Spencer - 34 Weeks (Gestational Age)

Hello,

Thanks everyone, for keeping up with the blog - hope you're enjoying hearing about our little one progress! Spencer is still doing well. He's up to 4lbs 4 1/2 oz now, so as of last night, is officially in a cot. Yahoo, no more incubator! Last night was the first time we got to dress him in clothes, too (the incubator is nice and warm, so up until this point, he's just been in a diaper). It was so funny, Drew was snapping away with the camera as I dressed him in his very first outfit, an ENORMOUS smile on my face! Yet another example of how the simple pleasures are not taken for granted, being the parents of a preemie!! I can't even explain how incredible it is to be able to kiss him as much as we want, now that he's not living in a "box". What a difference from 5 weeks ago, when we had to wait until 8pm to do so.

Other big things this week - his feed schedule changed from every 2 hours to every 3 hours .. doing this is to prepare them for what it will be like once they're at home. He also had his follow-up eye exam .. no ROP detected again, his eyes are healthy! Phew. His hearing test was done today, as well. Although he does startle at a noise in the room so we figured his ears were ok, I was still a little nervous about this one, as it detects even the slightest hearing impairment. Spencer's nurse was prepping me before the technician did the test, saying it's completely common for babies to fail the test the first time (due to fluid in their ears) and then pass it a week or so later, so not to be worried if this were to happen. Well ... it didn't! Both of his ears passed, his ears are fine. Oh my goodness, what a relief!

Still no infections, thank goodness - he seems to be an all-around healthy boy who just needs time to fully develop. The biggest obstacle has been mastering the breathing, though it too is coming along as he grows and develops .. he's been on 2-3 cc of oxygen for the majority of the week (down from 5 cc last week) which, I'm told by the nurses, is really just a whiff of air - not too much at all. I think that by the next blog post, he'll be off the prongs altogether.

Well, those are all the updates - stay tuned for next week and again, thanks for reading!

Love,

Tara, Drew & Spencer xo