The Incredible Hulk

that's how big he seems to be...he's growing like a weed still.

Sunday morning we went to the 9:45 service at CCO which was great however we snuck in late and had to leave a bit early as Tennyson's schedule is at 8 and 11. He is doing great, he's hovering a bit with his oxygen saturation however they haven't put him back on the oxygen at this time.

Travis and I finished up his nursery and got his book shelf with all his books (which consist of many of my old titles) set up, along with his swing, Air Jordans and Chuck Taylors but otherwise the room looks pretty empty. The nurses here at Freeman keep teasing us about how laid back we are about these things because they think he'll be coming home in the next few weeks (praise the Lord).

Last night we had the weekly weight (which is done daily), length measured and head circumference which is always fun for him...I don't know why but Tennyson doesn't really like to be all sprawled out in the cold air, naked on a scale, can't honestly say I blame him. He weighed in at 5lbs. 3.5 ounces, was 19 1/4 inches long and his head was 12 3/4 inches around. So he's grown quite a bit since we started this trip five weeks ago. I can hardly believe he's five weeks old today, doesn't seem like it's been that long to me (though I'm sure Travis would disagree, we couldn't believe how wonderful our bed felt this weekend. We truly appreciate the Ronald McDonald house and all they do, but there's just something about being at home).

Travis and I also found that our puppies in our absence have degressed back into some old habits that we had broken them of (by we I mean Travis) when we first moved down here, such as digging, running the fence lines and barking. They are so starved for attention and we feel terrible for them and now for the poor neighbors. This may seem like a silly thing to some but please pray for our puppies and for the transition this has been for them as well as us.

Anyways to today...Tennyson is officially 5 weeks old and looks so great.

This morning again they tried him on a bottle and he did great with the non-nutrative or sucking portion however just doesn't have that swallowing part down yet. He would spit some back out, swallow some and then choke a bit. He did that a couple times and then I think got the hang of it but began to desat as he wasn't doing the breathing portion. So we stopped that and Maura (the speech therapist) will return tomorrow and we will try again. She was going to write an order for him to be bottle fed (as much as he would tolerate, which today was 2MLs) once daily however he's getting a lot of other changes today so she will return at 11am tomorrow and we will try again. They will also be putting the oxygen back on him for his feeding attempt tomorrow to help with the desatting until he gets everything figured out. Once we finished however they fed him through the NG tube and we gave him his pacifier however that wasn't what he wanted he wanted that bottle back so I'm hoping that's a good sign.

The nurses really thought he would take off with this and so did I so I was a bit disheartened as we're so close to getting to go home once he gets the feedings down so I know this isn't a setback by any means, he's still doing wonderfully but for some reason it feels to me as if it is. Please pray for me.

(Again thank you Hollie and Paul)
Satan's angel did his best to get me down,
what he in fact did was push me to my knees.
No danger then of walking around high and mighty!

At first I didn't think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it.
Three times I did that and then he told me,
My grace is enough, it's all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.

Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen.
I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift.
It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness.
Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer,
these limitations that cut me down to size -
abuse, accidents, opposition, Bad breaks.

I JUST LET CHRIST TAKEOVER!
And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.

2 Corinthians 12:8-10

Joyce the nurse practitioner on duty today made a few changes for our little man that I'm stoked about. She increased his feedings to 45ML/1/2 HR which is pretty routine however he's graduating from an isolette today to an open bassinette which means he can pretty much be held everytime we come over rather than just four times a day and for limited amounts of time. He's been really hovering with his satting so we haven't been getting him out the past few days anyways (I don't know if Friday really wore him out or what) but we've been doing minimal things with him however now it won't be such a change from his bed as he will have to begin regulating his own temperature. The isolettes are heated however now it won't be. This will be a major culture shock to this little boy but his mama will hold him to keep him warm (and so will many of the nurses) if I have to...please be praying for him during this transition as it's going to take quite a bit more of his energy to keep his body warm and with how he's been doing with the oxygen saturation they're not sure how much extra energy he has to give as it appears to be taking all of it to breathe.

His eyes are still oozing quite a bit and they're wondering if the virus like many other viruses (it's stapholocaccus arius (mispelled I'm sure) that's in his eyes which is staph off our skin) laid dormant for the few days when his eyes looked so good and is now rearing it's ugly head again so they're watching it closely but please continue to pray for this infection specifically and that infection will stay at bay.

Another praise however is that I talked to Dr. Holmes office in Neosho and they will take us as a new patient so we got the physician we were wanting and even though it's a bit farther many people have reaffirmed to us that this is the right decision as a good pediatrician can make all the difference in the world.

So after all the updates and my belly-achin' thanks for making it to the end of the post. Know that we're so indebted to you for all your time and prayers...we love you all so dearly and know we wouldn't be making it through this time without you.

Blessed by the Beautiful ONE-
Travis, Lindsay & Tennyson Myers