Isaac is going strong on his CPAP. He has to work a lot harder than he did on the ventilator, so he's burning a lot more calories. He lost 70 grams on Sunday and was down to 2 lbs 14 oz. They are also giving him a diuretic to help with the fluid in his lungs which makes him pee a LOT and may have contributed to his weight loss. Tonight he was back up to 3 lbs 1 oz. though so hopefully he'll at least be able to maintain his weight.

He is still being fed 3.5 oz, every three hours. After tomorrow, they will begin increasing the amount. He has been digesting the milk he's getting very well though which is a good sign that he will do well with more.

I brought Jonah with me to the hospital this morning which I don't normally do--Jonah did such a good job. He loves to get ice from the ice machine and sit in a chair at Isaac's bedside and eat his ice. He'll say hi to baby Isaac and look at the babies--sometimes he'll color or read a book or flirt with the nurses. Today the nurse brought a TV over so we watched a show, colored, and played with Jonah's sticker book right there next to Isaac. It was actually pretty fun. It was so nice to be with both my boys at the same time and not be brokenhearted at leaving one of them behind.

The plan was to keep Jonah happy while I looked in on Isaac and maybe hold him a little inside the isolette ("hugging" him with my hand, or holding his hand, etc. ) But----Isaac was super duper sensitive today. I'm not sure if it's because he's more tired from breathing or hates the CPAP or what--but I couldn't even open his isolette without him freaking out and desating.

So--Isaac stayed hidden in his little bed and Jonah and I basically played at the hospital for a couple hours. It was a little frustrating that I could hardly look at Isaac without him desating, but it was nice to be there nonetheless.

I'm starting to look ahead a little bit to when Isaac comes home. It's impossible to know when that will be, but since most babies go home by their due date, we have a good chance of bringing him home in April. That would mean we are roughly half way there. Crazy. I can't believe we have been doing this for 8 weeks. I can't believe we have 8 or more to go. I have to say that it's easier in many ways on this side of 8 weeks now that Isaac is starting to grow and become more stable. It's inconvenient and stressful to be sure to go to the NICU every day--but it's infinitely easier when I'm not terrified of getting some terrible news, and he's finally making some visible progress.

We'll just keep plugging along. We're happy--we're astonishingly exhausted--punched in the gut and never quite recovered type of exhausted--but we're happy. We have two wonderful little boys. Isaac is doing well. We have wonderful friends and family who are taking excellent care of us, and a God who is showing us daily the miracle of His love. Life is good. It's a crazy, sleep deprived, overwhelming blur--but it's good. :)