathing treatments.

Ivy pursuing her goal of teaching Toby to be nice.

Toby surprised by our attempts to take his picture right after his bath.


Toby looking vaguely worried by our picture-taking. He would much rather have stayed in the tub.

We tried to take a picture of Toby looking intelligent. He didn't cooperate.

Toby's shark fin hairdo.